450 



GERMANY. 



of the Austrian provinces of the Confeder- 

 ation Bohemia, Moravia, Carniola and Illyria, 

 Trieste, Goerz, Istria the non-German races 

 even form a majority of the population. 



For several years Germany has been agi- 

 tajed by a movement for reforming the Federal 

 Constitution and bringing about a closer union 

 of the states. To promote this object, the 

 "National Verein" (National Association) was 

 founded, which soon spread through all the 

 states, with the exception of Austria. The 

 greatest difficulty in the way of a union of the 

 German states, appeared to be the Government 

 of Austria, which had announced its design by 

 means of the new Constitution of the Austrian 

 Empire to consolidate permanently all the va- 

 rious nationalities of the empire into one body 

 politic. The majority of the National Verein 

 were of opinion, that the first reconstruction 

 of Germany should not embrace Austria. 



One of the earliest results of the national 

 movement was the attention paid to the con- 

 struction of a German fleet. The General As- 

 sembly of the National Verein held at Heidel- 

 berg on August 23d and 24th, 1861, decided to 

 organize a national subscription for the con- 

 struction of gunboats, to appropriate from their 

 own receipts 10,000 florins to this end, and to 

 transmit all the contributions to the Prussian 

 Ministry of the navy. In the Federal Diet prop- 

 ositions for the construction of a fleet for the 

 defence of the coasts of the Northern and the 

 Baltic seas were made by the Government of 

 Hanover, on Oct. 10th, 1861. On Feb. 13th. 

 1862, the military committee of the Federal 

 Diet proposed to create a commission, consist- 



ing of experts, in which all the states might 

 be represented, which should indicate all the 

 general measures to be adopted. A second 

 commission, composed exclusively of delegates 

 of the sea coast states, would then be charged 

 with elaborating the projects indicated by the 

 first commission. This proposition was adopt- 

 ed by the Diet on March 8th, 1862, and the first 

 commission assembled at Hamburg, on April 

 16th, 1862. 



On Oct. 31st, 1861, the representative of the 

 Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha demanded a Fed- 

 eral decision whether the National Verein con- 

 formed to or was contrary to the Federal laws. 

 He added that it was time that the princes 

 should give satisfaction to the wishes of the na- 

 tion, and he indicated as a means to arrive at 

 the unity of Germany, the combination of dip- 

 lomatic and military control in one hand. 



A comprehensive project of Federal reform 

 was elaborated by Mr. de Beust, the prime min- 

 ister of Saxony, and together with an expla- 

 nation, presented to Aus'ria. This project, 

 which is dated Oct. 15th, 1861, called forth a 

 long and important diplomatic correspondence. 

 The Prussian cabinet before which it was laid, 

 on Nov. 16th, replied to it by a despatch, <l:.U'd 

 Dec. 20th. To the Prussian despatch Austria, 

 the four kingdoms, and several other states 

 of the Confederation, replied by a note of 

 Feb. 3d, 1862. The project of Mr. de Beust 

 retains the Diet with its 17 votes, but pro- 

 poses that it meet twice a year, on March 1st 

 and November 1st, alternately at Ratisbon and 

 Hamburg, each session lasting four weeks. The 

 Presidency was to be alternately in Austria 



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