South German Confederation

From 1866 to 1869, the South German Confederation or Südbund, was the idea that the southern German states of Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt would form a confederation of states. Article 4 of the Peace of Prague after the Austro-Prussian War spoke of this possibility (literally: “meet into an association”). However, due to disagreement among themselves, the southern German states concerned did not make use of this.

In the north, the Kingdom of Prussia formed the North German Confederation as a new German federal state. The North German Confederation and Prussia individually concluded defense treaties with the southern states, the protection and defence alliances. In 1870/1871, after France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the North German Confederation absorbed the southern states and transformed itself into the German Empire.

Background
At the time of the Erfurt Union in 1849/1850 it already looked like the Kingdom of Prussia could only unite the north of Germany. The large kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg, as well as Saxony, which finally had to join the North German Confederation after 1866 as a result of its defeat on the side of Austria, vehemently rejected the attempt at unification under Prussian leadership. However, the “Third Germany” did not manage to run an independent line between Austria and Prussia in the following twenty years. Bavaria saw itself in a leadership role that was not recognized by the other medium-sized and small states.

As early as 1850, France was also against Prussia expanding its power south of the Main River. Instead, the French Emperor Napoleon III tried. In the 1860s, they sought to annex West German territories, for example on the occasion of a secret treaty with Austria in June 1866. If Bismarck founded the upcoming federal state only with the northern German states, this reassured not only Austria but also France.

On July 14, 1866, Prussia and France agreed that Prussia could establish a federal state in the north. The southern German states should be allowed to unite to form a southern alliance that should be internationally independent. The northern state and the southern federal government were allowed to freely regulate their relationship with one another. From the French perspective, the foreseeable coexistence of the northern state, the southern federal state and Austria would not have disturbed the European balance. The Southern Confederation was only mentioned in the Peace of Prague of August 23 and not yet in the Nikolsburg Preliminary Peace of July 26, 1866, despite the otherwise identical statements.

Location in Southern Germany
In the largest of the four states, Bavaria, Prime Minister Hohenlohe was in favor of joining Prussia, while the king was against it. Baden also sought to join the new (North German) Confederation. However, the Peace of Prague prohibited Prussia from incorporating southern German states into its new alliance. The situation of Hesse-Darmstadt was special, as only one of its three provinces (Upper Hesse) became a member of the North German Confederation.

In a ministerial declaration of May 6, 1867, Bavaria and Württemberg advocated that the southern German states should be associated with the North German Confederation through a confederation of states. This confederation of states was intended as a copy of the German Confederation. Prussia rejected such a construction. Hohenlohe, in turn, rejected Bavaria's accession to the North German Confederation in parliament on October 8, 1867, as well as a final southern German federal state or a "constitutional alliance of the southern German states under the leadership of Austria". Rather, the southern German states should individually “establish closer contact” with northern Germany.

Although Prussia wanted German unification, it did not dare to openly violate the Peace of Prague. Baden, Württemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt preferred to communicate directly with Prussia and not become dependent on Bavaria. On November 23, 1867, Hohenlohe proposed a confederation of states, the United South German States, including a draft constitution. On Prussia's advice, Baden treated the Bavarian proposals with delay, thereby bringing them to a standstill in 1868.

On the occasion of the peace treaty with Prussia in 1866, the southern German states had already signed (initially) secret military alliances with Prussia, as the dissolution of the German Confederation meant that there was no longer any military guarantee and they would therefore have been left defenseless against an attack by France. They also partially standardized their military constitutions among themselves.