GERMANY THE AGGRESSOR
the liberal and revolutionary doctrines proclaimed
by the representatives of the Frenchified Rhineland
provinces (which had been Prussian for only thirty-
two years). His speeches won for him the gratefiil
thanks of the harassed Frederick William, and the
still more appreciative regard of the King's younger
brother, William, destined to be his successor and
the founder of the Prussianised German Empire.
In 1847 revolution was in the air, and, as we have
seen, it burst forth spontaneously all over Europe
during the following year. We have also observed
how the unbalanced and ultimately insane Frederick
William, in extreme terror at the violence of the
Berlin mob, abjectly surrendered, donned the tri-
colour, granted the paper constitution which he had
previously refused, and professed his willingness to
see * Prussia dissolved in Germany/ Bismarck was
horrified. The very last thing that he was prepared
to accept was the solution of Prussia. He had no
interest in Germany as a whole: he was Prussian
pure and simple. His passion was not for the
unification of Germany, but for the aggrandisement
of Prussia. He protested violently, not hesitating to
use strong language even to the wretched Frederick
William himself. He helped to form a reactionary
party pledged to oppose the * Revolution/ and he
contributed fierce articles to its organ, the New
Prussian Gazette (commonly known as the Kreuz
Zeitung). He himself proposed the watchword of
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