Excerpt from The Reconstruction of Europe With the reaction particularism, or insistence on the prerogatives of the individual states as opposed to general interests, as was to be expected, again asserted itself in force. Even to refer to a unified Germany was accepted as a proof of an ill-affected mind. In lieu of this the dogma that all German history pointed to the development of the different races was proclaimed in all the dialects of the father land. Even the military convention entered into by some of the minor states with Prussia came to be regarded as a contravention of the constitution of the Confederation. Of all the creations of the revolutionary years, one only was now extant, namely, the so-called national fleet of nineteen small vessels. The Danish war had Shown the necessity for a strong German fleet. But who was to be its owner? After interminable disputes between Prussia, Austria, and the second-rate states, the Confederate diet finally, on April 2, 1852, decreed the dissolution of the German fleet. On the motion of the Oldenburg state-councillor, Hannibal Fischer, the ownerless national navy was brought to the hammer, Prussia becoming the purchaser of its most available vessels. This was the act by which the Con federate diet, amid the derisive laughter of all Germany, celebrated its rehabilitation. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.