The editorial project ‘British Envoys to Germany’ was initiated with the aim of shedding new light on official British perceptions of German affairs and the states of the German Confederation, and thereby contributing to the historiography of nineteenth-century Anglo-German relations. As hoped at the outset, the diplomatic dispatches proved to be a valuable source, providing insights into many aspects of nineteenth-century history. The quantity and quality of reporting, the informative and often subtle nature of the dispatches, and the freedom of their authors to report on topics other than the political made working on the dispatches a challenging and often very enjoyable task. The selection in this series gives an idea of the richness of the thousands of letters stored at The National Archives, and a visit to Kew is recommended to anyone who wants to ‘delve’ into the nineteenth-century diplomats' world and Anglo-German relations at that time.

This fourth volume of the editorial series British Envoys to Germany comprises the last sixteen years of the German Confederation, between the Dresden Conferences of 1851 and the war between Prussia and the majority of the other member states in 1866. Many historical accounts of German politics of the years 1851 to 1866 are influenced on the one hand by the legacy of the revolutionary events of 1848–1849 and on the other hand by the dissolution of the Confederation and Bismarck's unification of a German nation-state dominated by Prussian policies and politics. While the early 1850s can be seen as a period of ‘reaction’ and a negative response to popular social and political demands, the remainder of the period is generally discussed in terms of the struggle for mastery in Germany, particularly the political and ultimately military conflict between Prussia and the Austrian Empire. However, the envoys’ correspondence questions teleological accounts of the time between Dresden and Königgrätz. Throughout the 1850s and 1860s, British diplomatic representatives reported on all matters regarding the German states and the German Confederation. In addition to international affairs and bilateral relations, the dispatches also cover German politics, its federal dimensions, and the policies and societies of the federal states. Like other contemporary sources, the envoys’ reports provide strong evidence that the period 1851–1866 should be seen as more than just a time of transition between revolution and unification. In fact, the multifaceted views of British diplomatic representatives to Germany provide a much broader picture and substantiate the demand for understanding the time between 1851 and 1866 in its own right.

It was not until the 6th inst. that the forms to be observed on the occasion were regulated so as to enable the Central Commission to make over the Powers with which it had been entrusted for a year and a half, to the Commission deputed by the Diet to receive them. General Peucker took the opportunity, to the annoyance I believe both of his Austrian Colleagues and of the Diet's Commission, to make a lengthened statement of all that the central Commission had done since its instalment. Both the General and M. de Bötticher his Colleague are much vexed at the manner in which they have been dismissed. They were, as Your Lordship will recollect, originally nominated by their own Government, not by the Confederation. They have been since employed by that Government to make head against the Diet so long as the restoration of the Diet did not suit its views, and they now find themselves dismissed by a resolution of the very Assembly, to counteract the power and influence of which they had been engaged.

The most satisfactory accounts have been received here of the King's reception in the Western Provinces, and I hear that the feeling in favour of the reactionary System pursued by the present Government is loudly expressed, and meets with general sympathy.

I had the honor of reporting to Your Lordship, in my despatch No 14 of the 21st January last, that the requisition made for the Austrian Corps to garrison this Town, was for a force not to exceed 2 batallions [sic], from 3,500 to 4000 men; indeed, these were stated to me by the Austrian Minister as about the numbers destined for Hamburg. It appears, however, that the Force now actually in garrison in this City consists of 5200 men.

Having received from Lord Cowley an intimation, which has probably been made to me by Your Lordship's directions, that he had on the 7th Inst presented to the President of the Diet his Credentials as Her Majesty's Envoy to the Germanic Confederation, I shall, even without direct Instructions to that effect from Your Lordship, consider this as the official announcement of the formal acknowledgement by Her Majesty's Government of the resumption by that Body of it's functions as the organ of Confederate Germany.

I believe I may with truth state, that up to the present moment little of any importance has been concluded at the Conference, excepting recording that agreement respecting the Affairs of Holstein, which was in fact settled at Ollmutz [sic].

I have very rarely thought it requisite to occupy your Lordship's attention with any details of local affairs unless they had an influence on, or connexion with, the general politics of the German Confederation. The present condition of Wurtemberg may however appear to deserve some attention as exceptional, and nearly singularly so, for besides Weimar it is the only state which retains the “Grundrechte” as reported to your Lordship in Lord Augustus Loftus's Despatch No 4 of the 2nd instt.

Although M. von der Pfordten had told me but two days before that he expected the opening of the Chambers would be still deferred until the 10th or 12th instant, they were formally opened on Saturday the 8th by Prince Luitpold, invested with the Royal Commission.

Prince Schwarzenberg returned on the Evening of the 18th Instant from Dresden, where he presided at the closing of the Conferences of the German Powers on the 15th. His Highness, as I am informed, made a very conciliatory speech on that occasion, and was followed by the Prussian Prime Minister Baron Manteuffel who is reported to have spoken with much less tact.

Abel, Karl August von (1788–1859), Bavarian statesman. Town and police commissioner in Bamberg (1818); Regierungsrat (1819) and Ministerialrat (1827) in Munich; minister of the interior (1837–1847); envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Turin (1847–1850). 398