Bismarck and the foundation of the German empire . onof some German territory to France ; it was explainedto him that Prussia would not surrender any Germanterritory, but that, if France took part of Belgium,the Prussian frontier must be extended to the Maas,that is, must include the north-east of Belgium. Again no definite agreement was made, but Na-poleons favouring neutrality seemed secure. Therewas more difficulty with Italy, for here an activealliance was required, and the Italians still fearedthey would be tricked. It was decided to sendMoltke to Florence to arrange affairs there ; this,
Bismarck and the foundation of the German empire . onof some German territory to France ; it was explainedto him that Prussia would not surrender any Germanterritory, but that, if France took part of Belgium,the Prussian frontier must be extended to the Maas,that is, must include the north-east of Belgium. Again no definite agreement was made, but Na-poleons favouring neutrality seemed secure. Therewas more difficulty with Italy, for here an activealliance was required, and the Italians still fearedthey would be tricked. It was decided to sendMoltke to Florence to arrange affairs there ; this,however, was unnecessary, for Victor Emmanuel sentone of his generals, Govone, nominally to gain someinformation about the new military inventions; forthe next three weeks, Govone and Barrel, the ItalianMinister, were engaged in constant discussions as tothe terms of the treaty. Of course the Austrianswere not entirely ignorant of what was going negotiations with Italy roused among them in-tense bitterness; without actually mobilising they. GENERAL VON MOLTKE. 1866] Outbj^eak of War with Attstria. 249 slowly and cautiously made all preliminary arrange-ments ; a despatch was sent to Berlin accusing thePrussians of the intention of breaking the Treaty ofGastein, and another despatch to the German Courtsasking for their assistance. Karolyi waited on Bis-marck, assured him that their military preparationswere purely defensive, and asked point-blank whetherPrussia proposed to violate the treaty. The answer,of course, was a simple No, but according to thegossip of Berlin, Bismarck added, You do notthink I should tell you if I did intend to do March 24th a despatch was sent to the envoys atall the German Courts drawing their attention tothe Austrian preparations, for which it was said therewas no cause ; in view of this obvious aggressionPrussia must begin to arm. That this was a merepretext is shewn by a confidential note of Moltke ofthis same date; in it he states that
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