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I recently read a history of the Congress of Vienna and the issues there, one of the major ones being Prussia's attempt to annex the whole of Saxony. The Prussians had been promised as return to their population of 1805 in terms of territories, and their favored pick was Saxony, who's King had remained loyal to Napoleon and was presently incarcerated in Berlin by Prussian forces. This would give them the valuable cities of Liepzig and Dresden, and bring their population back up. But they were opposed in this by Metternich and Tallyrand, and ultimately agreed to only taking two-thirds of Saxony (and not gaining Liepzig and Dresden) and having the rest made up by taking over Westphalia.

The rest, of course, is history, as Prussia's possession of the Ruhr gave them critical resources to exploit as the Industrial Revolution began.

But I ponder... how would German history go if Prussia had succeeded in its initial goals? If they had annexed Saxony entirely and Frederick Augustus I had been given Westphalia as a kingdom instead. This would keep Prussia as primarily an Eastern European state while also denying it the immediate access to the resources that historically helped it industrialize. Without Westphalia, would Prussia be as able to unify Germany as the German Empire instead of the retention of the loose German Confederation formed at Vienna? Certainly its relations with Austria will be effected, as there is no Saxon buffer state between Bohemia and Prussia now. And, of course, there is the consideration that this Westphalian state itself might have gained some stature in the German Confederation as it became industrialized.

The general course of European history hangs in the balance here, really, as with no German Empire, we will unlikely have WWI, at least not as it eventually was.

And that's all I can think to say for right now. Well, unless I count pleading with Thanas not to bludgeon me with a heavy history tome should I have made any errors in this post.

Edit: Yes, I know, Prussia had Silesia too for industrial resources, but not having the Ruhr would still have an effect IIRC.

It would have immediately destroyed the inner-german balance between Prussia and Austria. Without Saxony as a viable buffer state Prussia can manhandle Austria as well, even moreso because they now have the fall-back places of some of the greatest fortresses of all time (like, for example, Königstein, whose reputation was so fearsome that now army ever tried to take it and which saved Saxony several times by virtue of just existing). They now control shipping on the Elbe and gain the valuable coal and ore regions of Saxony. Dresden and Leipzig were also very high in industrial and mineral resources and were very much known for their manufacturies.

So while in the long run it did not turn out to be that valuable as the Ruhrgebiet (though keep in mind that even today the Leipzig-Halle-Dresden area is one of the major industrial areas of Germany) in the short run it would have made Prussia master of Germany.

And that is why nobody really wanted Prussia to have Saxony. Giving them the Ruhr was the only option - not only did it not promise immediate returns, Prussia had to invest heavily in the area and the two areas were not connected, meaning that Prussia could not unify its military power. The strategy of the Austrians was always to seperate the centers of Prussian power. (Also, by giving them the Ruhr the Prussians would be the first to bear the brunt of a French assault).

So a Prussia that has completely annexed Saxony would be in a position to smack around the Austrians more easily and control Germany? Also likely, I imagine, that it would have provoked a war much sooner than historical between the two leading states of Germany, which Prussia would have had a major advantage in.

OTOH, didn't Prussia just march through Saxony anyway in the Seven Weeks War?

Steve wrote:So a Prussia that has completely annexed Saxony would be in a position to smack around the Austrians more easily and control Germany?

It would immediately become the strongest power in Germany, surpassing the Austrians easily.

Also likely, I imagine, that it would have provoked a war much sooner than historical between the two leading states of Germany, which Prussia would have had a major advantage in.

OTOH, didn't Prussia just march through Saxony anyway in the Seven Weeks War?

Yeah but that was due to the great speed of the Prussian advance and because the allies were concentrating in Bohemia. Note that Saxony still contributed 22.000 forces to the Battle of Königgrätz (who in fact held their part of the line). More importantly, the fortresses did not play a role because the war was over in a few weeks. By wars end most were still held by the Saxons.