Board Thread:Timeline Discussions/@comment-4656717-20130106102552/@comment-4656717-20130110123438

Yeah, the Mecklenburgs, Oldenburg and the sall non-Thuringian principalities (Anhalt, Brunswick, the Lippes) were pretty much wrapped around Prussia's little finger. I suppose it was their best option, allying themselves with their large neighnour to avoid being annihilated by it. The Thuringians...I suppose they would've joined North Germany for the same reason. I believe Saxony was quite anti-Prussian, but was so screwed in 1866 that they joined the N. German Confed. I can imagine Hannover would have had to be annexed by Prussia before it joined any North German Confederation, but as history has sowed us, that wouldn't have been too hard!

It's funny what the Victory disease can do, isn't it? The Bavarians were quite happy to be in the Empire after the Franco-Prussian War, but once Bismark got going with his Kulturkampf, things gradually got worse. I even read somewhere that the Bavarians were so dissatisfied with WWI that Ludwig III tried to negotiate a separate peace with the allies, but I have had a hard time finding evidence of these negotiations, so they may not have actually occurred.

In your opinion, with Karl starting the Greek branch, might the Wittelsbachs have lasted the century? The Glucksburgs seemed to manage, just, keeping their throne for quite a while. But I think you're right, in the end, the Greeks would want a republic.

I'm intrigued by the potential events before Bismark.