Darkrenown,
I am glad that someone with your skill has invested so much time and effort into improving the German Unification events. I have put a great deal of thought into this matter, and I have come to several conclusions I think you might want to keep in mind:
First, I think that the effects of the unification must be subject to the form it takes. Remember what the blurb of text says about the Conservative Empire: had the German states successfully avoided liberal revolutions in 1848, they probably would have united to form a “conservative empire” dedicated to forestalling the advent of liberal governments in Germany. Undoubtedly, this kind of reaction would have made all liberal governments loathsome of Germany, but the conservative governments would have loved them.
In popular unification scenarios, on the other hand, the liberal governments would probably rejoice, whereas conservative governments such as those in Russia would see their enemies increasing in number. I have no experience whatsoever with mods, but I strongly suggest that you tag the event to make either a positive or negative relations adjustment with a certain country depending on their government. If Russia succumbs to the Liberal Revolution and has a liberal government, they would be quite happy to see another join their ranks, whereas if Germany went democratic while Russia slaughtered thousands of its liberal citizens in revolts, they would probably be none too happy.
Second, I think the effects of unification should be always at least slightly negative towards France. The French, whether under a liberal or conservative government, have always feared German power, and with good reason—it’s been a direct threat to them since the Holy Roman Empire moved across the Rhine. I would argue that there should always be a downgrade of Franco-German relations as a result of unification, despite its form, but I do think that the extent the downgrade takes should still depend on the form of government, as described above.
Third, I think that for the same reason as France, there should always be a relations hit with Austria (except in the Popular Unification of course, assuming Austria joins). But this hit must be tagged to depend on whether or not Prussia won the war of 1866 to contest leadership in Germany. If it did, then much less of a relation hit; if it was a stalemate, then a moderate one; if it lost, then a big one.
Fourth, regarding the historical unification process, I believe that the answer is more complicated. Allow me to quote from A.J.P. Taylor’s landmark book Bismarck:
“The danger of European intervention was never serious. Neither Russia nor Great Britain regretted the defeat of France. Russia hoped for a freer hand in the Near East; Great Britain was relieved of her anxieties in regard to Belgium. Italy was content to have occupied Rome on 20 September and was already looking to Germany as her new patron. Only Austria-Hungary might have entered the war against Prussia and then only if France had won the first battles. She was saved from disaster by her usual process of delay. By October, Francis-Joseph was saying to the Prussian ambassador: ‘You cannot expect me to like what has happened. But I shall agree to anything; I shall do nothing’…Bismarck had grown up when the Concert of Europe was a reality, and it was difficult for him to appreciate that it no longer existed” (Taylor, 126-127).
Therefore, I argue that, in the historical scenario, the relations hit should depend on whether Napoleon III still controls the government of France. If he does, less of a badboy hit at unification. If he doesn’t, and the government is a liberal democracy, then a greater badboy hit. But I think the paragraph makes clear that, as the process unfolded historically, there was little to no chance that Bismarck’s unification would have caused the historical equivalent of a badboy war.
In conclusion, I recognize that the event for German Unification is extremely complicated already, and that my suggestions only make it more so, but in real life, it took someone with the skill of Otto von Bismarck to work it all out, so it really shouldn’t be all that simple anyway. Once again, I recommend that you tag the event to reflect a relation hit dependent on the form of government, but always negative—with stipulations on the amount—with Austria and France.
On a personal note, let me repeat how happy I am that someone with your skill (which is far above my own) has undertaken the task to remedy the problem with German Unification. These opinions are my own, but I hope they help.
Sincerely,
Memnon
Rafiki
