With this popular enthusiasm Bismarck had no sympathy; and he had no interest for the cause of Schleswig-Holstein.  He had originally considered the inhabitants merely as rebels against their lawful sovereign.  He had learnt at Frankfort sufficient to make this indifferent to him, but he still regarded them as foreigners and looked on their claims merely from the point of view of Prussian interests.  Both his sympathy and his reason led him in fact rather to take the Danish side.  “The maintenance of Denmark is in our interest,” he wrote in 1857, but Denmark could only continue to exist if it were ruled, more or less arbitrarily, with provincial Estates as it has been for the last hundred years; and in another letter:  “We have no reason to desire that the Holsteiners should live very happily under their Duke, for if they do they will no longer be interested in Prussia, and under certain circumstances their interest may be very useful to us.  It is important that, however just their cause may be, Prussia should act with great prudence.”  He recognised that if the complaints of the Duchies led again to a war between Germany and Denmark all the loss would fall on Prussia; the coast of Prussia was exposed to the attacks of the Danish fleet.  If the war was successful, the result would be to strengthen the Diet and the Federal Constitution; and, as we know, that was the last thing which Bismarck desired; if it failed, the disgrace and the blame would fall upon Prussia.

The only thing which would have induced him warmly to take up the cause was the prospect of winning the Duchies for Prussia, but of that there seemed little hope.

So long, therefore, as he remained at Frankfort, he had endeavoured to keep the peace, and he continued this policy after he became Minister.  The greater number of the German States wished to carry out a Federal execution in Holstein; he tried to avert this and warmly gave his support to Lord Russell in his attempt to settle the question by English mediation.  His efforts, however, were unavailing, for the Danish Government, presuming on the weakness of Germany, continued their provocative action.  On March 30, 1863, a new Constitution was proclaimed, completely severing Holstein from the rest of the Monarchy.  The Holstein Estates had not been consulted and appealed to the Diet for protection; the law of the Federation enabled the Diet in a case like this to occupy the territory of the offending sovereign in order to compel him to rule according to the Constitution.  The national German party wished to go farther, to confuse the questions of Schleswig and of Holstein, and so bring about a war with Denmark.  Bismarck wrote to the Duke of Oldenburg to explain his objections to this:  it would make the worst impression in England; and he insisted that they should attempt nothing more than Federal execution in Holstein.  As Holstein belonged to the Federation, this would be a purely German affair and no ground would be given for interfering to England or France.  In consequence, the simple execution in Holstein was voted.  Even now, however, Bismarck did not give up hopes of keeping peace.  He brought pressure to bear on the Danes and was supported by England.  If only they would withdraw the proclamation of March 30th, and accept English mediation for Schleswig, he promised them that he would use all his influence to prevent the execution and would probably be successful.