Foreign policy
Maximilian II responded also to the demands of the people for a united German state by attending the Frankfurt Assembly which intended to create such a state. The progress of the 1848 Revolution, however, gave him pause. The king strenuously opposed the unionist plans of the Frankfurt Parliament, refused to recognize the imperial constitution devised by it and assisted Austria in restoring the federal diet and in carrying out the federal execution in Hesse-Kassel and Holstein. In the aftermath of the failure of the Frankfurt Assembly, Prussia and Austria continued to debate which monarchy had the inherent right to rule Germany.
The dispute between Austria and the Electoral Prince of Hesse-Kassel was used by Austria and its allies, including Bavaria, to promote the isolation of Prussia in German political affairs. This almost led to war when Austria, Bavaria and other allies moved troops through Bavaria towards Hesse-Kassel in 1850. However, the Prussian Army backed down and accepted the principle of dual leadership. The event was known as the Punctation of Olmütz, considered a "humiliation" by Prussia. The event solidified the Bavarian kingdom's alliance with Austria against Prussia.
In his German policy, Maximilian was guided by the desire to maintain the union of the princes. During the cold warfare between Austria and Prussia, King Maximilian and his ministers favoured the former, which was a policy enthusiastically supported in Bavaria by both Catholics and Protestants. Simultaneously, however, the King and his Ministers also attempted to preserve Bavaria's independence by trying to play both powers against each other. That policy continued under his son, King Ludwig II.
In 1863, however, the King supported the project of reform proposed by Austria at the Frankfurt Fürstentag.
Attempts by Austria to reorganise the loose German Confederation were opposed by Prussia and therefore the other German princes did not act on the reform proposals. The failure of those plans and the attitude of the Austrian Court towards the Confederation and the Schleswig-Holstein Question disillusioned King Maximilian. The last days of his reign were spent attempting to deal with the new situation created by the outbreak of the war with Denmark.
