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Borussian historiography condemned the Empire for failing to provide the framework for German unity. Historical interest focused on what made Prussia distinctive, not what bound it to a seemingly moribund, anachronistic feudal relic and little appeared in print beyond a few specialist studies of Prussia's involvement in aspects of the imperial constitution.1 The treatment of Prussia's place in the Empire emains largely unchanged, despite the revival of Prussian history after German reunification in 1990, and the Borussian assumption that the Hohenzollern monarchy already acted as a fully independent great power meets little challenge. Above all, Prussia's policy towards the Empire is interpreted purely as a violent disregard for the norms of imperial politics, exemplified by Frederick II's invasion of Habsburg Silesia in December 1740, a mere seven months after his accession.2
The more positive historical interpretation of the Empire that emerged since the 1960s has dispelled the myth of it as a moribund shell, hindering German national development. However, it has concentrated on imperial institutions and the territories of the south and west that needed the protective framework of the constitution more than their larger northern and eastern neighbours. These territories were overshadowed by the growth of Austria and Prussia during the eighteenth century that reduced them to a 'third Germany'. Prussia naturally remains part of the story, but largely on the periphery, either as the villain largely responsible for the Empire's demise in 1806,3 or separate from its political culture which has been claimed recently as the basis for the first true German nation state.4 The history of Austria has also found it hard to escape from the concerns of nineteenth- and twentieth-century national history, but the association of the ruling Habsburg dynasty with the imperial title has ensured continued interest in its relations with the Empire during the eighteenth century.5 The only important development has been to sketch the notion of Frederick II as an 'anti-emperor' (Gegenkaiser), using his influence within Protestant Germany to rally opposition against Joseph II during the second half of his reign.6 The general consensus is that Frederick had little interest in the Empire until 'the poacher had turned gamekeeper' after the Bavarian succession...