This photograph shows a meeting of German princes convened by Franz Joseph of Austria (1830–1916), who stands in the middle of the group (white uniform). Johann of Saxony and Maximillian of Bavaria stand to his left; Georg of Hanover stands to his right. Aiming to ward off the formation of a “small German” Prussian nation-state, the Austrian government called the meeting to present its proposal for reforming the German Confederation. On Otto von Bismarck's advice, the King of Prussia boycotted the meeting and thus thwarted the Austrian initiative.