Metternich was torn. He too had a vociferous public at home clamouring for reparations. And while he was determined that nobody, least of all Prussia and Bavaria, should gain anything, he did appreciate that if they were allowed to help themselves to areas of France this might free up some territory in Germany, which would facilitate a final settlement of competing claims there. But his main consideration was, as it always had been, that France should not be weakened further.
