France was strongly opposed to the annexation of the Southern German States (Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden and Hesse), which would have created a too powerful country next to its border. In Prussia, a war against France was deemed necessary to arouse German nationalism in those States that would allow the unification of a great German empire. This aim was epitomized by Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's quote : "I knew that a Franco-Prussian War must take place before a united Germany was formed." Bismarck also knew that France should be regarded as the aggressor in the conflict to bring the Southern German States to side with Prussia, hence giving Germans numerical superiority.