Austria refused this division of its imperial territory: It was afraid that the personal union was insufficient to keep the parts of Austria together. In March 1849, the Austrian Emperor issued a new Austrian constitution which defined Austria as a centralist state. By then, the German National Assembly was already divided in 'Greater Germans' (often Catholics) and 'Lesser Germans'. The latter tendency became in March 1849 the majority. It voted for a German constitution that left open the accession of Austria, but elected the Prussian king to be German Emperor.