The Prussia–Austria conflict worsened by autumn that year, as disagreements over the question of federal executions in Holstein (dispute with Denmark) and the Electorate of Hesse almost escalated into a military conflict. Since 1848 the Austrians had been allied with the Russian Empire; after the Berlin government refused Austrian demands at the Warsaw Conference of October 28, 1850, the souring relations degenerated further on Prussia's November 5 announcement that it was mobilising its army and preparing for war, in response to troops of the German Confederation advancing into the Electorate of Hesse. War was avoided when Prussian leaders closely associated with the nobility threw their support behind Gerlach with the Prussian Conservative Party [de], known informally as the Kreuzzeitungspartei after the Kreuzzeitung newspaper, which supported Austria in advocating a return to the Confederation.