Whether it was 'OK' or not is a judgment call. The overall situation beginning in 1792 with the wars that lasted until 1815 is that you have five expanding empires that came into a collision course and the minor states had a very hard time remaining neutral and they had to pick sides, unfortunately. The western German states came to the conclusion that alliance with France would be 'better' than being absorbed by either Austria or Prussia. That was the long-term goal of both of those countries, like it or not.