[9], On 22 February 1866, Count Krolyi, Austrian ambassador in Berlin, sent a dispatch to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Alexander Mensdorff-Pouilly. Was this meant sincerely, or as a ploy to begin levering Austria out of Germany altogether? Austro-Prussian War 1866 Despite the military reputation that the Austrian Army had built up, the Prussians were undaunted and well-prepared for war. Italy, which wanted to regain Venetia from Austria, concluded a military alliance with Prussia, while Austria formed alliances with the southern German States, which feared the supremacy of Prussia. In 1866, the Prussian economy was rapidly growing, partly as a result of the Zollverein, which gave Prussia an advantage in the war. The 1866 campaign was a carefully planned stage in the unification of Germany under Prussias Hohenzollern dynasty, of which Otto von Bismarck was the principal agent. Their First Army pinned itself down in an abortive frontal attack against entrenchments supported by artillery. [citation needed]. The Kingdom of Italy participated in the war with Prussia, because Austria held Venetia and other smaller territories wanted by Italy to further the process of Italian unification. This assumption is not true. In addition to war reparations, the following territorial changes took place: The war meant the end of the German Confederation. With the Elbe behind him, his position was not optimal. Italy was already allied with Prussia, which meant that Austria would be fighting both with no major allies of its own. The defeat of Austria in the Seven Weeks' War in 1866 confirmed Prussia's leadership over the German states and threatened France's position as Europe's dominant power. Taylor also believes that the alliance was a "test for Austria rather than a trap" and that the goal was not war with Austria, contradicting what Bismarck later gave in his memoirs as his main reason for establishing the alliance. Encyclopedia.com. After diplomatic fallout over Schleswig-Holstein and a greater rivalry over influence in Germany, Austria and Prussia found themselves in a state of war in June 1886. Italy called for a general mobilization on 26 April and Austria ordered its own general mobilization the next day. Therefore, its best to use Encyclopedia.com citations as a starting point before checking the style against your school or publications requirements and the most-recent information available at these sites: http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html. I answered him: "Good, then it's war!" Frederick, Crown Prince of Prussia, looking over the battlefield. The war erupted as a result of the dispute between Prussia and Austria over the administration of Schleswig-Holstein, which the two of them had conquered from Denmark and agreed to jointly occupy at the end of the Second Schleswig War in 1864. [29], Conflict between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire (1866), For the defeated parties and Schleswig-Holstein, For the neutral parties and Liechtenstein, unification of all of the northern German states, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Sonderausstellung: '1866: Liechtenstein im Krieg Vor 150 Jahren', Revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states, Faceted Application of Subject Terminology, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Austro-Prussian_War&oldid=1120462877, Wikipedia articles needing page number citations from August 2020, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles needing additional references from August 2017, All articles needing additional references, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2019, Articles needing additional references from August 2020, Articles with unsourced statements from July 2022, Articles with German-language sources (de), Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Schleswig and Holstein: Became the Prussian, Hesse-Darmstadt: Surrendered to Prussia the small territory it had acquired earlier in 1866 on the extinction of the ruling house of Hesse-Homburg. Although they had some warnings of the Prussian weapon, they ignored these and retained Stotaktik. He explained to him that Prussian public opinion had become extremely sensitive about the Duchies issue and that he had no doubt that "this artificial exaggeration of the danger by public opinion formed an essential part of the calculations and actions of Count Bismarck [who considered] the annexation of the Duchies a matter of life and death for his political existence [and wished] to make it appear such for Prussia too. Seven Weeks War, also called Austro-Prussian War, (1866), war between Prussia on the one side and Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, and certain minor German states on the other. The Austro-Prussian War: Austria's War with Prussia and Italy in 1866. The Austro-Prussian war was a war fought between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866. As a preliminary step, the Ausgleich with Hungary was "rapidly concluded". Italy declared war on Austria on 20 June. Both Prussia and Austria had vested interests in a status quo that acknowledged Austria's primacy of honor in the German lands while accepting Prussia's status in a "special relationship" acknowledging its de facto influence over its smaller immediate neighbors. 100 colonel von lbell contrasted initial enthusiasm for the rifle It resulted in the abolition of the German Confederation and its partial replacement by the unification of all of the northern German states in the North German Confederation that excluded Austria and the other Southern German states, a Kleindeutsches Reich. That inaction was the taproot of Austrian defeat. Not until mid-June, a week after Austria had called for the German Confederation's mobilization against Prussia, did the king approve an offensive into Bohemia, where the main Austrian army stood waiting. [16], Prussian conscript service was one of continuous training and drill, in contrast to the Austrian army where some commanders routinely dismissed infantry conscripts to their homes on permanent leave soon after their induction into the army, retaining only a cadre of long-term soldiers for formal parades and routine duties. "[18] Moltke had also said earlier, "Nothing could be more welcome to us than to have now the war that we must have.". On June 20, 1866, Italy declared war on Austria. The Austro-Prussian War Austria's War with Prussia and Italy in 1866. The Austro-Prussian War or Seven Weeks' War, known in Germany as Deutscher Krieg ("German War") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation. Smaller middle states such as Baden, Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), Hesse-Darmstadt, and Nassau also joined with Austria. Bismarck may well have been encouraged to go to war by the advantages of the Prussian army against the Austrian Empire. In his speech to the Reichstag on 2 May 1871, Bismarck said: It is known that even on 6 August 1866, I was in the position to observe the French ambassador make his appearance to see me in order, to put it succinctly, to present an ultimatum: to relinquish Mainz, or to expect an immediate declaration of war. The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variants names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as Deutscher Krieg ("German War"), Deutscher Bruderkrieg (pronounced [dt budkik] (listen); "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation. The actual pretext found by Bismarck in 1866 was a dispute over the administration of Schleswig and Holstein, which Austria and Prussia had seized from Denmark in 1864 and had since held jointly. William and his generals wanted a victors' peace. The Austro-Prussian War, 1866 The result of the Seven Weeks' War in 1866 subordinated the Austrian Empire to Prussian ambitions. Craig, Gordon A. There, the Prussian armies, led nominally by King William I, converged, and the two sides met at the Battle of Kniggrtz (Hradec Krlov) on 3 July. New Krupp breech-loading cannons were being slowly introduced by the Prussians, but not in numbers large enough to influence outcomes. bismarck as diplomat ***Antonio Wednesdays Wonders ***The Verdun French Commemorative Medal. Still the best introduction. London, 2004. "Austro-Prussian War The Austrian artillery had breech-loading rifled guns which were superior to the Prussian muzzle-loading smooth bore cannon. The Austro-Prussian War ended quickly and was fought mainly with existing weapons and munitions, which reduced the influence of economic and industrial power relative to politics and military culture. Austria had only one bank,[citation needed] the Creditanstalt, and the state was heavily in debt. Prussia had also allied with the Kingdom of Italy, linking this . origins Bismarck had no intentions to let this deadline slip although he still needed a pretext for war. Austro-Prussian War Austro-Prussian War or Seven Weeks War, June 15-Aug. 23, 1866, between Prussia, allied with Italy, and Austria, seconded by Bavaria, Wrttemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, and several smaller German states. We unlock the potential of millions of people worldwide. Three days later, Italy declared war on Austria and started military operations on 23 June. Retrieved October 27, 2022 from Encyclopedia.com: https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/austro-prussian-war. This 1866 war is known as the Austro-Prussian War, in Germany, and also as the Third War of Italian Unification, in Italy. Six other members of the German Confederation stayed neutral: Limburg, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Reuss Junior Line, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt. Benedek's options were further reduced when on 24 June the Austrian South Army won a hard-fought victory over the Italians at Custozabut paid a price that prohibited the immediate dispatch of reinforcements north of the Alps. World Encyclopedia. Bismarck shrewdly prevailed upon the King of Prussia to offer very generous terms to Austria as he did not want to alienate her. The issue was decided in Bohemia, where the principal Prussian armies met the main Austrian forces and the Saxon army, most decisively at the Battle of Kniggrtz. 25.99. . Causes and Prevention of War // 17.42 // MIT Stephen Van Evera THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR OF 1866 I. 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