The austro-prussian war

The Austro-Prussian War commenced on 14 June 1866 and ended on 22 July 1866 with the dissolution of the German Confederation, the formation of the North German Confederation as well as Austria-Hungary and the exclusion of Austria from Germany. Due to its total duration of seven weeks it is also known under the name “Seven Weeks’ War”. The belligerent parties were the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, which in addition were aided by several allies within the German Confederation.  

Before 1866 there was no German state but only a German Confederation which included the major powers Austria and Prussia. Due to their competition over the supremacy of the Confederation there was a constant rivalry among the two states that is also referred to as the “Austria-Prussia Rivalry”. Otto von Bismarck was the minister president of Prussia as well as the minister of foreign affairs which transferred a notable part of the government’s force to him. His chief aim was to decide the Austria-Prussia Rivalry for Prussia; herein lies the origin of his motivation to undermine Austria. The measures he took to attain this objective were for instance the economical exclusion of Austria, achieved through the prevention of Austria’s accession to the German customs union. Also he hindered Austria in its efforts to significantly reform the German Confederation. A hypothetical reform would have given rise to a German federal state that would have included Austria which did not really strike a chord with him. Besides, Bismarck brings Russia on Prussia’s side.

Deliberately triggering the Second Schleswig War in 1864, Prussia and Austria fought together against Denmark, which had set its sights on the establishment of a Danish constitution in the duchies Schleswig and Holstein after they had undergone a crisis thanks to some special rights they had. Germany deemed this constitution incompatible with these special rights and Bismarck planned the annexation of the duchies through a war. Bismarck persuaded Austria into joining him and jointly they triggered the Second Schleswig War by making a ridiculous demand to the Danish king. Eventually they quickly claimed the victory and received Schleswig and Holstein by Denmark. The question emerged which of the victorious powers would receive administrative powers over which one of the conquered duchies. Eventually this conflict was settled through the Gastein convention which allocated Schleswig to Prussia and Holstein to Austria. This is an unfortunate turn of events for Austria inasmuch as Austria is now surrounded by Prussia and does not have the power over the significant naval base in Kiel.

Preparing a war by secretly negotiating, Bismarck had his aim at militarily solving the Prussian-Austrian Dualism. The relation to Russia is good and Bismarck negotiates that France would stay neutral in case of a war with Austria and that Italy would fight on the side of Prussia. In 1866 Bismarck gave rise to the war by provoking Austria in the Confederate Diet by requesting a national assembly based on universal suffrage. Although Bismarck did not have any serious intentions to implement the latter, the situation escalated due to the fact that the request was unacceptable on the part of Austria. The whole situation culminated in the occupation of Holstein by Prussian troops triggered by Austria’s request to reconsider the distribution of Schleswig and Holstein among Prussia and Austria due to the current disadvantageous situation for Austria. This request is deemed unwarranted and unjustified by Bismarck who sees it is an infringement upon the Gastein Convention.

Prussia left the German Confederation after Austria had made the request to take action against Prussia due to the occupation of Holstein (referred to as the federal execution which means that a confederation within a federal state can take military action against another confederation, provided that the latter violated a law, right etc.).

Prussia quickly became victorious and ended the war in the battle of Königgratz thanks to their more advanced arms.

The establishment of the North German Confederation prepared the unification of Germany as a whole on various levels. Domestic policies, trade and infrastructure were modernised and standardised.

The North German Confederation also intended to admit southern German states such as Bavaria, Baden and Württemberg. This opportunity arose with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, the last stage of the unification wars. The southern German states had already worked economically with Prussia since the founding of the German Customs Union in 1834 and formed a defence alliance (Schutz- und Trutzbündnis). After the victory over France, the November Treaties of 1870 enabled the southern German states to join the North German Confederation. On January 18, 1871, German unification finally took place with the founding of the Reich. The German Empire largely adopted the constitution of the North German Confederation.