The Austro-Prussian War is also known as the Seven Weeks War or the German War.
The Austro-Prussian War took place in 1866, mainly due to the struggle between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire for the leadership of a unified Germany. There is a complex historical background behind this war.
As early as the beginning of the 18th century, Frederick William I, the second monarch of Prussia, carried out brutal rule, so that the kingdom developed into a **centralized state**, and constantly expanded the army, so that a medium-sized country with the 10th largest land area and 13th population in Europe at that time had jumped to the 4th place in Europe in terms of total military strength.
PrussiaIn 1740, Frederick II, the third monarch of the Kingdom of Prussia, ascended the throne, and he was a brilliant and tyrannical king. At the beginning of his reign, he took advantage of the difficulties of the Austrian Habsburgs in the war of succession to the throne, joined the anti-Austrian alliance organized by France, and participated in the division of the Austrian royal inheritance, in order to seize Silesia, which was rich in land and wealth. In 1740-1742 and 1744-1745, Frederick II launched two Silesian wars and defeated Austria. In 1748, Prussia abandoned its allies and signed the Peace of Aachen with Austria alone, occupying Silesia, and the conflict between Prussia and Austria deepened.
By the 19th century, the Kingdom of Prussia, under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck, was actively promoting the unification of Germany. In October 1864, since the signing of the Danish Peace Treaty, Bismarck led Prussia** to actively participate in war preparations, and was determined to use military force to solve the problem of Prussian hegemony in Germany. Prussia induced Austria to declare war on Prussia under the pretext of having the right to take possession of Schleswig and Holstey together.
In this war, the Prussian side included Mellenburg, Oldenburg, and other states of North Germany, as well as the three free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck. The Austrian side includes Saxony, Hanover, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse-Gassel, Hesse-Darmstad, and other member states of the German Confederation. Although Austria had the upper hand in terms of the number, population, and size of the states, Prussia was clearly stronger in terms of military strength.
In 1862, Otto von Bismarck was appointed Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia. He immediately began to plan a unification movement in the hope of unifying Germany through Prussia. With his victory in the Prussian-Danish War, Bismarck inspired the national consciousness of the Germans. Prussia induced Austria to declare war on Prussia under the pretext of having the right to co-possess Schleswig-Holstey. Austria cooperated with a number of German states, including Bavaria, Hanover, and Saxony, to challenge Prussia in the name of defending the German Confederation.
Prussia took advantage of its alliance with Italy and a number of small and medium-sized states in North Germany to attract part of the Austrian army to the southern battlefield, and the Prussian army in the north controlled the whole of North Germany for a short time. The Prussian army defeated the Austrians in Sadova and Koenig Grad in succession. Defeated Austria dissolves the German Confederation. The following year, the North German Confederation led by Prussia was established and a federal constitution was adopted, which prepared the conditions for the unification of Germany.
During the Battle of Austria, Prussia used a number of technologies that were useful in the American Civil War, including railroads to help transport troops and telegraphs to maintain long-distance communications. The total strength of the two sides in the war was: 630,000 Prussians; Austria 5850,000 people. In the Unification of Germany, this battle was the Third War of Independence.
Overall, the Austro-Prussian War was a decisive war that changed the political landscape of the German region and laid the groundwork for the subsequent Franco-Prussian War and the unification of Germany.