Austro-Prussian War (Seven Weeks' War)
Also called the Seven Weeks' War, the conflict of 1866 was Bismarck's pivotal war to settle the leadership of Germany between Prussia and Austria. Engineered out of the quarrel over the joint administration of Schleswig and Holstein seized in 1864, it pitted Prussia and its small north-German and Italian allies against Austria and most of the other German states. Prussian planning under Helmuth von Moltke — railway mobilisation, telegraphic coordination and the rapid-firing needle gun — produced a stunningly swift victory, decided in barely three weeks at the Battle of Koniggratz (Sadowa) on 3 July. The Peace of Prague dissolved the old German Confederation, expelled Austria from German affairs, and allowed Prussia to annex several states and forge the North German Confederation under its leadership. Crucially, Bismarck overrode his king and generals to impose a lenient peace that took no Austrian territory, so that Vienna might become a future partner rather than an implacable enemy. The war left Prussia master of northern Germany and set the stage for the final reckoning with France.
- Year: 1866 CE
- Category: Military
