Austro-Prussian War

The Austro-Prussian War or Seven Weeks War was a military conflict within the German Confederation, which occurred between June 14 and February 23. August 1866, between the Austrian Empire and Prussia by which the latter, which was victorious, became the hegemonic state of Germany.

Background

Conflicts and rivalries

The contest was based on the rivalry between the two powers that were fighting for the leadership of the German Confederation. In 1864, Austria and Prussia were allied in the War of the Duchies. In accordance with the provisions of the Gastein Convention that put an end to it, the duchy of Holstein remained under the domain of Austria, and those of Schleswig and Lauenburg under that of Prussia, but neither of the two countries was satisfied with the agreement.

In October 1865, the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck obtained from Napoleon III in Biarritz that France stay out of a foreseeable Austro-Prussian conflict, while Prussia promised to support the Kingdom of Italy to achieve the annexation of the Veneto. Napoleon III thought that the conflict would be long and would give him the opportunity to mediate and perhaps gain territorial advantages, expecting in any case a military failure for Prussia. The French emperor undertook to mediate with the Italians, which was achieved with the Italo-Prussian offensive-defensive alliance against Austria signed in April 1866.

Chancellor Bismarck deliberately hampered the management of the Austrian administration of the Duchy of Holstein and sent Prussian troops to that duchy, after assuring the neutrality of the Russian Empire—still resentful of Austria's neutrality during the Crimean War—and counting with his alliance with the kingdom of Italy. When Austria protested to the Frankfurt Diet (Confederation assembly), Bavaria, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Saxony, Württemberg and other states supported Austria.

Prussian military advantage

Prussia had the advantage of a superior military organization, where the garrisons were distributed in districts that facilitated the conscription (compulsory recruitment, conscription) of the men of military age residing there, avoiding the long journeys of recruits; the training of the Prussian recruits lasted three years, which allowed having troops (especially infantry) better prepared, and available in greater numbers.

On the contrary, Austria had the policy of distributing troops in foreign regions to its conscripts, as a means of avoiding revolts; as a result, his recruits were not attached to any garrison in their town of residence, and had to travel long distances to enlist. The Austrian military command did not retain its infantry recruits for long, which meant that a war mobilization required training new troops in a short time.

Austria had better heavy cavalry troops, but heavy cavalry had lost much of its importance since the Napoleonic Wars when the progress of cannon and rifles reduced the importance of heavy cavalry. The artillery of the Austrian army was of the same quality as that of the Prussian army, but the slowness of the concentration of troops quickly nullified any Austrian advantage. In addition, the Prussian infantry was more numerous, better trained than the Austrian and had mostly breech-loading Dreyse needle rifles (they were loaded from the rear of the barrel), which allowed a shot faster for the soldier. In contrast, the Austrian army only had muzzle-loading Lorenz type rifles (muzzle-loaded) with a much lower rate of fire.

Another key factor was the efficient organization of the Prussian railways, the most advanced railway system in Europe, with five large railway lines that crisscrossed its territory and allowed rapid troop transport, which allowed it to organize its forces to the campaign against Austria in barely twenty-five days, timely assembling his battalions to lead them to the Austrian border. In contrast, Austria barely had a great railway line, which did not even reach the border regions with Prussia, its armies depending on transport on foot or by horse, for which reason to mobilize all its military might it would have required at least a month. and a half after the declaration of war.

Development of operations

Austro-Prussian Hostilities

Austria declared war on the kingdom of Prussia on June 14, 1866, and Prussia's army mobilized towards the Silesia region to attack Austrian territory, invading Bohemia and the kingdom of Saxony in a rapid and sudden way, without giving Time that Austrian troops could intervene in defense of their allies. In this war the use of the telegraph was widespread between both contenders, which allowed the arrival of military orders quickly and fluidly (similar to what happened during the American secession war, concluded just one year ago).

The Prussian advance was briefly arrested by Austrian troops in the battle of Trutnov on June 27, but suffering very low casualties, while a successful Austrian counterattack in Jičín on June 29 did not affect the Prussians. These continued advancing in the north of Bohemia gathering more and more troops, while Austria crossed serious difficulties in concentrating their forces in a timely manner.

In parallel, Prussia attacked the territory of the Kingdom of Hanover and advanced until he was arrested by the Hanoverians in the Battle of Langsalza (in the region of Turingia) on June 27. While Hanoverian troops beat the Prussian forces on that occasion, the combat gave time that other Prussian army bodies moved towards the positions of the Hanoverians, forcing them to retreat to the Harz mountains the next day. Before the Prussian numerical superiority, the kingdom of Hanover surrendered on June 29, thus leaving the only great ally of Austria in northern Germany, which allowed the Prussian forces freely transit from one end to the other of their territory.

In the south, at the end of June the Prussian troops attacked Bavaria and in a rapid campaign they took Nuremberg and Frankfurt of Men. Then the Bavarian troops opposed severe resistance in Wurzburg's fortifications until the end of the war, but without being able to expel Prussians from the rest of the territory.

The Prussian advance on Austrian territory continued in northern Bohemia. Prussian troops managed to defeat the Austrian army on July 3 in the battle of Sadowa (town called Königgrätz , in German, today Czech territory) thanks to the maneuver of General Helmuth von Moltke that grouped in time to their three great masses of troops, surprising the Austrians and causing severe losses (five Austrian casualties for a Prussian). Austria had gathered for that battle about 184,000 men, with support of 22,000 Saxony soldiers, while Prussia used 224,000 men, so that the numerical difference between both forces in combat was not very large.

However, in that battle Prussia suffered 9,000 casualties compared to 44,000 Austrian casualties (between dead, injured and prisoners), which greatly weakened the war position of Austria. After this triumph, Prussia could invade the rest of Bohemia (attacking even Prague) or penetrating Slovakia, also with the continuous arrival of reinforcements; On the contrary, the Austrian army was in numerical inferiority and could not gather reinforcements until several weeks later.

The mobility of Prussian troops, thanks to the railway network, was a key factor to obtain victory. After this victory, the Prussian troops advanced south and entered Slovakia on July 19, without great opposition and on July 22 they faced the Austrians in the vicinity of the Presburg, in the battle of lamps, obtaining another victory. That same day Austria requested an armistice from Prussia.

Italian campaign against Austria

In parallel, Prussia had completed a military alliance with the kingdom of Italy, an old enemy of Austria, to intervene in the war after the beginning of the Prussian attack. Italy launched a war offensive in mid -June to take the Trentino, Italian population region under Austrian domain, distracting Austria's military effort with a threat to its southern borders. The Italian advance, however, was very messy and the Austrian military command managed to successfully conjure the danger in the battle of Custozza on June 24, after which the Italian advance was weakened a lot.

Austria consolidated his triumph over the Italians on July 20 in the Naval Battle of Lissa where the Austrian naval fleet won a complete triumph, sinking two Italian battleships without suffering losses. The Italians, despite this, followed their land offensive and on July 21 they managed to overcome the Austrians in the battle of Bezzecca, ensuring the low valleys of the Trentino for Italy.

However, the ambitious plans of the Italian General Giuseppe Garibaldi to invade with his forces all the Trento taking advantage of the Austrian weakness were annulled when just the day after the fight in Bezzecca the Government of Austria requested an armistice to Prussia. This forced the kingdom of Italy to suspend all attack, agreeing an armistice with Austria on August 12.

Consequences

On August 23, 1866, with the Peace of Prague, the German Confederation was dissolved. Prussia annexed Hanover and Hesse-Kassel; Austria ceded Holstein to Prussia, paid war indemnities, and handed over Veneto to the Kingdom of Italy by signing the Peace of Prague. Prussia formed the North German Confederation.

In this way, Prussia became the hegemonic power in Germany and was able to establish the union of the German states located north of the Main River, established in 1867. This alliance replaced the German Confederation. Twenty-two German states joined the North German Confederation. Legislative power was divided into two assemblies: the Reichstag (parliament) and the Bundesrat (Federal Council).

The Confederation established alliances with Bavaria, Württemberg, and the Grand Duchy of Baden, which agreed to place their troops under the command of the King of Prussia if a third state attacked any member of the Confederation. The Diet was elected by universal suffrage, the new Constitution took effect on July 1, 1867, and Bismarck became chancellor of the new Confederacy.

The Constitution contemplated that each State would be autonomous in matters of finances, justice, worship and education. The Confederation was in charge of the army, navy, foreign policy, commercial law, customs, currency, civil law, and the post office. The executive power was in the presidency held by the King of Prussia (with hereditary character), who was responsible for foreign policy, supreme commander of the army and who exercised power through the chancellor, who only answered to him.

In Austria, the consequences of the defeat were a weakening of the State in the face of the nationalist movements of the different peoples that made up the Empire, especially the Hungarians who had already staged various revolutions against the centralism of the Habsburgs. This led to the political formalization of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, whereby the country became a dual monarchy with two confederate states under the House of Habsburg, the Austro-Hungarian Empire that would exist from 1867 to 1918 with the defeat in World War I.

In 1871, after the German victory in the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire was formed, which adopted the organizational scheme of the Confederation.