Iron & Blood: German War 1866

In the summer of

1866

war broke out in Central Europe and the fate of the German-speaking lands was at stake. Austria and its German allies confront Prussia, its German allies, and Italy on battlefields from Hanover to Bohemia and Venice, the winning power. one day unite the German lands into a single empire when the Napoleonic wars came to an end in 1814 and 1815 the kings and diplomats of Europe reorganized the continent at the Congress of Vienna a difficult issue was the so-called German question or what to do with the different German states from the post-war treaties a new German Confederation of independent states emerged.

The European powers hoped that this confederation would bring stability and peace, but they did not want a single German national state that would leave the German question unresolved. The eyes of German nationalists, particularly some in Prussia, were not in favor of Austria's leading role in the confederation. The relative post-Napolionic piece ended in 1848 when the German states, like the rest of Europe, erupted in revolution motivated by liberal nationalist ideals, but the short-lived revolutionary National Assembly also failed to resolve the question of an imperial German nation; They debated fiercely over whether Austria, with its many non-German peoples, should be included in or even lead a future Germany;

They finally decided to exclude Austria and ask the Prussians. King to become emperor of the rest of the German states, the so-called small German solution, but King Frederick William refused to become emperor because the imperial project had been offered by the commoners, the German princes crushed the revolutionaries by force and the Confederacy remained as it was. It was the lasting tensions after the Revolution of 1848-49 and the complicated structure of the Confederation that created the potential for future conflicts, but the immediate origins of the Austro-Pressure War of

1866

lie in the two Schlesfig Wars with Denmark. The Danish king also ruled two duchies of the Confederation and the duchy of Schleswig, which was not part of the Confederation or the Danish Kingdom.

Tensions over the status of Schleswig and Holstein led to the First Schleswig War of 1848-1851 between Denmark and the Confederation. The Danes won the war and the London Protocol established peace, but in 1863 Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck declares that he wants to achieve German unity under Prussian leadership and tells the Prussian Parliament that Prussia would unite Germany from above. after the failed Revolution From Below in 1848. Germany does not seek Prussian liberalism, but for its power it is not through speeches and majority decisions that the great questions of the time are decided, but through

iron

and

blood

, Second Schleswig War broke out in 1864 after Danish nationalists pressured King Christian IX to deepen Danish control of Schleswig in violation. of the peace agreement, Bismarck could now link his aggressive intentions to the German confederation's decision to march towards the Danish duchies and Schlesville's Austro-Prussian forces defeated the Danish army and the Treaty of Vienna awarded the duchies to Prussia and Austria in 1864.

Prussia and Austria had defeated Denmark, but soon discovered that achieving a lasting peace was more difficult than waging war. In August 1865, the two powers agreed to administer the duchies separately, but in consultation Miss Marcus was apparently unenthusiastic about the fragile agreement, but privately she also sees an opportunity to finally determine whether Austria or Prussia will dominate a future German state. Joint rule over the new territories does not go well Austria wants to combine Schleswig and Holstein into an independent state, but Prussia would only agree if the ruler of the new state accepts the Prussian influence that both sides now see.

War is inevitable and on April 8, 1866, Prussia makes a secret agreement with Italy. If Prussia goes to war against Austria before July 8, Italy would join the valuable side. Italian forces would help Prussia by pinning down Austrian troops in the south and Italy would receive the Bismarck also hints to French Emperor Napoleon III that if France remains neutral it could receive some territory west of the Rhine. Bismarck is maneuvering Prussia toward war, but some people in Germany States oppose the idea Liberal lawyer Rudolph Von ering expresses his concern in early June 1866. My sense of justice is on the side of Austria with such shamelessness, such horrible frivolity, perhaps it will never be has instigated a war like the one Bismarck is trying to wage against Austria.

Nowadays everyone hates fighting here armed Germans against Germans a civil war a plot of three or four powers against one without any semblance of law without the participation of the people created exclusively by a few diplomats later the crown princess of Prussia Victoria will write to his mother, Queen Victoria, who had opposed the war, you know, I consider the war to be a mistake caused by the uncontrolled power of an unprincipled man who does not dislike poor Austrians in general, the student of Biden fading into Cohen is radically opposed to war. and attempts to assassinate Bismarck in May the chancellor survives with only minor injuries but opposition to the war makes little difference in June Prussia accuses Austria of violating its treaty on Schleswig Holstein this time Bismarck uses this manufactured crisis to provoke Austria to resort to the German confederation governing body for clarification, which Prussia then interprets as an actual violation of the treaty, as they are supposed to administer the duchies without outside influence depression troops March towards Holstein on June 10 an open violation of federal law Austria withdraws its units because it does not want a war, but then Bismarck proposes that the German Confederation exclude Austria.

Finally, the Emperor of Austria reacts just as Bismarck had expected. On June 14, 1866, the German Confederation declares war on Prussia for violating the law of the Confederation the northern German states mostly joined Prussia while the southern German states remained loyal to the confederation the Austro-Prussian War for supremacy in a future Germany known in German as the German War and in Italian As the Third Italian War of Independence has begun in the next six weeks

iron

and

blood

will be spread to four separate fronts across much of Central Europe, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 sees intense fighting in Bohemia. the Habsburgs along the Mayan River in Hanover and along the Austro-Italian border, but first let's look at the armies that went to war in the summer of 1866.

The Prussian army is nominally under the command of King William I, but the actual commander is Chief of the General Staff Helmut Von Malke. The Prussian General Staff is unique and far ahead of its rivals in the scientific and administrative organization of the war depression officer corps. professionals, but the common soldiers are trained recruits, many Prussian troops saw action in Denmark in 1864, but overall their army is much less experienced than that of Austria. Austria's troops are also conscripts, but its officers and veterans have seen combat in 1848, 1859 and 1864. Despite this the army's multilingualism poses a challenge to effective communication.

The northern Austrian army in Bohemia is commanded by Master felt Ludwig von Benedict following instructions from Emperor Franz Joseph Benedek is competent but hesitant perhaps because he understands the technological inferiority of his own army in which the government was in the process of modernizing the army, but progress was limited by budget cuts. To see the difference between Austrian and Prussian infantry firearms, we asked Jonathan Ferguson of the Royal Armory to show us some weapons from his collection. Hey guys, I'm Jonathan Ferguson's guardian. of firearms and artillery for the Royal Armory Museum here in the UK. I am very happy to be asked to show you a couple of firearms from this particular conflict.

First we have the Austrian Lawrence. Now, on the one hand, it's pretty conventional. things, but we have to think about the time frame here, so this was introduced in 1854, so the 1854 model is the original incarnation. This example from our collection is actually the model 1862. We won't go into the details of that. except to say that the lock has been improved, it's a bit more like the Enfield p53 rifle musket, if you know that, and the barrel is made of steel instead of iron, there's a bit of a rabbit hole about the experiments now with nitrocellulose propellants that were being carried out.

In Austria that didn't work, as far as I know the steel cannon is kind of a red herring, but this is the improved 1862 model that would have seen at least some use at the time of this particular one. conflict in general, it is a percussion rifle musket, by which we mean the muzzle is well loaded, it is long, first of all, muskets tend to be long because they are handles for a bayonet, which is important, but it also indicates that it is loaded in the mouth with a preparation. paper cartridge but with a separate cap on this nipple here, so you can really think of this as the Enfield ac53, the Springfield 1861, it's that level of technology, so in 1866 this is far from old, it's still more or less the avant-garde. just that it seems a little primitive with respect to its muzzle loading, not the breaking load, which brings me to another type that we are going to look at, which is the Prussian needle rifle, the needle gun is commonly the translation of um apologies to my

german

.

Speaking to our German-speaking viewers, um, but it's actually a rifle, so in English we would always insist on calling it a rifle, not a pistol, so a needle rifle or, in British parlance, a Prime needle rifle, which It's strange, so it looks radically different. from Kit as you can see and we're not too worried about the furniture, the fact that it has brass bands or, as opposed to steel, that kind of thing, it's really the action that's important here and this big bolt. driving up gives you a pretty good idea of ​​what this represents and it is a bridge loading rifle, specifically the first of what we now call bolt action rifles or bolt action rifles, we don't have the magazine of course but in this spot. in 1841 is the initial model, by the way, model 1841 for the Prussians, which is what this example in our collection is.

It is dated 1848 on the Knox form as we call it in Britain and that is actually the date they were first issued, supposedly by the Prussians. We kept these wonderful ones in reserve and their first use was in the 1848 and 1849 uprisings in Germany, so it was a bit of a slow start, but why is that so important? Well, the great speed that can be obtained. Outside of this, coupled with the Prussian tactic of rapid fire from the Chanel lobby at close range, this thing was pretty formidable and that's because, although it requires one more step than a modern bolt action to load it, which is to press towards down, pull back and make this angle to pull back on the cocking piece, at which point you can do that now.

This one is very old and not in very good condition, so I'll have to help it back, here we go, it should be a lot more slippery than this one. By the way, there's some cool videos you can watch from um balash of cap and ball um Brett Gibbons, the guys who have done some cool stuff with working stuff going on. This is a museum piece, so throw it away, throw it back. and you can insert your cartridge now this is a fully prepared self-contained cartridge for the first time you don't have to put the cap on the nipple the cap is on the cartridge and that's where the needle comes in because I think this primitive I can, I can legitimately call this one primitive form of bolt action, requires the needle to go up the back of the paper cartridge well enough to strike and light the cap inside to fire the charge and send the bullet down the barrel, so you insert your cartridge, which you push in, you close it, it's the classic bolt action that we know and love from later conflicts or that maybe you don't do is get shot at, which leaves the final step of pushing the needle holder forward to actually do it and if this one had its needle holder installed, unfortunately we would not have a small effective cocking piece or cocking piece inside the needle holder, so that the needle holder inside the stocking piece would stick out the back and when we pulled the trigger, it would fire forward to shoot the round so apologies this one is in slightly relic condition it has also been thoroughly cleaned so it looks very shiny and new but that is because at one point it was a bit rusty but at least It gives you a good impression of what it could be.

It looked like when it was issued brand new um it also has a slightly bent rammer but we won't take that into account it's an important feature of these rifleswould be the sights on the needle rifle we have several options I have a kind of notch block effectively there, um, I think it's something like three, which is 300 schrit, which is about 260 meters, something like that shrit, which is one step in another unit of measurement in use in that region at that time, so we have two. On other blades on the site, you can flip them over so one stands up and gives you extended range, of course, with a notch at the top and then up to seven, a maximum of 700 frets, which is about 600 meters, you have a small notch right at the top.

Of this very tall Leaf here is an intermediate one with a small window in the middle, so there are several different site options really quite precise up to maybe 600 meters. This is actually shooting a subcaliber bullet. Are your bullets smaller than real ones? Diameter of 13.2 millimeters in diameter from a diameter of 16 and a half millimeters. They are using a Sabo cup to engage the rifling grooves and spin the bullet. The bullet itself is not spinning. It is also a very long bullet and not very aerodynamic. It is egg shaped and that is why the trajectoryThis thing at 600 meters is a real bow and well, guys who have shot them today to test them, they will not be able to hit a target the size of a man at 600 meters or even 500 meters, this is the effective way.

The range of this thing is more like 300 meters. We think it's very fast to shoot seven shots per minute with this thing compared to two shots per minute for a muzzle-loading rifle previously or three shots per minute for a soft port musket, so it's more than double that. as fast as even a softball musket with rifle accuracy, but only up to 300 meters, so something like a Baker rifle on the British side or a very high-tech Brunswick rifle for 1841 is actually a bit behind the curve in some ways in 1864 when the second Schlesfig war occurs and this thing shows its capabilities, but it does not have the legs of what would become the true king of the battlefield, possibly the mini rifle, while the lorentz um of 1866 is using a mini pattern bullet the potterville bullet is basically a mini capable it expands at the base to physically fit into the rifling grooves and this thing will take you to an effective range of 500 meters so battles like Connor Gratz's really comes down to Tactics, Experience and Numbers, the rifle absolutely helped, but if the Austrians had used the extra range of the Lorentz, maybe the story would have been different instead of relying on the old bayonet, thanks to Jonathan and Royal Gunsmiths for providing us with their extensive collection, check out their YouTube channel and, for example, the recent video on the Enfield Needle Gun for more information on historic firearms.

The Prussian daiser's reputation extends beyond the military sphere. Austrian author Berta Fonsotna later writes about the deadly effect of the new rifle in her anti-war novel Defender as cattle for slaughter our troops must succumb to this murderous weapon is the Austrian artillery the most important weapon on the battlefield in this The Austrian M1863 field gun is superior in range and penetrating power, but the steel breach loading the Prussian C64 for pound guns can fire much faster at 10 rounds per minute. Still, of 870 Prussian guns, 35 percent are older smoothbore guns that are inferior to the Austrian M1863 that these modern industrial weapons bring. a horrific lethality on the battlefield as described by an Austrian witness.

I see a horseman some distance behind me, next to whom a shell explodes. The man is still sitting in the chair, but a projectile fragment has torn his abdomen and all of his intestines. The body is only held together with the lower part of the body by the spine from the ribs to the thighs. A big bloody hole. Austrian commanders also still believe in some outdated methods of warfare because they misinterpret the lessons of the Sardinian War of 1859 as mass bayonet charges they call Stos Tactic Benedek is among those who resist the idea of ​​a General Staff-style of oppression.

I conduct the affairs of war according to simple rules and am unimpressed by complicated calculations, so an experienced Austrian army, hampered by budget cuts and outdated ideas about command, faces a modern but mostly non-modern Prussian force. proven. The most dramatic clash between the two takes place in Bohemia at the beginning of the war. Many observers predicted that Austria would prevail, including the Prussian writer Friedrich Engels, if the Prussians refused to be defeated in the first major battle by the superior. leadership, organization, tactics and morale of the Austrians, then they are certainly of different metal than what a 50 year old peace army can be expected to be.

Austria and Prussia adopt opposite strategies at the beginning of the war. Malika decides that the best defense was a good offensive and they planned to take the war to Austrian territory. The Prussians moved their three armies with speed and precision along the railways to the border between Saxony and Austria. The three Prussian armies attacked the Austrians are the first army of 93,000 troops under the command of Prince Frederick, the second army under the command of Crown Prince Philip William with 115,000 men and the army of Elba under the command of General Karl ibrahart Von Bittenfeld with 46,000 men once they reach the terminals railways, the armies were to continue on foot and gather in northern Bohemia.

This plan later became known as The Yetrent Machine Marched Separately and not all Prussian officers supported it. It made the most efficient use of the rail and road network, but it also depended on stable communication between depression units while on the moon and on the Austrians reacting like the Prussians. Two very uncertain factors are expected in the war. Emperor Francis wants the 247,000 soldiers and 24,000 allied Saxons of his Northern Army to take the offensive, but Von Benedict prefers to wait and see what happens, so in the end the Northern Army does not accept the pressure of the Kaiser himself.

Benedict to move them north towards Joseph Stud, leaving only one Corps to defend the important Yizera River line while the Austrians faltered in the depressions and traveled on the rails southward, a novel experience for most of the men once they leave the trains and start. marching on foot for many recruits the adventure turns bitter Captain Hans von Ketchman of the 2nd Magdeborg Infantry Regiment number 27 writes to his wife Jen about the summer heat in Libera three people collapsed and died and there were lines at the military hospital of men being treated with ice packs on their heads despite the heat on June 16 the Elbarme invades Saxony without the support of Austria the Saxon army abandons its own kingdom without a fight and joins parts of Benedict's army in the north of Bohemia and the three Prussian armies continue the march they get no easier when Captain Catchman writes to Jen we have difficult days, terrible marches uphill downhill our rations are poor as the Bohemians abandoned their villages destroyed their wells and carried the cattle to the forest the three separate Prussian armies also have problems with communication maltka's orders from Berlin are often delayed, so field commanders make decisions on the spot, leading to the first army being delayed and not reach the meeting point with the other two armies at Glitchin, while the last six Austrian corps reached Joseph stat on June 26, the same late day.

Elbaame units clash with units of the First Austrian Corps in Hunabasa, near the Izar River. Austrian journalist Hans Wachenhausen has low expectations for the first nucleus. Commander Eduard Graf Von clam Galas clam gallus is a general who is said to have had the custom. of having breakfast twice I would not like to hand over command of a century of field the journalist's doubts are confirmed when the first clash leads to an Austrian retreat the first Austrian corps now begins to advance towards Joseph stat to unite with the rest of the army because clam Galas does not yet know that Benedict has ordered the river to be held at all costs.

When Benedict's telegram finally arrives, six Austrian battalions of the Porschacha Brigade turn and march back towards the river positions they have just abandoned only to discover that their own comrades have destroyed the bridge over which the troops intend to cross, they are experienced Slovaks and Hungarians who fought in Denmark in 1864, but when the depressions arrive, they open a devastating fire with their needle guns, forcing the Austrians to retreat. The two confrontations cost 400 Austrians and 80 Prussians die on June 27 in Tautanao 15,000 impressions reach 25,000 Austrians and the Austrians are able to temporarily hold their positions in what turns out to be Austria's only victory over Prussian forces in the war.

The Prussians lose 1,250 dead and wounded. along with 78 horses, while the victorious Austrians suffer almost 4,800 oppression, dead and wounded. The soldier bears witness to the blurring of the line between civilians and active combatants, which would become an even more important aspect of modern warfare in the later war of Frankish oppression and into the 20th century. century in trout now the citizens shoot us from their windows and pour boiling water and oil on us this statement is of course difficult to prove or disprove at the same time the Austrians are stopping the Prussians from tautanao the Prussian fifth corps confronts the Austrian sixth corps In the Battle of Nahut, both formations contain a large number of ethnic poles fighting each other on behalf of the conquerors of the 18th century Polish kingdom.

The fighting is particularly fierce in a church, a scene that the Westphalian soldier Deadlift vanilliencon writes about in his later novel. of my recruits was always by my side so through all the noise I hear his voice where are you? Someone squeezes my left hand tightly. It's my little recruit clinging to me. A shot from the side has taken out both of his eyes, but already his hands are loosening. The fingers that come loose become rigid. They remain bent and he sinks into a pool of blood. cemetery is our hurray the foreigner costs Austria 5,000 dead and wounded along with 2,500 prisoners, while the Prussians lose 1,100 men and 220 horses, ends in a bloody Prussian victory that ensures the advance of the second Prussian army in Bohemia, further east , the Prussians are worried about an Austrian attack on Silesia, although the Austrians have no such intentions, so some Ulan cavalry and two companies of select infantry launch a pre-emptive attack on local Austrian forces near the small town.

The depression of the Polish Austrian city of Auschwitz is successful, including the capture of the train station in the town of Birkenau, the site of the later infamous World War II train station. German concentration and death camp where the SS killed more than a million people. The fighting of 1866 continues on June 28 with three more battles on the same day. Admission of the great in Israel. The May elbow prevails against parts of the Austrian First Corps. Two Prussian Guard divisions of the Second Army defeat the Austrians who are still tired from the fighting of the previous days and have not yet been reinforced at Scarlett.

Von Steinmetz's fifth core makes the Austrians panic. Withdrawal. The day's losses are 7,400 Prussians killed and wounded in the three battles combined, while the Austrians lose 5,250 killed and wounded at Scarlets alone, in addition. 2,500 prisoners, a Jesuit priest at a military hospital faces the consequences of these statistics. I heard confessions and administered the last rites and, if necessary, gave to the apostolic benedict as much and for as long as I could, that is, as long as two tallow candles were enough. In the dead of night, Benedict's first attempt to stop the Prussian invasion is a complete failure, so on the 29th a combined force of Saxons and Austrians under the command of Crown Prince Albert attempts to stop the first Prussian army at Gichin. , but the Prussians again repel them and the The same happens with the Austrian attacks on Kernaganhof and Shrine Shield in Prussia.

The writer Theodore Fontana records the mood when the news of this series of Victories arrives on the 30th, the news of the Victory comes from munchengrades and glitchin from nahod skalits, tremendous excitement in the city flags and animating the processions with music night The king speaks from the balcony of his palace Bismarck from the window of his hotel at the same time a fairly strong storm at the end of June 1866 the Prussian offensive in Bohemia is going well and the Austrians are in complete retreat there has not yet been a battle decisive but that is about to change as the Prussians celebrate their victories in the opening battles of thecampaign the Austrian high command is in a state of shock the northern army has suffered around 30,000 casualties so far, causing Benedict telegraphed to Vienna on July 1 his message is simple and he urgently requests His Majesty to conclude peace at all costs disaster for the army inevitable Kaiser Francis's response is brief and blunt it is impossible to make peace I order if it is inevitable to retreat in the greatest order a battle has taken place the last line is a thinly veiled accusation of cowardice and puts Benedict under pressure to accept battle at all costs the emperor's honor takes priority over the lives of his men the austrian army prepares to intervene between the city of kernigretz and the town of sadova july 3 is a wet and cold day all three Prussian armies preparing to attack have about 220,000 men and 700 cannons available the plan is for the Elbarmen to attack the Saxons while the first army will attack the second Austrian center The army is falling behind so the Prussians need to keep the Austrians off balance until they arrive, anticipating battle.

King William, Prime Minister Bismarck and General von Malke made the trip from Berlin on the Austrian side. Benedict's intentions are defensive, so he places his units on several hills with the eighth rope just behind the Saxons for support throughout Benedek has 184,000 Austrians 22,000 Saxons and 134 cannon ready for battle and another 60,000 men and 320 guns in reserve the Austrian artillery is entrenched in prepared trenches and the gunners will try to stop the Prussians before they can reach the weaker Austrian infantry a move away from the bayonet Focus shows a tactic that is difficult to implement in the middle of a benedek campaign also replaces clam Galas with Leopold gondriku the battle begins with a fierce fight In the forest, Austrians and Prussians are engaged in hand-to-hand combat in the dense forests and the Austrian artillery launches intense supporting fire.

A unit from Magdeborg manages to capture the forest despite heavy losses, but the Austrians feel martial since the Festival is not waiting for orders from Benedict. He sends more and more Austrian attacks to retake the forest. Fonfestatich has his foot torn off by a Splinter projectile but his replacement continues the assault. The Prussian general Hansel Hotel de Schweinetz watches with the king as his forces begin to give way under the pressure of long, thin lines of men came out of the forest towards us not fleeing but completely exhausted and apathetic they returned from that hell they had endured for hours against the triple superiority of Old Man Reyse became enraged and asked: how could these Marauders dare to retreat without orders?

The officers led their men against the enemy again. I watched them for a long time as the good peasant boys, with their helmets crooked or half up to their necks, staggered back to the forest where all the tree trunks were cracked and splintered. King William is worried about the outcome, but Von Malke is confident. Just when the situation is at a critical point for the Prussians in the forest, the Second Prussian Army arrives on the battlefield at 1:30 p.m. The Austrians retreat from the Wood and Benedict's defensive battle plan is ruined. Troops he could have used to help shore up the line elsewhere have been used without his permission in costly counterattacks that have failed when the Prussian Crown Prince's army pressures the Austrian right there that afternoon.

There are not enough Austrian troops available to stem the tide. The Guard Division of the Second Prussian Army assaults and captures the Hulum Heights where the Austrian artillerymen sacrificed themselves to cover the retreating infantry and earned the nickname the Battery of the Dead. Elbarme defeats the Saxons in Provos and at 4:30 p.m. Benedict orders a general retreat and informs Vienna that the disaster he had warned of has already come to pass. Berlin Baroness Hiligard Von Schpitzenberg at the time a Prussian opponent later summed up the result. The retreat soon degenerated into a frantic flight. 000 men from both sides are shot or captured.

In short, Austria has perhaps never suffered such a terrible defeat. The Prussian victory comes as a result of better tactics, better command and control and also their superior rifles, although Friedrich Engels and others exaggerate the effect of the needle gun on the result, the simple fact is that Prussia has 500,000 needle guns. and the rest of the world doesn't even have 500. Later, Crown Prince Wilhelm is horrified by Carnage's scenes on the battlefield and criticizes Bismarck in his diary for starting the war. A Prussian cavalry captain is also concerned about the suffering of the horses now the wounded horses were shot I found lame horses grazing with their legs cut off a bullet behind the ear relieved them of pain the human losses in Konigretz are high, but not as high as Baron Schwietzenberg has heard the Prussians lose 1900 dead seven thousand wounded and 276 missing plus 900 horses the Austrian losses are much greater 4,700 dead 13,000 wounded and 25,000 missing of which 20,000 are taken prisoners The Saxons suffer 135 dead, 1,000 wounded and 400 missing.

Many of the injured will die from their injuries in the coming days. The Prussian field doctors do their best, but the Austrian army doctors have gone with their army, leaving the wounded behind. A witness describes the fate of wounded Poles from the Austrian army who were trapped in a burning town. All the wounded who could still move, mostly Austrians, had crawled into courtyards and gardens. The others had been burned to death for 24 hours. They had no other choice. refreshment that on the night when help finally arrived, nothing was heard but the cry Voda Voda and when they were given water from a nearby pond, the words Jinky Jinky sounded from their trembling lips, the dead were buried in mass graves that turned out to be too shallow for years.

Decomposing bodies oozed purple-green slime into the surrounding fields. The Austrian government requests a ceasefire on July 4, but the Prussians refuse. The emperor relieves Benedict of his command and the northern army retreats towards Vienna. The Prussian forces then take Prague, but not without a fight. and after two small engagements on July 15, the first Elbame units reached the outskirts of Vienna on the 20th, but as the army advances, so does a deadly outbreak of cholera that soon spreads from the Prussian Second Army to other units of oppression and also to the Austrian units. As civilians, cholera kills 6,400 soldiers, more than all the fighting in Bohemia, in addition to civilian casualties, while the Bohemian campaign pits Austria against Prussia, armies are also on the march in the German states to the west, few days after war broke out in June, two Prussians. divisions with 28,000 men enter the allied Austrian kingdom of Hanover the eighteen thousand strong Hanoverian armies on maneuvers when the war begins so they are outgunned but outnumbered and outgunned the Hanoverians abandoned their capital and moved southeast to Langenzalsa in the Prussian province of Saxony.

He really does not want to fight the Hanoverians and hopes to allow them to leave with honor, but King George V feels that his honor has been offended. The king of Hanover cannot decide whether he will fight or not. The Prussian general von Manteifel fears that if there is no battle it will be lost. On the laurels of the victor I cannot comply with the demand for an armistice and today I will continue attacking attack attack the two armies face each other in the battle of Langenzalsa on June 27, which the Hanoverians managed to win against all expectations, but 18,000 Prussian reinforcements arrive and the Hanoverians are now outnumbered by more than two to one.

King George agrees to surrender on June 29. Hanover has lost more than 1,400 dead and wounded to defend the king's honor, while Prussia loses more than 800 so that its generals could seek a victory that could not even be achieved after clearing the battlefield of the Dead, a contemporary reports. upon the grim results of this search for Glory, the bodies in the carts lie there, so swollen to the point of deformity, with faces completely black, the terrible wounds covered with swarms of oppression flies. The gunner must have received a direct hit his clothes were completely burned up to the belt the smell was indescribably terrible of the wounded amputated at langenzalsa 42 percent die in the days after the battle once the hanoverians have surrendered the three prussian divisions are united under the command of general von Falkenstein and forms the Mind Army Feikenstein now turns his attention to the southern German states that are loyal to Austria and the confederation, these states have combined their troops into two joint federal cores: the Bavarian Seventh Corps under the command of Prince Kyle of Bavaria and the 8th Corps under the command of Prince Kyle of Bavaria.

Prince Alexander of Hesse formed by units from Württemberg Baden has a darmstadt Nassau and Austria units from the Prussian allies Weimar miningen Schaumburg Lippe and Royce leave the 10th federal corps to join the Prussian forces in total federal troops begin the Mayan campaign with 86 000 men and 270 guns, while the Prussians have 45,000 men and 97 guns, although the Germans in the south outnumber those in the north. The southern combat power is much weaker. Southern states do not have mandatory military service. Their weapons are obsolete as their economies are weaker and their officers are inexperienced. Incompetent commanders of the federal corps do not even prioritize the objectives of the confederation since they are more concerned with their own regional interests.

The mine campaign is carried out after the resounding Prussian victory at Kernigrets on July 3 so that the forces of the confederation know that a strategic victory is not possible. On the other hand, Bavaria and Rutenberg are fighting to try to achieve better conditions in the upcoming peace negotiations. Baden remains loyal to the Confederacy on paper, but in practice he tries to keep his troops out of combat, as his leaders feel a debt of gratitude to Prussia for helping them quell the rebellion of 1848. This causes much bitterness among their southern allies. The first clash of arms takes place on July 4 near Denbach in Teringia.

Prussian and Bavarian troops fight to a stalemate with several hundred men dead or wounded, but no clear winner. When the Bavarians learn of the Austrian disaster at Konigretz, they withdraw to defend Bavaria without warning their Confederate allies. Bavarian morale is low, but they fight hard on their own territory on July 10. They face depressions in the battles of Hamburg and in the spa town of Bat Kissingen, where there is fierce fighting in the tourist hotels. The writer Theodore Fontana reports on the heroic but futile Bavarian sacrifice: a soldier of the 15th Bavarian regiment had barricaded himself in a Zhanna's hotel room, he rejected all pleas for surrender and finally a detachment forced their way in through a side door.

The Westphalians shouted at him. I don't want any Prussian forgiveness. He shouted and advanced with his bayonet and was struck down. His heroic courage had been earned the respect of his enemies the two battles cost the Prussians around 900 dead, wounded and the Bavarians around 700 along with 33 horses Fontana observes how local civilians helped care for the wounded both locals and foreigners were equally obedient By offering gifts and sacrifices the resort guests of all nations, especially the ladies, competed to alleviate the suffering of the unfortunate. As best they can, the Bavarians fight bravely but do not stop the Prussian advance.

The Prussian high command now tries to win quickly before peace negotiations begin. Prussian troops defeat the Hesitamstadt forces at Laofach on the 13th and an Austrian brigade at Ashaffenburg on the 13th. On the 14th, on the 16th, the Prussians take the free imperial city of Frankfurt, which was symbolically important because it had been headquarters of the revolutionary parliament in 1848, the Federal Council of the German Confederation and was the coronation site of the Holy Roman Emperors from the 16th century. They resist Prussian plans for annexation and when the Prussians threatened to bomb the city's historic mayor, Carl Fellner, he hangs himself out of desperation.

The Prussians now cross the River Mine and meet the Rippenburgers at Tauba Bishop'sheim. The southerners have superiority in artillery, but their inexperienced officers attempt to take a bridge by ordering five suicidal bayonet charges directly into Prussian rifle fire nearby. The Baden units simply abandoned their fight against Oldenburg's Hanseatic Prussian allied forces, forcing the rutenbackers to withdraw on July 25 and 26 the final battles of the Mayan campaign see the armyPrussian mental fights the Bavarians at Helmstadt Uttingen and Rosborn Bavarian troops repel Prussian cavalry in the final confrontation, which has little influence on the war as a whole, although each side loses about 900 men, a new Prussian force now advances towards northern Bavaria, ending southern resistance.

Prussian units march on August 2 towards the Bavarian capital of Ritzburg, to the chagrin of the local newspaper. At every opportunity they boasted of being victors over the Bavarian troops while the Prussian arms triumphed in Bohemia, Hanover and in the mine. Italy kept its word and opened a second front against Austria with unexpected results, the Kingdom of Italy had united many States. smaller in 1860, after a series of wars, Rome sees the current war as an opportunity to make the most of the Italian-speaking Austrian province of Venice for the new nation-state. Bismarck wanted Italy to unite to ensure that the Austrian forces were divided even though van marke had done so. doubts about Italian effectiveness, the history of the Austrian General Staff later adopts an uncharitable view of its enemies.

Let us not forget that Prussia had a great ally in the south, destined to take over Austria from the rear, while it had to fight on the German front. To protect all of Germany from Prussian rape, Italy was a much weaker military power than Prussia or Austria, but Austria had to keep most of its army in Bohemia and the southern German states, so Italy gathers two armies to march on Austria, the army of the minchio. commanded by General Alfonso La Marmora with 190,000 men, 21,500 horses and 280 cannons and the army of General Enrico Chaldini's Poe with 123,000 men, 11,000 horses and 170 cannons, the revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi also raised a volunteer force of 35,000 men, 665 horses and 40 cannons.

Defending Austrian Venice is the outnumbered southern army under Archduke Albert, which has 190,000 men, 21,000 horses and 250 cannons. The Italian plan is for the army of Minchio, with King Victorio Emanuela II in tow, to advance towards South Tyrol, while the army of the pole. Invading Venice, the Austrians will use the protection of their quadrilateral system of fortresses and attempt to isolate the Italians, resulting in the Battle of Coustosa on June 24, the same place where the Austrians defeated the Italians in 1848. The fighting begins with an undisciplined unplanned Austrian cavalry charge that costs the Austrians dearly but also paralyzes parts of the Italian army the fighting then swings back and forth throughout the day, tactically important High Ground changes hands several times gaps open on both sides and the Officers of both armies fear that they will lose the battle.

Each action is fiercely disputed as an incident in which Austrian Captain Alexander reports under the cover of crops, a battalion of Bersalieri scaled the Terraces of Monteclicol and approached an Austrian battery that did not He had supporting infantry. His commanders saw the danger and ordered the men to warm up, but two cannons were slow to do so and the bursaralis pounced on them, grabbing the driver's feet and the horse's harnesses, but the drivers hit the heads of the men. bursellieri with whips and then drove furiously up the steep slopes towards the rear, finally in the late afternoon and evening the Austrians manage to take advantage of the confusion and drive the Italians back definitively.

La Marmora is dismayed and says the defeat is even worse than 1848. The Austrians gain a defensive victory by stopping the Italian invasion, but it comes at a dear price to the Austrians. The losses are 6,500 dead and wounded and 1,500 prisoners, while the Italians lose 4,100 dead and wounded and 4,000 prisoners. An illustrated Italian magazine later reports on the massacre. Few people have ever had to see a battlefield after combat. We just saw one. It will be a source of sad reflections for the rest of our lives. The Austrian and Italian navies also clash in the only major sea battle of the war off Lisa on July 20.

The Italian Navy is more modern than the Austrian, but Austrian Vice-Admiral Wilhelm de Tegetoff achieves an improbable victory when he orders his warships to simply ram their superior Italian opponents. This becomes a fixture in Austrian school patriotic textbooks until 1918 with impressive descriptions like this. The host shouted who would get the flag. Helmsman Katsovich rushed forward with other men, they took the tricolor and, while fierce firing continued, fastened it to a cleat when the two ships separated, the Italian flag being left behind as a trophy, but despite the later propaganda . Victory over the waves does not have a decisive impact on the war for Austria.

The day after Lisa, July 21, the Italians achieve a small victory near Lake Garada. Garibaldi's forces defeat the Austrians, but the Italian authorities prevent him from taking advantage of the victory due to armistice negotiations. They have already begun. The Prussians triumph in Bohemia, Hanover and in the mine, while the Austrians win against Italy, but Austria recognizes itself defeated and asks for peace. The Austro-Prussian War ended on July 26, 1866 with the preliminary piece of the Nicolasburg order. van Bismarck negotiates with Austrian representatives Elios Caroli and Adolf von Brena Felsach, but there are internal Prussian disagreements over what to demand.

Bismarck wants to offer Austria a soft piece so as not to completely alienate them in the future and proposes that Austria plant Venice in Italy and that there there will be a triumphant Prussian march towards Vienna. King William and his General Staff want with all their might a victorious march on the enemy capital, but Bismarck gets his way with a tantrum, even thinking about jumping out of the window and also threatening to resign and convincing the Crown Prince. Bismarck paraphrases the king's response in his later quite partial memoirs, since my Prime Minister abandoned me to the enemy and I cannot replace him here, I have discussed the matter with my son and, as he agrees with the Prime Minister's opinion I I am forced to lament after such brilliant victories so that the army can bite the bullet and accept such an ignominious peace; the eventual final peace terms in the Treaty of Prague and the Treaty of Vienna, of course, still favor Prussia in Italy.

The Habsburg Empire must pay reparations of 20 million talus and hand over Venice to Italy. The German Confederation is dissolved. A North German Confederation is formed controlled by oppression. Instead, Prussia gained significant territory by annexing smaller German states such as Schlesfig Hollstein Hannover Kuhessen Nassau and Frankfurt. France remained neutral. and now he wants the compensation that Bismarck hinted at, but Prussia refuses to grant him any territory west of the Rhine. Prussian war minister Albert Von characterizes the agreement as a dictated piece and he is right, meanwhile Prussia also imposes peace treaties to the southern and central German states with a view to future war and nation-building, these treaties obligate Bavaria Württemberg Barton and Hassan to support Prussia and accept its leadership in the event of a future defensive war, but Bismarck's long-term goal is to bring them closer to Prussia and eventually a future United Germany.

The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 changes the political and military landscape of Central Europe and sets the stage for the Franco-Prussian War of 187071 and the unification of Germany. Austria is no longer the leader of the German states and its weakness accelerates internal changes. The Austrian Empire becomes the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in the Ausclage of 1867 and is now a divided state with more power in the hands of the Kingdom of Hungary. The Habsburg propagandists find refuge in praising the heroes of the war against Italy, themes that will be used. also in 1915. The defeat of the Catholic Habsburgs against Protestant Prussia is also a tragedy for the Vatican, whose foreign policy chief describes it as the collapse of the world.

The smaller German states that have now been absorbed by Prussia or are bound to it by treaties are restless. As the Prussian writer Theodore Fontana admits, above all we hope that in the new provinces of our Prussian government it will soon be said like the Frisian shirt: at first it itches, but then it feels good. Prussia is a changed nation after His victory Bismarck is now the undisputed dominant figure confirmed by the elections taking place on the same day in Connecticut, even some former critics of Bismarck such as Rudolph Von ering are now swept up in the cult of the patriotic hero.

What enviable luck we have lived to see this! At this turning point in German history for such a man of action, I would give a hundred men of liberal sentiment of impotent honesty with Austria out of the picture. Prussia now dominates the North German Confederation and has the southern German states firmly tied to it. Looking to a future small Germany or a large Prussian Empire with the Prussian liberals weakened, the conservatives can impose conscription, meaning that along with the southern alliances, King William the First of Prussia now commands the largest army. largest in Europe and it is an army.

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