Austro-Prussian War

Austro-Prussian War
Part of the wars of German unification and the Austria–Prussia rivalry
An oil painting of a battlefield, with several mounted cavalry in black; an indistinct city burning on the horizon.
Battle of Königgrätz, by Georg Bleibtreu. Oil on canvas, 1869
Date14 June – 22 July 1866
(1 month and 8 days)
Location
Result

Prussian-led German states and Italian victory

Territorial
changes
  • Prussia annexes Hanover, Holstein, Schleswig, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau, Frankfurt and fringe possessions of Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt
  • Italy completely annexes Venetia and part of Friuli
  • Belligerents

    Prussian-led German states

    Co-Belligerent:
    Kingdom of Italy Italy

    Austrian-led German Confederation states

    Commanders and leaders
    Strength

    637,262[1]

    522,203[2]

    Casualties and losses
    List
    • [3]
    •  Prussia: 40,000
      • 11,765 battle deaths
      • c. 7,000 disease deaths
      • c. 25,000 wounded
      • c. 1,100 missing
      • 910 captured
    •  Italy: 11,197
      • 2,314 battle deaths
      • c. 4,500 wounded
      • 553 missing
      • c. 5,000 captured
    List
    • [2]
    •  Austria: 106,796
      • 24,431 battle deaths
      • 19,134 disease deaths
      • c. 40,000 wounded
      • 12,365 missing
      • c. 40,000 captured
    •  Hanover: c. 25,000
      • 3,456 battle deaths
      • c. 5,500 wounded
      • 16,263 captured or missing
    •  Bavaria: c. 20,000
      • 5,500 battle deaths
      • c. 1,200 wounded
      • 1,397 captured or missing
    •  Saxony: 7,000
      • 1,341 battle deaths
      • 4,678 wounded
      • 580 captured or missing
    •  Hesse: 3,500
      • 767 battle deaths
      • 2,321 wounded
      • 546 captured or missing
    •  Württemberg: 2,300
      • 452 battle deaths
      • 1,679 wounded
      • 198 captured or missing
    •  Baden: 500
      • 112 battle deaths
      • c. 300 wounded
      • 57 captured or missing

    The Austro-Prussian War, (German: Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg) also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as Deutscher Krieg ("German War"), Deutsch-Deutscher Krieg ("German-German War"), Deutscher Bruderkrieg (pronounced [ˌdɔʏtʃɐ ˈbʁuːdɐkʁiːk] ; "German Brothers War") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation. Prussia had also allied with the Kingdom of Italy, linking this conflict to the Third Independence War of Italian unification. The Austro-Prussian War was part of the wider rivalry between Austria and Prussia, and resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states.

    The major result of the war was a shift in power among the German states away from Austrian and towards Prussian hegemony. It resulted in the abolition of the German Confederation and its partial replacement by the unification of all of the northern German states in the North German Confederation that excluded Austria and the other southern German states, a Kleindeutsches Reich. The war also resulted in the Italian annexation of the Austrian realm of Venetia.

    1. ^ Clodfelter 2017, p. 182.
    2. ^ a b Clodfelter 2017, p. 183.
    3. ^ Clodfelter 2017, pp. 183–184.