Austrian-Prussian rivalry denotes the conflict between Austria and Prussia over dominance over the German states, a conflict which reached a high point with the Seven Years' War.
It reached a further high point with the wars of German unification of 1864-1871. After Austria and Prussia had cooperated in putting an end to Danish efforts to annex the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg in the Second Schleswig War; disagreements over the leadership of the German Confederation led to federal military action against Prussia, and to the Austro-Prussian war. The war was triggered by a dispute over the administration of Schleswig and Holstein after the termination of the Second Schleswig War.
Austro-Prussian rivalry was marked by systemic/fundamental and at the time virtually irreconcilable differences (?), that were consolidated in the respective states. Ultimately, after its victory over Austria in 1866, Prussia was able to push through the Lesser German solution, which meant the unification of the German states without Austria. The German Confederation that had existed since 1815 was dissolved after the 1866 Peace of Prague. The Austrians' preferred Greater German solution appeared too dangerous to many of Europe's politicians, seeing as it would have threatened the balance of power and status quo. In the course of the reorganisation of European alliance systems at the 1878 Berlin Congress, the Austro-Prussian rivalry was finally resolved/overcome with the Dual Alliance.