Prussia’s King William I, after declaring that he felt “trapped, like a fox indoors… (with) no choice but to bite my way out,” initiates the Austro-Prussian War to conquer and unite a majority of the Germanic principalities. (Geoffrey Wawro, The Austro-Prussian War: Austria’s War with Prussia and Italy in 1866 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).)

The many small German states, in anticipation of war, ally themselves with either Austria or Prussia depending on their desires and goals.

Most kingdoms surrounding Prussia ally with Austria in fear of losing their autonomy to the Prussian state.

This in turn boxes Prussia against the Baltic Sea, prompting the King to make the above “trapped fox” statement.

King George V of Hanover had believed he could negotiate independently with the Austrians and Prussians, wasting time when he could have strengthened his forces by joining other German states.

When he finally attempted to do so, it was too late.

In a show of the Hanoverian naïveté, George's Foreign Minister had declared that Bismarck would never break federal law, which insists on maintaining a six week interval before invading another land.

On June 15, 1866, King Wilhelm orders Hanover, Saxony, and Kassel to disarm at once, effectively beginning the war with Austria’s allies.

On June 16, Prussian forces begin moving against all three German states, with those of General August Karl von Goeben approaching Hanover.