Brunswick, Duchy of
Years: 1815 - 1871
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The Zollverein, or German Customs Union, includes all the German states by 1854 save five small northern states and Austria, which the Zollverein totally excludes because of its highly protected industry.
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.
Most of the German states side with Austria against Prussia, even though Austria had declared war.
Those that side with Austria include the Kingdoms of Saxony, Bavaria, Württemberg, and Hanover.
Southern states such as, Baden, Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), Hesse-Darmstadt, and Nassau also joined with Austria.
Some of the northern German states join Prussia, in particular Oldenburg, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Brunswick.
The Kingdom of Italy participates in the war with Prussia, because Austria holds Venetia and other smaller territories wanted by Italy to complete the process of Italian unification.
In return for Italian aid against Austria, Bismarck agrees not to make a separate peace until Italy has obtained Venetia.
Notably, the other foreign powers abstain from this war.
French Emperor Napoleon III, who expects a Prussian defeat, chooses to remain out of the war to strengthen his negotiating position for territory along the Rhine, while the Russian Empire still bears a grudge against Austria from the Crimean War.
This war, the first between two major continental powers in seven years, will uses many of the same technologies as the American Civil War, including railroads to concentrate troops during mobilization and telegraphs to enhance long distance communication.
The Prussian Army will use von Dreyse's breech-loading needle-gun, which can be rapidly loaded while the soldier is seeking cover on the ground, whereas the Austrian muzzle-loading rifles can only be loaded slowly, and generally from a standing position.
The Prussian armies are gathered along the Prussian border at the outset of the war in June: the Army of the Elbe under Karl Herwarth von Bittenfeld at Torgau, ...
...the First Army under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia between Senftenberg and ...
...Görlitz, and ...
...the Second Army under Crown Prince Friedrich in Silesia west of Neiße (Nysa).
The Austrian army under Ludwig von Benedek is concentrated at Olmütz (Olomouc).
The campaign begins with Herwath von Bittenfeld's advance to Dresden in the Kingdom of Saxony, where he easily defeats the Saxon army of twenty-five thousand and joins with the First Army.