Austro-Prussian War

Battle of Königgrätz, by Georg Bleibtreu. Oil on canvas, 1869

Map depicting deployment and advance of Austrian (red) and Prussian (green) troops and their allies.

Depiction of Prussian and Austrian troop movements and maneuvers during the Battle of Königgrätz

Movements of the Prussian Army near the Main river

The memorial to the Battery of the dead in Chlum, (modern Czech Republic) commemorates some of the heaviest fighting during the Battle of Königgrätz.

Prussian Prince Friedrich Karl is cheered on by his troops.

Prussian artillery at the Battle of Langensalza. Oil painting by Georg von Boddien

Austrian victory at the naval Battle of Lissa

Austrian uhlans under Colonel Rodakowski attack Italian Bersaglieri during the Battle of Custoza

Reception of Prussian troops in Berlin on 21 September 1866

The North German Confederation (red), the South German states (golden) and the exposed Alsace-Lorraine (paler) after the war

Fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation.

- Austro-Prussian War

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Kingdom of Prussia

German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.

The Prussian Crown Jewels, Charlottenburg Palace, Berlin

The Kingdom of Prussia within the German Empire between 1871 and 1918

Prussian territorial acquisitions in the 18th century

Attack of the Prussian infantry at the Battle of Hohenfriedberg in 1745

The three partitions of Poland (the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). The Russian Partition (red), the Austrian Partition (green), and the Prussian Partition (blue)

Prussia (orange) and its territories lost after the War of the Fourth Coalition (other colours)

Frederick William III of Prussia, Alexander I of Russia and Francis I of Austria after the Battle of Leipzig, 1813

King Wilhelm I on a black horse with his suite, Bismarck, Moltke, and others, watching the Battle of Königgrätz

The Prussian King's Crown (Hohenzollern Castle Collection)

The ten provinces of the Kingdom of Prussia, after the Congress of Vienna. The other member states of the German Confederation are shown in beige. The Canton of Neuchâtel in the south-west was under Prussian administration until 1848.

Current states of Germany (shown in dark green) that are completely or mostly situated inside the old borders of Imperial Germany's Kingdom of Prussia

Attempts to create a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when war ensued between its two most powerful member states, Prussia and Austria.

Otto von Bismarck

Conservative German statesman and diplomat.

The German Confederation 1815–1866. Prussia (in blue) considerably expanded its territory.

Bismarck in 1863 with Roon (centre) and Moltke (right), the three leaders of Prussia in the 1860s

Otto von Bismarck as Minister President of Prussia, shown wearing insignia of a knight of the Johanniterorden, 1858

Cartoon from 1867 making fun of Bismarck's different roles, from general to minister of foreign affairs, federal chancellor, hunter, diplomat and president of the parliament of the Zollverein, the Prussian-dominated German customs union

Surrender of Napoleon III after the Battle of Sedan, 1 September 1870

Anton von Werner's patriotic, much-reproduced depiction of the proclamation of Wilhelm I as German emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Bismarck is in the center, wearing a white uniform. (1885)

Between Berlin and Rome, Bismarck confronts Pope Pius IX, 1875

Hoisting the German flag at Mioko, German New Guinea in 1884

European officials staking claims to Africa in the Conference of Berlin in 1884

Franz von Lenbach's portrait of Bismarck in his 75th year

Photo of Chancellor Bismarck in the 1880s.

Lenbach painting of Bismarck in retirement (1895)

Bismarck's punchy sayings were borrowed by his successors, including the Nazis. This 1942 Nazi propaganda poster quotes Bismarck: "When the Germans hold together, they beat the devil out of hell."

Caricature by Opper 1895 of Bismarck & Britain's William Ewart Gladstone as performers on the political stage

Bismarck provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France.

Austria

Landlocked country in the southern part of Central Europe, situated at Eastern Alps.

Venus of Willendorf, 28,000 to 25,000 BC, at the Museum of Natural History Vienna

The Battle of Vienna in 1683 broke the advance of the Ottoman Empire into Europe.

The Congress of Vienna met in 1814–15. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars, and the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

Map of the German Confederation (1815–1836) with its 39 member states

An ethno-linguistic map of Austria-Hungary, 1910

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination sparked World War I, one of the most disastrous conflicts in human history

German-speaking provinces claimed by German-Austria in 1918: The border of the subsequent Second Republic of Austria is outlined in red.

Adolf Hitler speaking at Heldenplatz, Vienna, 1938

Austria in 1941 when it was known as the "Ostmark"

The liberation of Mauthausen concentration camp, 1945

The United Nations Office in Vienna is one of the four major UN office sites worldwide.

Austria joined the European Union in 1995 and signed the Lisbon Treaty in 2007.

The Austrian Parliament Building in Vienna

The Leopoldine Wing of Hofburg Imperial Palace in Vienna, home to the offices of the Austrian president

The Federal Chancellery on Ballhausplatz

The European Parliament: Austria is one of the 27 EU members.

A topographic map of Austria showing cities with over 100,000 inhabitants

Köppen-Geiger climate classification map for Austria

A proportional representation of Austria exports, 2019

Austria is part of a monetary union, the eurozone (dark blue), and of the EU single market.

Children in Austria, near Au, Vorarlberg

Bilingual sign of Oberwart (in Hungarian Felsőőr) in Burgenland

The birthplaces of foreign-born naturalised residents of Austria

The Basilica of Mariazell is Austria's most popular pilgrimage site.

Stiftsgymnasium Melk is the oldest Austrian school.

The campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a well-known Austrian and American actor.

Wiener Schnitzel, a traditional Austrian dish

Innsbruck hosted the 1964 and 1976 Winter Olympics, as well as the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics, the first in history.

Ski racer Franz Klammer won a gold medal at the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck.

The Austrian Empire's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 led to the end of the Confederation and paved the way for the establishment of Austria-Hungary a year later.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

Prussian field marshal.

Moltke (left) advising Ottoman commander Hafiz Pasha at Nezib

Statue of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, near the Berlin Victory Column in the Tiergarten, Berlin, by Joseph Uphues

First page of von Moltke's Instructions for Large Unit Commanders, 1869

Bismarck, Roon, Moltke, three leaders of Prussia in the 1860s

King Wilhelm I on a black horse with his suite, Bismarck, Moltke, Roon, and others, watching the Battle of Königgrätz

Statue (Leipzig 1888–1946). The statue was torn down after the communists took power.

The Moltke palace at Kreisau, now Krzyżowa, in 2005

Medallion of Helmuth Graf von Moltke the Elder wearing the 1870 Grand Cross of the Iron Cross. Bronze Medal by August Schabel, Munich.

Moltke as Chief of Staff after the two wars

Moltke Bridge Berlin, head sculpture of Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke

He commanded troops in Europe and the Middle East, commanding during the Second Schleswig War, Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War.

Third Italian War of Independence

War between the Kingdom of Italy and the Austrian Empire fought between June and August 1866.

Austrian Uhlans charge Italian Bersaglieri during the Battle of Custoza. Painting by Juliusz Kossak

Allegory of Venice, represented by the lion, hoping to join Italy, represented by the woman

The conflict paralleled the Austro-Prussian War and resulted in Austria conceding the region of Venetia (present-day Veneto, Friuli and the city of Mantua, the last remnant of the Quadrilatero) to France, which were later annexed by Italy after a plebiscite.

Electorate of Hesse

Landgraviate whose prince was given the right to elect the Emperor by Napoleon.

Hesse-Kassel (red) in 1866, just before the Austro-Prussian War

It consisted of several detached territories to the north of Frankfurt, which survived until the state was annexed by Prussia in 1866 following the Austro-Prussian War.

Duchy of Nassau

Independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse.

Declaration of Nassau's sovereignty, 30 August 1806

Schloss Weilburg, residence of the Princes of Nassau-Weilburg before 1816, and a residence of the Dukes of Nassau thereafter

Schloss Biebrich, seat of the Dukes of Nassau from 1817 to 1841 and their summer residence thereafter

The ancestral and core coat of arms of Nassau, which formed the heart shield of the greater coat of arms. It is almost identical to the coat of arms of the Netherlands and is also included as the third and fourth field in the coat of arms of the Grand Duke of Luxembourg.

Ernst Franz Ludwig Freiherr Marschall von Bieberstein, Chief Minister of Nassau (1806–1834)

The City School in Marktplatz, Wiesbaden, seat of the Nassau Parliament from 1818–1844

A flask of mineral water from Niederselters, an important business of the Nassau domain

Wiesbaden City Palace, built in 1841, which replaced Biebrich as the residence of the Nassau Dukes

Peter Joseph Blum, Bishop of Limburg (1842–1884)

The ministerial buildings in Wiesbaden, seat of the Nassau Parliament from 1844

The Erfurt Union Parliament at St. Augustine's Monastery

August Ludwig zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, Chief Minister of Nassau (1852–1866)

Map of majority religions in Nassau (1816–1866)

Memorial plaque in Limburg for the mint of the Duchy of Nassau

West side of a boundary stone, inscribed with ON for Orange-Nassau

East side of a boundary stone, inscribed with HD for Hesse-Darmstadt

Boundary stone of the Duchy of Nassau and the Kingdom of Prussia

Boundary column of the Duchy of Nassau in Dillenburg

After being occupied and annexed into the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866 following the Austro-Prussian War, it was incorporated into the Province of Hesse-Nassau.

Schleswig-Holstein

Northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig.

The historic settlement areas in present-day Schleswig-Holstein

The Limes Saxoniae border between the Saxons and the Obotrites, established about 810 in present-day Schleswig-Holstein

Results of the 1920 plebiscites in North and Central Schleswig

A German postage stamp conmemorating the Bonn-Copenhagen Declarations

Boundarystone to the District of Ostholstein

The current Minister-President: Daniel Günther

Schleswig-Holstein's islands, beaches, and cities are popular tourist attractions. Shown here is the Isle of Sylt.

View form Elbe: Left is NPP Krümmel, right is the Research Center

KKK - NPP Krümmel, GKSS - Research Center

Rosa Iceberg ("World-favorite Rose", 1983) from W. Kordes' Söhne

Rosa Apricola ("Goldenen Rose", 2005) from W. Kordes' Söhne

Thyssen-Krupp Marine Systems Shipyards Kiel

A freighter in Transit through the Kiel Canal

University of Applied Sciences Flensburg

Also following the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, section five of the Peace of Prague stipulated that the people of Northern Schleswig would be consulted in a referendum on whether to remain under Prussian rule or return to Danish rule.

German Confederation

Association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe.

Boundaries (in red) of the German Confederation with Prussia in blue, Austria in yellow, and the rest of the German states in grey

Chart: functioning of the German Confederation

Monarchs of the member states of the German Confederation (with the exception of the Prussian king) meeting at Frankfurt in 1863

Austrian chancellor and foreign minister Klemens von Metternich dominated the German Confederation from 1815 until 1848.

In Frankfurt at the Paulskirche, June 14th, 2008: The German navy commemorates the 160th anniversary of the decision of the Frankfurt Parliament to create the Reichsflotte.

The Confederation was finally dissolved after the victory of the Kingdom of Prussia in the Seven Weeks' War over the Austrian Empire in 1866.

North German Confederation

German confederated state that existed from July 1867 to December 1870.

Map of the North German Confederation (Prussia with its provinces are shown in blue)

Chart illustrating the constitution of the North German Confederation

First session of the konstituierender Reichstag on 24 February 1867. This organ was actually not a parliament as there was no federal state then. Its sole purpose was to discuss and accept the draft constitution. Later, in August, the North Germans elected the first Reichstag as established by the new constitution.

North German 7-kreuzer stamp, 1868. The postal services in the north German states were united into the Norddeutscher Postbezirk, the predecessor of the Reichspost.

The Confederation came into existence after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 over the lordship of two small Danish duchies (Schleswig-Holstein) claimed by Prussia in 1866.