German chancellor Otto von Bismarck has long…
1864 CE to 1875 CE
Austria has been weakened by reverses abroad, including the loss of territory in Italy, and by the 1860s, because of clumsy diplomacy, has no foreign allies outside Germany.
Bismarck uses a diplomatic dispute to provoke Austria to declare war on Prussia in 1866.
Against expectations, Prussia quickly wins the Seven Weeks' War (also known as the Austro-Prussian War) against Austria and its south German allies.
Bismarck imposes a lenient peace on Austria because he recognizes that Prussia might later need the Austrians as allies, but he deals harshly with the other German states that had resisted Prussia and
expanded Prussian territory by annexing Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, some smaller states, and the city of Frankfurt.
The German Confederation is replaced by the North German Confederation and is furnished with both a constitution and a parliament.
Austria is excluded from Germany.
South German states outside the confederation—Baden, Wurttemberg, and Bavaria—are tied to Prussia by military alliances.
In the Seven Weeks' War, the support they had given Austria had been lukewarm.
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Germans
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Schleswig, Duchy of
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Holstein, Duchy of
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Prussia, Kingdom of
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Austrian Empire
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Baden, Grand Duchy of
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Württemberg, Kingdom of
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Bavaria, Kingdom of
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Hanover, Kingdom of
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German Confederation
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Frankfurt, Free City of
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Schleswig-Holstein, Prussian Province of of
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Hanover, Prussian Province of
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German Confederation, North
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