Central Europe has been split for centuries…
January 1864 CE
Austria, the personal territory of the Habsburg Emperors, had traditionally been considered the leader of the German states, but Prussia had steadily become increasingly powerful and by the late eighteenth century had been ranked as one of the great powers of Europe.
The Holy Roman Empire had been formally disbanded in 1806 when Napoleon had reorganized the political makeup of Central Europe.
The German states had been drawn into the ambit of the Confederation of the Rhine (Rheinbund), which had been forced to submit to French influence until the defeat of the French Emperor.
After the Napoleonic Wars ended in 1815, the German states had once again been reorganized into a loose confederation: the German Confederation, under Austrian leadership.
In the meantime, partly in reaction to the triumphant French nationalism of Napoleon I, and partly as an organic feeling of commonality glorified during the romantic era, German nationalism has become a potent force.
The ultimate aim of most German nationalists is the gathering of all Germans under one state.
Two different ideas of national unification eventually come to the fore.
One is a "Greater Germany" (Großdeutsche Lösung) that would include all German-speaking lands, including and dominated by the multinational empire of Austria; the other (preferred by Prussia) is a "Lesser Germany" (Kleindeutsche Lösung) that would exclude even the German parts of Austria and be dominated by Prussia.
The pretext for precipitating armed conflict is found in the dispute between Prussia and Austria over the administration of Schleswig-Holstein.
When Austria brings the dispute before the German diet and decides to convene the Holstein diet, Prussia, declaring that the Gastein Convention had thereby been nullified, invades Holstein.
When the German diet responds by voting for a partial mobilization against Prussia, Bismarck declares that the German Confederation is ended.
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