On Aug. 23, 1866, the Austro-Prussian War came to an official close with the Treaty of Prague. The war had been an essential step in Otto von Bismarck's plan to unify the German states under Prussian leadership.

By 1862, Bismarck was the chancellor — roughly equivalent to a prime minister — of Prussia, the north German state that called Berlin its capital. Under the reign of King Wilhelm I, Bismarck was in many ways the power behind the throne and the chief architect of Prussia's domestic and foreign policies. A die-hard monarchist, Bismarck nevertheless co-opted things such as workers compensation insurance, social security, and other traditionally socialist positions with the intention of placating Germany's working class and preventing revolution.

Nevertheless, under Bismarck, power was concentrated in the monarch and the chancellor, backed by the military. The German parliament, the Reichstag, appeared a genuine democratic institution but had little practical power. Indeed, so autocratic was Bismarck's rule that he earned the moniker “The Iron Chancellor.” His politics often put him at odds with the liberally minded crown prince, Frederick.

Bismarck shared the dream of many German nationalists who wanted to see a unified empire molded out of the disparate independent German states. During the revolutions of 1848, middle-class liberals and nationalists had met in Frankfurt for such a purpose. Which state would lead such an empire, however?

Austria, the largest and most powerful German state, had its own empire that extended far beyond German lands. The Austrian empire included Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Italians, Poles, Romanians, Transylvanians and many other ethnic groups and lands. Surely Emperor Franz Josef would not be willing to part with those lands, especially to rule a far more liberal German empire.

The nationalists approached Prussia. When King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, Wilhelm's older brother, was asked if he would be the new empire's monarch, he told the delegates he would happily become emperor if his fellow monarchs asked. He would never, however, accept “a crown from the gutter.”

It is unlikely that, even if the Prussian king had been amiable, Austria would have allowed the formation of a German empire that could challenge its own power in central Europe. France, too, would take issue with it. In any event, without the leadership of one of Germany's most powerful states, the nationalists' dream of a unified German state fell apart. By the early 1860s, however, Bismarck was prepared to act.

After the death of the Danish King Frederick VII in late 1863, the ownership of two Danish provinces, Schleswig and Holstein, came into question. Bismarck saw an opportunity to expand Prussia's influence and power. Austria, angered at the Danes' claim on what they considered to be German lands, soon made common cause with Prussia.

A brief war was fought in 1864 in which Denmark was defeated by far superior Prussian and Austrian forces. The two states divided the provinces between them, and Schleswig became Prussian while Holstein became Austrian. The Austrians soon realized, however, that the distributions of spoils favored Prussia, which was geographically nearer to the provinces, more than themselves. When Austria sought to amend the terms of the agreement, Bismarck used this as a pretext for war.

Bismarck knew that no German empire could be formed under Prussian hegemony so long as Austria maintained its power and influence in central Europe. Therefore, a war against Austria would be necessary before any such empire-building occurred. In mid-June 1866, both Prussia and Austria mobilized their armies and marched with their allies throughout the German states.

A series of battles followed, culminating in the Battle of Königgrätz on July 3. At Königgrätz, which took place exactly three years after the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War, superior Prussian tactics and innovative Prussian weapons like the needle gun bested the more traditionally minded Austrian army.

In the book, “Bismarck and the German Empire,” biographer Erich Eyck wrote about the battle, “The great Prussian victory at Königgrätz made a tremendous impression throughout the whole of Europe. Everybody felt that a new era was beginning, but not only for Germany, for the balance of power had been altered radically. All the Great European Powers felt this change, and no country more than France.”

Königgrätz proved the decisive battle of the war, and the next few weeks saw Austrian armies retreating before the more dynamic army from the north. A few more skirmishes were fought before the Austrians asked for an armistice July 22. It was time to make peace with the Austrians, and here Bismarck ran into some perhaps unexpected opposition.

European custom held for centuries that the vanquished party in a war hand over territory to the victor. For many, including King Wilhelm, taking some of an enemy's land was not just a matter of tradition but also of prestige and practical politics. Bismarck, however, had other plans. The ultimate showdown before German unity could be achieved would be with France. What would Austria do if Prussia's army was distracted fighting the armies of Napoleon III?

Indeed, as Eyck noted, Bismarck remarked to one of Prussia's generals shortly after Königgrätz, “We shall need Austria's strength in the future for ourselves.”

In Austria, Bismarck saw not a defeated enemy, but rather a potential German-speaking ally for the future. A new German empire in the middle of the continent would need strong allies. After all, as Walter Goerlitz noted in his “History of the German General Staff,” after Königgrätz, “Prussia had made history without French permission, and France was not likely to forgive the impertinence…”

Bismarck persuaded Wilhelm that it made more sense for Austria to be left territorially intact and relatively militarily powerful. If annexations were insisted upon and the Austrians humiliated, Bismarck knew it might drive an embittered Austria into the arms of the French, and the hoped for German empire would be surrounded by enemies. When the Prussian delegation met their Austrian counterparts in Prague on Aug. 23, it was with these points in mind.

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In the book “Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947,” historian Christopher Clark wrote, “The Austrian Emperor was spared any annexations but had to agree to the dissolution of the German Confederation (a loose alliance of states from all over Germany) and the creation of a new Prussian-dominated North German Confederation to the north of the river Main.”

The treaty allowed Prussia to annex territories from Austrian allies, with the exception of Saxony, as well as the annexation of Schleswig and Holstein and other territories. Austrian ally Frankfurt, with whom Prussia held a grudge, had to pay a heavy indemnity.

Austria had been marginalized, and now the only roadblock on the path to German unity was the French. That war came in 1870 and saw Napoleon III captured in its early stages and Paris soon surrounded. The German empire was born Jan. 18, 1871.

Cody K. Carlson holds a master's in history from the University of Utah and teaches at Salt Lake Community College. An avid player of board games, he blogs at thediscriminatinggamer.com. Email: ckcarlson76@gmail.com

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