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Modern Europe was forged through many wars, and the German and Italian Unification Wars
fought in the second half of the 19th century were central to this process. These conflicts
changed the political and diplomatic map of the continent and ushered in a new era of
warfare when it came to both strategy and technology. The battle of Königgrätz was
the largest fought in Europe in the 19th century and decided the fate of one of the most important
wars in European history.
Both Prussia and Austria were among the winners of the Napoleonic wars, but although they
added new territories to their domains, both countries were severely weakened. The Holy
Roman Empire was abolished at the peak of the Napoleonic Wars and was replaced by the
German Confederation in 1815. The stated goal of this union was the defense of Germany from
external threats, but in reality, the Confederation became a field of diplomatic struggle between
Prussia and Austria. At the same time, the French Revolution and
Napoleonic Wars made liberalism and nationalism very popular, and these political movements
were shaking the foundations of the two leading German monarchies. Tensions were high across
the continent, and that started a series of Revolutions in 1848, which would be later
known as the Spring of Nations. Most of these revolutions ended in defeats, but this still
changed the situation. In Germany national identity was on the rise
and the revolutionaries in Frankfurt asked Prussian king William IV to become the emperor
of Germany, but he refused, fearing that it might cause a war against Russia and Austria.
At the same time, the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which were ruled by the king
of Denmark and had a German majority, revolted in 1848 and were supported by Prussia. In
1852 Prussia was forced to withdraw from the war due to international pressure and the
rebellion was defeated. Still, the Schleswig-Holstein Question remained unresolved.
Revolts took place in every region of the Austrian empire, and their nationalistic character
weakened this multi-ethnic realm. Simultaneously nationalism was getting stronger in Italy,
and as the Central and North-eastern parts of this country were controlled by Austria,
it was drawn into the First Italian War of Independence. The empire won the war, supported
by the French, but its vulnerabilities were becoming apparent.
Between 1853 and 1856 Austria failed to support its traditional ally Russia during the Crimean
war and this only exacerbated its international isolation. Sources give conflicting information
on why it happened, but in 1859 the Emperor of the French Napoleon III entered into a
secret alliance with the kingdom of Sardinia against Austria. In the ensuing Second Italian
War of Independence, Austria famously lost the battle of Solferino and was forced to
give up most of its lands in central and northern Italy.
The Austrian defeat was the sign for Prussia that it was time to attempt the unification
of Germany via diplomatic and military means. In 1861 Wilhelm I became the king of Prussia,
but his attempts to reorganize and strengthen the army were blocked by the very liberal
Prussian Landtag. In 1862 Otto von Bismarck was appointed the prime minister and Foreign
minister of Prussia. A year later Bismarck managed to find a loophole which allowed Albrecht
von Roon and Helmuth von Moltke to start reforming the army. During this period Bismarck famously
said: “The position of Prussia in Germany will
not be determined by its liberalism but by its power. Since the treaties of Vienna, our
frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority
decisions will the great questions of the day be decided—that was the great mistake
of 1848 and 1849—but by IRON and BLOOD.” In November of 1863 Bismarck gained an opportunity
to prove these words, as the Danish king Frederick VII passed away and his heir Christian XI
signed the November Constitution, basically adding Schleswig to the Danish crown. That
gave Prussia and the German Union a casus belli against Denmark, and Austria, who wasn’t
planning to lag behind Prussia, agreed to send an ultimatum to the Danes. The latter
refused and in the subsequent war allied German forces defeated their enemies with ease, and
Denmark surrendered control over the duchies to Prussia and Austria.
It is still debated if the two German states failed to divide the duchies between themselves
or if it was a deliberate provocation, but we know that for Bismarck a war against Austria
was inevitable, if he wanted to unite Germany under Prussian dominance. Through diplomacy,
he ensured the neutrality of France and Russia and signed an anti-Austrian alliance with
Italy, which was eager to take Venice from Austria.
On the 7th of June 1866 the Prussian army entered Holstein, pushing the Austrian contingent
out and on the 10th Bismarck sent letters to the German governments asking Austria to
be excluded from the Confederacy. On the 14th Austria asked the Confederation to mobilize
its forces and Prussia took it as the declaration of war. On the 16th the Prussians invaded
Hannover, Hessen, and Saxony, while Bavaria was blockaded. On the 17th Prussia declared
war on Austria, joined by Italy on the 20th. Both sides had around 350 thousand troops.
Austria was forced to place up to 100 thousand on the Italian front, while the Prussians
had to do the same against the Austrian allies in the Confederacy, so it was expected that
the adversaries would have around 240 thousand in the main theatre. The Austrians had the
better artillery, but their infantry was armed with the inferior Lorenz muzzle-loading rifle,
while the Prussians were equipped with the breech-loading Dreyse needle gun. That meant
that the Prussian infantry was shooting faster and were able to reload in the prone position.
The Austrian troops were commanded by Ludwig August von Benedek, who was famous for saving
most of the army after the defeat at Solferino. Austria had the advantage of a faster mobilization
system, but instead of taking the initiative and connecting with the Bavarian and Saxon
armies, Benedek decided to take a defensive posture in Olmütz in Moravia.
Prussia’s Chief of Staff von Moltke used his country’s advanced railway system and
massed the troops in a line extending from Saxony to Silesia across 250 kilometers: the
45,000 strong Army of the Elbe under General von Bittenfeld, was on the Saxon border; the
First army with 94,000 men commanded by Prince Friedrich Karl was in the center; and the
Second Army with more than 120,000 men led by the crown prince of Prussia Friedrich Wilhelm
was in Silesia. When the Prussians invaded, the commander
of the Saxon army – the crown prince Albert - retreated beyond the Isar River and was
joined by the First Austrian corps here, yet the rest of the Austrian army stayed at their
initial positions, not trying to take the initiative. Albert was then forced to retreat
to the town of Gitschin. The Austrians left their initial positions
only on the 18th, and even though they were closer to Gitschin, they were moving much
slower, than the Prussians. Using that, the Prussians went on an all-out attack on the
22nd and concentrated their forces on the line between Gitschin and Skaliz by the 26th.
On the 28th and 29th, the Prussians won some small engagements, Albert was forced to abandon
Gitschin, and the whole Austrian army had to retreat beyond the Bistrica river to avoid
being surrounded. The 240 thousand strong Austrian army was now fortifying the area
between the rivers Bistrica and Elbe, preparing for the battle that would be later known as
the battle of Königgrätz or Sadowa. 220 thousand Prussians converged on their positions
on the 3rd of July. The Prussian plan was to attack from three
sides and encircle the enemy. According to the sources, Friedrich Karl, who commanded
the central portion of the Prussian army, was hoping to win the battle on his own but
was convinced by von Moltke that it was not the best course of action.
By 4 am, six divisions under Frederick Karl were ready. Four of them formed the line around
the Sadowa, prepared to cross the Bystrice, with two in reserve. An hour later, Crown
Prince Wilhelm received orders from von Moltke to march swiftly south. Meanwhile, the three
divisions from the left flank marched towards Nechanice, hoping to turn the Austrian left
wing. The first shots were fired at 6:00 am by fusiliers
of 15th Division of the Army of the Elbe. The Prussians managed to push back the Saxon
forces defending the crossing over the Bystrice at Nechanice. As the battle started, nearby
Austrian soldiers began to form up. Friedrich Karl ordered all of his troops to
cross the Bystrice at 9 am. The 3rd and 4th Divisions forced the stream and pushed back
part of the Austrian 10th corps, which had to retreat to Langenhof Hill. However, the
Austrian artillery batteries were close by, and their volleys soon stopped the Prussian
advance and made the attacking troops find shelter in the Hola Forest.
To the north, 7th Division forded the Bystrice and cleared the village of Benatek of Austrian
defenders. To the southwest, they were followed by the 8th Division. The Prussians needed
to occupy the Svib forest and the Masloved Hill, to allow the left flank to connect with
the center, so at 8:30 am, the 7th division moved towards the woods. Meanwhile, as the
Austrian commanders knew the importance of the hills in the area, their 4th corps was
also moving towards Masloved, followed by the 2nd Corps which was ordered to take Horenoves.
This decision wasn’t taking into account the 2nd Prussian army which was to the Northeast.
The Austrians had a strong gunnery position atop the Lipa hill, and when the Prussian
7th division moved within the Svib forest, they were shot upon. The Prussians attempted
to leave the forest and attack the hill but were counterattacked by two infantry units
and forced to return to the woods. Unfortunately for the Austrians, as soon as they entered
the forest, the Prussians divided their forces into smaller groups, and these units had an
easier time defending their positions, while the Austrian cannons were not able to shoot
into the forest to avoid friendly fire. Both sides were funneling more and more troops
into the woods, but eventually the Prussians were forced to leave. The Austrians from the
4th corps followed, but more Prussian units joined the 7th division, and this group managed
to hold its ground against many Austrian charges. The leader of the 7th believed that the forest
could be retaken and asked for reinforcements, but von Moltke declined and ordered to wait
for the arrival of the left flank. At this point, Benedek was advised by his
officers to move three corps across the river and drive the wedge between two Prussian armies,
but the commander was cautious yet again, and instead ordered the 2nd and 4th Corps
to fall back and the 6th Corps to strengthen their right flank.
To the South, two out of three divisions of the Army of the Elbe crossed the river and
forced the defending Austrian and Saxon forces to retreat behind the Prim hill by midday.
This left the crucial Hradek Hill unprotected, and the 15th division occupied it and set
up an artillery battery. The Austrians understood their mistake and sent troops to retake the
hill, but the Prussian cannon and rifle volleys shattered this counterattack.
At this point, the main units of the 2nd army arrived to the battlefield. The Prussians
captured Horenoves, their divisions crossed the Trotinka River east of Horenoves and pushed
aside enemies defending the villages of Racic and Trotina.
By 1 pm, thw Austrian 2nd and 4th Corps were forced to abandon their positions and retreat.
The Prussians of the 1st Guard brigade and 7th division had reoccupied the Svib Forest,
and advanced south. Dividing into smaller units, the 1st Guard hurried toward the village
and the hill of Chlum. By that time the Prussian right had started shelling the Austrian 10th
Corps. Everything was going according to von Moltke’s plan.
Soon Benedek realized that his army was in imminent danger of being surrounded and cut
off. He was still ordering the 1st Corps to march south and retake the hills when he was
informed that the Prussians had taken Chlum and now were behind his lines. Benedek commanded
two reserve corps to assault Chlum. The Austrian commander attempted to stop the retreat of
his troops from the right flanks, but it was too late. The Prussians were advancing and
shelling the reserves. The panicked Austrians were now fleeing en masse and were being funneled
towards the Elbe. The Austrian casualties were more than 40
thousand, and they were saved only by crossing the river and destroying the bridges, while
the Prussians lost less than 10 thousand. Von Moltke’s troops were too tired to chase
the enemy into the night. Although the Austrians were more successful
in their war against Italy, the conflict was lost. The peace of Prague was signed in August.
Austria was excluded from the German Confederation, which was replaced by the North German Confederation
led by Prussia. Italian lands were ceded, and Austria was forced to pay large war indemnities
to Prussia. The Prussian Kingdom was victorious, yet the
Unification Wars were far from over, and even their conclusion wouldn’t mean the end of
the wars…
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