Why did Prussia win the Austro-Prussian War?
In the summer of 1866, the Austro-Prussian War broke out, with Prussia winning in a war, which lasted all of seven weeks. In deciphering why Prussia won the war, or rather why Austria lost it, it is essential to review the economic situation of both nations, and somewhat more crucially, their performances and outcomes of previous ‘wars’. Looking at the facts before the warm the gap in some aspects weren’t as profound as others. Essentially, the war was really over before it began.
Austria’s situation was dire to say the least. In Europe, the usage of alliances was prevalent. One very poignant example was the alliance between Prussia and Italy, with Italy pledging troops to defend and disguise Russian movements. Austria were most excluded from the plethora of links between nations, meaning that if and when war should break out, there would not any nation willing to come to the aid of Austria in times of desperation. It was also on the verge of bankruptcy, as excursions into pointless wars had put a very heavy burden on Austrian shoulders. Additionally, the ‘war’ of Schleswig-Holstein proved to be a debacle and this consequently put a dagger right into the heart of Austro-Prussian relations, with Austria still supporting the Duke of Augustenburg to be the reigning monarch, whilst Prussia worked for annexation, on the contrary.
Meanwhile, Prussia was most certainly in a very strong position. They were certainly on the rise and that almost all down to the Zolleverein. This boosted the use of mines and factories. This consequently led to a significant increase in production, and allowed Prussia to make inroads into the European community, and become a burgeoning power and force. Prussia’s strength did not at their economic supremacy, however. The Zolleverein was essentially initiated by Bismarck, and improving the economy was one of many things that he had sought to improve. These reforms were made under the umbrella-term of ‘Realpolitik’.
Their leader, Bismarck was a leader who had a firm in the ideals of ‘Realpolitik’; a term which depicted the ruthless and cynical policies of leaders to increase the power of a state. In this very description, the actions of Bismarck have a clear notion of expanding Prussia’s influence. In 1866, he signed a treaty with Italy to strengthen their position numerically. This proved to be a demonstration that Bismarck needed others around him for his policies to come to fruition.
When looking at the months just before the war, it is clear that Bismarck had a systematic plan to get Austria into ear, by first reforming (or at least trying to reform) the Confederation. Austria, fearing a surprise attack then mobilised, with Prussia doing the same. Then Austria broke relations off, causing even more tension, and later on in June 1866, in the same month and year, Bismarck proposed that Austria be excluded from the Confederation, causing shockwaves. Austria then asks the diet to reject the proposals. However, censured by the diet, Prussia withdrew from the Confederation, and later invaded 3 Northern States. In late June 1866, the Austrians beat the Italians, not requiring much time or effort. However, unbeknownst to them, a Prussian general Moltke, decided to invade Bohemia, to stop the Austrians linking up with the north from the south. Moltke decided then split up his forces for faster movement. The Austrian army however weren’t able to destroy these smaller Prussian armies. Here in this series of events, Austria proved that by reacting in the way that they did proved pivotal in making a very important decision for the Prussians. Their move on the offensive wasn’t what was expected off allies. In doing this, Austria endangered itself politically, and subsequently made itself more and more isolated from arguably one of Europe’s most burgeoning powers.
In arguably the main battle of the war, the Battle of Koniggratz, even though Austrian artillery and strength in numbers was significant larger, Prussia was able to win with relative ease, in only seven weeks. The half a million men involved in the war were equally balanced but the Austrians were out done by the pincer movements of the Prussian army. This tactic was simply composed of splitting up large amounts of the army into small commando groups to confuse the opposition and moreover make them very difficult to pick up. Moreover, the newest piece of military technology, the Breech loading needle gun which was five times faster than any other gun that the Austrians possessed. With this innovation, Austria had suffered 45,000 causalities and Prussia, 9,000. The Prussians had won the war.
With the main part of the war being so short, it becomes impossible to simply overlook the crisis that had preceded the war. AJP Taylor, the well-known historian often labels Bismarck as an opportunist, someone who thrives on the failure of others for his own benefit. While Bismarck’s predatory nature did shine through, he did show intuition and tranquillity, where others perhaps could not have done. Bismarck works an angle to severely damage the Austrians, and finally succeed. The shrewdness and risqué attitude of Bismarck shone through right his ranks, as von Moltke successfully used pincer movements and the latest type of weapon, the breech-loading needle gun. An attitude doesn’t not just require you to be opportunist – it requires attention to detail, and most of all precision, and in seeing this war, the character behind Bismarck isn’t one of being just lucky, but one of strategy and superior analysis.