KÖNIGGRÄTZ

The battle of Königgrätz (also known as the battle of Sadowa or the battle of Chlum) was the most decisive clash between the armies of Prussia and those of Austria and her allies during the short, seven-week long, Austro-Prussian War in 1866.

The war itself is also known under several different titles. Königgrätz was one of the largest battles of the age with almost half a million men fighting on the field.

Rivalry of Austria and Prussia

“IT IS STILL DEBATED WHETHER THE PRUSSIAN MINISTER PRESIDENT AND FOREIGN MINISTER, OTTO VON BISMARCK, ORCHESTRATED ALL THESE EVENTS IN ORDER TO BRING ABOUT A WAR WITH AUSTRIA”

The context of the Austro-Prussian War was one of nationalism and the unification of German states. At the time, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia were the two largest and most dominant forces in the German-speaking world. There were actually 37 separate states in the German Confederation but their unification became a hot topic known as ‘The German Question’ in the post Napoleonic world. In the early 19th century Prussia and Austria had been obligated to be allies against Napoleon, but from 1815 tensions had grown over which of the states would lead the new ideology of German nationalism; unification under Prussia was known as ‘Little Germany’ and under Austria ‘Big Germany’. Events of the 1848 Revolution, however, showed that Austria was not going to take the lead in such a nationalist movement and this opened the way for the kingdom of Prussia to be the key stakeholder. During the 1848 Revolution, Austrian and Russian forces brutally crushed the Hungarian Revolution in 1849 (concessions would be granted in the aftermath of 1866, creating the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867). The events leading up to the war of 1866 were the positioning of Prussia to be