African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 41: Chapter 37: War

June 14, 1866.

Prussia declared war on Austria, citing Austria’s poor management of Holstein.

On the day of the declaration, the Prussian Army on the western front launched a blitzkrieg attack on the North German states, swiftly taking control of these states’ governments and railway hubs.

Due to the longstanding influence and marriages of the Austrian Habsburg family, only a few German states with minimal military strength supported Prussia, while those of slightly larger size sided with Austria.

At the last German Confederation meeting, Prussia’s attempt to resolve the German question by force was rejected by many countries present.

This meeting made Prussia realize it had virtually no allies in the German region, so after war broke out, Prussia quickly declared war on these small North German states.

At this time, Prussia was divided into two parts on the map, with these fragmented German states in between.

These small states, mostly surrounded by Prussia, dared to side with Austria, and the unscrupulous Prussian army naturally did not negotiate but directly launched a war to take over their governments.

Prussia’s determination to unify the entire North of Germany and achieve the Small German Plan was unprecedented, and these small states were not wise enough to see it; they could only be eliminated.

The few somewhat capable opponents of Prussia in the south were one thing, but these small states and Free Cities with virtually no military strength, located in Prussia’s heartland, dared to make noise.

As the Prussian army marched directly into the North German states via railway on the western front, these small states were naturally powerless to stop it, and Prussia successfully took over their administrative authority.

The first task was to eliminate these ungrateful small states to prevent them from stabbing Prussia in the back, while ensuring the safety of Prussia’s east-west rail network.

The Bohemia battlefield was the main battleground of the Prussia-Austria war, where both sides gathered hundreds of thousands of troops, but Prussia’s efficiency was clearly higher than Austria’s.

Back in 1862, Prussia’s Von Roon implemented several military reforms to ensure that all Prussian citizens were obligated for conscription.

Before this, the army’s size had been set earlier without considering population growth, making conscription unfair and unpopular.

While some Prussians remained in the army or reserve until age 40, about one-third (even more in areas with population surges due to industrialization) had minimal assignments in their hometown forces.

The implementation of universal conscription within three years increased the size of the active army and provided Prussia with a reserve force comparable, and superior, to Austria’s.

Prussia considered that if Napoleon III’s France attempted to interfere with Prussian actions, they could also mobilize equivalent or greater forces against Napoleon III’s army through the reserve system.

Conscription in Prussia was continuous training and exercises, whereas some Austrian military commanders routinely sent conscripted infantry home on permanent leave soon after enlistment, keeping only a long-term contingent in barracks or on duty.

Thus, Austrian conscripts had to be almost retrained from scratch when summoned back to the units after the outbreak of war.

So the Prussian army was better trained and more disciplined than the Austrian army, especially in infantry.

Although Austrian cavalry and artillery were as well-trained as their Prussian counterparts and Austria had two elite heavy cavalry divisions, advances in weapons and tactics since the Napoleonic Wars rendered cavalry charges obsolete.

The Prussian army was organized locally into military districts, each comprising a corps headquarters and its constituent units. Most reserves lived near their regiments’ depots, enabling rapid mobilization.

Austria’s policy was to station troops far from home to prevent involvement in separatist uprisings.

Conscripts on leave or reserves recalled during mobilization faced journeys that might take weeks to report to their units, making Austria’s mobilization much slower than the Prussian army.

Meanwhile, Prussia’s rail system was more developed than Austria’s, allowing more troops to be supplied than ever and enabling rapid movement within friendly territories. The more efficient Prussian railway network allowed the Prussian army to concentrate faster than the Austrians.

Moltke, reflecting on his plans for Rune, said: ”We have an incalculable advantage by being able to move our 285,000 field army over five railway lines and nearly concentrate them in 25 days. ... Austria, with only one railway line to assemble 200,000 people, would need 45 days.”

Old Moltke also said earlier, ”There is nothing more welcome than the war we must have now.”

The Austrian army under Ludwig von Benedek in Bohemia.

Previously enjoyed the advantage of a ”central position” as they could focus on launching consecutive offensives along the border regions.

But the faster concentration of Prussia offset this advantage. When Austria was fully concentrated, they couldn’t stop two other Prussian armies from attacking their flanks and rear while focusing on a single Prussian army, threatening their lines of communication.

Meanwhile, in the south, the presence of the Italians forced Austria to divert forces to fight the Kingdom of Italy, and Austria even voluntarily withdrew from Venice.

The war situation was unfavorable to Austria from the start, and the aging Austria had to seek help from Napoleon III. However, Napoleon III underestimated Prussia, agreed to Austria’s request, but delayed getting involved.

On June 23, the Prussian army assembled on the Zavidov to Qi Tao line.

On June 26, the battle between Prussia and Austria broke out at the Yunna River.

Chief of Staff Old Moltke of the Prussian army carefully planned the battle formation, concentrating firepower to attack Austria. When the Austrian army concentrated on invading Silesia, he moved forces to Saxony and Bohemia to join King William I of Prussia, who had already assembled a large force there.

On July 3, the Prussian army launched a massive offensive, defeating the Austrian army at the Battle of Königgrätz (also known as the Battle of Sadowa). Despite having a numerical advantage, Austrian casualties were seven times those of the Prussian army, all due to Prussia’s superior equipment and strategy.

Except for Saxony, other states had little impact on the war. Hanover’s army defeated the Prussian army in the Battle of Battergen-Salz on June 27 but soon surrendered after being besieged by a large army. The Prussian army clashed head-on with Bavaria on the Main River, fighting in Nuremberg and Frankfurt. Würzburg in Bavaria was besieged by the Prussian army but had not surrendered by the time of the armistice.

However, Austria’s unexpected success against Italy, defeating the Italian army in the Battle of Custozza on June 24 and the naval battle of Lissa (now Vis in Croatia) on July 20.