Austro-Prussian War

Austro-Prussian War
Part of the wars of German unification and the Austria–Prussia rivalry
Battle of Königgrätz, by Georg Bleibtreu. Oil on canvas, 1869
Date 14 June – 22 July 1866 (1 month and 8 days) Location German Confederation (South and Central Germany, Bohemia and Moravia), Kingdom of Hungary, Northern Italy, Adriatic Sea Result Prussian-led German states and Italian victory Dissolution of the German Confederation Formation of the North German Confederation Exclusion of Austria from German national politics Formation of Austria-Hungary Territorial changes Prussia annexes Hanover, Holstein, Schleswig, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau, Frankfurt and fringe possessions of Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt Italy completely annexes Venetia and part of Friuli
Belligerents
Prussian-led German states Prussia Saxe-Lauenburg Mecklenburg-Schwerin Brunswick Saxe-Coburg & Gotha Saxe-Altenburg Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Anhalt Schwarzburg Waldeck Lippe Lübeck Bremen Hamburg Italy	Austrian-led German Confederation states  Austria  Bavaria  Saxony  Hanover  Württemberg Hesse-Kassel  Baden Hesse-Darmstadt Nassau Saxe-Meiningen Reuss-Greiz Schaumburg-Lippe Frankfurt Liechtenstein
Commanders and leaders
Wilhelm I Otto von Bismarck Helmuth von Moltke Albrecht von Roon Victor Emmanuel II Alfonso La Marmora Giuseppe Garibaldi	Franz Joseph I Albrecht von Teschen Ludwig von Benedek Wilhelm von Tegetthoff Ludwig II Prince Karl Theodor Crown Prince Albert Johann II
Strength
637,262[1]  Prussia 437,262  Italy 200,000	522,203[2]  Austria 407,223  Bavaria 38,000  Saxony 26,500  Hesse 20,000  Hanover 18,400  Württemberg 7,000  Baden 5,000  Liechtenstein 80
Casualties and losses
List [3]  Prussia: 40,000 11,765 battle deaths c.7,000 disease deaths c.25,000 wounded c. 1,100 missing 910 captured  Italy: 11,197 2,314 battle deaths c. 4,500 wounded 553 missing c.5,000 captured	List [2]  Austria: 106,796 24,431 battle deaths 19,134 disease deaths c.40,000 wounded 12,365 missing c.40,000 captured  Hanover: c.25,000 3,456 battle deaths c.5,500 wounded 16,263 captured or missing  Bavaria: c.20,000 5,500 battle deaths c.1,200 wounded 1,397 captured or missing  Saxony: 7,000 1,341 battle deaths 4,678 wounded 580 captured or missing  Hesse: 3,500 767 battle deaths 2,321 wounded 546 captured or missing  Württemberg: 2,300 452 battle deaths 1,679 wounded 198 captured or missing  Baden: 500 112 battle deaths c.300 wounded 57 captured or missing

The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as Deutscher Krieg ("German War"), Deutscher Bruderkrieg (pronounced [ˌdɔʏtʃɐ ˈbʁuːdɐkʁiːk] ^ⓘ; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia, with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation. Prussia had also allied with the Kingdom of Italy, linking this conflict to the Third Independence War of Italian unification. The Austro-Prussian War was part of the wider rivalry between Austria and Prussia, and resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states.

The major result of the war was a shift in power among the German states away from Austrian and towards Prussian hegemony. It resulted in the abolition of the German Confederation and its partial replacement by the unification of all of the northern German states in the North German Confederation that excluded Austria and the other southern German states, a Kleindeutsches Reich. The war also resulted in the Italian annexation of the Austrian realm of Venetia.