|Otto Von Bismarck|
Prussia proved how modern and efficient her military forces were in a war against Denmark alongside the other members of the German Confederation, including Austria, in 1864. This area would provide the excuse for Prussia finally going to war with Austria only a few years later in 1866. It seems more likely that Bismarck was at least largely responsible for orchestrating this, possibly after being less than impressed with the capability of the Austrian army when compared to that of Prussia. By this time, the great Austrian commanders of 1848 were gone and the penny-pinching government in Vienna had failed to keep the Austrian military modernized and up-to-date whereas the Prussian forces were positively state-of-the-art. Once again, events conspired to keep Austria largely isolated in this conflict. Although most of the south German states allied with Austria, other than Saxony they proved to be of little consequence and no outside help came for a number of reasons. France still bore ill-will against Austria and, in any event, did not expect Austria to have any trouble defeating the Prussians. Italy allied with Prussia over continued Austrian rule of Venice and Russia, previously helpful to Austria, remained neutral due to resentment over Austrian neutrality during the Crimean War (something Russia was especially touchy about considering that they had come to the rescue of Austria during the Hungarian rebellion in 1848).
|Kronprinz Friedrich at the battle of Koeniggraetz|
Bismarck, naturally, did his best to encourage this by playing up French interest in certain south German territories but for the most part it was French policy which ensured they would remain friendless in the next war. An alliance was proposed consisting of France, Italy and Austria to contain Prussian expansion and, on the surface, it seemed easy enough to accomplish. The Austrians were eager take back pride of place from Prussia and Emperor Francis Joseph agreed to the demands of the Hungarians, thus creating the Dual-Empire of Austria-Hungary in the hope that this would quiet unrest and allow him to concentrate on the Prussian enemy. As tensions increased between France and Prussia, Napoleon III certainly seemed open to the alliance but it fell apart over the situation in Italy. King Victor Emmanuel II expressed support for the alliance (eager to nullify the threat of Austria) but the public remained adamantly opposed so long as French troops remained on Italian soil, referring to the garrison Napoleon III kept in Rome to maintain Papal rule over the city. So long as the French remained in Rome, Italy would not ally with France and if Italy would not ally with France, Austria would not risk taking her eye off of them and so would not ally with France either. Napoleon was stuck. He had gained little from garrisoning Rome but he did not want to risk Catholic anger by withdrawing his soldiers without the consent of the Pope and the Pope was not about to consent to such a thing as the presence of French bayonets were the only thing maintaining his authority over the Eternal City. The Austria-Hungary settlement also did not work out quite as planned for Emperor Francis Joseph as the Prime Minister of Hungary opposed any intervention with France against Prussia.
|Austrian Kaiser Franz Joseph|
At the famous Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed the first “German Emperor”. This was significant. He was not “Emperor of Germany” (though many mistakenly use the term) but rather “German Emperor” which was a distinction to calm the fears of the other German monarchs that their rights might be violated. In some cases it took some effort but the German princes who had mostly opposed unification in the past, under Prussian leadership decided to get out in front of the nationalist movement rather than fighting against it. Despite his reluctance, Wilhelm I was persuaded to accept the crown of Kaiser because it came about in a way that was far removed from what had been offered to his elder brother or even what his son would have favored. German unity was not achieved by a popular vote or government legislation. It was achieved by the German princes coming together and agreeing to unification on their own terms with the imperial crown going to Prussia which had led the way. No one lost their throne over it (other than Napoleon III and that was ultimately due to his own people) and the united Germany was one of united monarchies as well as united people. Not every non-Prussian monarch was always happy with what came after but the structure established that was known as the German Empire endured until the disaster that was the First World War and no doubt would have continued had not that conflict intervened.
|Wilhelm I proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles|