Dybbøl Falls: Prussia Strips Denmark of Schleswig
Prussian forces stormed the Danish fortifications at Dybbol on April 18, 1864, after a two-week bombardment that had reduced the redoubts to rubble. The assault succeeded in under 30 minutes, killing roughly 1,700 Danes and capturing 3,600. Denmark's defeat was total. The subsequent Treaty of Vienna forced Denmark to cede Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, roughly one-third of its territory and one-third of its population. For Prussia's Minister-President Otto von Bismarck, the war was the first step in a deliberate strategy to unite Germany under Prussian leadership. He used disputes over the shared administration of the captured duchies to provoke Austria into the Seven Weeks' War in 1866, then defeated France in 1870, completing German unification with three wars in six years.
April 18, 1864
162 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Denmark
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Kingdom of Prussia
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Austrian Empire
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Duchy of Schleswig
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Battle of Dybbøl
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Battle of Dybbøl
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Kingdom of Prussia
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Austrian Empire
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Duchy of Schleswig
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Frédéric-Charles de Prusse
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Second Schleswig War
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Prussia
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Histoire du Danemark
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