Prussia Crushes Austria: Germany Redrawn at Koniggratz
The Prussian needle gun decided the Battle of Koniggratz in a single afternoon. Austrian soldiers carried muzzle-loading rifles that required them to stand upright to reload. Prussian troops had breech-loading guns they could fire lying down, giving them three times the rate of fire. When 220,000 Prussians converged on 215,000 Austrians near the Bohemian town of Sadowa on July 3, 1866, the technological gap proved devastating. Austria suffered over 44,000 casualties. The Seven Weeks' War ended Austrian influence over German affairs permanently and handed Otto von Bismarck the political leverage to forge a unified German Empire under Prussian leadership within five years, redrawing the map of Central Europe.
July 3, 1866
160 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Austria
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Prussia
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Austro-Prussian War
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Battle of Königgratz
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Austro-Prussian War
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Battle of Königgrätz
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Prussia
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Austrian Empire
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Helmuth von Moltke the Elder
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Solution petite-allemande
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Johann Gottfried Piefke
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Königgrätzer Marsch
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Geschichte Österreichs
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War of the Bavarian Succession
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Unification allemande
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Austria
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