The War Aims of Each Nation in the Austro-Prussian War

In 1866, the Austro-Prussian war upended the European order, and led to the establishment of Prussian hegemony in Germany. This video aims to document some of the lesser known aims of the other major powers involved in the conflict.

Sources:
AJP Taylor, The Struggle for Mastery in Europe
Christopher Clark, Iron Kingdom

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:33 Austria
2:50 France
5:00 Italy
6:27 Wilhelmine Prussia
7:35 Bismarckian Prussia

#Bismarck, #AustrianEmpire, #Prussia,

[OldBritannia]

I hope you enjoy this short video on the war aims of the interested nations in the Austro-Prussian war. If I had another week, I should have probably liked to have included a few other minor nations like Saxony and Hanover (though, apart from a few territorial changes, or in Saxony's case restoring its pre-Congress of Vienna borders, these states didn't really have any groundbreaking aims).
Either way, I hope you can enjoy it. As usual feedback is welcomed, and feel free to point out any mistakes.

[rodmaknouni]

I hope you continue to focus on this period of history pre-WW1, you're filling in the void there is in youtube from this period with this perfectly animated and insightful content!

[nightdragonx]

More 19th century European history with colorful maps, favorite thing to see on my day off

[Harrys_History]

Great video, this war needs more coverage.
Love that you also split Wilhelmine and Bismarkian Prussia up to. :)

[thunderbird]

A VERY underrated conflict. As a matter of fact, it may be the reason one of my ancestors immigrated to America in 1866 (he was a Prussian from Pomerania, so there has been speculation in our family as to whether he was trying to avoid getting conscripted to fight the Austrians, though we cannot say for sure).

[SamAronow]

“This strategic muddle alone shows why the Habsburgs deserved to lose in 1866.”

Harsh but fair.

[nickmacarius]

I love the profile picture being used for Bismarck .The Prussian eagle is covered by Bismarck so perfectly that the wings sticking out alongside his head makes it seems as though Bismarck has a rad mullet. 😎👍

[localdissident]

This channel is so underrated. Unbiased, original. And a channel which covers Conflicts and issues completely ignored by mainstream channels

[ErichZornerzfun]

Another close run part of the war was the entire South German Campaign. Bavaria, Baden, and Wurttemberg refused to mobilize at the start of the war or even to link up their field armies, they believed Austria would simply win the war on their own and thus the South German princes believed they could just declare war as a show of solidarity. This allowed a small Prussian army of about 50 thousand to defeat the South German armies of over 100 thousand in detail.
If those states had mobilized and quickly linked their armies together they could have put up a real second front for the Prussians and prevented the swift occupation of their countries.

[TheBaldCadaver]

Your channel is such a gem, love all your videos. Amazing work.

[nikcladis]

This is peak performance work!! I will make some suggestions, you can do other parts of the world like the Scramble of Africa, Russo-Japanese war, USA civil war maybe.

[fil]

I don't know if this may interest someone, but in Italy is often narrated how Garibaldi, marching towards Trento, received a telegram from the king ordering him to stop because Prussia was urging us to sign the peace, and he answered with one single word:"obbedisco"( I obey)
Not the best english i know, i kinda struggled to form this sentence, sorry

[StronkyHose]

This is a wonderfully informative and not over-explored portion of history (at least as far as YouTube essays are concerned). I really like the direction of this channel and can only hope for more.

[Gery_g]

I really love this War aims format you have. It's really intresting to see how things could have benn had the war's gone another way.

Also it shows how much you research and actually try to make videos. I can't imagine how hard it is to find this for some countries, keep up the great work!

[louisiananlord]

Love all these pre-WWI videos! You have a keen and pragmatic mind, fellow historian!

[Real_MrDev]

The Italian war goals during the war ware largely nationalistic, they served more as propaganda than actual territorial gain, even if the Italian army performed poorly (like any war of independence due the idiocy of the high ranking generals and lack of organization), plus the Italians actually aimed for a larger expansion, not only Veneto, but also the Italian Majority city of Trieste and the Trento region (strange that you show Italy's goal with Bolzen, even if the Italians just wanted the Italian majority Trento.

[Lysimachus]

Enjoyable video as always. I'm familiar with the era but there's always something new to discover in your content.
I've long wondered about Bismarck's vision in the 1860s, he seemed to see the path ahead for unification and the required steps.
For example at 7:07 using the Austro-Prussian War to annex territory would almost certainly have made it harder to make the annexations for the ultimate prize in the form of German unification, so it shows great forethought. Austria could still remain an ally too without any territorial disputes, so again - the vision on display is extroadinary.

[flintsrevenge]

You have quickly become one of my favorite channels on YouTube keep it coming man this content is superb.

[jackoofman]

This is one of the best channels I’ve ever seen. Great work!

[Runenschuppe]

Fun fact: This war is taught under the name "German-German war (of 1866)" or less common "German Brothers' War" within Germany.