Austro-Prussian War

The Austro-Prussian War, also called the Seven Weeks' War, was fought in 1866 between the Kingdom of Prussia, under the leadership of its chancellor Otto von Bismarck, and the Austrian Empire, each backed by various allied German states, over which power would dominate a future unified Germany. The war was decided with unusual speed, its outcome effectively settled at the Battle of Koniggratz, also known as Sadowa, in Bohemia on 3 July 1866, where a Prussian army employing superior mobilization, rail logistics and breech-loading rifles inflicted a decisive defeat on the Austrian army. The rapid Prussian victory ended Austrian influence over German affairs and led directly to the dissolution of the old German Confederation, replaced by the Prussian-led North German Confederation the following year. The war's outcome removed Austria as a rival for German leadership and set the stage for the later Franco-Prussian War and the final unification of Germany under Prussian leadership in 1871.