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139-730: Since the late 1800s, the French Valley was home to French grain farmers and sheepherders. After the Franco-Prussian War and the Alsace becoming German, many French-speaking residents fled to America. Among the early settlers of the French Valley were Auguste Giagnaire, Jean Labrucherie and Alexandre, Auguste and Calixte Vial, the Pourroys and the Nicolases. The train network eventually reached Temecula and Murrieta, but not

278-732: A French minister of State's declaration that Italy would never lay its hands on Rome, the Emperor had commented "You know, in politics, one should never say 'never'." ) and had made various proposals for resolving the Roman Question , but Pius IX rejected them all. Despite his support for Italian unification, Napoleon could not press the issue for fear of angering Catholics in France. Raffaele de Cesare, an Italian journalist, political scientist, and author, noted that: The alliance, proposed two years before 1870, between France, Italy, and Austria,

417-503: A French public which wanted territory and a French army which wanted revenge. The situation did not suit either France, which unexpectedly found itself next to the militarily powerful Prussian-led North German Confederation, or Prussia, whose foremost objective was to complete the process of uniting the German states under its control. Thus, war between the two powers since 1866 was only a matter of time. In Prussia, some officials considered

556-422: A Korps headquarters and its component units. Most reservists lived close to their regimental depots and could be swiftly mobilized. Austrian policy was to ensure that units were stationed far from home to prevent them from taking part in separatist revolts. Conscripts on leave or reservists recalled to their units during mobilization faced a journey that might take weeks before they could report to their units, making

695-463: A bad situation much worse was the conduct of General Auguste-Alexandre Ducrot , commander of the 1st Division. He told General Abel Douay , commander of the 2nd Division, on 1 August that "The information I have received makes me suppose that the enemy has no considerable forces very near his advance posts, and has no desire to take the offensive" . Two days later, he told MacMahon that he had not found "a single enemy post ... it looks to me as if

834-596: A broad deployment which made envelopment highly likely but the effectiveness of French Chassepot-rifle fire inflicted costly repulses on infantry attacks, until the French infantry had been extensively bombarded by the Prussian artillery. The Battle of Spicheren on 5 August was the second of three critical French defeats. Moltke had originally planned to keep Bazaine's army on the Saar River until he could attack it with

973-551: A column or line formation , Prussian infantry moved in small groups that were harder to target by artillery or French defensive fire. The sheer number of soldiers available made encirclement en masse and destruction of French formations relatively easy. The army was equipped with the Dreyse needle gun renowned for its use at the Battle of Königgrätz , which was by this time showing the age of its 25-year-old design. The rifle had

1112-692: A contact-detonated shell, the Krupp gun had a longer range and a higher rate of fire than the French bronze muzzle loading cannon, which relied on time fuses. The Prussian army was controlled by the General Staff , under General Helmuth von Moltke . The Prussian army was unique in Europe for having the only such organisation in existence, whose purpose in peacetime was to prepare the overall war strategy, and in wartime to direct operational movement and organise logistics and communications. The officers of

1251-516: A dispatch to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count Alexander Mensdorff-Pouilly . He explained to him that Prussian public opinion had become extremely sensitive about the Duchies issue and that he had no doubt that "this artificial exaggeration of the danger by public opinion formed an essential part of the calculations and actions of Count Bismarck [who considered] the annexation of the Duchies ...

1390-482: A distant plateau south of the town of Spicheren, and took this as a sign of Frossard's retreat. Ignoring Moltke's plan again, both German armies attacked Frossard's French 2nd Corps, fortified between Spicheren and Forbach. The French were unaware of German numerical superiority at the beginning of the battle as the German 2nd Army did not attack all at once. Treating the oncoming attacks as merely skirmishes, Frossard did not request additional support from other units. By

1529-548: A federal union" in 1871. The resulting German Empire would become one of the most influential European powers. In addition to war reparations, the following territorial changes took place: The war meant the end of the German Confederation. Those states who remained neutral or passive during the conflict took different actions after the Prague treaty: The Austrian Chancellor Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust

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1668-526: A fierce opponent of Prussia who, as French Ambassador to Austria in 1866, had advocated an Austro-French military alliance against Prussia. Napoleon III's worsening health problems made him less and less capable of reining in Empress Eugénie, Gramont and the other members of the war party, known collectively as the "mameluks". For Bismarck, the nomination of Gramont was seen as "a highly bellicose symptom". The Ems telegram of 13 July 1870 had exactly

1807-516: A major obstacle in terms of logistics. Only one railway there led to the German hinterland but could be easily defended by a single force, and the only river systems in the region ran along the border instead of inland. While the French hailed the invasion as the first step towards the Rhineland and later Berlin, General Edmond Le Bœuf and Napoleon III were receiving alarming reports from foreign news sources of Prussian and Bavarian armies massing to

1946-520: A massacre, the French army disengaged and retreated in a westerly direction towards Bitche and Saverne, hoping to join French forces on the other side of the Vosges mountains . The German 3rd army did not pursue the French but remained in Alsace and moved slowly south, attacking and destroying the French garrisons in the vicinity. About 160,000 French soldiers were besieged in the fortress of Metz following

2085-582: A matter of life and death for his political existence [and wished] to make it appear such for Prussia too." Possible evidence can be found in Bismarck's orchestration of the Austrian alliance during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark, which can be seen as his diplomatic "masterstroke". Taylor also believes that the alliance was a "test for Austria rather than a trap" and that the goal

2224-553: A partial mobilization against Prussia on 14 June, Bismarck claimed that the German Confederation had ended. The Prussian Army invaded Hanover, Saxony and the Electorate of Hesse on 15 June. Italy declared war on Austria on 20 June. For several centuries, Central Europe was split into a few large- or medium-sized states and hundreds of tiny entities , which while ostensibly being within the Holy Roman Empire ruled by

2363-436: A range of only 600 m (2,000 ft) and lacked the rubber breech seal that permitted aimed shots. The deficiencies of the needle gun were more than compensated for by the famous Krupp 6-pounder (6 kg despite the gun being called a 6-pounder, the rifling technology enabled guns to fire twice the weight of projectiles in the same calibre) steel breech-loading cannons being issued to Prussian artillery batteries. Firing

2502-583: A reserve and to guard against a Prussian advance through Belgium . A pre-war plan laid down by the late Marshal Niel called for a strong French offensive from Thionville towards Trier and into the Prussian Rhineland. This plan was discarded in favour of a defensive plan by Generals Charles Frossard and Bartélemy Lebrun , which called for the Army of the Rhine to remain in a defensive posture near

2641-667: A result of the Franco-Austrian War of 1859 . During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the Empress Eugénie , Foreign Minister Drouyn de Lhuys and War Minister Jacques Louis Randon were concerned that the power of Prussia might overtake that of France. They unsuccessfully urged Napoleon to mass troops at France's eastern borders while the bulk of the Prussian armies were still engaged in Bohemia as

2780-488: A return to the French borders of 1814, with the annexation of Luxembourg , most of Saarland , and the Bavarian Palatinate . Bismarck flatly refused what he disdainfully termed France's politique des pourboires ("tipping policy"). He then communicated Napoleon III's written territorial demands to Bavaria and the other southern German states of Württemberg , Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt , which hastened

2919-542: A revolutionary uprising which seized and held power for two months before its suppression; the event would influence the politics and policies of the Third Republic . The causes of the Franco-Prussian War are rooted in the events surrounding the lead up to the unification of the German states under Otto von Bismarck . France had gained the status of being the dominant power of continental Europe as

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3058-471: A rubber ring seal and a smaller bullet, the Chassepot had a maximum effective range of some 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) with a short reloading time. French tactics emphasised the defensive use of the Chassepot rifle in trench-warfare style fighting—the so-called feu de bataillon . The artillery was equipped with rifled, muzzle-loaded La Hitte guns . The army also possessed a precursor to the machine-gun:

3197-471: A unique rifling system invented by Wilhelm Lenk von Wolfsberg called the Lenk system. The Prussians, however, by this point had replaced up to 60% of their smooth bore artillery with the technologically superior C64 (field gun) , which had been in production since 1859. However, due to tactical reluctance on the part of Prussian high command to utilise relatively unfamiliar technology, and doctrinal stagnation in

3336-533: A united Germany had also become unpopular following the fall of the Frankfurt Parliament in 1849. One of the strongest social forces in Germany at the time was religion, which provided Germans with common confessional values and identities that transcended national boundaries. This led to a strong confessional rivalry between the southern Catholic and northern Protestant states. Breuilly remarks that

3475-705: A variety of other names, was fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia , with each also being aided by various allies within the German Confederation . Prussia had also allied with the Kingdom of Italy , linking this conflict to the Third Independence War of Italian unification . The Austro-Prussian War was part of the wider rivalry between Austria and Prussia , and resulted in Prussian dominance over

3614-402: A war against France both inevitable and necessary to arouse German nationalism in those states that would allow the unification of a great German empire. This aim was epitomized by Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck's later statement: "I did not doubt that a Franco-German war must take place before the construction of a United Germany could be realised." Bismarck also knew that France should be

3753-502: A warning that no territorial changes could be effected in Germany without consulting France. As a result of Prussia's annexation of several German states which had sided with Austria during the war and the formation of the North German Confederation under Prussia's aegis, French public opinion stiffened and now demanded more firmness as well as territorial compensations. As a result, Napoleon demanded from Prussia

3892-466: A widespread disinterest in the establishment of armed home guards". Nevertheless, the formed North German Confederation would go on to win the war and annex Bavaria, Baden and Württemberg in 1871. According to Geoffrey Wawro , the political and military power accumulated by Prussia allowed it to annex the northern German states in 1866 and then "force the Catholic states very much against their will into

4031-492: Is known that even on 6 August 1866, I was in the position to observe the French ambassador make his appearance to see me in order, to put it succinctly, to present an ultimatum: to relinquish Mainz , or to expect an immediate declaration of war. Naturally I was not doubtful of the answer for a second. I answered him: "Good, then it's war!" He travelled to Paris with this answer. A few days after one in Paris thought differently, and I

4170-518: The Landwehr , the home guard. Introducing universal conscription for three years increased the size of the active duty army and provided Prussia with a reserve army equal in size to that which Moltke deployed against Austria. Had France under Napoleon III attempted to intervene against the Prussians, they could have faced him with equal or superior numbers of troops. Prussian conscript service

4309-547: The Alvensleben Convention of February 1863 with Russia, whereas Austria had not. France : France was also unlikely to enter on the side of Austria, because Bismarck and Napoleon III met in Biarritz and allegedly discussed whether or not France would intervene in a potential Austro-Prussian war. The details of the discussion are unknown but many historians think Bismarck was guaranteed French neutrality in

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4448-528: The Creditanstalt , and the state was heavily in debt. Historian Christopher Clark wrote that there is little to suggest that Prussia had an overwhelming economic and industrial advantage over Austria and wrote that a larger portion of the Prussian population was engaged in agriculture than in the Austrian population and that Austrian industry could produce the most sophisticated weapons in the war (rifled artillery). The Austro-Prussian War ended quickly and

4587-955: The French Valley Airport was inaugurated. It was built on the land of the Borel family. In 1993, a jail opened, and later became the Southwest Justice Center. In 2007, 702 acres of the French Valley were designated as a wildlife area by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife . According to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System , the valley runs from its head at 33°39′06″N 117°04′25″W  /  33.6516902°N 117.0736395°W  / 33.6516902; -117.0736395 to its mouth at 33°35′45″N 117°07′30″W  /  33.5958583°N 117.1250307°W  / 33.5958583; -117.1250307 . Other places nearby include

4726-533: The Holy Roman Emperor , operated in a largely independent fashion. When an existing Emperor died, seven secular and ecclesiastical princes, each of whom ruled at least one of the states, would elect a new Emperor. Over time the Empire became smaller and by 1789 came to consist of primarily German peoples (aside from Bohemia, Moravia, the southern Netherlands and Slovenia). Aside from five years (1740–1745),

4865-554: The Italian annexation of the Austrian realm of Venetia . The war erupted as a result of the dispute between Prussia and Austria over the administration of Schleswig-Holstein , which the two of them had conquered from Denmark and agreed to jointly occupy at the end of the Second Schleswig War in 1864. The crisis started on 26 January 1866, when Prussia protested the decision of the Austrian Governor of Holstein to permit

5004-647: The Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan , resulted in the capture of the French Emperor Napoleon III and the decisive defeat of the army of the Second Empire ; a Government of National Defense was formed in Paris on 4 September and continued the war for another five months. German forces fought and defeated new French armies in northern France, then besieged Paris for over four months before it fell on 28 January 1871, effectively ending

5143-626: The Skinner Reservoir in the Lake Skinner Park , and Diamond Valley Lake . French Valley is located within 10 minutes of nearby cities Temecula and Murrieta as well as the 15 and 215 freeways. French Valley is also less than 15 minutes from the Temecula Valley Wine Country and Old Town Temecula . The nearby French Valley Airport is named after the valley. French Valley is considered to be in

5282-628: The Treaty of Paris following the Crimean War a precondition for the union. But Imperial France was not ready to do this. "Bonaparte did not dare to encroach on the Paris Treaty: the worse things turned out in the present, the more precious the heritage of the past became". The French Army consisted in peacetime of approximately 426,000 soldiers, some of them regulars, others conscripts who until March 1869 were selected by ballot and served for

5421-604: The War of 1870 , was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia . Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 January 1871, the conflict was caused primarily by France's determination to reassert its dominant position in continental Europe, which appeared in question following the decisive Prussian victory over Austria in 1866 . According to some historians, Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck deliberately provoked

5560-422: The mitrailleuse , which could unleash significant, concentrated firepower but nevertheless lacked range and was comparatively immobile, and thus prone to being easily overrun. The mitrailleuse was mounted on an artillery gun carriage and grouped in batteries in a similar fashion to cannon. The army was nominally led by Napoleon III, with Marshals François Achille Bazaine and Patrice de MacMahon in command of

5699-459: The 2nd Army in front and the 1st Army on its left flank, while the 3rd Army closed towards the rear. The aging General von Steinmetz made an overzealous, unplanned move, leading the 1st Army south from his position on the Moselle . He moved straight toward the town of Spicheren, cutting off Prince Frederick Charles from his forward cavalry units in the process. On the French side, planning after

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5838-522: The Artillery Corps, the modern Krupp guns were either sent to reserve units or used in tandem and to the same effect as their smooth bore counterparts, something that massively throttled their effectiveness in the war, and many of the guns that saw combat were the old smooth bore muzzle loaders. The Austrians too, while having standardised the Lenk system of rifling in their cannon, did not use their artillery to full effect. They specifically targeted

5977-705: The Atlantic Ocean to go and observe the American Civil War. These officers met with high ranking commanders and recorded both Union and Confederate tactics. They wrote about troop movements, artillery positioning, and new methods of attack that worked well for the Americans. These officers then travelled back to Prussia and briefed their generals about these observations. Some officers, such as Justus Scheibert , published their adventures in America for

6116-528: The Austrian army was concentrating for an invasion of Silesia . There, the Prussian armies, led nominally by King William I , converged, and the two sides met at the Battle of Königgrätz (Hradec Králové) on 3 July. The Prussian Army of the Elbe advanced on the Austrian left wing, and the First Army on the center, prematurely; they risked being counter-flanked on their own left. Victory therefore depended on

6255-519: The Austrian mobilization much slower than that of the Prussian Army. The railway system of Prussia was more extensively developed than that within Austria. Railways made it possible to supply larger numbers of troops than hitherto and allowed the rapid movement of troops within friendly territory. The more efficient Prussian rail network allowed the Prussian army to concentrate more rapidly than

6394-633: The Austrian-Prussian war, which concentrate mainly on the fact that he had a master plan that resulted in this war, the North German Confederation and the unification of Germany. Bismarck maintained that he orchestrated the conflict in order to bring about the North German Confederation, the Franco-Prussian War and the eventual unification of Germany. On 22 February 1866, Count Károlyi , Austrian ambassador in Berlin , sent

6533-585: The Austrians rapidly, rather than continue the war in hopes of further gains. William had "planned to install both the crown prince of Hanover and the nephew of the elector of Hesse as titular grand dukes in small territorial residuals of their dynastic inheritance" due to opposition in the government cabinet, including Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia , to the annexation of several German states. The Austrians accepted mediation from France's Napoleon III . The Peace of Prague on 23 August 1866 resulted in

6672-413: The Austrians. Moltke, reviewing his plans to Roon stated, "We have the inestimable advantage of being able to carry our Field Army of 285,000 men over five railway lines and of virtually concentrating them in twenty-five days. ... Austria has only one railway line and it will take her forty-five days to assemble 200,000 men." Moltke had also said earlier, "Nothing could be more welcome to us than to have now

6811-475: The Austro-Prussian War, were treading carefully before stating that they would only side with France if the south Germans viewed the French positively. This did not materialize as the four South German states had come to Prussia's aid and were mobilizing their armies against France. Napoleon III was under substantial domestic pressure to launch an offensive before the full might of Moltke's forces

6950-513: The Electorate of Hesse by the crown of Prussia". Anti-annexationist petitions were organised and reached a significant number of signatures, with a separatist petition in Hanover reaching half a million signatures. In Nassau, Prussian soldiers were reportedly attacked by locals "with stones and axes"; according to Jasper Heinzen, "brawls between occupation troops and local veterans soon became so prevalent that one historian has called these incidents

7089-506: The Franco-Prussian War broke out before these reforms could be completely implemented. The mobilisation of reservists was chaotic and resulted in large numbers of stragglers, while the Garde Mobile were generally untrained and often mutinous. French infantry were equipped with the breech-loading Chassepot rifle , one of the most modern mass-produced firearms in the world at the time, with 1,037,555 available in French inventories. With

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7228-459: The French defended their position just outside Frœschwiller. By afternoon, the Germans had suffered c.  10,500 killed or wounded and the French had lost a similar number of casualties and another c.  9,200 men taken prisoner, a loss of about 50%. The Germans captured Fröschwiller which sat on a hilltop in the centre of the French line. Having lost any hope for victory and facing

7367-521: The French had a chance to sweep away the key Prussian defense, and to escape. Two Prussian corps had attacked the French advance guard, thinking that it was the rearguard of the retreat of the French Army of the Meuse. Despite this misjudgment the two Prussian corps held the entire French army for the whole day. Outnumbered 5 to 1, the extraordinary élan of the Prussians prevailed over gross indecision by

7506-524: The French into declaring war by releasing an altered summary of the Ems Dispatch , a telegram sent by William I rejecting French demands that Prussia never again support a Hohenzollern candidacy. Bismarck's summary, as mistranslated by the French press Havas , made it sound as if the king had treated the French envoy in a demeaning fashion, which inflamed public opinion in France. French historians François Roth and Pierre Milza argue that Napoleon III

7645-443: The French into declaring war on Prussia in order to induce four independent southern German states— Baden , Württemberg , Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt —to join the North German Confederation ; other historians contend that Bismarck exploited the circumstances as they unfolded. All agree that Bismarck recognized the potential for new German alliances, given the situation as a whole. France mobilised its army on 15 July 1870, leading

7784-688: The French. The French had lost the opportunity to win a decisive victory. Austro-Prussian War Prussian -led German states and Italian victory Prussian-led German states [REDACTED] Austrian-led German Confederation states 637,262 522,203 The Austro-Prussian War , (German: Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg ) also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War , German Civil War , Brothers War or Fraternal War , known in Germany as Deutscher Krieg ("German War"), Deutsch-Deutscher Krieg ("German-German War"), Deutscher Bruderkrieg ( pronounced [ˌdɔʏtʃɐ ˈbʁuːdɐkʁiːk] ; "German Brothers War") and by

7923-751: The General Staff were hand-picked from the Prussian Kriegsakademie (War Academy). Moltke embraced new technology, particularly the railroad and telegraph, to coordinate and accelerate mobilisation of large forces. On 28 July 1870 Napoleon III left Paris for Metz and assumed command of the newly titled Army of the Rhine, some 202,448 strong and expected to grow as the French mobilization progressed. Marshal MacMahon took command of I Corps (4 infantry divisions) near Wissembourg , Marshal François Canrobert brought VI Corps (4 infantry divisions) to Châlons-sur-Marne in northern France as

8062-517: The German border and repel any Prussian offensive. As Austria, along with Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden were expected to join in a revenge war against Prussia, I Corps would invade the Bavarian Palatinate and proceed to "free" the four South German states in concert with Austro-Hungarian forces. VI Corps would reinforce either army as needed. Unfortunately for Frossard's plan, the Prussian army mobilised far more rapidly than expected. The Austro-Hungarians, still reeling after their defeat by Prussia in

8201-442: The German states. The major result of the war was a shift in power among the German states away from Austrian and towards Prussian hegemony . It resulted in the abolition of the German Confederation and its partial replacement by the unification of all of the northern German states in the North German Confederation that excluded Austria and the other southern German states, a Kleindeutsches Reich . The war also resulted in

8340-532: The Habsburg family, whose personal territory was Austria , controlled the Emperorship from 1440 to 1806, although it became increasingly ceremonial only as Austria found itself at war at certain times with other states within the Empire, such as Prussia , which in fact defeated Austria during the War of Austrian Succession to seize the province of Silesia in 1742. While Austria was traditionally considered

8479-547: The III Corps launched a risky attack. The French were routed and the III Corps captured Vionville, blocking any further escape attempts to the west. Once blocked from retreat, the French in the fortress of Metz had no choice but to engage in a fight that would see the last major cavalry engagement in Western Europe. The battle soon erupted, and III Corps was shattered by incessant cavalry charges , losing over half its soldiers. The German Official History recorded 15,780 casualties and French casualties of 13,761 men. On 16 August,

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8618-415: The Italian government wanted to join this potential alliance, but Italian public opinion was bitterly opposed so long as Napoleon III kept a French garrison in Rome protecting Pope Pius IX , thereby denying Italy the possession of its capital (Rome had been declared capital of Italy in March 1861, when the first Italian Parliament had met in Turin). Napoleon III was not strictly opposed to this (in response to

8757-569: The North German Confederation to respond with its own mobilisation later that day. On 16 July 1870, the French parliament voted to declare war on Prussia; France invaded German territory on 2 August. The German coalition mobilised its troops much more effectively than the French and invaded northeastern France on 4 August. German forces were superior in numbers, training, and leadership and made more effective use of modern technology, particularly railways and artillery. A series of hard-fought Prussian and German victories in eastern France, culminating in

8896-437: The Prussian 40th Regiment of the 16th Infantry Division from the town of Saarbrücken with a series of direct attacks. The Chassepot rifle proved its worth against the Dreyse rifle , with French riflemen regularly outdistancing their Prussian counterparts in the skirmishing around Saarbrücken. However the Prussians resisted strongly, and the French suffered 86 casualties to the Prussian 83 casualties. Saarbrücken also proved to be

9035-435: The Prussian Army, when potentially 1,000,000 would be required. Under Marshal Adolphe Niel , urgent reforms were made. Universal conscription and a shorter period of service gave increased numbers of reservists, who would swell the army to a planned strength of 800,000 on mobilisation. Those who for any reason were not conscripted were to be enrolled in the Garde Mobile , a militia with a nominal strength of 400,000. However,

9174-438: The Prussian army, and thus would remain arbiter of the European situation. But when the war suddenly broke out, before anything was concluded, the first unexpected French defeats overthrew all previsions, and raised difficulties for Austria and Italy which prevented them from making common cause with France. Wörth and Sedan followed each other too closely. The Roman question was the stone tied to Napoleon's feet—that dragged him into

9313-419: The Prussian artillery with their own batteries, limiting their impact on the battlefield in regards to Prussian infantry. One notable exception is the use of Austrian artillery to good effect against infantry at Battle of Königgrätz . The Generals of the Prussian army realized that, in order to stay ahead of their Austrian enemies, they needed to explore new military tactics. They sent officers to travel across

9452-448: The Rhine in Saarbrücken back across the river to Spicheren and Forbach. Marshal MacMahon, now closest to Wissembourg, spread his four divisions 20 miles (32 km) to react to any Prussian-Bavarian invasion. This organization was due to a lack of supplies, forcing each division to seek out food and forage from the countryside and from the representatives of the army supply arm that was supposed to furnish them with provisions. What made

9591-421: The abyss. He never forgot, even in August 1870, a month before Sedan, that he was a sovereign of a Catholic country, that he had been made Emperor, and was supported by the votes of the conservatives and the influence of the clergy; and that it was his supreme duty not to abandon the Pontiff. ... For twenty years Napoleon III had been the true sovereign of Rome, where he had many friends and relations ... Without him

9730-419: The advantages of the Prussian army against the Austrian Empire. Taylor wrote that Bismarck was reluctant to pursue war as it "deprived him of control and left the decisions to the generals whose ability he distrusted". (The two most important personalities within the Prussian army were the War Minister Albrecht Graf von Roon and Chief of the General Staff Helmuth Graf von Moltke .) Taylor suggested that Bismarck

9869-400: The aggressor in the conflict to bring the four southern German states to side with Prussia, hence giving Germans numerical superiority. He was convinced that France would not find any allies in her war against Germany for the simple reason that "France, the victor, would be a danger to everybody—Prussia to nobody," and he added, "That is our strong point." Many Germans also viewed the French as

10008-483: The area inhabited by the French. The first use of the name "French Valley" occurred in 1913 in a California Conservation Commission report. A traditional lifestyle was maintained until 1964 when the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California acquired 6,000 acres of land to build the Skinner Reservoir that started operating in 1976. Many ranches were immersed in the new lake. In 1989,

10147-485: The armies of France would take up a defensive position that would protect against every possible attack point, but also left the armies unable to support each other. While the French army under General MacMahon engaged the German 3rd Army at the Battle of Wörth , the German 1st Army under Steinmetz finished their advance west from Saarbrücken. A patrol from the German 2nd Army under Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia spotted decoy fires nearby and Frossard's army farther off on

10286-478: The border at Wissembourg. Upon learning from captured Prussian soldiers and a local area police chief that the Prussian Crown Prince's Third Army was just 30 miles (48 km) north from Saarbrücken near the Rhine river town Wissembourg, General Le Bœuf and Napoleon III decided to retreat to defensive positions. General Frossard, without instructions, hastily withdrew his elements of the Army of

10425-415: The border, attacked in overwhelming but uncoordinated fashion by the German 3rd Army. During the day, elements of a Bavarian and two Prussian corps became engaged and were aided by Prussian artillery, which blasted holes in the city defenses. Douay held a very strong position initially, thanks to the accurate long-range rapid fire of the Chassepot rifles, but his force was too thinly stretched to hold it. Douay

10564-517: The civil commissioner who oversaw the integration of Hanover into Prussia, to remark that "As a whole the Hanoverians are a tougher, less accommodating tribe than the Saxons. Their particularism rests not solely on Prussophobia .. . but above all on a deep-rooted conviction that life is nowhere better than in Hanover. Theirs is a solid ... national feeling". The protests of George V of Hanover and

10703-578: The comparatively long period of seven years. Some of them were veterans of previous French campaigns in the Crimean War , Algeria , the Franco-Austrian War in Italy, and in the Mexican campaign . However, following the " Seven Weeks War " between Prussia and Austria four years earlier, it had been calculated that, with commitments in Algeria and elsewhere, the French Army could field only 288,000 men to face

10842-401: The conclusion of defensive military alliances with these states. France had been strongly opposed to any further alliance of German states, which would have threatened French continental dominance. The only result of French policy was the consent of Prussia to nominal independence for Saxony, Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden, and Hessia-Darmstadt; this was a small victory, and one without appeal to

10981-415: The confessional rivalry was so strong that "a Hamburg Lutheran had more in common with a Swedish Lutheran than with an Austrian Catholic". The minor nations of Germany valued their independence and believed that their ability to remain sovereign depended on Austro-Prussian dualism, with neither side allowed to become too powerful. Confessional division also played an important role in German dualism, and there

11120-419: The defeats on the frontier. A retirement from Metz to link up with French forces at Châlons was ordered on 15 August and spotted by a Prussian cavalry patrol under Major Oskar von Blumenthal. Next day a grossly outnumbered Prussian force of 30,000 men of III Corps (of the 2nd Army) under General Constantin von Alvensleben , found the French Army near Vionville, east of Mars-la-Tour. Despite odds of four to one,

11259-450: The disaster at Wissembourg had become essential. General Le Bœuf, flushed with anger, was intent upon going on the offensive over the Saar and countering their loss. However, planning for the next encounter was more based upon the reality of unfolding events rather than emotion or pride, as Intendant General Wolff told him and his staff that supply beyond the Saar would be impossible. Therefore,

11398-480: The dissolution of the German Confederation , Prussian annexation of four of Austria's former allies, and the permanent exclusion of Austria from German affairs. This left Prussia free to form the North German Confederation the next year, incorporating all the German states north of the Main River . Prussia chose not to seek Austrian territory for itself, and this made it possible for Prussia and Austria to ally in

11537-480: The dominant European land power. Bismarck maintained great authority in international affairs for two decades, developing a reputation for Realpolitik that raised Germany's global stature and influence. In France, it brought a final end to imperial rule and began the first lasting republican government. Resentment over the French government's handling of the war and its aftermath triggered the Paris Commune ,

11676-529: The effect on French public opinion that Bismarck had intended. "This text produced the effect of a red flag on the Gallic bull", Bismarck later wrote. Gramont, the French foreign minister, declared that he felt "he had just received a slap". The leader of the monarchists in Parliament, Adolphe Thiers , spoke for moderation, arguing that France had won the diplomatic battle and there was no reason for war, but he

11815-517: The estates of the duchies to call up a united assembly, declaring the Austrian decision a breach of the principle of joint sovereignty. Austria replied on 7 February, asserting that its decision did not infringe on Prussia's rights in the duchies. In March 1866, Austria reinforced its troops along its frontier with Prussia. Prussia responded with a partial mobilization of five divisions on 28 March. The Prussian Minister President Otto von Bismarck made an alliance with Italy on 8 April, committing it to

11954-530: The event of a war. Bismarck was aware of his numerical superiority but still "he was not prepared to advise it immediately even though he gave a favourable account of the international situation". When the Prussian victory became clear, France attempted to extract territorial concessions in the Palatinate , Rhenish Hesse and Luxembourg . In his speech to the Reichstag on 2 May 1871, Bismarck said: It

12093-533: The field armies. However, there was no previously arranged plan of campaign in place. The only campaign plan prepared between 1866 and 1870 was a defensive one. The German army comprised that of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia , and the South German states drawn in under the secret clause of the preliminary peace of Nikolsburg, 26 July 1866, and formalised in the Treaty of Prague , 23 August 1866. Recruitment and organisation of

12232-473: The future, since Austria felt threatened more by Italian and Pan-Slavic irredentism than by Prussia. The war left Prussia dominant in German politics (since Austria was now excluded from Germany and no longer the top German power). The northern states protested against their annexation to Prussia, and both the dethroned rulers and the local population lamented the loss of their nation's sovereignty. Local resistance and regional loyalty led Hans von Hardenberg ,

12371-547: The great powers of Europe intervened is listed below: Britain : Britain had no stake economically or politically in the war between Prussia and Austria, thus, was not going to intervene. Russia : Russia was unlikely to enter on the side of Austria, due to ill will over Austrian support of the anti-Russian alliance during the Crimean War and Prussia had stood by Russia during the January Uprising in Poland, signing

12510-1080: The greater Inland Empire region of Southern California. It boasts mild winters with highs in the 60s (°F) and overnight lows in the 40s (°F). The summers are very warm with temperatures averaging 102 °F (39 °C) but sometimes soaring up to 107 °F (42 °C). French Valley's schools are in the Temecula Valley Unified School District. 33°35′45″N 117°07′30″W  /  33.5958583°N 117.1250307°W  / 33.5958583; -117.1250307 Franco-Prussian War German victory Before 18 January 1871 : [REDACTED]   North German Confederation [REDACTED]   Bavaria [REDACTED]   Württemberg [REDACTED]   Baden Total deployment : Initial strength : Peak field army strength : Total deployment : Initial strength : Peak field army strength : 756,285 144,642 The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War , often referred to in France as

12649-465: The heights. The Battle of Wörth began when the two armies clashed again on 6 August near Wörth in the town of Frœschwiller , about 10 miles (16 km) from Wissembourg . The Crown Prince of Prussia's 3rd army had, on the quick reaction of his Chief of Staff General von Blumenthal, drawn reinforcements which brought its strength up to 140,000 troops. The French had been slowly reinforced and their force numbered only 35,000. Although badly outnumbered,

12788-446: The leader of the German states, Prussia became increasingly powerful and by the late 18th century was ranked as one of the great powers of Europe. Francis II 's abolition of the office of Holy Roman Emperor in 1806 also deprived him of his imperial authority over most of German-speaking Europe, though little true authority remained by that time; he did, however, retain firm control of an extensive multi-ethnic empire (most of it outside

12927-605: The local population proved to be an effective obstacle to Hanover's assimilation into Prussia, and led to the founding of the German-Hanoverian Party , which received 46.6% of the Hanoverian vote in the March 1871 Reichstag election . Hostility to annexation was also felt in smaller annexed kingdoms such as Hesse, where the dethroned Prince Frederick William of Hesse-Kassel strongly condemned "the usurpation of

13066-456: The long-term survival of the House of Bonaparte . A national plebiscite held on 8 May 1870, which returned results overwhelmingly in favor of the Emperor's domestic agenda, gave the impression that the regime was politically popular and in a position to confront Prussia. Within days of the plebiscite, France's pacifist Foreign Minister Napoléon, comte Daru , was replaced by Agenor, duc de Gramont ,

13205-541: The lower part of Trentino , and moved towards Trento . The Prussian peace with Austria forced the Italian government to seek an armistice with Austria on 12 August. According to the Treaty of Vienna , signed on 12 October, Austria ceded Veneto to France, which, in turn, ceded it to Italy. In order to prevent "unnecessary bitterness of feeling or desire for revenge" and forestall intervention by France or Russia, Bismarck pushed King William I of Prussia to make peace with

13344-457: The menace of the Bavarians is simply bluff" . Even though Ducrot shrugged off the possibility of an attack by the Germans, MacMahon tried to warn his other three division commanders, without success. The first action of the Franco-Prussian War took place on 4 August 1870. This battle saw the unsupported division of General Douay of I Corps, with some attached cavalry, which was posted to watch

13483-464: The monarch joined the Austrians, despite the Hessian Landtag voting for neutrality. King George V of Hanover during the spring of 1866 was contacted by Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph about establishing a coalition against the Prussians, but his success took some time. The Hanoverian monarch concluded that his kingdom would fall if it were to fight against the Prussian armies. Most of

13622-405: The most distinctive inaugural feature of the Prussian era". Anti-Prussian and separatist sentiment in newly annexed kingdoms continued into 1871, as local Prussian authorities complained about "a not insignificant number" of deserters from Hanover and Schleswig, and the population reacted to the Franco-Prussian War with "recurrent acts of sabotage on telegraph lines, latent French sympathies, and

13761-740: The next day. Prussia's general mobilization orders were signed in steps on 3, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 12 May. When Austria brought the Schleswig-Holstein dispute before the German Diet on 1 June and also decided on 5 June to convene the Diet of Holstein on 11 June, Prussia declared that the Gastein Convention of 14 August 1865 had thereby been nullified and invaded Holstein on 9 June. When the German Diet responded by voting for

13900-492: The other two instantly attack their flank and rear, threatening their lines of communication. Prussian infantry were equipped with the Dreyse needle gun , a bolt-action rifle which could be fired faster than the muzzle-loading Lorenz rifles of the Austrian army. In the Franco-Austrian War of 1859, French troops took advantage of poorly trained enemies who did not readjust their gunsights as they got closer – thus firing too high at close range. By rapidly closing

14039-608: The previous boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire). After 1815, the German states were once again reorganized into a loose confederation: the German Confederation , under Austrian leadership. Prussia had been contesting Austria's supremacy in Germany since at least 1850, when a war between the two powers had nearly erupted over Prussia's leadership of the Erfurt Union , though at that time Prussia had backed down . At

14178-635: The public to enjoy. In 1866, the Prussian economy was rapidly growing, partly as a result of the Zollverein , which gave Prussia an advantage in the war. Prussia could equip its armies with breech-loading rifles and later with new Krupp breech-loading artillery but the Austrian economy was suffering from the effects of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 and the Second Italian War of Independence . Austria had only one bank,

14317-529: The range, French troops came to close quarters with an advantage over the Austrian infantry. After the war, the Austrians adopted the same methods, which they termed the Stoßtaktik ("shock tactics"). Although they had some warnings of the Prussian weapon, they ignored these and retained Stoßtaktik . The Austrians were equipped with breech-loading rifled cannon, which was superior to the Prussian muzzle loading smooth bore cannon. The Austrian Artillery used

14456-420: The size of the army had been fixed by earlier laws that had not taken population growth into account, making conscription inequitable and unpopular for this reason. While some Prussian men remained in the army or the reserves until they were forty years old, about one man in three (or even more in some regions where the population had expanded greatly as a result of industrialisation) was assigned minimal service in

14595-402: The soldier was seeking cover on the ground, whereas the Austrian muzzle-loading rifles could be loaded only slowly, and generally from a standing position. The main campaign of the war occurred in Bohemia . Prussian Chief of General Staff Helmuth von Moltke had planned meticulously for the war. He rapidly mobilized the Prussian army and advanced across the border into Saxony and Bohemia, where

14734-667: The southeast in addition to the forces to the north and northeast. Moltke had indeed massed three armies in the area—the Prussian First Army with 50,000 men, commanded by General Karl von Steinmetz opposite Saarlouis , the Prussian Second Army with 134,000 men commanded by Prince Friedrich Karl opposite the line Forbach - Spicheren , and the Prussian Third Army with 120,000 men commanded by Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm , poised to cross

14873-679: The southern German states sided with Austria against Prussia. Those that sided with Austria included the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg . Smaller middle states such as Baden , Hesse-Kassel (or Hesse-Cassel), Hesse-Darmstadt , and Nassau also joined with Austria. Many of the German princes allied with the Habsburgs principally out of a desire to keep their thrones. Most of the northern German states joined Prussia, in particular Oldenburg , Mecklenburg-Schwerin , Mecklenburg-Strelitz , and Brunswick . The Kingdom of Italy participated in

15012-400: The time he realized what kind of a force he was opposing, it was too late. Seriously flawed communications between Frossard and those in reserve under Bazaine slowed down so much that by the time the reserves received orders to move out to Spicheren, German soldiers from the 1st and 2nd armies had charged up the heights. Because the reserves had not arrived, Frossard erroneously believed that he

15151-446: The time of the war, there was no strong national consciousness in Germany. Michael Hughes notes that in regards to Germany, "nationalism was a minority movement, deeply divided and with only a marginal impact on German political life". German newspapers were almost exclusively concerned with local affairs or their respective state governments, and the individual German states cultivated loyalty towards themselves. While rivalry with France

15290-514: The timely arrival of the Second Army on the left wing. This was achieved through the brilliant work of its Chief of Staff, Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal . Superior Prussian organization and élan decided the battle against Austrian numerical superiority, and the victory was near total, with Austrian battle deaths nearly seven times the Prussian figure. An armistice between Prussia and Austria came into effect at noon on 22 July. A preliminary peace

15429-443: The town of Wissembourg finally surrendered to the Germans. The French troops who did not surrender retreated westward, leaving behind 1,000 dead and wounded and another 1,000 prisoners and all of their remaining ammunition. The final attack by the Prussian troops also cost c.  1,000 casualties. The German cavalry then failed to pursue the French and lost touch with them. The attackers had an initial superiority of numbers,

15568-425: The traditional destabilizer of Europe, and sought to weaken France to prevent further breaches of the peace. The immediate cause of the war was the candidacy of Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen to the throne of Spain. France feared an encirclement resulting from an alliance between Prussia and Spain. The Hohenzollern prince's candidacy was withdrawn under French diplomatic pressure, but Otto von Bismarck goaded

15707-446: The various armies were almost identical, and based on the concept of conscripting annual classes of men who then served in the regular regiments for a fixed term before being moved to the reserves. This process gave a theoretical peace time strength of 382,000 and a wartime strength of about 1,189,000. German tactics emphasised encirclement battles like Cannae and using artillery offensively whenever possible. Rather than advancing in

15846-416: The war if Prussia entered one against Austria within three months, which was an obvious incentive for Bismarck to go to war with Austria within three months so that Italy would divert Austrian strength away from Prussia. Austria responded with a mobilization of its Southern Army on the Italian border on 21 April. Italy called for a general mobilization on 26 April and Austria ordered its own general mobilization

15985-489: The war that we must have." The Austrian army under Ludwig von Benedek in Bohemia (the present-day Czech Republic ) might previously have been expected to enjoy the advantage of the "central position", by being able to concentrate on successive attacking armies strung out along the frontier, but the quicker Prussian concentration nullified this advantage. By the time the Austrians were fully assembled, they would be unable to concentrate against one Prussian army without having

16124-655: The war to strengthen his negotiating position for territory along the Rhine , while the Russian Empire still bore a grudge against Austria from the Crimean War . The first war between two major continental powers in seven years, it used many of the same technologies as the Second Italian War of Independence , including railways to concentrate troops during mobilization and telegraphy to enhance long-distance communication. The Prussian Army used von Dreyse 's breech-loading needle gun , which could be rapidly loaded while

16263-575: The war virtually without allies. The calculation was for a victorious offensive, which, as the French Foreign Minister Gramont stated, was "the only way for France to lure the wary Austrians, Italians and Danes into the French alliance". The involvement of Russia on the side of France was not considered by her at all, since Russia made the lifting of restrictions on its naval construction on the Black Sea imposed on Russia by

16402-419: The war with Prussia, because Austria held Venetia and other, smaller territories wanted by Italy to further the process of Italian unification . In return for Italian aid against Austria, Bismarck agreed not to make a separate peace until Italy had obtained Venetia. Notably, the other foreign powers abstained from this war. French Emperor Napoleon III , who expected a Prussian defeat, chose to remain out of

16541-484: The war. In the final days of the war, with German victory all but assured, the German states proclaimed their union as the German Empire under the Prussian king Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck. With the notable exceptions of Austria and German Switzerland , the vast majority of German-speakers were united under a nation-state for the first time. Following an armistice with France, the Treaty of Frankfurt

16680-524: Was "impatient to take his revenge on Bismarck for Sadowa ". As a preliminary step, the Ausgleich with Hungary was "rapidly concluded". Beust "persuaded Francis Joseph to accept Magyar demands which he had until then rejected", but Austrian plans fell short of French hopes (e.g. Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen proposed a plan which required the French army to fight alone for six weeks in order to allow Austrian mobilisation). Victor Emmanuel II and

16819-415: Was a strong pressure in Catholic states to support Austria. In the absence of nationalist sentiment, a united German state could only be created through external force. Bismarck recognised this, remarking in 1862 that a united German state could not be forged through "speeches and majority decisions" but only through "blood and iron". There are many interpretations of Otto von Bismarck 's behaviour before

16958-503: Was an important element of German nationalist myth-making, many Germans cooperated with France during the Napoleonic Era, and those who resisted France did not do so out of nationalist sentiment. According to John Breuilly , any sense of a common German identity "was weakly developed and confined to particular groups" and "there was very little demand, certainly at popular level, for unification". The liberal-nationalist concept of

17097-410: Was drowned out by cries that he was a traitor and a Prussian. Napoleon's new prime minister, Emile Ollivier , declared that France had done all that it could humanly and honorably do to prevent the war, and that he accepted the responsibility "with a light heart". A crowd of 15,000–20,000 people, carrying flags and patriotic banners, marched through the streets of Paris, demanding war. French mobilization

17236-638: Was fought mainly with existing weapons and munitions, which reduced the influence of economic and industrial power relative to politics and military culture. Before the war started, both the Austrian and Prussian governments sought to rally allies in Germany. On 15 June Bismarck offered territorial compensation in the Grand Duchy of Hesse to the Electorate of Hesse , if Elector Frederick William were to ally with Prussia. The proposition grievously offended Frederick William's "legitimist sensibilities" and

17375-418: Was given to understand that this instruction had been torn from Emperor Napoleon during an illness. The further attempts in relation to Luxemburg are known. Italy : Italy had already allied itself with Prussia because it wanted Lombardy - Venetia . This meant that Austria would be fighting both Italy and Prussia, without any non-German allies of its own. Bismarck may well have been encouraged to go to war by

17514-455: Was hoping to force Austrian leaders into concessions in Germany, rather than provoke war. The truth may be more complicated than simply that Bismarck, who famously said that "politics is the art of the possible", initially sought war with Austria or was initially against the idea of going to war with Austria. In 1862, von Roon had implemented several army reforms that ensured that all Prussian citizens were liable to conscription. Before this date,

17653-516: Was in grave danger of being outflanked, as German soldiers under General von Glume were spotted in Forbach. Instead of continuing to defend the heights, by the close of battle after dusk he retreated to the south. The German casualties were relatively high due to the advance and the effectiveness of the Chassepot rifle. They were quite startled in the morning when they had found out that their efforts were not in vain—Frossard had abandoned his position on

17792-427: Was killed in the late morning when a caisson of the divisional mitrailleuse battery exploded near him; the encirclement of the town by the Prussians then threatened the French avenue of retreat. The fighting within the town had become extremely intense, becoming a door to door battle of survival. Despite an unceasing attack from Prussian infantry, the soldiers of the 2nd Division kept to their positions. The people of

17931-536: Was mobilized and deployed. Reconnaissance by Frossard's forces had identified only the Prussian 16th Infantry Division guarding the border town of Saarbrücken , right before the entire Army of the Rhine. Accordingly, on 31 July the Army marched forward toward the Saar River to seize Saarbrücken. General Frossard's II Corps and Marshal Bazaine's III Corps crossed the German border on 2 August, and began to force

18070-479: Was never concluded because Napoleon III ... would never consent to the occupation of Rome by Italy. ... He wished Austria to avenge Sadowa, either by taking part in a military action, or by preventing South Germany from making common cause with Prussia. ... If he could ensure, through Austrian aid, the neutrality of the South German States in a war against Prussia, he considered himself sure of defeating

18209-427: Was not war with Austria, contradicting what Bismarck later gave in his memoirs as his main reason for establishing the alliance. It was in the Prussian interest to gain an alliance with Austria to defeat Denmark and settle the issue of the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The alliance can be regarded as an aid to Prussian expansion, rather than a provocation of war against Austria. Many historians believe that Bismarck

18348-436: Was one of continuous training and drill, in contrast to the Austrian army where some commanders routinely dismissed infantry conscripts to their homes on permanent leave soon after their induction into the army, retaining only a cadre of long-term soldiers for formal parades and routine duties. Austrian conscripts had to be trained almost from scratch when they were recalled to their units on the outbreak of war. The Prussian army

18487-444: Was ordered early on 15 July. Upon receiving news of the French mobilization, the North German Confederation mobilized on the night of 15–16 July, while Bavaria and Baden did likewise on 16 July and Württemberg on 17 July. On 19 July 1870, the French sent a declaration of war to the Prussian government. The southern German states immediately sided with Prussia. Napoleonic France had no documented alliance with other powers and entered

18626-439: Was pressured by a bellicose press and public opinion and thus sought war in response to France's diplomatic failures to obtain any territorial gains following the Austro-Prussian War . Napoleon III believed he would win a conflict with Prussia. Many in his court, such as Empress Eugénie , also wanted a victorious war to resolve growing domestic political problems, restore France as the undisputed leading power in Europe, and ensure

18765-514: Was shelled by Prussian artillery, but the garrison defended its position until armistice day. The Austrians were more successful in their war with Italy , defeating the Italians on land at the Battle of Custoza (24 June), and on sea at the Battle of Lissa (20 July). However, Italy's " Hunters of the Alps " led by Garibaldi defeated the Austrians at the Battle of Bezzecca on 21 July, conquered

18904-489: Was signed on 10 May 1871, giving Germany billions of francs in war indemnity , as well as most of Alsace and parts of Lorraine , which became the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine ( Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen ). The war had a lasting impact on Europe. By hastening German unification , the war significantly altered the balance of power on the continent, with the new German state supplanting France as

19043-598: Was signed on 26 July at Nikolsburg . Except for Saxony, the other German states allied to Austria played little role in the main campaign. Hanover's army defeated Prussia at the Second Battle of Langensalza on 27 June 1866, but, within a few days, they were forced to surrender by superior numbers. Prussian armies fought against Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and the Hessian states on the river Main , reaching Nuremberg and Frankfurt . The Bavarian fortress of Würzburg

19182-526: Was simply a Prussian expansionist , rather than a German nationalist, who sought the unification of Germany. It was at the Gastein Convention that the Austrian alliance was set up to lure Austria into war. The timing of the Prusso-Italian alliance of 8 April 1866 was perfect, because all other European powers were either bound by alliances that forbade them from entering the conflict, or had domestic problems that had priority. The reason why none of

19321-586: Was thus better trained and disciplined than the Austrian army, particularly in the infantry. While Austrian cavalry and artillery were as well trained as their Prussian counterparts, with Austria possessing two elite divisions of heavy cavalry, weapons and tactics had advanced since the Napoleonic Wars and cavalry charges had been rendered obsolete. The Prussian army was locally based, organized in Kreise (military districts, lit.: circles), each containing

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