Useful and reliable primer that was designed for use of Staff College students sitting exams in 1908, and as such gives a clear analytical account of this mid-19th century conflict. The Seven Weeks' War was the first war between two major continental powers in seven years, and used many of the same technologies as the American Civil War. The Prussian Army used von Dreyse's breech-loading needle gun, which could be rapidly loaded while the soldier was seeking cover on the ground, whereas the Austrian muzzleloading rifles could only be loaded slowly, and generally from a standing position. Superior Prussian organization and élan decided the battle against Austrian numerical superiority, the victory was near total, with Austrian battle deaths nearly seven times the Prussian figure. --

This is a history of the Austro-Prussian-Italian War of 1866, which paved the way for German and Italian unification. It is based upon extensive new research in the state and military archives of Austria, Germany, and Italy. Geoffrey Wawro describes Prussia's successful invasion of Habsburg Venetia, and the wretched collapse of the Austrian army in July 1866. Although the book gives a thorough accounting of both the Prussian and Italian war efforts, it is most notable for the light it sheds on the Austrians. Through painstaking archival research, Wawro reconstructs the Austrian campaign, blow-by-blow, hour-by-hour. Blending military and social history, he describes the terror and panic that overtook Austria's regiments of the line in each clash with the Prussians. He reveals the unconscionable blundering of the Austrian commandant and his chief deputies who fumbled away key strategic advantages and ultimately lost a war - crucial to the fortunes of the Habsburg Monarchy - that most European pundits had predicted they would win.

This clear-sighted account provides a concise study of the performance and tactics of the Prussian artillery during the Campaign in Bohemia against the Austrians and Saxons in 1866. Following a brief introduction on the equipment used, the author provides an admirable précis of tactical considerations, followed by a chronological narrative of the chief battles, describing, for each, the role and performance of the Prussian artillery.

Königgrätz, a city overlooking the river Elbe, was a western strongpoint of the Austrian Empire. On the morning of July 3, 1866, Prussia attacked the city against high odds and defeated the Austrian army in a single day, despite the Austrian advantage in heavy artillery and command of the high ground. The fall of Königgrätz transferred power over the German states from Austria to Prussia, marking the beginning of the German nation, a political consequence considered to be among the most important of any conflict in modern history. The battle for the city of Königgrätz—now called Hradec Králové, located in the Czech Republic—was the largest of its time, with nearly half a million troops involved. It was also the first battle where the outcome was directly determined by the availability of new technologies, including the railroad, telegraph, cast steel rifled cannon, and breech-loading rifle. It also marked a lesson in the fallacy of dependence on technology at the expense of sound strategy. In this full account, distinguished historian Gordon A. Craig discusses the state of political affairs surrounding the battle, the personalities involved, the weaponry, and the tactics in order to recreate the battlefield in all its complexity.

Among the finest examples of deeply researched and colorfully written military history, Richard Bassett’s For God and Kaiser is a major account of the Habsburg army told for the first time in English. Bassett shows how the Imperial Austrian Army, time and again, was a decisive factor in the story of Europe, the balance of international power, and the defense of Christendom. Moreover it was the first pan-European army made up of different nationalities and faiths, counting among its soldiers not only Christians but also Muslims and Jews. Bassett tours some of the most important campaigns and battles in modern European military history, from the seventeenth century through World War I. He details technical and social developments that coincided with the army’s story and provides fascinating portraits of the great military leaders as well as noteworthy figures of lesser renown. Departing from conventional assessments of the Habsburg army as ineffective, outdated, and repeatedly inadequate, the author argues that it was a uniquely cohesive and formidable fighting force, in many respects one of the glories of the old Europe.

"Before the War of 1866 the name Helmuth von Moltke was scarcely known outside the Prussian army ... This book follows Moltke's part in the course of the campaign at the end of which his name had become a household word. It traces his rise to the position of Chief of the General Staff, against the background of the political situation of Prussia in the middle of the 19th Century, and the way in which he developed the functions of the General Staff."--Inside cover

Essays on the history of the Czech lands from the ninth century to the fall of socialism in 1989.

This book reveals the primary causes of Habsburg defeat both in the Austro-Prussian War and the First World War. The choice of offensive strategy and tactics against an enemy possessing superior weaponry in the Austro-Prussian War, and opponents with superior numbers and weapons in the Great War, resulted in catastrophe. The inferiority of the Habsburg forces in both conflicts stemmed from imprudent spending decisions during peacetime, rather than conservatism or parliamentary stinginess. The desire to restore the sunken prestige of Austria-Hungary and prove Habsburg’s great power status drove the military to waste money on an expensive fleet, and choose offensive tactics to win great victories. This study shows the civil-military interaction in regard to funding and procurement decisions as well as the deep intellectual debates within the army, which refute the idea that the Habsburg military remained opposed to technology or progress