Denmark and Austrian Wars Worksheet

Lesson Snapshot:

The Danish War – 1864

•  In 1864 Christian IX, King of Denmark, was also acting as the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein.
• When he became King of Denmark in 1863 Christian decided that he wanted to make Schleswig
  part of Denmark – a simple unification.
• The problem here is that many of the people living in Schleswig at this time were German and were
  opposed to the idea of becoming Danish.
• Bismarck saw this as an opportunity to declare himself Champion of the German people and divide
  Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein.
• Bismarck was forced to ally with Austria who did not want Prussia acting alone in case it gave them
  more power than Austria in Europe.
• Bismarck declared war on Denmark and quickly defeated them.
• After the war was over the Convention of Gastein took place in 1865 where Prussia gained the lands of Schleswig and Austria gained Holstein as a token thanks for their support in the conflicts.
• Bismarck was being clever with Austria by giving them Holstein because he would have a chance to quarrel with them if they did not run the new lands correctly.

The Austrian War (Seven Week’s War) – 1866

• Bismarck’s second war was against Austria.
• Bismarck had always opposed Austrian Power within Germany as a
  diplomat and a politician.
• This war was not a reaction to situation that arose but more like a
  war that he carefully planned in advance to weaken a stronger
  neighbour.
• Bismarck made an alliance with the weaker country of Italy and
  promised them Venetia (Venice) if the war was successful.
• In a meeting with France’s Napoleon III at Biarritz Bismarck also made vague promises of future compensation for France if they did
  not get themselves involved in the war on Austria’s side.
• He was ensuring that Austria was completely isolated and had no
  allies to turn to once the attack began.
• In 1866 Bismarck provoked Austria into war by suggesting that the
  German Confederation should now be dissolved and a new
  confederation set up that excluded Austria – Kleinedeutschland.
• The war only last 7 weeks due to the effectiveness of the enlarged
  Prussian army with it’s new breech loading rifle.
• The Austrian army was soundly defeated at Sadowa in Bohemia.
• The resulting Treaty of Prague in 1866 abolished the German Confederation and set up a new North German Confederation in 1867 which excluded Austria and made the South German states independent.
• Success for Bismarck and Prussia.
• The lands of Schleswig-Holstein were now returned to Prussia by the defeated Austria and soon
  afterwards Prussia also annexed Hanover and several other north German states to enlarge the
  soon to be empire.
• Austria was also forced to hand over Venetia to Italy even though the Austrian army had actually
  defeated the Italian troops helping Prussia in the war.
• Italy was rewarded for their loyalty despite their defeat.

Worksheet Task:

• Aimed at Students studying across AS/A2 or equivalent
• Premium resource
• Use as you wish in the classroom or home environment
• Lesson fact file on the Denmark and Austrian War.
• Use with other German Unification resources.
• Includes challenging questions.