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| 1866, April 8 |
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| Bismarck, aided by Napoleon III, concluded an offensive and defensive alliance with Italy: Italy was to join Prussia if war broke out between Austria and Prussia within three months, with Venetia as a reward. | 1 |
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| June 12 |
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| Austria, realizing that conflict was inevitable, signed a secret treaty with Napoleon III. In return for French neutrality, Austria promised to cede Venetia to Napoleon (who was to retrocede it to Italy), whether Austria won or lost the war. In the event of Austrian victory, Austria was to be free to make what changes it wished in Germany, but if these changes disturbed the European balance of power (as they were bound to do), Austria was to consult with Napoleon before making them. Verbally the Austrians agreed in this case not to oppose the erection of a neutral buffer state (client of France) along the Rhine. | 2 |
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| June 14 |
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| On Austria's motion, the Frankfurt Diet voted federal execution against Prussia for violating federal (Holstein) territory. Most of the German states, including the larger ones like Bavaria, Saxony, and Hanover, sided with Austria against Prussia. The Prussian government declared the federal constitution violated and the confederation at an end. | 3 |
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| June–Aug |
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| The SEVEN WEEKS' WAR. The war was fought in three theaters. Italy: The Italians were defeated on both land and sea (See 1866, May 12). Germany: On June 27–29 Gen. Vogel von Falkenstein, with an army of some 50,000 men, defeated the Hanoverians at Langensalza and forced them to capitulate. He turned to the South German allies of Austria, but before he could reach them the die had been cast in Bohemia. Using lessons learned from the American Civil War, Moltke concentrated his forces near Gitschin, where he formed three armies and advanced them separately in order to make greatest use of the existing railways. He coordinated their movements from his headquarters in Berlin by telegraph. | 4 |
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| July 3 |
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| Battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa). The sudden and complete victory of the Prussians was a stunning defeat for the policy of Napoleon III, who had expected a long war that would exhaust both belligerents. | 5 |
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| July 26 |
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| Napoleon's mediation resulted in the preliminary peace at Nicolsburg. Hanover, Electoral Hesse, Nassau, and Frankfurt were to be incorporated into Prussia; Austria was to be excluded from Germany (the Germanic Confederation came to an end); German states north of the Main River were to form a North German Confederation under Prussian leadership; the South German states were to remain independent and to be permitted to form a separate confederation. | 6 |
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| Aug. 5 |
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| Napoleon advanced his claims for compensation, which included the frontiers of 1814 (Saarbrücken, Landau) and possibly the Bavarian Palatinate or Rhenish Hesse (with Mainz) or Luxembourg. Bismarck brusquely rejected these claims as an offense to German national feeling. | 7 |
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| Aug. 9–22 |
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| Bismarck took advantage of the French demands to push his peace negotations with the South German states (Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria). They were given very generous terms, but were induced, in return, to conclude with Prussia military alliances in the event of French attack. | 8 |
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| Aug. 16 |
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| Napoleon instructed his ambassador, Count Vincent Benedetti, to ask for Luxembourg and for Prussian support for the acquisition of Belgium by France. Benedetti was induced by Bismarck to put these demands in writing, along with the French offer to sanction the union of North Germany and South Germany in return (the Benedetti Treaty). Bismarck then took advantage of illness (Sept.–Dec.) to evade a definite reply. The draft treaty was communicated to the British in 1870 and influenced British opinion in favor of Prussia during the war with France. | 9 |
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| Aug. 23 |
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| The definitive Treaty of Prague brought the war to a close. | 10 |
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