War with Austria. Austro-Prussian and Austro-Italian wars. Austrian armored squadron

• The Austro-Prussian-Italian War of 1866, in German history also known as the German War and the Seven Weeks War, in Italy known as the Third War of Independence - a military conflict between Prussia and Italy with the Austrian Empire for hegemony in Germany and control over the Venetian region, which predetermined the Little German War the path of the unification of Germany and the completion of the war for the independence of Italy and its unification around the Sardinian kingdom.

  The war involved two coalitions, led by both German great powers, Austria and Prussia, respectively. On the side of Austria were Bavaria, Saxony, the Grand Duchy of Baden, Württemberg and Hanover, on the side of Prussia - Italy. In addition, each of the opponents was able to attract several small German states to their side. A total of 29 states directly participated in this war, of which 13 were on the side of Austria and 16 on the side of Prussia.

  The war lasted for seven weeks (June 15 - July 26, 1866). Austria was forced to fight on two fronts. Its technological disadvantage and political isolation since 1856 led to its defeat. According to the Prague Peace Treaty, concluded on August 23, Austria transferred Holstein to Prussia and left the German Confederation. Italy got the Venetian region. The political result of the war of 1866 was the final refusal of Austria to unite the German states under its leadership and the transition of hegemony in Germany to Prussia, which headed the North German Confederation - a new confederal state entity.

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In the middle of the 19th century. In connection with the rapid development of capitalism in Germany, which remained a fragmented country consisting of 38 separate states, there was an urgent need for political unification. The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815, by which the German Confederation was created, did not unite the individual German principalities and electors either politically or economically.

In 1864, Prussia, in alliance with Austria, declared war on Denmark, as a result of which the original German duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, previously captured by the Kingdom of Denmark, were annexed. Management of these territories under a peace treaty with Denmark was transferred to the allies: Prussia - Schleswig and the port city of Kiel (the future most important naval base of the German fleet on the Baltic Sea), and Austria - Holstein.

However, standing on the path to the unification of Germany was Austria, which at that time occupied a dominant position in the German Confederation and was extremely interested in the fragmentation of Germany. For Prussia, it was obvious that war with Austria could not be avoided and, after the end of hostilities with Denmark, Prussia began to intensively prepare for war with Austria.

The Reich Chancellor of the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck, achieved the neutrality of Russia and France at the beginning of the war with Austria, while concluding a military alliance with the Italian king Victor Emmanuel in the spring of 1866, who hoped to annex the Venetian region, which was in Austrian possession, by armed means and thereby complete the process of political unification Italy, begun in 1859. The reason for the armed conflict between Prussia and Austria was disagreements related to the administration of the occupied duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The largest German states - Hanover, Baden, Württemberg, Nassau, Saxony, Bavaria, Hesse, Hesse-Darmstadt, who sought to maintain their independence from Prussia - sided with Austria.

Austro-Prussian theater of war.

At the head of the Prussian army was the Chief of the General Staff, General Moltke the Elder. The Prussian armed forces were superior to the Austrian army both in numbers and in combat effectiveness, quality and quantity of weapons.

At the beginning of June 1866, the main forces of the Prussian army - the 1st and 2nd Elb armies - united on the border with Austria and Saxony with troops arriving from Berlin and Poznan. In the west, Prussia advanced the Main Army together with a corps located in Schleswig. The ultimate goal of the Prussian leadership was the defeat of the troops of Austria's allies for the security of its rear, unimpeded communication between East and West Prussia and the subsequent capture of Vienna.

The Austrian army was commanded by General Benedek. In the Austro-Prussian theater of operations, Austria concentrated its land army in Moravia (Czech Republic) near Olomouc. The Austrians' strategic plan was defensive in nature, but with a favorable development of military operations it was planned to go on the offensive.

On June 7, 1866, the Prussian corps invaded Holstein from Schleswig, which did not have a common border with Austria, and by June 12 occupied the duchy. Following this, Prussia declared war on Saxony, Hanover and Kurgessen and began military operations. Prussian troops occupied Hanover and Kassel. Hanoverian troops retreated to Langensalza, hoping to join forces with Austria's allies. On June 18, the Prussian Army of the Elbe invaded Saxony and entered Dresden. Saxon troops retreated to the Czech Republic.

On June 21, Prussia declared war on Austria and moved into the Czech Republic. Austrian troops tried to delay the enemy's advance, but were driven back to Sadowa. On July 3, the general battle of Sadovo took place, in which Prussian troops inflicted a major defeat on the Austrian army. The remnants of the Austrian army retreated beyond the Elbe, the main forces to Olomouc, and the rest retreated to Vienna. The Austrians miscalculated Prussia's plans, assuming that the main forces of the Prussian army would move to Olomouc, but Moltke gave a decisive order to go to Vienna, sending only the 2nd Elbe Army to Olomouc to cover the main forces. The Austrians had to urgently transfer troops from Olomouc and almost the entire southern army from Venice to the capital.

The help of the Allied forces could not be counted on, since they suffered one defeat after another from the Prussian Main Army, which was joined by detachments from Berlin and Magdeburg. The Hanoverian Corps capitulated at Langesalza on June 29. The Main army launched an attack on Bavaria, but received orders from Berlin to occupy the lands north of the Main and capture Frankfurt, where the Hessian troops were located, who retreated to Würzburg and united with the Bavarians, but at the end of July withdrew across the Main and did not take further military action. Thus, the position of Austria by this time had become very difficult, despite the successes in the war with Italy.

Austro-Italian theater of war.

The opponents intended to conduct military operations both in the Adriatic Sea, where the Italian and Austrian fleets were concentrated, and on land. The Italian fleet was commanded by Admiral Persano, and the Austrian fleet was commanded by Rear Admiral Tegetthof. The command of the Italian fleet set the task of defeating the enemy fleet and taking control of the Adriatic Sea. The Austrians intended to assist the southern army from the sea and prevent the Italian fleet from reaching the Austrian coast. The fleet of the Italian king Victor Emmanuel, who stood at the head of all Italian armed forces, was more modern and numerous, but the combat training of the Austrians was at a higher level.

Italy declared war on Austria on June 20, 1866 and launched an attack on Venice, but Italian troops were defeated at the Battle of Custozza by the southern Austrian army. Taking advantage of the withdrawal of parts of the southern Austrian army to Vienna in July, Italian troops again advanced to Venice, and Garibaldi's cavalry corps occupied the Tyrol and began to advance on Trento (Trient).

Meanwhile, the Austrian squadron twice (June 26 and July 6) approached the main base of the Italian fleet - Ancona, trying to force the Italian fleet to fight on the high seas, but Admiral Persano avoided meeting the enemy. After persistent demands from the Italian government, Persano's squadron on July 16 headed for the island of Lissa (Vis), well fortified by the Austrians. According to the plan of the Italian admiral, it was planned to attack the island from three sides and land troops to completely capture it. However, the garrison of the island of Lissa managed to telegraph (the telegraph cable was later cut by the Italians) to the Austrian squadron about the appearance of an enemy fleet near the island. On July 20, 1866, an Austrian squadron led by Rear Admiral Tegetthof, which came to the aid of the Lys garrison, attacked the Italian fleet and drove it away from the island. But, despite the death of two battleships, the Italians still maintained numerical superiority. However, Admiral Persano did not dare to continue the battle, because the squadron's personnel were disorganized, and supplies of coal and shells were depleted. In turn, Tegetkhov, given the advantage in enemy forces, also did not risk resuming hostilities. With the onset of darkness, the Italian squadron went to Ancona, and the Austrian one - first to the island of Lissa, and then to Fasana.

Results of the Austro-Prussian and Austro-Italian wars of 1866.

On August 23, 1866, a peace treaty was concluded between Prussia and Austria, according to which the German Confederation, led by Austria, ceased to exist. Hanover, Nassau, Frankfurt, Kurgessen, Schleswig and Holstein were included in the Prussian state.

In 1867, the North German Confederation was created, which included 22 German states located north of the Main River under the hegemony of the Prussian king, who became the head of the union and all its armed forces.

On October 3, 1866, Austria signed a peace treaty with Italy in Vienna, according to which Venice joined the Kingdom of Italy.

The victory of Prussia in the war with Austria had important political significance - the main opponent of the unification of Germany, Austria, was eliminated. Prussia established hegemony in Germany and expanded its possessions, connecting its eastern and western territories. Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt had not entered the alliance by that time, but had concluded a secret treaty with Prussia directed against France. Their armed forces were placed under the control of the Prussian king.

The Austro-Prussian-Italian War of 1866, in the history of Germany is also known as the German War and the Seven Weeks War, in Italy it is known as the Third War of Italian Independence - a military conflict between Prussia and Italy with the Austrian Empire for hegemony in Germany and control over the Venetian region, which predetermined the Little German path of unification of Germany and the completion of the war for the independence of Italy and its unification around the Kingdom of Sardinia.

The war involved two coalitions, led by both German great powers, Austria and Prussia, respectively. On the side of Austria were Bavaria, Saxony, the Grand Duchy of Baden, Württemberg and Hanover, on the side of Prussia - Italy. In addition, each of the opponents was able to attract several insignificant German states to their side. A total of 29 states directly participated in this war, of which 13 were on the side of Austria and 16 on the side of Prussia.

The war lasted for seven weeks (June 17 - July 26, 1866). Austria was forced to fight on two fronts. Its technological backwardness and political isolation since 1856 led to its defeat. According to the Prague Peace Treaty, concluded on August 23, Austria transferred Holstein to Prussia and left the German Confederation. Italy got the Venetian region. The political result of the war of 1866 was the final refusal of Austria to unite the German states under its leadership and the transition of hegemony in Germany to Prussia, which headed the North German Confederation - a new confederal state entity.

The state of the Austrian armed forces at the beginning of the Austro-Prussian-Italian War

Army

As a result of Italy's gathering of troops from the southern part of the Apennine Peninsula and Sicily, on April 21, 1866, Austria began the partial mobilization of three corps of the Southern Army. In order to force Austria to expand mobilization, Bismarck brought to its attention the outline of the campaign plan made by H. Moltke during the winter of 1865/66. This sketch did not at all correspond to the political conditions of 1866: the internal situation of Prussia was extremely doubtful, an insidious surprise attack, contrary to all norms of international law, could lead not to mobilization, but to a revolution against the unpopular government of O. Bismarck. The latter had to prepare the war gradually, shifting the initiative for armaments to Austria. For this last purpose, the thoughts of H. Moltke’s sketch were extremely suitable. As soon as rumors of a possible surprise attack by the Prussians reached Vienna, in the first half of March a marshal's council was assembled there - a meeting of representatives of the highest military authority in the center, reinforced by corps commanders and outstanding generals invited from the provinces. The Marshall Council began discussing the campaign plan and decided first of all to strengthen the I Corps located in Bohemia by 6,700 people in order to bring it to its full peaceful strength. In order to hide the new measures that the army was forced to take, the Austrian censorship forbade newspapers to print any information about the movements of troops or the strengthening of their composition. O. Bismarck also took advantage of this circumstance, inviting the Prussian press to publish verified data on changes in the deployment and composition of Prussian troops and casting the shadow of secret preparations for war on Austria. On April 27, Austria announced general mobilization.

Austria, thanks to the time given to it, was able to mobilize a field army equal to the Prussian one; but behind it there were only very weak second-line formations, distracted, moreover, by the protection of internal security. During the war, it was possible to form only an insignificant number of reserve battalions, and even replenishment in the event of losses of first-line troops was delayed for a long time. The militia was not trained and had no equipment, and could only be used in Tyrol, against the Italians. The main forces of Austria immediately made their debut on the battlefields.

The only achievement of Austrian policy was to attract to its side most of the states of the German Union, frightened by the Bismarck program, which deprived them of sovereignty. These German allies of Austria had an army, according to wartime states, of 142,000 people. However, while Italy, Austria and Prussia began armament in April, the troops of Austria's German allies remained unmobilized.

The wisdom of Moltke's operational deployment is most clearly outlined when compared with the Austrian deployment, based on opposing views. The Chief of the Austrian General Staff, Baron Genikstein, a wealthy socialite, thought least of all about questions of strategy and operational art. Archduke Albrecht, the son of Napoleon's famous rival, Archduke Charles, the most prominent candidate among the members of the dynasty for command of the troops, hastened to settle on a calm Italian front under the pretext that the reputation of the dynasty could not be jeopardized by defeat.

The commander-in-chief of the Bohemian theater was, against his wishes, General Benedek, an excellent combat commander who commanded the Italian army in peacetime, an expert on Lombardy, completely unprepared for leading large masses, unfamiliar with the conditions of the Austro-Prussian front; at the same time, Archduke Albrecht did not allow Benedek to capture his chief of staff, General Jon, the most capable Austrian general staff officer to understand major issues.

When, in view of the threat of war, in March 1866, a plan of operations against Prussia was demanded from the chief of the Austrian general staff, Baron Genikstein, the latter suggested that Colonel Neuber, professor of strategy at the military academy, draw up one. The latter stated that for this work he needed data on the mobilization readiness of the Austrian army. The War Office provided Neuber with an extremely pessimistic assessment of the state of the Austrian troops; only after several months could the army become fully combat-ready. Therefore, Neuber advocated that before the start of operations, the Austrian army should be assembled in a defensive position near the Olmutz fortress and enter Bohemia, threatened by the Prussians on both sides, only after acquiring sufficient combat capability.

Then, under the patronage of Archduke Albrecht, Neuber's predecessor in the department of strategy, General Krismanich, was appointed head of the operational office of the Bohemian Army. The latter was an expert on the Seven Years' War and believed that in a hundred years the picture of the operations of Daun and Lassi against Frederick the Great would repeat itself. Krismanich edited the military-geographical description of Bohemia and studied all kinds of positions that were available in the Bohemian theater. Krismanich retained Neuber's idea of ​​a preliminary concentration of the Austrians in a fortified camp at Olmütz, with the exception of the Bohemian I Corps, which remained in the vanguard in Bohemia to absorb the Saxon retreat. All 8 buildings, 3 cavalry. the divisions and artillery reserve intended to operate in Bohemia were to represent one army. Krismanic refused to advance into Silesia, since in this direction he did not see any advantageous “positions” for battle. Ignoring the railways, Krismanich expected the concentration of all Prussian forces in Silesia and their direct movement towards Vienna. As a separate option, the movement of the Austrian army along three roads from Olmutz to the area of ​​the right bank of the Elbe was developed.

In Austria at that time, secret maps were still published with black semicircles underlined on them - “positions”. Krismanich's plan was a mishmash of memories of the struggle with Frederick the Great, several principles of Napoleonic military art, several principles of Clausewitz (Austria pursues a negative political goal, why should it conduct defensive actions accordingly) and a detailed taxation of all kinds of defensive lines, boundaries and positions. His plan had an impressive volume, was difficult to read, and was reported by Krismanich with unusual self-confidence; Krismanich impressed with his optimism and professorial categorical judgment. It is not surprising that the poorly educated Austrian generals were suppressed by the confidence and learning that Krismanich developed - generally a lazy, superficial and limited person; but it is a mystery to us how Krismanich’s plan could be considered exemplary even 40 years later in strategy textbooks.

Undoubtedly, if the Austrians had divided their forces into two armies and chosen to concentrate them in two different areas, such as Prague and Olmutz, they could have made much better use of the railways, completed deployment sooner, would not have subjected the troops to hardship and would have retained much greater capacity to maneuver. But for this they needed to take the step forward in the art of war that Moltke took and which remained incomprehensible to theorists for decades.

Fleet

The new Austrian fleet was created in 1848-49, during the war with Piedmont, during which many naval officers of the Austrian fleet, Italians by origin, defected to the enemy. In order to form a new one from the remnants of the old fleet, on a new basis, a Dane, Count Hans Birk von Daglerup, was invited. The new principle of manning the fleet reflected the interests of the Austrian Empire. The “Venetian legacy” worried the Austrians, who feared a new manifestation of sympathy for Piedmont, which led the movement for the unification of Italy.

Daglerup's attempt to achieve greater independence for the navy and the minister of navy failed, since the fundamental principle in Austria was precisely the dependence of the armed forces on the emperor, his military chancellery, and administration. However, he managed to introduce German as the main language, strict discipline, and replace many Venetian officers with Austrians, Germans, and even Scandinavians. Another important measure taken by Daglerup was the transfer of the fleet base from Venice to Pola.

However, the founder of Austrian naval power is considered to be Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, who became commander-in-chief of the Austrian fleet in 1854. At first he wanted to create a fleet, the core of which would be “half a dozen wooden ships of the line,” but when Italy ordered the construction of ironclads, he abandoned this idea. He believed that Austria had enough of a fleet consisting of second-rate ships, and engaged only in defense, contrasting this with the idea of ​​​​creating a fleet at least as strong as the Italian one. Eventually, after the Hampton Raid, the idea of ​​creating an armored fleet was accepted in Austria. Until 1862, when Daglerup left his post, he studied the organization of the British fleet, and sought to strengthen the organization of the Austrian fleet. Thanks to him - as well as the powerful shipbuilding industry concentrated in Venice, Trieste and Pola - in 1866 the fleet had 7 battleships built exclusively in Austria.

At the end of April 1866, Austria began to prepare for a possible war against Prussia and Italy, which also affected the fleet. His main rival was supposed to be the Italian fleet - since the Prussian fleet was both small and located too far away. The appointment of V.F. Tegetgoff to the post of fleet commander in May 1866 was a very important event. He was popular in the navy - especially after the Battle of Heligoland, and this popularity influenced both the morale of the sailors and the combat effectiveness of the ships. The shipyards had to ensure the readiness of the ships as soon as possible; the battleships Erzherzog Ferdinand Max and Habsburg, built in Trieste, were commissioned ahead of schedule. This allowed the installation of guns and the combat effectiveness of the ships on June 21 and 27, respectively. The old wooden battleship Kaiser, which was undergoing repairs, was also ready for battle on 25 June. Finally, another old warship Novara, damaged by a fire possibly caused by sabotage on May 3rd, joined the fleet anchored in the Pheasant Channel - north of Pola - on July 4th.

V. F. Tegetgoff, being subordinate to the commander of the Southern Army, Archduke A. F. Rudolf, received orders to support land operations from the sea. At the beginning of the war, the Austrian fleet had five battery battleships - Drach, Salamander, Prinz Eugen, Kaiser Max, Don Juan de Austria - the other two entered service after the start of the war. In addition, there were seven more unarmored ships and seven gunboats. The protection of the weakest ships in the fleet - the wooden ones - was strengthened by iron chains, in the spirit of those used in the American Civil War, which covered the boilers and cannons. Their hulls were also reinforced along the waterline. Novara also received protection from pieces of rails. The lack of coal did not prevent the Austrians from conducting exercises on the high seas, although they had to move at night only under sail, and during the day, under steam, develop a speed of no more than five and a half knots. Basically, the exercises consisted of firing volleys at targets, maneuvering and ramming strikes. Concentrating the fire of several not very powerfully armed Austrian ships on one target made it possible to increase the effectiveness of shooting.

The state of the Prussian armed forces at the beginning of the Austro-Prussian-Italian War

Army

Due to the territorial system of mobilization, Prussia had a gain of several weeks in terms of mobilization compared to Austria, in which the regiments were located, for reasons of internal politics, possibly far from the territory of their constituent nationality. Therefore, Austria, even though it did not want to enter the war, was forced to begin mobilization measures in advance. The Prussian press greatly inflated the strengthening of Austrian troops in Bohemia; On March 28, Prussia began to strengthen the available strength of the battalions of 5 divisions located near the Saxon and Austrian borders, from 530 people to 685 people. This was followed by the purchase of horses for field artillery. After the start of general mobilization in Austria, the Prussian king still resisted the mobilization of the Prussian army. Only successively, on May 3, 5 and 12, Moltke and Bismarck wrested from him decrees on mobilization, which in three steps covered the entire Prussian army.

H. Moltke proposed giving the future war a clearly offensive character, starting military operations without the slightest diplomatic warning, taking advantage of the complete military unpreparedness of Prussia’s opponents. In the midst of deep peace, unmobilized Prussian troops were to break into the allied fortress of Mainz and disarm the Austrian and allied troops garrisoning it. At the same time, on the very first day of mobilization, Prussian troops were supposed to invade Saxony from different sides, take the non-mobilized Saxon troops by surprise in their barracks and, only after finishing with them, begin mobilization; having finished the last, two armies - 193,000 and 54,000 people. - were to invade Bohemia and defeat the Austrian army before it could even assemble.

Throughout the war, the Prussians mobilized 664 thousand people. All units of the standing army received combat assignment to the front; In addition, of the 116 Landwehr battalions (1002 people each), which formed the garrison of the fortresses, 30 battalions were recruited for secondary active operations. For each field three-battalion regiment, a fourth reserve battalion of 800 people was formed, half from recruits, half from reserves who had already received military training. A total of 129 reserve battalions were formed, of which 48 battalions were involved in service in secondary theaters. From the Landwehr and reserve battalions, in addition to the existing army corps, 2 reserve corps were formed. Only a truce prevented them from entering the battle. Thus, behind the 334,000-strong Prussian field army there were over 300,000 second-line troops.

Fleet

However, at least in the 1860s, armor manufacturers managed to maintain their brand, and ironclads remained relatively vulnerable to armor-piercing and explosive shells. K. I. Hamilton. At the beginning of the Danish War of 1864, the Prussian navy had only two ships with experienced crews - the Arcona and the 19-gun corvette Nymphe, partially manned by sailors from the Niobe. withdrawn from the fleet. This detachment was commanded by Captain Edward von Jachmann, who held his flag on the 30-gun steam frigate Arkona, capable of speeds of up to 12 knots.

During the armistice, the Prussians purchased several ships being built for the Confederacy. These were the “Prinz Adalbert” (German: Prinz Adalbert) - an armored ram, the same type as the “Stonewall”, and two steam corvettes - “Augusta” (German: Augusta) - the former “Mississippi”, and “Victoria” (German: Victoria) - former "Louisiana".

After the end of the truce in the Baltic, another battle took place - on July 23 at Hiddensee. In general, the war in the Baltic was over, and the Prussian fleet could quite rightly be proud of how it conducted the war

The state of the Italian armed forces at the beginning of the Austro-Prussian-Italian War

Army

To influence Austria, O. Bismarck used Italy, which in advance began to strengthen its army, in which, for economic reasons, in 1865 the next generation of contingent was not called up at all, and to gather troops from the southern part of the peninsula and Sicily. Italy fielded 165 thousand field troops. The Prussian military commissioner, General Bernhardi, and the Prussian envoy persuaded the Italian command to energetically begin operations: to transport the bulk of the troops across the lower reaches of the river. Po and push it to Padua, into the deep rear of the Austrian army concentrated in the quadrangle of fortresses (Mantua, Peschiera, Verona, Legnago), which would lead to a battle with an inverted front; then launch an energetic offensive into the interior of Austria - towards Vienna; transfer Garibaldi and his volunteers across the Adriatic Sea to support the Hungarian uprising; to take part through emigration in its organization and thus “deal a blow to the heart of the Austrian power.” Of course, Italy, whose interests were secured even before the outbreak of hostilities, was not inclined to follow this advice, and the Austrians could have limited themselves to a minimum of forces on the Italian front from the very beginning of the war; however, the strategy did not take full advantage of Austria's political retreat towards Italy.

Fleet

The Italians have always been a seafaring nation, with a past marked by glorious achievements. But almost all of their ships had just entered service, most of the guns had been installed on the ships only recently, and neither the officers nor the sailors were sufficiently trained in handling them. The squadrons, formidable in composition, did not receive appropriate tactical training in peacetime. In addition, the fleet suffered from contradictions and jealousies between officers, stemming from the recent merger of two groups - the officers of Sardinia and Naples. There was not enough time for this merger to become complete... Courage alone was not enough. It required a lot of administrative work, the ability of commanders to lead people, and training. G. W. Wilson

When war was inevitable, the Italian Minister of the Navy ordered the formation of an active fleet of 31 ships on May 3, 1866, which were to be selected from 69 steamships and 75 sailing ships, many of which were unable to participate in hostilities.

This fleet was supposed to be fully equipped with people, weapons and equipment by June 20 - the day war was declared. By this date, 29 ships were ready - although not everything planned was completed, especially with regard to the guns. It should be noted that the Minister of the Navy ordered the replacement of unfastened (so-called “fastened with hoops”) rifled 160-mm guns with rifled guns of the same caliber, but fastened with rings, thus strengthening the armament of the battleships. The alterations were carried out in Taranto, from where the fleet left on June 21 - a day after the declaration of war - to Ancona, located on the Adriatic coast. Due to the fact that several slow-moving ships were included in the squadron, and the squadron speed did not exceed 4-5 knots, they reached Ancona only on June 25. Here the squadron stopped to await supplies and new orders.

Here the fleet was fully equipped before the battle - "all, with a few exceptions - affecting only the weakest - the ships received artillery prescribed by the Ministry." This report also noted that "all alterations on the ships at Ancona were completed by 20 June, and the artillery had been replaced on all but one ship by the time the Austrian commander appeared before Ancona on 27 August." When this happened, the Principe di Carignano, on which eight guns were replaced by guns from the armored corvette Terribile, delayed a little, and moved towards the enemy.

The Italian squadron was commanded by Admiral Carlo Pellion di Persano, born on March 11, 1806 in Vercelli. He distinguished himself by commanding one of the ships at Tripoli in 1825, but was later court-martialed for recklessness. From March 3, 1862, he was Minister of the Navy. When he was appointed commander-in-chief of the Armata di Operazione on May 3, 1866, he was already 60 years old and apparently too old for this appointment. In any case, he was no longer a hot-headed and reckless commander. In 1862, he made perhaps the most important change in Italian shipbuilding policy, abandoning the construction of wooden ships, supported by Minister Urbano Ratazzi, in favor of building ironclads. In addition, in order to nullify the rivalry between Sardinian and Neapolitan officers that existed in the united fleet, he planned to establish the Royal Academy, which would turn them into Italian officers. During these years, the Italian fleet had just turned to armor. In June 1862, he declared before the Italian Parliament, “recent events in the American war have shown that the importance of wooden ships is reduced to a minimum by the undeniable superiority of ironclads, even one of which can sink a whole fleet of wooden ships with its ram.”

Although Persano showed himself to be a good politician and organizer who introduced undoubted improvements in the fleet, he completely failed as a fleet commander. On July 20, his squadron consisted of 56 ships. Of these, Persano could rely on 11 ironclads - with the twelfth joining them a few hours before the battle. It was the Affondatore, which arrived in almost finished condition from its place of construction - Millwall on the Thames. It was a unique seaworthy turret battleship with a 26-foot ram.

Two other ironclads, the 1st class frigates Re di Portogallo and Re d'Italia, armed with pole mines, were built by Webb in New York during the Civil War. All the others, with the exception of the second-class frigate Principe di Carignano, were built in French shipyards. These were the second-class frigates Maria Pia, Ancona, Castelfidardo, and San Martino, and the armored corvettes Terribile and Formidabile. (Formidabile), and the armored gunboats Varese and Palestro. Re d'Italia became the first battleship to cross the Atlantic alone in March 1864.

Vice-Admiral Battista Giovanni Albini, count Sarda, who commanded the wooden ships, flew his flag on the Maria Adelaide. The rest of his ships were the first class steam frigates Duca di Genova, Vittorio Emanuele, Gaeta, Principe Umberto, Carlo Alberto ), Garibaldi, and the corvettes Principessa Clotilde, Etna, San Giovanni and Guisardo. The third detachment consisted of four gunboats, each armed with four rifled 12-cm cannons. They were commanded by Captain First Rank Antonio Sandri.

According to Persano's critics, he did not conduct targeted exercises, which were the norm for the Austrians, who constantly trained their artillerymen. Moreover, the naval department of the Italian War Ministry found it possible to provide ammunition specifically for artillery exercises.

Mantra: everything is clickable
The Austro-Italian-French War, or the Second Italian War of Independence, was a war between France and the Kingdom of Sardinia on one side and the Austrian Empire on the other. For Italy, this war was a national liberation war. In this war, France sought to expand its influence in Italy and oust the Austrians from the Apennine Peninsula.

The reason for the war was the desire of the French Emperor Napoleon III to expand his influence in Italy, displacing the Austrians from there. Austria at this time held the Lombardo-Venetian region and, like France, sought to prevent the unification of Italy. In fact, this war was between France and Austria for dominance over Italy.

Napoleon III skillfully played on the feelings of the Italians. In particular, he easily managed to win over the Sardinian king Victor Emmanuel II to his side in this war. Sardinia at that time was the most powerful Italian state. Almost all Italian states sought to unite with Sardinia, but Austria did not allow this. Napoleon III played on this, agreeing to jointly act with Victor Emmanuel against the Austrians.

In return, the Emperor of France asked for part of the Sardinian kingdom - Savoy and Nice - to join France. According to him, after a victorious war, the Austrians will be expelled forever from Venice and Lombardy. These areas will certainly go to Sardinia. But as mentioned above, Napoleon III did not want the strengthening of Sardinia, much less the formation of a new, large state near France. It became immediately clear to the great powers that Napoleon III was playing his own game. But the king of Sardinia did not understand this and immediately, after France’s proposal to conclude an alliance, agreed.

On July 20, 1858, an alliance was concluded in Plombieres between Victor Emmanuel and Napoleon III. And although this alliance was a closely guarded secret, the Austrians soon learned that war was being started against them. And after Napoleon III told the Austrian ambassador at a gala New Year's reception (January 1, 1858) in Paris: “I regret that our relations with your government have become less friendly than they were before,” no one in Vienna doubted that that war between France and Austria is inevitable.

The situation became increasingly tense. But war was still not declared. The reason was that, according to the constitution of the German Confederation, Austria could ask for help from the German countries only in the event of a defensive war. In such a situation, Napoleon had to resort to cunning. Cavour, the first minister of the Sardinian kingdom, began to spread rumors about the complete incapacity of the Sardinian army.

Napoleon III, for his part, made it clear to the Austrians that no military intervention from France was expected. France made it clear that it was ready to help Sardinia only diplomatically and nothing more. Emboldened, Austria presented an ultimatum to the Sardinian kingdom (April 23, 1859), in which it demanded complete demilitarization. Victor Emmanuel rejected the ultimatum. On April 29, Austria attacked Sardinia. France immediately stood up for its ally.

After the Crimean War of 1853-1856, relations between France and Russia began to improve. Both Alexander II (Emperor of Russia) and Napoleon III strove for this. Alexander II tried to get closer to France in the hope that Napoleon III would cancel the articles of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856 that were shameful for Russia. In turn, Napoleon got closer to Russia in order to prevent a new Anglo-Russian war. Napoleon needed a counterweight to Great Britain, and he found this counterbalance in Russia. London reacted very painfully to any rapprochement between France and Russia.

Alexander II had no objection at all to France defeating Austria. Moreover, he concluded an agreement with the Emperor of France, according to which Russia had to maintain friendly neutrality. Alexander also promised Napoleon that he would concentrate several Russian corps near the border with Austria in order to pin down part of the Austrian troops in the east. The main reason for Russia's pro-French attitude was the betrayal of Austria during the Crimean War.

Prussia was then effectively ruled by Wilhelm, after the insanity of his brother King Frederick William IV. Wilhelm did not share the expansionist policy of Napoleon III, but at the same time, it would never have occurred to anyone in Prussia to fight on the side of Austria. Moreover, Prussia was preparing to unite the German states under its leadership, which Austria would definitely have opposed. Therefore, Prussia benefited from the weakening of the latter. As for the rest of Germany, Napoleon did diplomatic work before the war.

He learned that the majority of members of the German Confederation supported Austria. This mainly concerned the southern German states. But France has long had Bavaria and Saxony as its allies. These two states were the largest German states after Austria and Prussia. The rest of the small states will not risk taking the side of Austria, especially since the war did not work out for Austria from the very beginning. The bridgehead for an attack on Austria was ready, but Great Britain still remained.

Great Britain categorically did not want France to strengthen in Europe. Moreover, the interests of France and Great Britain intersected throughout the world: Southeast Asia, Syria, Africa, Latin America (in particular Mexico). Palmerston, the British Prime Minister, was hostile to the policies of Napoleon III. The Emperor of France, seeing the futility of political pressure on London, came to the conclusion that England could intervene diplomatically in the conflict, and his plans would fail. Then Napoleon himself escalated the conflict between France and England.

In a conversation with the husband of Queen Victoria of England, Prince Albert, Napoleon told him that he would never again read dispatches or notes from Palmerston, citing the fact that Palmerston did not know how to write them decently. Napoleon inflicted such an insult on the government of the London cabinet in 1857. That same year, the Sepoy Mutiny began in British India. The uprising lasted 2 years, finally shackling England in the East and not giving it the opportunity to act in Europe. This was to Napoleon's advantage.

Anglo-French relations finally cooled after an assassination attempt was made on Napoleon III in January 1858. An attempt to assassinate the emperor was made by the Italian Felice Orsini. It later turned out that the Italian terrorist was supplied with weapons by the British government. Moreover, the conspiracy was drawn up in England itself, and not in Italy. The French newspapers made a terrible fuss about this. Palmerston resigned. The sepoy uprising weakened the English army, and Britain could not fight for Italy and France.

The first major battle took place on May 20, 1859 at Montebello. 15,000 Austrians took part in the battle under the command of General Stadion. On the part of the Franco-Sardinian coalition, 8,000 French took part under the command of General Fore. At first, the Austrians seized the initiative, but Sardinian troops arrived at the battlefield in time. After a stubborn battle, the Austrians were forced to retreat back to Castegio, losing 1,300 people killed and wounded. Also 200 Austrians were captured. French losses amounted to 723 killed and wounded.

On May 26, the Battle of Varese took place. In it, 4,000 Austrians could not break the resistance of 3,000 Sardinians. The Italian troops were commanded by the famous Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. Under his leadership, the Italians won a decisive victory.
On May 30, the Battle of Palestro took place. In this battle, the Franco-Sardinian army completely defeated the Austrians. Austrian losses were high - 2,500 killed and wounded. Allied losses amounted to 900 killed and wounded.

On June 4, 1859, one of the largest battles of this war took place - the Battle of Magenta. By June, the French, like the Austrians, managed to pull up their main forces to the fields of Italy. Now the battles of the Austro-Italian-French War grew from small skirmishes into full-scale battles. The Austrian commander-in-chief Gyulai had 113,000 soldiers, but brought into battle only 58,000 with 152 guns (the main Austrian corps). The main French corps consisted of 59,100 soldiers with 91 guns. They were commanded by MacMahon. McMahon crossed the river. Ticino, attacked the Austrian positions and, after a fierce battle, expelled the Austrians from Magenta, inflicting a decisive defeat on them. In the battle, the Austrians lost 1,368 killed, 4,358 wounded, and 3,987 missing or captured soldiers. French losses were 675 killed, 3,229 wounded, and 546 missing or captured soldiers.

On June 24, the last and largest battle of this war took place. The Battle of Solferino turned into a nightmare for the Austrian army. Almost a quarter of a million soldiers took part in the battle. The Austrians, under the leadership of their emperor Franz Joseph, suffered a crushing defeat, losing 18% of their entire army. Austrian troops, retreating after the battle, left Lombardy.

After the victory at Solferino, Napoleon III realized that he was making a mistake. Sardinia has become very strong. Tuscany, Parma and Modena were about to unite into one state with Sardinia. Napoleon, naturally, did not want this. Immediately after the battle, Napoleon sent his aide-de-camp to Franz Joseph asking for peace. Franz Joseph happily accepted the offer. Before Europe had time to come to its senses, peace was signed between France and Austria on July 11. Victor Emmanuel, like all of Italy, fell into great despondency. The king of Sardinia could not fight alone with Austria. All of Europe was extremely surprised by the betrayal of Napoleon III (the Italian press called him a traitor). But Napoleon had his own reasons for ending the war.

Firstly, the Emperor of France was afraid that the German states would stand up for Austria. Secondly, almost all the hardships of the war were borne by French troops. Thirdly, for France, the unification of the Sardinian kingdom with other Italian states meant the withdrawal of French troops from Rome, which ran counter to the interests of France.

According to the Villafranca Truce, signed between France and Austria, Austria gave Lombardy to France (Venice remained under Austria). In turn, France received Savoy and Nice from the Sardinian kingdom. France also pledged to give Lombardy to the Sardinian kingdom. Representatives of the Sardinian kingdom were not even invited to Villafranca.

In 1860, Franz Joseph decided to take revenge for his defeat in 1859. The Austrian army was mobilized against Sardinia, which was just waiting for the order to begin hostilities. But Russia saved Sardinia. Alexander Gorchakov, Chancellor of the Russian Empire, organized a meeting of three monarchs (Russian, Austrian and Prussian) in Warsaw. On October 22, 1860, Alexander II threatened Franz Joseph that he would not allow Austria to strengthen at the expense of the Sardinian kingdom. As for Napoleon III, he tried in vain to stop the process of unification of Italy. In 1859-1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi overthrew the rulers of Tuscany, Parma, and Modena. These Italian states soon united with Sardinia.

Cemetery at Melegnano. Consequences of the battle. June 1859.

the war that ended the long the struggle between Prussia and Austria for dominance. role in Germany and which was an important stage in the unification of Germany “from above”, under the hegemony of the Junker-Bourgeois. Prussia. In the bourgeoisie German historiography called usually the "German War" ("Deutscher Krieg"). The reason for the war was the conflict over Schleswig-Holstein. On June 14, at the proposal of Austria, supported by the majority of small Germans. state, Sejm Germ. The Union decided to mobilize the allied army against Prussia; Austria's formal declaration of war occurred on June 17, after the Prussians launched their invasion of Hanover, Hesse, and Saxony on June 16. In diplomatic and military relations, the government of O. Bismarck had provided Prussia with this at this point. advantages, including the neutrality of Russia and France and the military. alliance with Italy, concluded on April 8. 1866. Austria had to fight a war on 2 fronts - on the Italian (see Austro-Italian War of 1866) and Bohemian (Czech) theaters. Prussia was superior to Austria in industrial development; relatively dense railway Prussia's network ensured the speed of mobilization. transportation and strategic deployment on a wide front. Prussian The infantry were armed with needle-type guns, loaded from the breech of the Dreyse system, the rate of fire of which was 3 times higher than the Austrian ones. guns loaded from the muzzle. The Austrians, unable to adapt their tactics to the new shooter. the weapons used by the Prussians suffered heavy losses. Austrian artillery was used more massively. A serious weakness of the Austrians. army was what it means. its part consisted of representatives of peoples oppressed by the Habsburg monarchy. Since Austria had to be allocated, it means. forces (about 140 thousand) to the Italian theater, and Bavaria, allied with Austria, refused to send its troops to Bohemia, the Prussians received a certain numerical superiority in the Bohemian theater - 278 thousand against 261 thousand, which were Northern Austria army (including the Saxon corps that retreated to Bohemia). Led by a Prussian. King Wilhelm I stood in the army; in fact, the operations were led by H. Moltke. Austrian North The army was commanded by Gen. L. Benedek, who showed himself to be an extremely weak commander.

On the so-called Main Theater - in Hanover, Hesse, and then in the Frankfurt direction of the Prussians. the forces quickly achieved success. On June 28, the Hatschoverians capitulated at Langensalza, after which the Prussians were able to force the offensive. actions against the Austrians and Saxons in Bohemia. Strategic deployment against Saxony and Austria was carried out along an arc stretching St. 250 km by three armies: 2nd Army (commander - Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm) in Silesia - between the years. Breslau (Wroclaw) and Neisse (Nysa), the 1st Army (Prince Friedrich Karl) in the Görlitz region (in Lausitz) and the Elbe Army (General Herwarth von Bittenfeld) in the Torgau region. Subsequently, the Elbe Army came under the control of Frederick Charles. Ch. Austrian forces North The armies, concentrated first in the fortified region of Olmutz (Olomouc), then moved to Bohemia, to the region of the fortresses of Josefstadt (Jaromerz) and Königgrätz (Hradec-Králové). Prussian ch. the command gave a directive on June 22 about concentric. invasion of Bohemia, so that both main. The groups united in the Gichina region (Iichin). In almost all clashes, which in some cases were in the nature of oncoming battles, the Prussians were successful (2nd Prussian Army at Náchod on June 27, at Skalitz and Burkersdorf on June 28, at Königinhof (Dwur-Králové) on June 29; 1st Army - at Münchengrätz on June 28, Gichin - on June 29, etc.). On July 3, a decisive battle took place in the Sadova-Königgrätz region (see Sadova), in which approximately equal forces took part on both sides (220 thousand Prussians, 215 thousand Austrians). The army of Frederick Charles began fighting in the Sadowy region from early morning; on the afternoon of July 3, the army of the crown prince arrived on the battlefield (in the area of ​​the village of Khlum). The Prussians achieved a major success, forcing the Austrians into a disorderly retreat. The Austrian losses in killed, wounded and prisoners amounted to St. 44 thousand hours - almost 5 times more than the Prussians. However, Prussian command gave the opportunity to the Austro-Saxons. troops to break away from the enemy. Benedek withdrew his remaining troops to Olmutz, providing only weak cover for the Vienna direction. The Prussians resumed their advance: with the 2nd Army - to Olmutz (to create a barrier), with the 1st and Elbe armies - in the general direction of Vienna. In the critical situation created for Austria. situation, the transfer of Austrians began. troops from Italy, where they had previously won a number of victories, to the north. Benedek was replaced by Archduke Albrecht on July 13. Austria still had the opportunity to organize resistance to the enemy on the approaches to Vienna and Presburg (Bratislava), but internally. The situation in the empire, especially the threat of the fall of Hungary (the Prussians soon approached Pressburg, threatening to cut off Austria proper from Hungary), forced the government of Franz Joseph to enter into peace negotiations with Prussia. Bismarck also sought this (despite the resistance of Wilhelm I and Moltke), because in Austria he saw a possible ally in the future, and at this stage he was ready to limit himself to the exclusion of Austria from Germany. Union. The government of Napoleon III, which declared its neutrality, feared the excessive weakening of Austria and therefore also sought to end the war. On July 22, a truce began, on July 26, a preliminary peace was signed in Nikolsburg, and on August 23. in Prague - a peace treaty (see Peace of Prague 1866). Ch. political The result of the war was the formation of North German. Union under the leadership of militaristic Prussia. Prussia significantly expanded its territory. due to small germs. state and concluded secret military agreements. agreements with South Germany. Mr. you. Austria remained outside the union, Venice region. went to Italy.

Lit.: Engels F., Notes on the war in Germany, in his book: Izbr. military proizv., M., 1956; History of the War of 1866 in Germany, trans. from German, St. Petersburg, 1870; The struggle of Austria against Prussia and Italy in 1866, in the book: Military Library, vol. 9-11, parts 1-5, St. Petersburg, 1872-73; Dragomirov M.I., Essays on the Austro-Prussians. war of 1866, St. Petersburg, 1867; Rothstein R. A., From the history of Prussian-German. Empire, M.-L., 1948; Narochnitskaya L.I., Russia and the wars of Prussia in the 60s. XIX century for the unification of Germany “from above”, M., 1960; Delbrück G., Military history. art..., vol. 5 - New time (continued). As presented by E. Daniels, trans. from German, M., 1937; Schlieffen A., Cannes, 2nd ed. (translated from German), M., 1938; Lettow-Vorbeck O. v., Geschichte des Krieges von 1866 in Deutschland, Bd 1-3, V., 1896-1902; Friedjung H., Der Kampf um die Vorherrschaft in Deutschland 1859 bis 1866, 10 Aufl., Bd 1-2, Stuttg, - V., 1916-17; Schlichting S. v., Moltke und Benedek, V., 1900; Ditfurth M. v., Benedek und die Taten und Schicksale der K. K. Nordarmee 1866, Bd 1-3, W., 1911; Moltke H. K. B. v., Militarische Korrespondenz, Tl. 2 - Aus den Dienstschriften des Krieges 1866, V., 1896.

M. E. Struve. Moscow.