In 1863 King Frederick of Denmark died. He was also the ruler of Schleswig and Holstein which had been under Danish control for 400 years. As a result of his death, the problem of the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein came to the fore again in 1863. When the new King of Denmark, Christian of Glucksburg came to the throne in 1863, officials of the government in Holstein refused to swear allegience to him. Holstein had a mainly German population and was a member of the German Confederation, whilst Schleswig had a mixed German and Danish population, but was not a member of the German Confederation. There had been a history of trouble over the Duchies, most notably in 1848 when the people of Holstein had rebelled against Denmark and the resulting Prussian intervention, followed by Russian intervention had ultimately undermined the Frankfurt Parliament.

This issue Schleswig and Holstein was also confused by the fact that under the Treaty of London in 1852 the authority of the King of Denmark over the two Duchies was recognised as long as they were not taken over by Denmark. Another problem was that the new Danish King's right to the throne was being contested by the Duke of Augustenburg who had been required to give up his claims to the Schleswig and Holstein under the Treaty of London in 1852.

The War

Denmark annexed Schleswig in 1863 and gave Holstein independence. This broke the Treaty of London and allowed the Duke of Augustenburg to put forward a new claim for the two duchies. The Diet of the German Confederation supported the Dukes claim and declared its opposition to Denmark. The smaller states of the German Confederation sent an army to invade Holstein in support of the Duke.

Bismarck's actions during the crisis are difficult to analyse definitively. Later he claimed that "from the beginning he had conducted the Schleswig affair in accordance with Prussian interests." However, Bismarck often rewrote history and ideed gave different versions of events to different people. The facts would suggest that he had no clear policy at the time other than to protect Prussian interests and in the Schleswig-Holstein affair he saw an opportunity to do so. He saw an opportunity to further Prussian power and influence in Northern Germany and to belittle Austria if she did not support the Treaty of London. The reality was that he was not really concerned with the fate of the Germans in the two duchies or the views of the German Confederation.

He asked Austria to help Prussia enforce the Treaty of London. If Austria failed to do this she would lose credibility as one of the two leading German states. Austria therefore supported Prussia's actions. The Danish refused to. Give into the demands and war was declared. The war was quickly over with the Prussians and Austrians victorious. Denmark was forced to give up any claims to Schleswig and Holstein.

Following the war The Treaty of Vienna in 1864 made Austria the administrator of Holstein and Prussia the administrator of Schleswig. Nominally the administration of the two duchies was shared. Even though Austria still supported the Duke of Augustenburg's claim for the Duchies, Bismark had no intention of him taking control other than as a puppet ruler. Bismarck's real aim was to annex both Schleswigg and Holstein to Prussia.

The Result of the War

Bismarck had been able to test out the strength of the Prussian army. Prussian power and influence in Northern Germany had been extended. Austria had been forced to give the initiative in leading the German Confederation to Prussia.

The seeds for Prussia to come into confrontation with Austria had been sown. Bismarck realised that if Prussia were to become the main power in Germany Austria had to be dealt with sooner or later. The confrontation would come about partly as a result of arguments over the administration of Schleswig and Holstein. He also felt that the Danish war showed that Britain and Russia would be unlikely to interfere in a war between Prussia and Austria. He still had to find out what France and Italy would do in the event of war and this is what he set about doing.

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