German Austrian War

"The Era of the Austrians is over, now it is time for the Germans to rule the world!" - Karl Alexander von Hohenzollern of Preußen

The German Austrian War was a war between the North German Confederation and the German Confederation led by the Austrians. It was a major war lasting from May 10th 1838 to January 17th 1842. The war consisting of two sides, The German Side, consisting of the North German States and the Austrian Side consisting of Austria-Hungary and its allies. The war resulted with a German victory and the formation of the German Kaiserreich.

The Northern Confederacy

The Northern Confederacy was a Confederacy consisting of the North German States with the Prussian King as its President. It was founded by Karl Alexander von Hohenzollern in an attempt to break out of Austrian Influence. The Northern Confederacy was to act as the German Confederacy just for the North German States and with the Prussian King as its leader. It was founded in the 14th of January but was short lived as three days later, the Austrians declared war immediatly.

"Ich bin ein Preuße, ich bin nicht ein Österreichsich!" - Paul von Imkov

Belligerents
 Kingdom of Belgium
Good ties with the North Germans
 Umayyads (Supporter)

The Praguemarsch

The Prussians had a plan to quickly beat the Austrians and it was called the Praguemarsch. It was a plan made by Karl Alexander to quickly seize the Bohemian territory by quickly seizing Prague.

Deployment and Mobilization

The North Germans had already Mobilized on both fronts. The Austrian Front consisted of around 40 000 soldiers and was lead by Karl Alexander. The South German Front had around 20 000 soldiers, commanded by Heinrich von Lettow. Mobilization by the Austrians had already occured when the war began, there was around 46 000 Austrian soldiers on the Bohemian Front however, the South German States had a delayed mobilization which would be a major reason for their quick demise.

The Dying Horse

At around 4 PM, the German Austrian War infamously started when an Austrian Soldier shot down a Prussian Horse. Karl Alexander ordered an immediate advance and the Praguemarsch had begun. Heinrich von Lettow received news to begin his march at around 6 PM. His march was very successful meeting little resistance as the South German States had a slower Mobilization than expected, in fact they managed to take Saarbrücken in just about 2 days.

British and Karmilian Intervention in Belgium

The British had bad ties with the Prussians before the war had occured, they also had interests in ports in Belgium and they also wished to take back Hanover which they had recently decided to grant to Prussia. The Karmilians believing that Flanders was ethnically French decided to support the British who had already decided to support the Austrians. The Belgians thus pleaded for help from the Germans as they had already guaranteed their independence. This lead to a two front war for the North German Confederacy and Belgium.

Operation Striking Dawn

Operation Striking dawn was the battle plans of the Karmilian Council. It consisted of focusing most of their forces marching towards the City of Hanover, not allowing the Belgians to have a secure line with the North Germans.

Operation Striking Dawn

Battle at Kladno

The Battle at Kladno was a major battle that led to the Germans managing to march into the city of Prague. It was fought near Kladno, where the first major battle of the Austrian Campaign occured. The North Germans with a force of around 23 000 led by King Karl Alexander met an Austrian Army with a force of around 19 500 soldiers.

It started with the Austrians having a significant advantage due to the terrain being mountainous, however due to King Karl's strategic abilites, he managed to lead a dragoon unit to flank an infantry unit despite the mountainous terrain. This one assault led to the Austrian Army crumbling and thus retreating out of Kladno to Brno where the mountains would protect them.

Plan to flank the Infantry DivisionThe plan under operationPlan is successful

British Offensives at Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven

As the British had little control over what happened at the Karmilian Front, the British wished to open up another front on the Western Coast of Northern Germany. This resulted in the landings of Wilhelmshaven and Bremerhaven.

The British didn't get far from their landing grounds, the closest they got were a couple of miles from any significant city. Most blame the fact that it was a naval landing, a horrible idea against a powerful nation and that would soon be proven by the coming of Hans von Alsberger.

Hans von Alsberger was a Saxon General with the task of keeping the French at bay whilst the majority of the soldiers battle in South Germany and Bohemia, but due to the British Landings he was forced to abort the mission and expel the British as fast as he could. He first arrived with a force of around 10 000 men to take out the British Riflemen, but they immediatly retreated to their Landing Grounds. There, Hans von Alsberger had a genius idea, especially considering he was a defensive general: he would flood the Landing Grounds by using the Canals nearby. This plan worked successfuly as the British were forced to retreat by fleet as the General had ensured their forces were surrounded, there they would gun the British down leading to the deadliest battle in the war by percentage.

With the British forces retreating, there was a question if the Wilhelmshaven forces should reinforce in Bremerhaven but it was denied immediatly as Admiral Georg von Oldenburg came with a fleet from Cuxhaven to immediatly enforce their retreat. With this, the forces at Bremerhaven were also forced to retreat.

Battle for Stuttgart

After the success of the Praguemarsch, Heinrich von Lettow's campaign continued in South Germany. There were little forces that could stop Heinrich's 20 000 soldiers, but when Heinrich von Lettow's army arrived at Stuttgart, capital of Württemburg, the first major battle of the South German Campaign ensued. It was a force of around 20 000 North German Soldiers against 24 000 South German Soldiers.

By focusing most of his army on a smaller portion of the South German army, Heinrich von Lettow manages to win the battle and the South German forces are forced to retreat to München where it is decided to retreat yet again into Austria.

Operation Charlemagne

After securing Kleindeutschland and Bohemia, King Karl Alexander leaves Bohemia with a force of around 20 000 commanded by his son to finally pull out the French from Belgium and Aachen.

Arriving near Aachen, Karl had deviced a plan called "Operation Charlemagne". It included the idea of encircling the thin stretched supply line then close in on the actual army in Aachen and capture as many as possible. King Leopold I, Hans von Alsberger and King Karl Alexander had raised a force of around 100 000 altogheter, and if the operation had occured, it would be most likely the North Germans and Belgians would've won it. It would also have been the biggest military operation ever seen to that date.

Operation Charlemagne

Das Deutscher Kaiserreich

At 27th November 1841, after almost 3 and a half years of war, the Austrians request a peace treaty and negotiations would take place in Berlin. Agreements came under a treaty which would dissolve the German Confederacy and the Austrians would recognise the new German Kaiserreich consisting of Kleindeutschland. War with the Austrians had finally ended and a new Empire rose up in Europe.

Treaty with the Karmilians and The British

After the Austrians had pulled out of the war, there really was no reason for the Karmilians and British to fight except for territory in Belgium, which was seen as greedy for many. For this reason, December 22nd, a peace treaty was signed between the Karmilians and the German Empire granting them Flanders but at the same time making the rest of the Kingdom of Belgium some sort of German Sattelite state.

The British would soon be forced to sign a peace treaty with the Germans as their troops were expelled from Karmilian Soil. In London it was decided that the British pay war reperations, renounce their claims on Hanover, transfer 4 British vessels, and recognise the German Empire.

Aftermath

After the British signed the Treaty of London at January 17th, Germany was finally at peace, but the formation of the Empire was arguably rushed too fast. In fact, the fast formation of the German Kaiserreich is definitely one of the contributors to disunity in the German Kaiserreich and definitely a contributor in why Kaiser Karl Alexander would be assassinated almost a year later. Not only that, but since the Germans had to fight a war against three of the greatest Empires in Europe, the Germans were left isolated and Nationalism became evermore important. This isolation also probably lead to better relations between the Germans and the Russian Empire.

On the international stage, many German Unionists felt that the Karmilians and Austrians weren't humiliated enough. It is what lead to the Flanders Crisis later that year and a big contributor to the Bohemian Crisis in 1850.

All in all, the war certainly made Germany one of the Greatest Powers of Europe, but it also left Germany isolated and disunited, which most people would blame on the Austrians.