War Ends

The Austro-Prussian War had been long in preparation, and the entire German Empire had taken sides with remarkable clarity.

The conflict had begun as early as April, but because of the Prussian king's hesitation, Prussia had not begun preparing for war until May.

Yet Prussia was clearly the better prepared side in this war. The Prussians had long been ready to unify Germany, while the Austrians were still immersed in dreams of empire, unaware that the Austrian Empire's situation had already become exceedingly perilous.

As time entered June of 1866, the flames along the Prussian-Austrian border were further fanned.

The Kingdom of Bavaria in southern Germany attempted to initiate a Confederation vote, hoping to use the opportunity to make both Prussia and Austria halt their military preparations.

But preparations for war between the two nations had reached such a stage that a mere Bavaria could no longer stop them.

After the Iron Chancellor Bismarck declared Parliament's decision invalid and demanded the dissolution of the Confederation assembly, all of Germany began a grand and vigorous scramble to choose sides.

Beyond determining victory and defeat, this coming war would decide the final master of the German Region.

Standing with Prussia were Mecklenburg, Oldenburg, and the other northern German states, along with the three free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck.

Standing with Austria were Saxony, Hanover, Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse-Kassel, Hesse-Darmstadt, and the other member states of the German Confederation.

In terms of the number, population, and land area of the states taking sides, Austria held the advantage. But in terms of military strength, Prussia was clearly stronger.

When June 14 finally arrived, the war both sides had long prepared for erupted.

Carlo was not worried about this war in the slightest. Even if it were only Prussia and Austria fighting one-on-one, Austria could never possibly be Prussia's match.

Though the Italian army could not play any major role, it could still tie down part of the Austrian forces in the early stages of the war.

Moreover, Garibaldi had already assembled an army more than ten thousand strong. At the very least, this force would not be dead weight.

If the Austrians truly underestimated their enemy, Italy might not only reclaim the Venetian region, but also press its claim to the long-coveted South Tyrol region.

It was worth mentioning that, because he did not trust Garibaldi to command troops alone, Vittorio Emanuele II also agreed to Carlo's request: Garibaldi's second son, Giotto, would be invited to serve as Carlo's Duke's Court Adjutant.

This position held no real authority whatsoever, since Carlo was not qualified to possess a guard force.

Giotto's daily duties were simply to accompany Carlo to the Military Academy for study and, incidentally, handle various miscellaneous matters for him.

As Carlo endured day after day of dull and tedious military studies, the war between Prussia and Austria was also being fought with raging intensity.

Though the entire battlefield was divided into three fronts, the decisive one lay in the Bohemia region.

This was not only where the main forces of the Prussian and Austrian armies clashed, but also one of the Austrian Empire's most vital heartlands.

The good news was that, through his connections, Carlo could easily obtain the latest reports from the front and publish them in his 24 Hours Sun Newspaper.

By also running the occasional story about Garibaldi, he had thoroughly cemented the 24 Hours Sun Newspaper of Italy's standing in public opinion in Italy.

Riding the east wind of the war's outbreak, Italy Sun's daily circulation had already surpassed fifteen thousand copies and was rapidly advancing toward twenty thousand copies a day.

If not for the limitations of the era's printing and communications technologies, Sun Newspaper might have used this opportunity to become Italy's largest newspaper.

The war did not last long. Because Prussia feared intervention from France, it began with great fanfare and ended like a tiger's head with a snake's tail.

The good news was that Italy successfully gained its reward for participating in the war: the entire Venetian region and part of South Tyrol.

The bad news was that both the Italian army and Vittorio Emanuele II displayed an utterly dreadful side during the war. The performance of more than one hundred thousand troops from Italy was not even equal to Garibaldi's force of just over ten thousand men.

But as the saying went, flaws could not obscure the jade's radiance. Compared with the nationwide jubilation brought by reclaiming Venice and annexing half of South Tyrol, Vittorio Emanuele II's poor military command could be voluntarily overlooked by the people of Italy.

At least on this matter, Vittorio Emanuele II and Garibaldi had reached a compromise.

Garibaldi hoped to see a united and powerful Italy within his lifetime, while Vittorio Emanuele II hoped to accomplish the great goal of unifying Italy during his reign. The two were like two hands clapping together.

This was beneficial to Carlo as well.

The suggestion that Garibaldi recruit troops and prepare for war had come from Carlo, and the facts proved it had been highly effective.

If Garibaldi's army had not played such a major role on the southern front, Italy would already have been fortunate merely to reclaim Venice, let alone annex part of the South Tyrol region.

The greatest factor behind this was Prussia's fear of intervention from France.

In the original history, after the Italian army suffered a crushing defeat, Garibaldi had been entrusted with the task in a moment of crisis. With a hastily assembled force of only thirty-eight thousand men, he repeatedly routed the Austrian army and had even nearly fought his way into the Tyrol region.

But Prussia at the time feared intervention from France and demanded, with an exceedingly hard-line attitude, that the Italian government immediately withdraw its troops.

Garibaldi had no choice but to withdraw from South Tyrol, leaving Italy with only the Venetian region that the Austrians had voluntarily abandoned in this war.

But now, because of Garibaldi's proactive offensive, he had already captured most of South Tyrol before the Prussians demanded a withdrawal.

This became the Italian government's leverage in demanding South Tyrol. Though it ultimately obtained less than half of South Tyrol, it had still gained more than in the original history.

Compared with Italy, the Kingdom of Prussia was unquestionably the nation that gained the most from this war.

After the war ended, the German Confederation announced its dissolution, and Austria had lost control over the German Region.

Prussia, meanwhile, leapt to become the leader of all the states in the German Region and annexed the Kingdom of Hanover, becoming the German Region's new hegemon.

This was quite friendly to a country like Italy. With Prussia drawing the attention of Britain and France, Italy could quietly build up its strength for a time, and Carlo no longer needed to worry that some of his actions would bring even greater unforeseen consequences.

Please vote with monthly tickets, recommendation tickets, follow-up reads, and investments!