International Mediation

A few days later, after Bismarck's urging and prodding, Austria and Prussia reached an agreement.

The Austrian Army would continue attacking the Danes alongside the Prussian Army unless the Danish Government agreed to the complete independence of the two duchies.

Naturally, the Danes could not possibly agree. Losing Schleswig meant losing more than thirty percent of Danish territory, and the nationalists within Denmark would certainly brand the cabinet as traitors who had sold out their country.

Compared with surrendering without a fight, defeat would clearly win more sympathy from the Danish people. It was not that the government had failed to make an effort—it was that the Germans were too despicable.

The Danish Government rejected the conditions of the German states, and thus the Allied Forces' war machine roared into motion once more.

On March 8, having received orders from home, the Austrian Imperial Army took the lead in launching an attack and won the Battle of Dybbøl.

On March 15, the Danish Navy announced a blockade of the Prussian coast. The navy had entered the war, and the newly established Prussian Navy rose to meet it.

The two naval fleets began a fierce exchange of fire in the Kattegat Sea. At the time, the Prussian Navy had only recently been established, while Denmark had long been a traditional naval power in Northern Europe. The outcome of the clash was naturally self-evident. Two days later, the Danish Navy achieved a tactical victory in the Battle of Dybbøl.

The weak Prussian Navy was simply no match for the Danish Navy. Denmark held firm control of the seas, but the Prussian Navy preserved its surviving strength and was not annihilated.

That same day, the Prussian Army also launched an offensive against the Danish Army's new positions at Dybbøl. Prussia first deployed artillery for a massive bombardment of the Dybbøl position, then sent in its army under the cover of artillery fire.

Facing the savage Prussian Army, Denmark's new commander naturally dared not repeat General Meza's mistakes. This time, he did not choose to withdraw from the battlefield. Relying on sheer tenacity, the Danes repelled the Prussians' probing attacks several times in a single day.

But this exchange of fire was merely a prelude. The Prussian Army's ultimate move was still gathering strength.

A month later, on April 18, the Battle of Dybbøl erupted. After dozens of hours of artillery preparation, Prussia launched its general assault. Hundreds of cannon simultaneously struck the Dybbøl position, while the Prussian Army charged fiercely toward Dybbøl beneath the fire of the Herluf Trolle's naval guns, anchored near the Danish coastline.

As Denmark's flagship, the Herluf Trolle was clearly unable to halt the Prussians' land offensive and could only slow the Prussian Army's advance.

Under the barrage of covering artillery fire, the Danes could only huddle inside their fortifications. Seizing the moment, the Prussians pressed toward Dybbøl with their advantage in manpower.

Gradually, the vanguard troops charging at the front felt their way to the edge of the Dybbøl position.

Under the Allied Forces' overwhelming artillery bombardment, the Dybbøl position had long been at death's door. Many hastily erected fortifications had been reduced to ruins beneath the shellfire.

Using those ruins for cover, the Prussian Army that had reached the Dybbøl position successfully penetrated the Danish lines.

Seeing that the tide had turned beyond recovery, the Danish General Commander could only order the troops to abandon Dybbøl, leaving behind only the Danish Army's Eighth Brigade to cover the rear.

The Danish Army's Eighth Brigade fought with great tenacity to cover the retreat of the Danish main force.

But its losses were devastating. The Danish Army's Eighth Brigade was nearly crippled by the massive Prussian force, suffering casualties of more than one-third. Even so, it brilliantly completed its mission of covering the Danish main force's withdrawal.

After its defeat in the Battle of Dybbøl, the Danish military, constrained by its troop strength, had no choice but to abandon its simultaneous effort to retake the Fredericia area already occupied by the Austrian Army.

After the Allied Forces' سلسلة of battles, nearly half of Denmark's territory on the Jutland Peninsula, including Schleswig, had fallen. Even the last spark of the Danes' hope for victory had been snuffed out by the Allied Forces.

At the same time, the Danes' consecutive defeats led the British Government to decide on intervention. Maintaining the balance of the continent was Britain's bottom line; the British could not allow enormous changes among the nations of continental Europe.

Previously, the British Government had already issued a stern warning to Prussia, and Prussia verbally agreed to a temporary ceasefire on April 12.

But Bismarck postponed that plan until April 25. During that interval, Prussia took control of all Dybbøl.

With the support of Russia, France, and Sweden, the British Government proposed intervening in the war on the Jutland Peninsula, stating that the entire Schleswig question should be decided by the European nations together.

Austria and Prussia, which had long since secretly reached a common understanding, stated that as long as the 1852 agreement was not used as the basis for deliberation, and the duchies and Denmark were linked only through a personal union, the two countries would agree to a resolution.

The conference convened in London on April 25, with Viscount Palmerston, the British representative, presiding over it.

Britain accused Prussia and Austria's conduct of war of threatening the peace of Europe.

But the German representatives merely stated that the matter in question was unavoidably complicated.

At the same time, Count Beust, representing the German Confederation, demanded that all nations recognize Augustenborg's sovereignty over the duchies.

Although the Austrian Empire was more inclined toward a plan similar to the 1852 agreement, Prussia had already revealed its ambition to acquire the duchies.

For the Kingdom of Prussia to realize that ambition, it first had to ensure Schleswig's complete independence.

Therefore, the Prussian representatives insisted that the Schleswig region be completely separated from Denmark.

This placed Austria in a dilemma. If Austria opposed it, it feared losing the Empire's influence in Germany entirely; if it did not oppose it, it feared Prussia's power would grow.

After weighing the gains and losses, Austria still believed that influence in the German territories mattered more. Unifying all the German territories was likewise the Austrian Empire's desire.

Thus, though unwilling, it supported Prussia's proposal that the Duchy of Schleswig obtain complete political independence, though it should be bound by a joint institution, with the next step left unconsidered for the time being.

To reassure Britain, France, and the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia's representatives stated that Prussia would not seek any land beyond the two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.

This satisfied the other great powers' demand that the Danish straits, which controlled access to the Baltic Sea, not fall under the control of another great power.

The Swedish representatives made no statement. Denmark had historically been Sweden's rival, and Sweden would be pleased to see Prussia and Austria weaken Denmark somewhat.

Of course, the premise was that the German Allied Forces would not swallow the entire Jutland Peninsula. Otherwise, Sweden would face a strategic and geographic danger even graver than Denmark.

Clearly, neither Prussia nor Austria had considered the Danes' feelings. Britain and the other nations also tacitly accepted Prussia's terms, while the Danish Government rejected the proposal.

This London Conference did not fundamentally resolve the issue of the Jutland Peninsula, but it temporarily slowed the offensives of Prussia and Austria.

Using the time during which the conference was held, the Danes completed their final mobilization. Most of the Danish Army's attempts on the Jutland Peninsula had already failed.

The troops withdrew to Als Island to continue resisting. In June, the Prussian Army began massing across from Als Island. The Second Schleswig War was about to enter a new phase.