Start 1861: I Just Inherited the Dutch Throne

If Christian IX did not revoke the national constitution, the Austrian army would support the Prussian army against any army on the side of Augustenburg, or against Denmark.

The successful mission of the Prussian envoy ensured that when the envoy returned to Berlin and discussed at the Imperial Council of Wilhelm I, he would approve of the joint action between Austria and Prussia.

The Prussian envoy brought back from Vienna what Bismarck wanted, the answer Prussia needed.

On September 7, 1864, Austria and Prussia officially announced their plans to occupy Schleswig, and the two embassies in Denmark submitted a declaration of war to Denmark.

Finally, with the permission of the German Confederation, the Prussian-Austrian forces crossed the Eider and Ida rivers on September 9, 1864, and launched an attack on Schleswig under Danish control.

Now, war is inevitable.

In addition to the coalition forces of Saxony and Hanover, the war between the Austro-Prussian coalition forces of the German Confederation and Denmark was also imminent.

By this time, all European countries except Germany were staring directly at the Central and Northern European continent, where the dark clouds of war had already made people in other parts of Europe feel strange.

"We ask the two countries to calm down. Things should not develop in this direction" - British Prime Minister Viscount Palmerston.

"This is a war that should not happen. We call on both Germany and Denmark to sit down and choose peace as the outcome for peace talks." - Swedish Foreign Affairs Prime Minister Ladwig.

"The twists and turns need to be discussed before we can find out. War is not the only answer." - Dutch Prime Minister Tolbeck.

"There should be no war on the European continent. We are all civilized people, and God is watching." - French Prime Minister Olivier.

"The strength of Prussia and Austria is strong, and Denmark's consideration has become the comparison between the two sides in the war with the greatest disparity in strength. We feel that it is very stressful for Denmark. Denmark can actually compromise a little." - Italian Prime Minister Marco Minghetti.

"Small countries can only grow if they want to face the pressure of big countries. However, Denmark's abolition of the London Protocol is a bit too much. I also call on Denmark to abrogate the new constitution and ease the situation." - Portuguese Prime Minister Nuno Barreto .

"They are all our neighbors. In fact, we in Tsarist Russia really need a peaceful and stable surrounding environment. We hope that the German Confederation led by Prussia and Austria can calm down and resolve peacefully with Denmark, and return the Baltic Sea to a windless and waveless sea."—— Tsarist Gorchakov.

However, in the face of the various statements made by the heads of state, the German Confederation continued to do what it should do, in addition to making either mild or not serious statements.

On September 12, 1864, the Austro-Prussian forces began to march towards Schleswig. The initial battle went smoothly and the road was smooth.

But after entering mid-September, just like Hanover and Saxony, due to the obstacles of Denmark's retreat from defense fortifications such as Dieboll Fortress and Frederikscia Fortress, the Austro-Prussian coalition had to face the possibility of significant sacrifices. A tough battle at the cost of attrition.

On September 16, 1864, Europe focused on

It turned out that on this day the Hanoverian and Saxon forces faced their greatest casualties since entering Schleswig.

They suffered heavy losses at Bad Oldsloe, west of Lübeck. Here, the 40,000 Hanseatic troops faced desperate resistance from the Danes and suffered more than 10,000 casualties, while the defenders Denmark also lost more than 5,000.

This caused Saxony and Hannover to stop.

The Prussian and Austrian coalition forces won the first battle of the war at the cost of more than 1,500 casualties in the battle of Die Boer Fortress. This battle opened a gap in subsequent progress.

On September 17, facing days of siege by the Prussian-Austrian coalition, the exhausted Danish army abandoned the Fredericia Fortress.

At this point, the war on land has basically stabilized.

But at sea, the situation is reversed.

At sea, Denmark has a stronger maritime combat capability than Prussia and Austria, because Denmark once hoped that the navy could turn the tide of the war.

On September 25, the Danish Navy used its superior force to launch an attack on the Prussian-Austrian combined fleet consisting of 5 warships (Austrian 3 and Prussian 2) that was sailing in the waters south of Heligoland.

Two Austrian warships were hit by bullets and caught fire and eventually sank. Two Prussian warships and one Austrian warship were only slightly damaged after fierce exchanges of fire and fled south towards the Mediterranean.

Fortunately, the Danish fleet also suffered varying degrees of damage and was forced to retreat. This was the navy's first battle.

This naval battle was won by Denmark to recover the defeat on land, allowing Christian IX to save the face lost due to the defeat in the land battle.

As news of the defeat at sea returned, both Berlin and Vienna fell silent.

Obviously, the Prussian navy was in the Baltic Sea and could not appear in the Atlantic Ocean. The Austrian fleet in the Atlantic Ocean came from the Mediterranean. This journey was too far, so it was indeed no match for Denmark at sea, so the land attack began again.

However, it was not Prussia and Austria, but the coalition forces of Hanover and Saxony. They were not willing to be upstaged by Prussia and Austria, so they launched another attack. In the end, they won. However, after accounting for the damage of nearly 10,000 people, They just captured Bad Oldesloe, the southern city in the middle of Schleswig.

But what made them saddest was that the Danish army subsequently used human sea tactics and kept adding new supporting troops. In the end, the coalition chose to withdraw from this urban war after the first week of October. , because there were only 5,000 people left, and the rest were recaptured after Denmark paid a price of more than 30,000 soldiers and civilians.

The situation is also serious in Lübeck.

Denmark began to fight back, and many Danes actively participated in this counterattack and defense.

The natural result was more than 20,000 casualties, which completely drove the Saxon and Hanoverian coalition out of East Schleswig. The German Confederate forces led by the two countries, except for Prussia and Austria, retreated to Holstein.

Europe looked sideways. Only less than 5,000 people survived from this coalition force, which meant a loss of more than 35,000 people. This was accomplished in just about two months.

Denmark also suffered more than 50,000 military and civilian casualties combined.

This is also a very significant loss for Denmark, which has a population of less than 2 million. More than 4% of the population has disappeared.

Let’s talk about the war between the three kingdoms of Puaodan.

As a result of the war at sea, Berlin and Vienna realized that Denmark was no match for Denmark at sea, so they set their targets on land. Obviously, short attack and long attack were not the solution.

Land is the specialty of the great powers on the two continents, Austro-Prussia.

As a result, the land attacks became more violent.

The war between the three countries was another multilateral war in Europe after the Crimean War between Tsarist Russia and Britain, France, Ottoman Turkey and other countries from 1853 to 1856.

In view of the fact that the expansion of the war will shake the interests of countries including Britain and France. They are afraid of getting themselves into trouble.

In the end, the United Kingdom took the lead and representatives from other European countries conducted mediation in Copenhagen, Berlin, and Vienna, prompting the three warring parties to cease the war as soon as possible.