June 8 1866 - The Austro-Prussian War, also known as the Seven Weeks War, was from June 8th, 1866 to July 26th, 1866. Austria, aided by Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover and some smaller German states, and Prussia, with the support of Italy declared war on each other. It was started by Otto von Bismarck, a German statesman, to push Austria out of the German Confederation. He did this against the wishes of his king. Bismarck wanted the German unification under Prussian control. Prior to this though, Austria and Prussia were salty because of their argument over the governing of Schleswig-Holstein. Prussia confronted Austria for control of the German Confederation. They tried this before in 1850 but were not successful because they could not mobilize
