Second war of Schleswig
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Second war of Schleswig also known as Danish war or Danish-Prussian war in 1864 was fought between Denmark and Prussia. Prussia was supported by Austria, and both of them were acting on behalf of the German Confederation. Control of the duchy of Schleswig, at issue in the war, had previously been the subject of the First War of Schleswig, and was finally resolved by a partition after World War I, with Northern Schleswig voting to be reunited with Denmark.
Proponents of German unification had their sights on Danish-majority Schleswig as well as German-majority Holstein, both of which were sovereign duchies ruled by the King of Denmark. However, Frederick VII had no sons, and the succession rules in the duchies differed from those of Denmark in the event of a lack of a male heir. Furthermore, the 15th-century Treaty of Ripen cited that the two duchies must not be separated. As Frederick grew older, the Danish government became anxious to preserve their control of the duchies, but especially of Schleswig. When the government in Copenhagen proclaimed Schleswig an integral part of the Danish state in 1863, German nationalists were outraged.
King Wilhelm I of Prussia proposed to Emperor Franz Joseph that Prussia and Austria, the two leading powers of the German Confederation, should occupy the duchies. Afraid to let the Prussians act on their own, the emperor agreed, and in 1864 there was a brief war against Denmark that demonstrated the strength of the reorganized army of the Hohenzollerns. Danish hopes for Swedish assistance proved illusory, and by the Peace of Vienna (October 30) the duchies became the joint possession of Prussia and Austria. Quarrels over the joint administration, however, soon provoked the Seven Weeks War, resulting in the incorporation of Schleswig-Holstein into the finally-unified German Empire.
See also
da:2. Slesvigske Krig
de:Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg
es:Guerra de los Ducados
sv:Dansk-tyska kriget 1864
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