The Battle of Königgrätz, 1866 ⚔ The Austro-Prussian War (Part 8)
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- Опубліковано 29 лис 2023
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The Battle of Königgrätz, a climactic juncture in the week-long military maneuvers across Bohemia during the Austro-Prussian War, emerged as a suspense-laden epoch. Unfolding on July 3, 1866, near Hradec Králové, this clash resonated as the definitive encounter between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire. A titanic struggle involving over half a million troops.
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0:00 Introduction
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Love your content! You're incredible at your craft!
I don't care how much spam Curiosity stream tries to shove down my throat or if they sponsor every single video in every channel in YT, I'm still NEVER watching their stupid fucking videos.
And Raid's Law states that any app/product that spends as much time and money in marketing as Raid: Shadow Legends does is either utter garbage, filled with predatory microtransactions or both.
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As a German, Helmuth von Moltke remains one of the best military leaders of all time. In my opinion, an easy top 10. His strategic skill in a campaign led him to great victories over Austria and (later) France, in some of the largest and most decisive battles in European history up to that point. His use of trains and infrastructure as well also was continued to be used into the 1st and even the 2nd World Wars, forming the foundation of the German Empire's grand battleplan in the Great War, and influencing the lightning war later seen in the 2nd World War. Incredible commander.
It's ironic, in my opinion. In the 19th century, I think it was Moltke the Elder who best grasped Napoleon's conception of the operational art of war, especially in the Franco-Prussian War. That he would use the stratagems of the old French Emperor against the French themselves is quite hilarious to me. It was clear that in the Austro-Prussian War, he was still experimenting and coming to grasp with achieving the operational battle at Koniggratz. Had he faced a commander like Erzherzog Karl from the Wars of the Coalition instead of Benedek, he might have had a rough time. Though, I think he still might have won because of the organizational superiority of the Prussians, their better training, and the Dreyse needle gun having a greater rate of fire than the Lorenz rifle. One must also speak on how good Prussian breech-loading artillery were.
@hismhs I think that there needs to be harmony on both the political strategic and military operational levels to have achieved such a result as in the FPW. While it is certainly true that Bismarck understood the political realities better than Moltke, it was simply his job after all to manage such things. Moltke wasn't qualified to make higher level political decisions, but his task first and foremost was to achieve the plans in place through operational means.
There could not have been one without the other. As you said, if there was not a Bismarck to limit the scope of the war to acquire more realistic gains, it could have potentially dragged on with the Republican French resistance emerging. On the other hand, without Moltke's operational know-how and execution, any overarching strategy is just a plan on paper.
This is the thing which many who harp on and on about strategy don't get. It needs to be executed via operational and tactical means (in a war). Sunzi said it best, that defeat is certain without stratagem, but stratagem without operations and tactics will be a costly, grinding affair.
@@doritofeeshWhat strategies of Napoelon did von Moltke use during the Franco-Prussian war?
Also, what exactly is Napoleon and his operational art of war?
Can you explain these briefly?
@@junot2-qk4nc In the Franco-Prussian War, the first thing which can be seen is his rapid mobilization of troops to achieve local superiority at the onset of the war. These logistical and railway mobilization efforts were all formulated by Moltke himself, who had prepared immensely for the FPW. Thus, at the start, the Prussians had some 304,000 men just north of Alsace. Opposing them were the French Army of the Rhine and Army of Alsace (collectively part of an unofficial Army Group of the Rhine), numbering just over 256,000 men.
Moltke then manoeuvred the Prussian I Army and II Army (50,000 men and 134,000 men respectively) to the vicinity of Saarbrucken, where, though the French vanguard achieved a minor victory due to their superior arms, the Prussian local superiority operationally was too great and they were forced to retreat. From there, Moltke directed II Army and III Army (the latter numbering 120,000 men) in between the Army of the Rhine and the Army of Alsace, cutting the French forces in half within the theater. This occupation of the central position was very Napoleon, and by operating on interior lines of march, the Prussian armies could always keep ahead of the Army of Alsace and prevent its junction with the Army of the Rhine.
Moltke then ordered the Prussian army group to make a right wheeling manoeuvre, which would see the Army of the Rhine encircled in Metz. The right wheel allowed the Prussians to manoeuvre to the rear of the Army of the Rhine, cutting its communications and line of retreat, forcing it to bunker down into Metz, as aforementioned. In this manner, Moltke had demonstrated various Napoleonic operational principles: central position, manoeuvre to the rear, and defeat in detail. In a way, Metz and, later, Sedan, were his versions of Napoleon's Ulm.
@@doritofeeshFirst of all, thank you for your nice answer.
I think I'm starting to understand things now :)
So why are these tactics (central position, maneuver from the rear, detailed defeat) called Napoleon's principles?
For example, at the same time as Napoleon, in 1796, Archduke Charles also managed to defeat the French on the Rhine, using the central position and detailed defeat. So why Napoleon in particular?
Because he uses these tactics much more often?
I have one more question:
How many times did Napoleon use all these "principles" together operationally?
I'm sorry to bombard you with questions, but my passion for learning obliges me :)
Fun fact: just 10 days earlier, in the other side of the Atlantic, the forces of the Triple Alliance defeated Paraguay at the Battle of Tuyuti, marking the beginning of the end of the War of the Tripple Alliance, it involves 60 thousand troops and ended with around 17 thousand casualties
Ya i studied that documentary Paraguay male population gone less than women nearly 15 percentage and the indecisive leaders charging forward and not ever thinking for defence has led to that disaster if only Paraguay army use defensive structure as they got marshy wet lands which easily slows any advancement enemy let alone no cannon. I would say inexperienced commander who want fast glory.
Ya i studied that documentary Paraguay male population gone less than women nearly 15 percentage and the indecisive leaders charging forward and not ever thinking for defence has led to that disaster if only Paraguay army use defensive structure as they got marshy wet lands which easily slows any advancement enemy let alone no cannon. I would say inexperienced commander who want fast glory.
Amazing video as always! cant wait for the Franco-Prussian war!
The origin of the infamous Der Koniggratzer March
RIP
To the 5,789 Prussian troops and 12,456 Imperial Austrian and Saxon troops who were killed in the Battle of Königgrätz
I thought this episode will never come 😢
I always loving having this series on in the background while I'm playing Empire Total War.
You should try out paradox games like EU4, they make total war look like child's play with how real and historically accurate they are.
Finally another empire fan, do you use the empire 2 mod?
@@chezburger1781 vanilla enjoyer here.
Didnt like how unbalanced the units in empire 2 is
@@lollius88 fair point, i deal with it for all the factions and graphic upgrades
Damn . That coordination from the 2nd Army. They punched right through . I just love how the Prussians are super tactical and very skilled at it
This is the correct way to make war videos.
Historian: So Gablenz seems good enough
Gablenz: Nope
Historian: Surely Clam-Gallas, who has twice as many men can win
Clam-Gallas: Out of luck
Historian: Well than the commander in chief Benedek can certainly win with twice as many men
Benedek: Hold my beer
weapon differentiation (technology) and better trained and disciplined men also played a role
@@EmperorKandyKatsuVonKandaiBut the Prussian rifles were significantly more fragile, less accurate, and less devastating than Austrian Rifles.
You can see this plain as day in the other minor battles of The Austrian-Prussian War, with significantly more casualties for the Prussians.
I was waiting for this video. Helmuth von Moltke's genius on full display at the battle of Königgrätz, only a few years later the French would get the same whooping as well. I hope you bless us with the Franco Prussian war as well in future. Your work is appreciated. 💯
Thank you for the time and effort you must have put into this amazing series!
The Austrians never seemed to figure out they were better off fighting at a distance. Every time they came close to those needle guns, they got shredded.
Amazing! Have been waiting for this for weeks!!! Thanks HoH ❤
I really enjoy how you go in depth into these conflicts. Consistently one of the better military history channels.
Amazing! This series of yours is great, glad to have it back!! And this is the decisive battle of the war!
Once again, another high quality production. Interesting, informative and well presented. Thank you.
Amazing series! Found it very inspirational for a wargame I'm working on for this period. Thanks!
Great job with this series. I’ve been waiting for this video for awhile.
Great Video. Easily my favourite military history channel. I really like how you cover entire wars. Will you do the Franco-Prussian War? I know this will be much more work because of the scale of the war.
Thank you for the kind words! I am definitely planning on doing the Franco-Prussian War, but I have to create a timeline and research plan for that. It will take a lot of time, so no promises on anything anytime soon.
Finally the one we have been waiting for
What I’ve learned after watching these battles is that Austria always had the advantage of manpower and artillery against the Prussians on favourable terrain, but Prussian discipline, organisation and firepower always proved superior.
Great series thank you
Amazing series, cant wait to watch more.
Excellent presentation!
I have enjoyed thus series. I would be interested in seeing you cover the Main River theater of the Austro-Prussian War
Yeah !!! Finally !!! Thank you !!!
Great series!
Fascinating vídeo ❤❤
Great series
Good one. Thanks
Finally, this magnificent and glorious series has ended with triumph and victory (for Prussia of course). Thanks House of History! 🥳
Worth the wait 👍😁
Great stuff as always
Glad you enjoyed it!
great job as always!
Thank you! Cheers!
Great video. !!! keep it going
yet another high quality history video thanks :)
Glad you like them!
Thanks man
This serie is awsome I cant wait for french prussian war please make it fast love this channel 😍
Díky!
Great series...
I Hope the next episode is soon.
The story of the German Unification is not done yet...
Yay! It's finally here!
Cavalry fight near Strezetitz was one of the biggest cavalry clashes in modern Europe history. Nearly 11 thousand horses and soldiers fought there
It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage video. Shared by an excellent ( house of history)
What an awesome series, I've never seen any documentary or video cover, in detail, this interesting time and Conflicts. I must say I am so ready for a Franco-Prussian War series of videos now that we are up to that date. Do you have plans to make these?
Супер представяне на фактите продължавай се така
Excellent video! I would like to know more about the opening battles of the Franco Prussian War of 1870-71, in particular Wissembourg, Froeschwiller-Worth, and Spicheren.
Nice video , will you do a video about the battle of custozza 1866?
Excellent
would love an episode on the Battle of Køge Bay (1677), one of denmarks greatest naval victories
Hello, love the channel, never commented although you're one of the very few channels on UA-cam i've 'clicked the bell' for, lol.
I was just wondering though, where is your accent from? Keep up the great content sir, you deserve a ton more subs!
A great video
Very interesting
Great series!! I would like to see a series on the British Empire 19th century wars! Maybe after Christmas ill be a patreon subscriber.
The Austrians never seemed to have adopted their tactics against the Dreyse needle gun.
FINALLY!
Another amazing series! Are you going to do the Franco-Prussian war to finish the trilogy?
Extremely accurate maps as always. Help a lot to understand movements. The arrival of the Second (prussian)Army change everything transforming battlefield into a messy fight at the end, at least for the austrians. From the beginning, north of the battlefield seem to be the crucial point. Easy to say with today's technologies, but why austrians did not fortify more this area? South and western area were in Austrian hand and easier to defend than the north area. Prussian have just to push forward like a knife in butter. Thanx for the upload.
It’s amazing how small Austria is today. They were a European powerhouse for really long time under the mighty Hapsburgs
Yeah, I think they got so big mainly through marriages and diplomacy, not really by millitary power. When I think about it, I don't really remember any major war they have won.
@@neschopak No, not completely true. Austria won a lot of territory during the Great Turkish War thanks to the effort of Eugene of Savoy. The battle of Zenta was the decisive defeat of the mighty Ottoman army. Also, Austria's military history from 1740 to 1866 was much more successful than you think: They survived the War of the Austrian Succession almost isolated against several countries, they usually beat Frederick the Great on the battlefield (Lobositz, Kolin, Hochkirch), pushed numerically superior French armies from Germany in the Rhine campaigns of 1795-96, inflicted Napoleon's first major defeat at Aspern-Essling during his peak (while Britain needed Prussian help to defeat a formerly strong French army at Waterloo), contributed a lot to the Coalition victory against Napoleon, launched successful naval expeditions against Morocco (1829) and Egypt (1840), won the 1st Italian War of Independence, helped Prussia to crush Denmark in 1864, and they humiliated the Italian navy at Lissa while losing at Königgrätz. Austria's military record overall wasn't bad, at least not worse compared to modern Italy and the post-1800 Ottoman Empire. You're however right that Austria also used marriages and diplomacy to expand.
@@TheAustrianAnimations87 the countryies you are mentioning italy and post 1800 ottoman were quite awful so passing them in terms of military means nothing when we generally look at unlike prussians austrians power came from diplomacy when they dont manage to form a good diplomatic network like during this war they doomed most of austrians victorys in the history are always based on their diplomacies like against napoloen or during the siege of wien etc.
@@batuhanyayla7214 If you mean the personal union with Spain and the Congress of Vienna, then yes, Austria used here diplomacy to gain territories. But the siege of Vienna and the rest of the Great Turkish War were still military actions, especially if you look at the amazing Austrian victory at Zenta in 1697. Austria's military record in the 19th century is quite mixed. They lost wars against France and Prussia (despite showing some competence against the former in 1809-15), but still won against literally against every other opponent that is not France or Prussia. Austria wasn't a military state like Prussia, but Italy and the Ottomans proved to be much more incompetent, despite them having a similar size, population, economy and influence to the other great powers. Italy didn't win a war in the 19th century without help from France or Prussia (even losing to Ethiopia). The Ottoman Empire meanwhile lost to Russia, Persia (whose army suffered a cholera epidemic), Egypt (its own puppet state), and even to minor powers like MONTENEGRO. So yes, Austria wasn't militarily as great as Prussia, but it's still misleading to say they were completely incompetent.
@@TheAustrianAnimations87 you are still giving examples from Italy and 19th century ottoman as I said this were countrys were awful in terms of military so passing them means nothing and yes most of austrian victory in the history against turks win by diplomacy such as polish hussars lift the siege of wien or holy alliance between major powers against ottoman or even during the partition of poland I can name lots of other things but I think thats enough btw dont get me wrong being succesfull in diplomacy and gainin territories through it is also cool either
Hey i love your videos, i have a question. how do you make the Smoke effect (musket volly) for the infantry?
Great job, as usual, always improving that presentation. Going forward, when mentioning casualties, don't rest on zero for too long. It is distracting. As soon as you flash numbers, race forward from casualty one. But yes, again, above and beyond on detail. You are so so well researched and entertaining.
Thanks, Ill keep that in mind!
Benedek is trash why he wouldn't smash that 89k man army in front of him, he went back to like pre-Napolean warfare and allowed Prussia to surround him with their dispersed corps and army. Awesome video hoh!
Thank you again, been subbed almost from day one and I have to say you have come such a long way so quickly. Amazing visuals, fantastic narration and script along with top notch music and sound effects, killing it bro please, keep it up!
Thank you for the kind words! I definitely plan on continuing this work for as long as I can!
@@HoHPlease add Turkish subtitles. I don't want to miss this beautiful video.
The attempts to retake the Swiepwald were a massive tactical mistake - in the woods, the more rapid fire and ability to reload while prone of the needle rifles was much more effective than the longer range of the Austrian rifles, and in throwing that many men into the grinder, they weakened the entire flank and prepared the ground for being rolled up completely by the Second Army.
20:30 if you get told before the battle how you can escape juuust in case the battle isn't going as expected, would be a little demotivating, you know
One of my ancestors was in the Austrian army around this time. After he retired he moved to America with his family
Wrong.
Can we get a series on Suvorov
As a German watching this I almost feel bad for the Austrians ... almost 😉
Same
me too.
Actually I don't feel sorry for the Austrians.
I can’t lie, I could care less for them, let alone feel bad for them lol
Y'all the same people lol
Finally.
Finally 😊
❤❤❤❤😂🎉for me really fascinating thank you
Sublime channel.
I would love a bit more ancient/medieval warfare coverage, but I assume that will happen once you cover every battle ever occured on the teritory of German speaking nations. 😉
Thank you! I have lots of content about ancient Rome and Greece. Currently working on a video series covering the Cimbrian war! Hope you enjoy !
I see a resemblance between this battle and the battles fought in the Napoleonic Wars with the casualties on one side being half as many as those on the other side due to the inferiority of tactics by one side and better usage by the other. There were times where the Austrians and Saxons did well and were able to use the superior range of their Lorenz rifles to their advantage but the quick firing Dreyse rifles prevailed. Not related to this video but King Wilhelm I fought against Napoleon as a teenager in 1813-14 and five and a half decades later would fight against his nephew in the War of 1870. It was definitely rare back then for monarchs to fight two generations of a family in multiple decades. His decision to want to send reserves to the woods was understandable but but it was nice of Moltke to put his faith in Fransecky knowing he would hold his ground. Between the several repulsed Austrian attacks in the woods and the arrival of the Third Army on the Austrian's right, the outcome of the battle was sealed. This battle showed the true tactical prowess of the Prussian Army and general staff. It was pathetic the Austrians retreated in the face of Prussians inferior in number to them. In true Napoleonic style, the Prussians delivered the knockout blow to the Austrians and Saxons that made them suffer horrendous losses that ended the war. It was nice that a few of the Austrian commanders showed initiative but it ended up not making a difference due to the superiority of the Prussian tactics. For a guy who hated war, nice touch on Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm's part to deploy a mass battery to commence the assault in true Napoleon style. Although the King wanted to retreat due to the heavy casualties and Moltke replied they were fighting for the sake of Prussia's survival, from the way the war and this battle were going, I would argue the Austrians and Saxons were fighting for the sake of their own survival more. If one thinks about it, Moltke was Europe's first effective modern army group commander which the Germans expanded on in later conflicts. The Allies did the same in the Second World War. Those Austrians and Saxons who were abandoned on the Prussian side of the river during the retreat deserve pity.
I had read that 39 and a Half Squadrons, of Europe's Finest Cavalry (Austrian Cavalry) saved the Austrian Army from TOTAL DESTRUCTION this day!
Sometimes I dont understand. How can you lose such a battle if not bad lidership!
Austria's army has really fallen off a cliff after my wars...
464.000 men and up to 75.448 casualties(16%)! All in 1 day! That is shocking!
Hello from Czech Republic, there is annual reenactment of the battle. I went there few years ago.
Will you ever do the Franco-Prussian War?
Austrian high command being incompetent is a long lasting tradition xdd
Sehr anschaulich...
Austria keeps getting so many embarrassing defeats it’s getting hard to watch
What a disaster for the Austrians and what a victory for Prussia!
Will you be covering the Franco-Prussian war next?
My question is why the hell did old school outdated Austrian flintlock muskets had more range than the dryse needle gun which basically was the same bolt action rifle used by all powers in ww1? Was it because breechloaders were less efficient than muskets or because they used paper ammo still instead of bullets? I don't really think they had more range but rather it was the Austrians' better skills with aiming. As i said before, there was no change made between dryse needle guns and modern bolt actions except for use of real metal cased bullets instead of paper cartridges.
240k troops, holy hell. Also, anyone who commands an army of that many men and loses to a force with at least 50k less…. Should never command again.
It was massive!
@@HoHtruly truly massive. I was trying to imagine the logistics of an army that big! Feeding men everyday, good lord 😂
It would make sense to pursue this journey with the Franco-Prussian war?
It would indeed!
I wonder, what if Austria agreed to sell Venetia to Italy, could spared forces make the difference?
Who the hell gave benedek command..oh..😮
I was wondering but when you are done with the Franco Prussian war can you a series on the Italian wars of independence and the wars were fought from 1848 all the way up to 1866 and these wars saw famous people on both sides so like on the Italian side there was Garibaldi, Emperor Napoleon the third of France, French President and Marshal Patrice de MacMahon, American general Philip Kearney who was the first U. S. Citizen to be awarded the legion of honor and Alfonso La Marmora. But on the opposing side were famous people like Austrian Field Marshal Radetzky , Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, Archduke Ferdinand Maximillian of Austria aka Emperor Maximilian the first of Mexico, Irish Born Colonel Myles Keogh who would die on the field of Little Bighorn, Admiral Wilhelm Von Tegetthoff veteran of the second Schleswig War, Archduke Albrecht of Austria Duke of Teschen and The Austrian commander at Koniggratz. And the Italian wars of independence included such big battles like the Battle of Novara(1849, The Battle of Solferino which was fought on the same ground as the Battle of Castiligone of 1796 but the Battle of Solferino was also big because it was the largest battle in terms of numbers since the battle of Leipzig in 1813 and it was also big because in terms of death toll it was greater than that of Waterloo but there was also the battles of Castelfidardo, Custoza, Versa, Lissa and Bezzecca.
The Italian Wars of Independence are definitely a topic I would like to cover.
Battle of Hradec Králové not some konigshit, it is czech city founded by czech Premyslid dynasty rulers of Kingdom of Bohemia long time before austria or germany/prussia even existed as a kingdoms.
Interesting, I could be completely wrong about this but I thought the Austrians and Germans were like cousins nowadays? or is that wrong? is the old hatred still alive? Either way, It is strange to me that such a small but bad ass Kingdom like Prussia was destroyed after winning against the odds so many wars. That Kaliningrad is still in foreign hands, aren't they historically part German as well?
Franco-Prussian war next? :)
What a terrible disaster for the Austrians. Great video.
How about the Estonian Freedom War 1918-1920 I can help you Whit the resarch
+1 for the algorithm
Pro tip : don't fight germans in a forest
Do you wont to learn how to lose a batle because of a side show? Whatch this.
No word about a decisive difference of the guns between the Austrians and the Prussians - the 'Zuendnadelgewehr'. With this gun the Prussians couldn't only shoot 6 times more often in the same time as the Austrians, they could also load and shoot lying on the ground, while the Austrians with their old muzzle-loaders had to stand during the fight and could shoot down like tomatoes from the Prussians. What's that for a bad documentation? Thumbs down for this!
This is literally mentioned in the video multiple times.
@@HoH
I looked about the first half of the documentation, but there I couldn't hear it and so I got really angry and stopped looking further. Such a military technology, which was decisive for the victory of the Prussians has to be brought very clear in several prominant positions of the documentation. It's nearly such a different, like if an army of knights would fight against an army with fire arms. But this battle was only one of many tops of icebergs, where you could see the heavy incapacity of the regency of emperor Franz Josef, who in no way could understand his peoples and at last crashed his own empire. For me Benedek and his soldiers were victims of this bad emperor - one of the worse, the Habsburg dinasty had. He was the absolute wrong man in this position in this time.
@@konradreinelt5242the austrians had -especially at koniggratzer- a ridiculus advantage of artillery over the prussians, with dozens of batteries set up with ample ammunution and a clear view of the advancing prussians. And as showed later by the franco-prussian war, a good rifle does not overcompesate for your shitty artillery. All along the line, the prussians were repulsed, though they did inflict some damage
What dooned the austrian army was it's position, the forrest was almost completly indefended and worse, when the prussians took the forrest, they commited two entire corps (some 50.000 men) to try and expel at most 2 and a half prussian divitions.
The meatgrinder that followed up, completly desimated the austrian left flank (which was mainly composed of those 2 corps) leaving them wide open for old Fritz and his second army
@@elmascapo6588
It was clear, before this battle, that the Austrians couldn't win and Benedek was choosen as pawn sacrifice and he also did know this. As an Austrian who has some former officers of the old Austrian army in his ancestors and relatives I know this. All other are theoretical discussions, which don't change the reality, that the weapons and the structure of the old Austrian army were outdated. In this time it was clear for everybody who had an idea of military.
This is part of a running series. In the first video of this documentary, the battle of Langensalza, I expand on it even more and in-depth. But it is mentioned in this video multiple times as well.@@konradreinelt5242