This AHC comes with two P.O.D.
The first is the sudden death of Prince Wilhelm of Prussia's wife Augusta, at the age of 37 on February 21st, 1848.
The second is a week later, on the 28th, when on the way to Princess Augusta's funeral, the front-left-hand wheel, came splintering off of the royal carriage, carrying Archduke Franz Karl Joseph of Austria and his eldest son, Franz Joseph of Austria, both of whom were representing Emperor Ferdinand I and V. The two royals and their driver all die in this accident.
Now this is all out of the way, lets begin.
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In March 1848, Prussia faced a revolution, which completely overwhelmed King Frederick William IV.
Bismarck becomes intrigued with Wilhelm's son and starts to plan an idea on which to place the teenage Prince, Frederick William on the Prussian throne in Frederick William IV's place.
The next few months are a bit unclear, with many rumours flying around, the only facts that are truly know are these:
- King Frederick William IV, died in his military headquarters at Potsdam
- The King's brother, Prince Wilhelm had fled to England.
The "story" that was being played out by the state was that King F.W. IV had been killed by a revolutionary rouge who wanted to bring anarchy to the Kingdom of Prussia, while in a cowardly move, Prince Wilhelm had left the kingdom in hope of safety.
On October 18th,
His Royal Highness Prince Frederick of Prussia, at the age of 17, became King Frederick III of Prussia, he was liked by most of Prussia for his bravery during the Revolt and his mix of liberal and .
On the 2 December 1848, Ferdinand I of Austria abdicates the throne and is succeeded by his 16 year old, nephew, Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, who takes the regal title of Emperor Maximilian I of Austria.
As you can see within the last three month of 1848 saw two young royal men, who were not expected to rise so quickly, if at all to the throne, become rulers of two of the most powerful nations in Europe.
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For the next few years the two nations began to get back to normality. However this was all to be shaken up again when in France, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (the nephew and heir of Napoleon I), who had been elected President, in his own right and by a direct popular vote, during the revolutionary wind that swept through Europe in 1848, became angry when he was blocked by the Constitution and Parliament from running for a second term, he organized a coup d'état in 1851, and then took the throne as Napoleon III on 2 December 1852.
As a Catholic, Napoleon III had more in common with the young, Austrian Emperor, Maximilian I then the Prussian King Frederick III and over time formed a strong friendship between the Second French Empire and the Habsburg Austrian Empire.
Beginning in 1866, the two Catholic nations had to face the mounting power of Prussia, as Chancellor Otto von Bismarck sought German unification under Prussian leadership.
On 14 June 1866, Prussian Chief of General Staff Helmuth von Moltke had planned meticulously for the war and began rapidly mobilizing the Prussian army to advance across the border into Saxony and Bohemia. What General von Moltke, had not planned on was an unexpected enemy entered the fight.
While Prussia was being held at the border of Saxony and Bohemia, France was able to send their army into the unsecure Alsace-Lorraine. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, was shocked, nothing had warned him of this counter attack and
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and General von Moltke had both not expecting their ally to avoid entering the war, with King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, fearing his own neck and newly formed Kingdom, against his old enemy of France.
With France's assistance, Austria was able to push back the invaders and began pushing the war into Prussia, by taking full control of the Catholic-southern states such as, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt.
By the 25th August, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck had to put his hands up and surrender after 2 months and 11 days. The Kingdom of Prussia had been broken up to the same size as it was when it was just a mere Duchy in the 1600s.
While Austria had be glorified as the true unification of Germany.
