The German Civil War
It is not wise to draw men into final corners; at those moments they could all develop teeth and claws- Stephen Crane
In 1826 the so-called Bills of Centralization were passed. A combination of 3 bills, they forfeited the foreign and military responsibilities to the Federal Convention. Some of the smaller dukes in the West felt threatened by this and left the Confederation. The Confederation declared war, but the Prussians and Austrians led the armies. The smaller Dukes turned to Britain and France, but were met with verbal support as a war was just not in the cards. They then turned East and saw a viable ally in Russia.
After the Napoleonic Wars Russia emerged as the policeman of Europe and the German Confederation worried the Tzar, who thought of it as a threat to peace in Europe. They decided that the Confederation must be tamed so they entered the war on the Dukes side. Austria and Prussia were startled when they got the news because their armies were away. Austria agreed to pull its men back and hold the Russians at bay until the Prussians could get over and help, that plan didn't work that well. The Austrian armies did managed to move into the Duchy of Warsaw and push out the Russians but not for long, the Russian steamroller was just warming up. The Russians descended upon Austria and badly mauled their army in the Battle for Warsaw and swept the remnants into Austria-Hungary with them nipping at their heels. The Austrians were again attacked in the town of Krakow but this was Austrian territory, the Russians were pushed out the the city after a brutal battle that battered the already bleeding Austrians. Hungary sent troops of their own into the Duchy and had a moderate degree of success. The Russians attacked the Hungarians in Warsaw in October of 1826 and met a determined and dug in enemy. The battle dragged on into January of 1827 before the Hungarians were called back to Austria because both Vienna and Budapest were in danger. Prussia, having finally dealt with the smaller enemy marched its army into Austria to aid with Vienna's defense.
The Prussians attacked the siege and forced the Russians to draw troops from other parts, allowing for the Austrians to break the siege and save Vienna. Budapest though was a different story. The Austrian Army left it for the Russians but Hungarians from around the country flocked to its defense, inspiring a sense of Hungarian Nationalism. The Hungarians held out for so long in fact that they drafted a constitution for an independent Hungary but waited to announce it, waiting for the Austrians to break the siege. They were horrified however to find that the Austrians had abandoned the Hungarians in lieu of the Russia's invasion of Austria. The Hungarians decided to take things into their own hands and declared independence from Austria-Hungary, tearing up the Empire. With Russian help Hungary quickly formed a National Congress and switched sides along with most Austria's army which put Austria in a tough spot.
The Prussians soon got word that the Archduke was considering capitulating to Russia and decided to not allow for that to happen. He marched his troops into Vienna and pushed the Archduke from power and put in a interim General as ruler of Austria-Hungary. When the Archduke protested the action to the National Convention they agreed that he should re-instate the Archduke. After a week of negotiations and the continued deterioration of Austria Hungary Frederick agreed and handed power back to the Archduke. The Archduke agreed that he would continue fighting for the sake of the Confederation, the December Crisis was over and the War came back into prime focus. The Austrian Army attacked the Russian Army in Austria and Prussia moved their troops north to get the jump on Russia. The Tzar moved his troops and attacked Austrian troops outside Bratislava, the Russians were playing right into the German's hands. The battle dragged on for weeks and then months as the Archduke waited for word of Prussia's invasion. Finally on March 29th, 1827 word reached him that Prussian troops occupied Minsk after a small battle. He also got word that the Russians were pulling troops from the battle and heading back to Russia. Prussia continued advancing with little in the way of resistance until Smolensk when the Russian Army under General Mikhail Vorontsov. The Battle for Smolensk was a bloody stalemate as Russian and Prussian (and some Austrians but not much) forces poured into the city. The Battle lasted until March of 1827 when Prussian forces were pushed out of the city.
Back in Austria-Hungary the Hungarians were running into problems with their bid for independence. The Hungarian Independence Army was routed at the Battle for Varpalota and the road to Budapest lay open for the Austrians. The National Congress appealed to Tzar Nicholas for help but he was unable to meet their proposition. The Congress ordered the Army to hold at Erd at the most or Budapest at the least and promptly headed East. On March 27th, 1827 The Battle for Budapest began when Austrian artillery began to shell the city. The Hungarian Army fled across the Danube River and blew the bridges that connected the two halves the city, effectively abandoning half of Budapest and the Royal Palace. On March 30th Austria occupied the western half only to find the bridges were blown. When they sent engineers to repair them, they were fired upon and forced to pull back, their work was then destroyed. The Hungarians launched a raid into the Austrian portion of the city on April 3rd in a effort to gain a foothold in the Royal Palace. While they did occupy the Palace shelling from Castle Hill forced them to retreat back across the river.
The Austrians gathered their forces and bode their time and on April 15th they launched Operation: Danube. Using a gratuitous amount of artillery support they landed on the Eastern side of the Danube and met absolutely no resistance. They proceeded cautiously through the seemingly abandoned streets and soon found themselves in front of the Opera House. Command Center for the Hungarian Army. They stormed the House and found nothing, no documents, no people, nothing. It appeared that the Hungarians had evacuated the city. It was soon after the Austrians let their guard down and more troops began to be ferried across. The Operation went on through the night and in the morning hours of April 16th machine gun fire raked across one of the boats. Before they could react the Hungarians appeared out of every nook and cranny one could possibly stuff a man in. The Austrians were taken completely by surprise and soon were sent packing back across the Danube only this time the Hungarians were hot on their heels.
The artillery opened up on the Hungarians but it wasn't long until fighting grew close enough that they had to retreat. At 3:30 PM on April 16th the Hungarian flag was raised over Castle Hill and soon after the Austrians were tumbling out of Budapest. The Hungarian's had scored a major victory and reinvigorated the failing independence movement.
The Hungarians followed up the victory with another at Baja and then another at Komlo. The Archduke was getting desperate and ordered that the rebellion be crushed without mercy. The tide soon turned again and drastically in Austria's favor. It was only then, at the urging of Tzar Nicholas, that the National Congress surrendered to Austria and the Hungarian Independence War ended. In response to this the Archduke turned Austria-Hungary into a dual Monarchy and enacted a law that both monarchs had to agree before a law was passed. The Hungarians taste of freedom was over and they wanted more, and more they would get.
Back up in Russia the Prussians had held their ground outside Smolensk and when news of Hungarian reintegration into Austria-Hungary they saw the war as turning around. The Archduke promised to launch his own Invasion of Ukraine and asked Frederick to begin an offensive the day he got the message, Frederick happily obliged. The Prussian offensive began on April 25th and was not as easy as expected. In the lull between First Smolensk and Second Smolensk the Russians had some much needed R&R. The Army was re-supplied, the Tzar gave a speech about defending "Mother Russia" which inspired his troops and their torn and tattered clothes were patched up. Even with the Austro-Hungarians pushing hard in Ukraine the Prussians had a hell of a fight ahead of them. Second Smolensk was a hard fought battle but the Russians were eventually forced back as troops were diverted South to deal with the Austrians. After Smolensk the road to Moscow lay open and Prussian troops prepared for the final assault. The Tzar scrambled troops as the Prussian marching song could be heard floating across the air. Russian troops were sent out in a bid for holding off the Prussians long enough that the Tzar could think of something to save Moscow, which hadn't fallen since the Polish-Muscovite War. The sounds of gunfire only added to the urgency and soon the Tzar was out of ideas. He was about to begin drafting a peace deal when he heard "Ura!" drift to his ears.
He went outside to find the Russian Army triumphantly marching into Moscow, yelling "Ura!". The Russian General reported that the Prussians have been halted and the counter-attack would begin the next day. Tzar Nicholas breathed a internal sigh of relief, Moscow would be safe. The next day the Tzar personally led the charge against the Prussians but was defeated and forced into the high walls of Moscow, Prussians close behind. The Siege lasted for months because the Prussians could never quite completely isolate the city. Finally on October 9th, 1827 with the city facing starvation as the famous Russian Winter killed crops, the Tzar opened the gates and led a small delegation waving a white flag. King Frederick called him to Smolensk, the sight of two major battles, to negotiate a peace. In a small inn that survived the carnage that was the First and Second Battle of Smolensk King Frederick William III of Prussia, Emperor Francis II of Austria and President of the German Confederation, and Tzar Nicholas I gathered and hammered out the peace deal. After months of negotiations the three leaders signed the Peace of Moscow. In the treaty Russia promised not to interfere in the affairs of the German Confederation, the secessionists were re-administered back into the Confederation and Russia payed war reparations.
The Polish Uprising