I'm trying to figure out some implications from a counterfactual I've been thinking about. In July 1866, the Prussian army decisively defeated the Austrians (and Saxons) at Königgrätz in Bohemia, sealing the Austro-Prussian War and making a Prussian led Germany all but a certainty.
But you already knew that, didn't you?
Anyways, it's discussed in Bismarcks journals that there were members of the Prussian Army and government who wished to pursue a far more punishing peace on the Habsburgs, and to do so would involve pushing deeper into their Empire
I'm looking for a few things here:
-what changes would have to be made in the Prussian rulership to get an expanded war
-how long could the Austrians put up an effective resistance to Prussian invasion before capitulating. The demands are likely to be onerous, Bohemia-Moravia and maybe the Tirol to Bavaria as Napoleon did (or a set up like Alsace Lorraine 5 years later)
-will there be foreign intervention, the UK, France, Russia and Italy are all in play here.
After the immediate few years, I don't know how to speculate on the geopolitical situation without sketching out a TL (which is what I'm planning). But I think the German-Austrian alliance is dead in the water.