Helion & Company Too little, too late. the campaign in west and south germany, june-july 1866, hardback/michael embree

In the spring of 1866, the so-called German Confederation, then a loose organisation of autonomous states, was thrown into crisis by a rift between the two largest members, the Austrian Empire, and The Kingdom of Prussia.

Since the founding of the Confederation, in 1815, it had been tacitly accepted that Austria was the overseeing authority.