The German Federal Army (german: Deutsches Bundesheer) was the military arm of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

from 1815 to 1866 whose purpose was the defence of the Confederation against external enemies. Although the

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon ...

in 1815 decreed the formation of the army and delimited its size and purpose, no work on its formation was begun until 1841, after the

Rhine crisis The Rhine crisis of 1840 was a diplomatic crisis between the Kingdom of France and the German Confederation, caused by the demand by French minister Adolphe Thiers that the river Rhine be reinstated as France's border in the east, at a loss of so ...

brought the threat of war to Germany. Even then, only preliminary work was accomplished on troop readiness. Most work focused on the building of federal fortresses. Most preparations were aimed toward

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, from where several wars of occupation had been launched in earlier times against the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

.Franz Herre. ''Franz Joseph, Kaiser von Österreich.'' Bechtermünz, Augsburg 1997, p. 110. Cases of conflict between the federal allies, such as arose later during the

Second Schleswig War The Second Schleswig War ( da, Krigen i 1864; german: Deutsch-Dänischer Krieg) also sometimes known as the Dano-Prussian War or Prusso-Danish War was the second military conflict over the Schleswig-Holstein Question of the nineteenth century. T ...

(the Duke of

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

was simultaneously the King of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

), were not anticipated or governed. The

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...

, provoked by

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

against the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, for domination of the German Confederation and its allies led to the defeat of the Federal Army in 1866 and thus to its disbandment.

References

Literature

* Allmayer-Beck,

Lessing Lessing is a German surname of Slavic origin, originally ''Lesnik'' meaning "woodman". Lessing may refer to: A German family of writers, artists, musicians and politicians who can be traced back to a Michil Lessigk mentioned in 1518 as being a lin ...

: ''Die K.(u.)K.-Armee. 1848–1918''. Bertelsmann, Munich etc., 1974, . * Jürgen Angelow: ''Von Wien nach Königgrätz – Sicherheitspolitik des Deutschen Bundes.'' Oldenbourg, Munich, 1996, . * Georg Ball: ''Germersheim. „Die geschleifte Festung“. Geschichte und Führer.'' Verlag der Dr. E. Jaegerschen Buchhandlung, Speyer, 1930 (2nd reprint: Steimer, Germersheim, 1991). * Siegmund Bergmann (ed.): ''Die Infanterie des Kaisers und Königs.'' In: ''Moderne Illustrierte Zeitung.'' Doppelnummer 10/11, Vienna, 1 June 1914. * ''Officieller Bericht über die Kriegsereignisse zwischen Hannover und Preußen im Juni 1866 und Relation der Schlacht bei Langensalza am 27. Juni 1866''. Gerold, Vienna, 1866 (reprint: Rockstuhl, Bad Langensalza, 2001, (''Erinnerungen an die Schlacht bei Langensalza 1866'' 4)). *

Gordon A. Craig Gordon Alexander Craig (November 13, 1913 – October 30, 2005) was a Scottish-American liberal historian of German history and of diplomatic history. Early life Craig was born in Glasgow. In 1925 he emigrated with his family to Toronto, Ontar ...

: ''Königgrätz. 1866 - eine Schlacht macht Weltgeschichte.'' 4th edition, Zsolnay, Vienna, 1997, . * Heinrich A. Eckert: ''Das deutsche Bundesheer.'' Munich, 1835. * Liliane Funcken, Fred Funcken: ''Historische Uniformen. Napoleonische Zeit, 18. und 19. Jahrhundert. Preussen, Deutschland, Österreich, Frankreich, Grossbritannien, Russland.'' Orbis-Verlag, Munich, 1989, . * Franz Herre: ''Franz Joseph. Kaiser von Österreich.'' Bechtermünz, Augsburg, 1997, . * Ian Hogg, John Batchelor: ''Artillerie. Das Geschütz, Eisenbahngeschütze, Küstengeschütze, Flak, Pak, Geschütze auf Selbstfahrlafetten, rückstossfreie Geschütze, Zünder''. (= ''Die Geschichte der Artillerie'') Heyne, Munich, 1977, (''Heyne-Bildpaperback''). * Otmar Schäuffelen: ''Die Bundesfestung Ulm und ihre Geschichte. Europas größte Festungsanlage.'' 2nd edn., Vaas, Ulm, 1982, . * Georg Schreiber: ''Des Kaisers Reiterei. Österreichische Kavallerie in 4 Jahrhunderten.'' Mit einem Geleitwort von Alois Podhajsky. Speidel, Vienna, 1967. * Rüdiger Wischemann: ''Die Festung Koblenz. Vom römischen Kastell und Preussens stärkster Festung zur grössten Garnison d. Bundeswehr.'' Rhenania, Koblenz, 1978. * ''Das zehnte deutsche Bundes-Armeecorps im Lager bei Lüneburg'' In: ''Illustrirte Zeitung''. No. 26, 23. December 1843, J.J. Weber, Leipzig, 1843, pp. 403-408. {{Authority control Military history of Germany German Confederation

See also

References

Literature