<Ul> <Li> Custoza </Li> <Li> Hühnerwasser </Li> <Li> Podol </Li> <Li> Nachod </Li> <Li> Lake Garda </Li> <Li> Trautenau </Li> <Li> Burkersdorf </Li> <Li> Langensalza </Li> <Li> Skalitz </Li> <Li> Münchengrätz </Li> <Li> Schweinschädel </Li> <Li> Gitschin </Li> <Li> Königgrätz </Li> <Li> Tauberbischofsheim </Li> <Li> Valtellina </Li> <Li> Vezza d'Oglio </Li> <Li> Lissa </Li> <Li> Bezzecca </Li> <Li> Lamacs </Li> </Ul> <P> The Austro - Prussian War or Seven Weeks' War (also known as the Unification War, Prussian--German War, German Civil War, War of 1866, Brothers War, or Fraternal War, and in Germany as the German War) was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies on the other, that resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states . Prussia had also allied with the Kingdom of Italy, linking this conflict to the Third Independence War of Italian unification . </P> <P> The major result of the war was a shift in power among the German states away from Austrian and towards Prussian hegemony, and impetus towards the unification of all of the northern German states in a Kleindeutsches Reich that excluded the German Austria . It saw the abolition of the German Confederation and its partial replacement by a North German Confederation that excluded Austria and the other South German states . The war also resulted in the Italian annexation of the Austrian province of Venetia . </P> <P> For centuries, Central Europe was split into large states and hundreds of tiny entities, each maintaining its independence with the assistance of outside powers, particularly France . Austria, the personal territory of the Habsburg Emperors, was traditionally considered the leader of the German states, but Prussia was becoming increasingly powerful and by the late 18th century was ranked as one of the great powers of Europe . Francis II's abolition of the office of Holy Roman Emperor in 1806, intended to prevent Napoleon from seizing it, also deprived him of his imperial authority over most of German - speaking Europe, though little true authority remained by that time; he did, however, retain control of an extensive multi-ethnic empire after Napoleon's defeat . After 1815, the German states were once again reorganized into a loose confederation: the German Confederation, under Austrian leadership . </P>

A result of bismarck's austro prussian war was