How was the warfare in later 19th century (1860-1880) in Europe?

[KEA]

So, why didn't the austrian command focus on defensive positions + artillery in the austrian-prussian war?

It is very common that armies develop tactics to either defeat an enemy that would be an exact copy of said army (as did the Austrians) or tactics that would had worked in the last war (for example French offensive à outrance in 1914).

[Incendio]

Sorry for the intrusion. A week ago, I found an interesting book about the Russo-Turkish War (1877-88): The war in the East. An illustrated history of the conflict between Russia and Turkey with a review of the Eastern question by Prof. A. Schem. Is completely free and legal, you can download it in pdf:

https://archive.org/details/warineastillustr00scheiala

As for Austro-Prussian War (7 weeks war) I see the book of the Geoffrey Wawro, worths buying?

[KEA]

As for Austro-Prussian War (7 weeks war) I see the book of the Geoffrey Wawro, worths buying?

Not really. Wawro has done extensive research on the Austrian sources but got a lot wrong when it comes to the Prussians. I can't say anything about the parts dealing with the Italian army.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

So, why didn't the austrian command focus on defensive positions + artillery in the austrian-prussian war?

They wanted to in 1866, they were going to retreat into Austria proper and try to hold back the Prussians. A directive from the Kaiser forced them to fight at Koniggratz though many including Prussians thought that the Austrian would try to hold the local river crossings. Really what did the Austrians in so severely was Crown Prince Friedrich leading an army from Silesia behind the Austrian lines. This maneuver was considered impossible at the time.

[KEA]

Why should that had been considered impossible in.1866? In the Silesian Wars, 100 years earlier, the Prussians had done that a couple of times on the same route.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Due to the Silesian mountains among other logistical difficulties. Benedek did not expect Crown Prince Friedrich to actually attack his rear, he thought that this was an attack on his flank and that the Prussian army coming out of Silesia was smaller than it was. We must also take into account the speed which Crown Prince Friedrich displayed in arriving to Koniggratz. Benedek for his part thought that he could defeat Friedrich Karl, as Koniggratz was a good defensive position. Though it seems Benedek figured that he could even attack that army as it crossed the Bistritz River, defeat it and then swing to the north east and then defeat that army coming out of Silesia piece meal.

[KEA]

Due to the Silesian mountains among other logistical difficulties.

At this point, the Second Army has long left the mountains behind. The battles of Trautenau, Skalitz and Nachod were fought to force the crossing. So, no chance for Benedek to not know on which side of the mountains Friedrich was. Apart from that, Prussian and Austrian armies had been crossing said mountains fore and back for the last 100 years without problems. So, also no reason to assume that anyone considered these hills an obstacle.

Benedek did not expect Crown Prince Friedrich to actually attack his rear, he thought that this was an attack on his flank

Friedrich did attack his flank. Behind Benedek was the Elbe and the fortress of Königgrätz. May be, if Friedrich had not crossed the Elbe a second time he would had appeared behind Benedek at some point (but without any chance of joining the battle). Truth is, both Moltke and Benedek had lost track of Friedrich's movements.

Benedek for his part thought that he could defeat Friedrich Karl, as Koniggratz was a good defensive position. Though it seems Benedek figured that he could even attack that army as it crossed the Bistritz River, defeat it and then swing to the north east and then defeat that army coming out of Silesia piece meal.

Yes, Benedek's plan for Königgrätz was to shredder the Prussians with artillery and then launch a massive counter attack. That was the reason why he kept strong reserves behind his center - on expenses of his flanks. These were the units that were then themselves shreddered by rifle fire when counter-attacking Friedrich instead. It doesn't seem that he had any particular plans for the Second Army because he believed (or rather "wished") Friedrich to be further north and on the wrong side of the Elve.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Looking to put in a response at some point. The part about whether young Fritz was going for a flank attack or wanted to position himself behind Benedek I actually have to look up now.

[KEA]

The part about whether young Fritz was going for a flank attack or wanted to position himself behind Benedek I actually have to look up now.

The only way to join the battle was towards the Austrian right flank. The rear of the Austrian army was protected by the Elbe of which the crossing was protected by the fortress of Königgrätz.

[Astrokatos]

I think the Crimean War was one of the first modern or industrial wars, for reasons others may have already mentioned, including use of rail transport, telegraph, more advanced rifles with the Minie shot, more advanced artillery trending toward what we would see later. There was also a small hint of trench warfare, especially at Sevastopol and Redan, that would become more explored and developed later.


But a certain amount of trench warfare was found throughout several of the conflicts in the latter half of the 19th century, eventually leading up to WWI of course, including the American Civil War (the Siege of Petersburg being a notable example).







The American Civil War can also be thought of as one of the first "modern" wars (depending on how you interpret that term). It was larger scale than Crimea and certainly used state of the art industrial technology. Sure, the majority of it was still fought by lines of men with guns, but you saw things like the Gatling gun and ironclad in limited use, and even a primitive submarine. There were also interesting new tactics, and mass mobilization by rail. It was total war also. Interestingly, Europeans learned a lot from this war, and despite this, the Americans seem to have fallen behind them in the coming decades of peace, in terms of military prowess, because by the last decade of the century they were actually behind some of the major European powers in terms of arms, especially in naval power.

Anyway, back to the Crimean War. It seemed to be a transitionary war from the classic Napoleonic style of combat, with grand sweeping maneuvers of huge armies on fields, relying on the prowess of the generals, to something different. There were still orderly lines of troops marching toward each other, as well as cavalry charges like the famous Light Brigade, but the new tech added a new dimension, and caused horrific casualties. Even Florence Nightingale couldn't do that much for many soldiers, but there were some advancements in medical treatment there.

If you look at pictures and paintings of the era, it definitely seem to have a grim, early industrial feel to it that you didn't get with Napoleon and 18th century wars.














Both the Crimean War and American Civil War cost over 700,000 in deaths. In many cases, not instant, but from disease or complications.



The Franco-Prussian war seemed to largely continue the trend in these previous two



It's interesting how quickly it wrapped up, like the Denmark Prussia War the previous decade. But there were still a huge number of casualties for a less than two year war.

As others have said, the charging in large groups of soldiers still remained a tactic until the early stages of WWI, when they realized it wouldn't fly anymore.

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

At this point, the Second Army has long left the mountains behind. The battles of Trautenau, Skalitz and Nachod were fought to force the crossing. So, no chance for Benedek to not know on which side of the mountains Friedrich was. Apart from that, Prussian and Austrian armies had been crossing said mountains fore and back for the last 100 years without problems. So, also no reason to assume that anyone considered these hills an obstacle.
Friedrich did attack his flank. Behind Benedek was the Elbe and the fortress of Königgrätz. May be, if Friedrich had not crossed the Elbe a second time he would had appeared behind Benedek at some point (but without any chance of joining the battle). Truth is, both Moltke and Benedek had lost track of Friedrich's movements.

Yes, Benedek's plan for Königgrätz was to shredder the Prussians with artillery and then launch a massive counter attack. That was the reason why he kept strong reserves behind his center - on expenses of his flanks. These were the units that were then themselves shreddered by rifle fire when counter-attacking Friedrich instead. It doesn't seem that he had any particular plans for the Second Army because he believed (or rather "wished") Friedrich to be further north and on the wrong side of the Elve.

Not sure why I never responded to this when the answer is obvious.

Because he didn't expect the Crown Prince of Prussia to cross from Silesia and then attack him in the flank as quickly as he did or distance himself from the support of the other two armies by attempting a flanking maneuver. As it was Crown Prince Fritz carried out an extremely rapid march to arrive on the battlefield in time, especially given the logistical constraints. But his chief of staff managed to organize the logistics and carry out the march on time and in good order.