The
Austro-Prussian War or
Seven Weeks' War (also known as the
Unification War,
Prussian–German War,
German Civil War,
War of 1866, as well as
Brothers War or
Fraternal War, and in Germany as
German War) was a
war fought in 1866 between the
German Confederation ("Deutscher Bund") under the leadership of the
Austrian Empire ("Kaisertum Österreich") and its German allies on one side and the
Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and
Italy on the other, that resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states. In the
Italian unification process, this is called the
Third Independence War.