INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: THE AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR OF 1866 IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF POLITICAL, MILITARY, SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL HISTORY (21/06/2016)

The War of 1866 belongs among the most important conflicts of the 19th century; among other things, it let Europe glimpse for the first time the possibilities of modern military technologies, made famous the Prussian school of military thought with its seductively attractive idea of a short war and decisive battle, threw the Habsburg monarchy into the vortex of a fateful constitutional reform, and at the same time paved the way to the unification of Germany. From the point of view of academic interest, however, it seems that this is a war largely forgotten and untouched by the latest approaches to history.
Given the approaching 150th anniversary, it seems the time has come for a complete historical stocktaking of the whole subject, and it is difficult to imagine a better place than the one where the decisive battle of the war took place – Hradec Králové. The aim of the three-day conference is primarily to combine the latest findings in the field of military history concerning 1866 with current methods of historical research as such. We believe that precisely the presentation of all possible approaches to the theme of war on the example of this specific conflict, from political history to social history, from cultural history to gender history, can make an essential contribution both to our understanding of one part of European history and to bringing military history closer to the mainstream of contemporary historical research.
The main opening lecture will be delivered by Prof. Denis Showalter from Colorado College. The programme begins on 29 June 2016 at 9:15 a.m.

The conference, organized by the Museum of Eastern Bohemia in Hradec Králové and the Faculty of Arts of the University of Hradec Králové, takes place within the series of commemorative events on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Hradec Králové of 1866.