Prussia's capitulation to Austria at Olmütz restored the Austrian-led German Confederation and reversed Prussian ambitions for German leadership.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 29 November 1850
- Location
- Olmütz, Austrian Margraviate of Moravia
- Erfurt Union
- Abandoned by Prussia under treaty terms
- Near-conflict date
- 8 November 1850, near Fulda-Bronnzell
- Follow-up conference
- Dresden ministerial conference, 1851, no result
- Also known as
- Humiliation of Olmütz
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Austria and Prussia were rivals for leadership of the German states after the Frankfurt Assembly collapsed in 1848. Prussia launched the Erfurt Union in early 1850 to build a Prussia-led federation. Austria, backed by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, countered by isolating Prussia diplomatically and advancing troops into the Electorate of Hesse during a dispute there, bringing both powers to the brink of war.
At a conference in Olmütz on 29 November 1850, Prussia and Austria concluded a treaty ending the Autumn Crisis. Prussia agreed to dissolve the Erfurt Union, demobilise its forces, participate in the German Diet's intervention in Hesse and Holstein, and accept the restoration of the German Confederation under Austrian leadership. Austria agreed only to hold a ministerial conference on confederation reform.
The German Confederation was formally restored under Austrian dominance, and Prussian aspirations to lead the German states were set back. The Dresden conference of 1851 produced no meaningful reform. The settlement was widely regarded in Prussia as a national humiliation, fuelling long-term Prussian resentment that contributed to future rivalry between the two powers.
Political Outcome
Prussia abandoned the Erfurt Union and accepted Austrian leadership of the restored German Confederation.
Prussia led the Erfurt Union and contested Austrian dominance of German affairs.
Austria reasserted leadership of the German Confederation; Prussian influence was curtailed.