The reason for the war of 1864 is easy to explain. Prussia, after a long peace, during which it managed to gain strength from the pogroms of the beginning of the century and develop its military organization, felt its strength, it became cramped within narrow limits and it was looking for a case to expand its possessions; at the same time, her eyes, of course, should have turned to the weakest of her neighbors - Denmark, which represented the most convenient goal for testing the forces of the revived state. This was all the more convenient because for a long time the Schleswig-Holstein question had worried minds in Germany and gave a ready reason to intervene in Danish affairs. As for Austria, its participation in the war is explained by the struggle for dominance in the German alliance, which it waged with Prussia; she could not allow Prussia alone to resolve the Schleswig-Holstein issue so popular in Germany.