The Great King had struggled for seven years to reduce the might of Austria, and his more fortunate and more powerful grandson had achieved it in as many weeks. The campaign had proved decisive in the first eight days from June 27th to July 3rd. The war of 1866 was entered on not because the existence of Prussia was threatened, nor in obedience to public opinion and the voice of the people: it was a struggle, long foreseen and calmly prepared for, recognized as a necessity by the Cabinet, not for territorial aggrandizement or material advantage, but for an ideal end—the establishment of power. Not a foot of land was exacted from conquered Austria, but it had to renounce all part in the hegemony of Germany.