Austro-Italian ironclad arms race
In the years after Ferdinand Max's departure from Austria, the Imperial Austrian Navy suffered under further political and budgetary constraints. In April 1864, it was proposed that the naval ministry, which the former Archduke had helped to establish, be disbanded. In January 1865, Emperor Franz Joseph I dissolved the ministry and the Imperial Austrian Navy was again placed under the jurisdiction of the Austrian Ministry of War. Under the 1865 budget, just 7,100,000 Florins were allocated towards naval expenses, but once more, none of the funds were designated for warship construction. In 1866, the naval budget grew slightly to 7,800,000 Florins, but for the third consecutive year there would be no funds for additional ironclads, or other warships. Thus, when the Seven Weeks War began in June 1866, the Imperial Austrian Navy would possess only ships which had been constructed during Ferdinand Max's tenure as "Oberkommandant der Marine".
War of the Austrian Succession
Prussia in 1740 was an emerging power, a small but well-organized state whose new king, Frederick II, wanted to unify the disparate and scattered holdings of his crown by gathering intervening lands into a unified, contiguous state. Prince Frederick was 28 years old when he ascended to the throne on 31 May 1740 upon the death of his father, Frederick William I. Although Prussia and Austria had been allies in the War of the Polish Succession (1733–1738), concluded only two years before, the interests of the two countries diverged when the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles VI, died on 20 October 1740. Neither Frederick nor his father had ever been fond of Austria and its various snubs against Prussia (such as offering them the duchies of Julich and Berg in return for an alliance, only to renege later).