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".
Welf VII
His father inherited the family's estates in Swabia, including the prominent counties of Altdorf and Ravensburg, which he gave to Welf. Welf, however, spent much of his time managing the Italian possessions while his father stayed in Swabia. Both Welfs supported Frederick Barbarossa as king of Germany and the younger Welf (VII) accompanied him on his Italian campaigns, starting in 1154. In 1160, he was made duke of Spoleto by the emperor. Between 1164 and 1166, he participated in the famous feud between his father and Hugh of Tübingen, which the emperor himself resolved. He was a participant in the campaign of 1167, in which malaria devastated the army and forced the emperor back over the Alps. Welf was a victim of the malaria and died at Siena. He was buried in Steingaden Abbey in Bavaria, where his father was also later buried.