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".
João Carlos de Bragança (Duke de Lafões)
To get to Vienna, already with the Seven Year's War running, he enlisted in the Austrian army, where D. Manuel, Count of Ourém, his uncle, as well as of the king John V of Portugal, had been general. He was a superior officer of an Infantry Regiment of the Prince of Ligne, his relative, having participated in the last campaigns of the Seven Years ' War. After the end of the war, in February 1763, he decided to travel and has visited Switzerland, Italy, France, and the East, Greece and Egypt. He later visited Prussia and Poland. In 1766, it was proposed to integrate the Austrian army, with the rank of major-general, but the authorization of the Portuguese crown was never given. In 1770 Paride ed Elena by Gluck was dedicated to the Duke of Braganza, a specialist on mythology and music.