The painter shows Prussian King Wilhelm I at the centre of the painting as the supreme commander taking stock of the entire scene. In reality the King left the command and thus the planning and supervision of the campaign to Chief of General Staff Moltke. Whereas the Austrian troops took up their position in a closed formation, Moltke had three different Prussian armies advance separately. At the beginning of the war, he sent his orders by telegraph. King Wilhelm I, General von Moltke, War Minister von Roon and Minister-President von Bismarck arrived at the scene of the battle in Bohemia only a few days before the start of the battle.
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