[1] It embodied agreements between the two principal powers of the German Confederation, Prussia and Austria, over the governing of the 'Elbe Duchies' of Schleswig, Holstein and Saxe-Lauenburg.

In the following Second Schleswig War, Denmark was defeated and according to the Treaty of Vienna signed on 30 October 1864 had to cede the Elbe Duchies to victorious Prussia and Austria.

Austria would officially renounce Saxe-Lauenburg, which would be ruled by the Prussian king in personal union for a purchase price of 2.5 million Danish rigsdalers.

The European powers reacted strongly, the French emperor Napoleon III responded with protest, while the British saw their interests in the North Sea as threatened; the treaty was nevertheless appreciated by Russia in view of her enmity with Austria after the Crimean War.

The Peace of Prague in 1866 confirmed Denmark's cession of Schlewig and Holstein, which were both annexed by Prussia, but promised a plebiscite to decide whether north Schleswig wished to return to Danish rule.