The German Federal Army (German: Deutsches Bundesheer) was the military arm of the German Confederation from 1815 to 1866 whose purpose was the defence of the Confederation against external enemies - primarily France, from where several wars of occupation had been launched in earlier times against the Holy Roman Empire, but also Russia and its attempts at expansion in the cause of Pan-Slavism. Cases of conflict between the federal allies, such as arose later during the Second Schleswig War (the Duke of Holstein was simultaneously the King of Kingdom of Denmark), were not anticipated or governed. The Austro-Prussian War, provoked by Kingdom of Prussia against the Austrian Empire, for domination of the German Confederation and its allies led to the defeat of the Federal Army in 1866 and thus to its disbandment.