Age of Nationalism

Treaty of Villafranca

Agreement that abruptly ended the 1859 war between France, Piedmont-Sardinia, and Austria, limiting Piedmont’s gains and forcing Italian nationalists to pursue other strategies for unification.

Ems Dispatch

Diplomatic telegram edited and released by the Prussian chancellor in 1870 to inflame French and German public opinion, helping provoke France into declaring war.

Plombières Agreement

Secret 1858 agreement in which the leader of Piedmont-Sardinia secured French military support against Austria in exchange for territorial concessions, demonstrating the role of great-power diplomacy in Italian unification.

Second Italian War of Independence

1859 war in which France and Piedmont-Sardinia defeated Austria in northern Italy, gaining Lombardy and advancing the cause of Italian nationalism.

Dual Monarchy (Austria-Hungary)

Political compromise of 1867 that reorganized the Habsburg Empire into two semi-independent states ruled by the same monarch, granting autonomy to Hungary while leaving other national groups dissatisfied.

Kulturkampf

Conflict in the 1870s between the German government and the Catholic Church, launched by the German chancellor to reduce papal influence but ultimately strengthening Catholic political organization.

Nationalism

19th-century political ideology emphasizing loyalty to a shared culture, language, or people rather than to dynastic rulers, helping inspire the unification of Italy and Germany while destabilizing multinational empires.

Austro-Prussian War (Seven Weeks’ War)

Brief 1866 conflict in which Prussia decisively defeated Austria, excluding it from German political affairs and allowing Prussia to dominate northern German states.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Nationalist military leader whose volunteer army known as the Red Shirts conquered Sicily and southern Italy in 1860 before transferring the territory to the Piedmontese monarchy in support of Italian unity.

King Wilhelm I

Prussian monarch who became the first emperor of a unified German Empire in 1871, representing the triumph of conservative monarchy and military power over the failed liberal revolutions of 1848.

King Victor Emmanuel II

Ruler of Piedmont-Sardinia who became the first king of a unified Italy in 1861, symbolizing the success of constitutional monarchy in the Italian nationalist movement.

Florence Nightingale

British nurse whose work during the Crimean War introduced strict sanitation reforms in military hospitals, greatly reducing death rates and helping establish modern professional nursing.

Realpolitik

Approach to politics emphasizing practical power and national interest over ideology or moral principles, commonly associated with successful 19th-century state builders.

Crimean War

Mid-1850s conflict in which Russia fought the Ottoman Empire while Britain, France, and Piedmont-Sardinia intervened against Russia, weakening the old European balance of power and helping set the stage for later nationalist unifications.

North German Confederation

Political federation created after Prussia’s victory over Austria in 1866 that united northern German states under Prussian leadership and served as a step toward full German unification.

Otto von Bismarck

Prussian statesman who unified Germany through a series of carefully planned wars and pragmatic diplomacy, famously advocating policies based on “blood and iron.”

Second French Empire

Authoritarian French regime that ruled from 1852–1870, combining economic modernization, state-led urban reconstruction in Paris, and nationalist legitimacy before ending with France’s defeat in the Franco-Prussian War.

Giuseppe Mazzini

Italian nationalist revolutionary who founded Young Italy and promoted a democratic, republican vision of national unification, inspiring the revolutions of 1848 but ultimately failing to achieve his goals.

Napoleon III

French leader elected president during the 1848 revolutions who later declared himself emperor in 1852, establishing an authoritarian regime that promoted economic modernization and nationalism before collapsing after defeat by Prussia in 1870.

Baron Georges Haussmann

Government official who oversaw the massive redesign of Paris during the mid-19th century, constructing wide boulevards and modern infrastructure that both beautified the city and made revolutionary barricades more difficult to build.

Franco-Prussian War

War fought from 1870–1871 in which Prussia defeated France, leading to the proclamation of a unified German Empire and the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine.

Proclamation of the German Empire

Ceremony held in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles in 1871 where German princes declared the creation of a new empire, symbolizing the success of German nationalism and the defeat of France.

Risorgimento

The broader 19th-century movement to politically and culturally unite the Italian peninsula, combining elite diplomacy, popular nationalism, and military campaigns.

Zollverein

Economic alliance formed in the 1830s among many German states that eliminated internal tariffs, strengthened economic cooperation, and increased Prussia’s influence prior to political unification.

Count Camillo di Cavour

Prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia who used diplomacy, alliances, and pragmatic power politics to weaken Austrian control in Italy and guide the unification of Italy under a constitutional monarchy.

Emperor Franz Joseph I

Habsburg ruler (1848-1916); suppressed 1848, conceded Dual Monarchy after defeats.

Paris Commune

Socialist government ruling Paris (March-May 1871); postwar radicalism crushed brutally, scarring Third Republic.

Syllabus of Errors

Pius IX encyclical condemning liberalism/rationalism; Church resisted secular nationalism, fueling culture wars.

Papal Infallibility

Vatican I doctrine of pope's supreme faith authority; defensive reaction to Rome's 1870 loss.

Alexander II

Russian tsar (1855-81); emancipated serfs, zemstvos but assassination showed reform limits.

Emancipation Edict

Tsarist decree freeing 23M serfs; debts trapped peasants, half-measure fueling unrest vs. Western modernization.

Zemstvos

Alexander II local assemblies (1864); limited self-rule fostered civic nationalism under tsarism.

Realism

Mid-century style (Courbet, Flaubert); depicted everyday life, mirrored nationalism's contemporary focus.

Darwin’s On the Origin of Species

Evolutionary theory book; challenged faith, birthed Social Darwinism justifying national competition.

Romantic Nationalism

Cultural/emotional patriotism (1815-70); Verdi/Wagner fueled Risorgimento via language/folk identity.