Unit 2 Lesson 5 Italian and German Unification 1853-1871

Effects of the Crimean War

Broke up the concert of Europe in 1853 which had kept peace for years. The Ottoman Empire was weak, so Cavour helps France and makes alliance with Napoleon III. (Napoleon wants Ottoman Empire weak so he can be stronger)

Northern Italy unification

Cavour wants Northern Italian states and Napoleon wants to weaken Austria who is a strong country. 1859 Cavour uses his alliance with Napoleon III to drive Austria out of Northern Italy with the help of Nationalists and they take all of Northern Italy except for Venitia and give Nice and Savoy to France.

Southern Italy unification

1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi leads rebel red shirts nationalists with Guerilla warfare to capture Sicily. United Southern territories with Piedmont/Sardinia-basically all of the Italian states are unified with the exception of France.

Realpolitik

Leaders make decisions based on what's best for themselves rather than what's best morally or for the welfare of the country.

Prussian-Danish War (1864)

There were two provinces/nations in Denmark that were German and spoke German. Bismarck used Prussia to take back these states but needed the help of Austria. As a result of their success one province went to Prussia and the other to Austria-but Bismarck didn’t want Austria to rule over German states (since he's a Realpolitik) leading to the Austro Prussian war in 1866.

Results from Austro-Prussian war 1866

Austria loses the war letting Italy annex Venetia. During the war people throughout the German confederation had to choose sides with Prussia or Austria (most chose Prussia). Prussia successfully dissolved the German Confederation creating the Northern German Confederation growing their power further.

Ems Dispatch

Telegram between King Wilheim/William I of Prussia and the French ambassador, Leon Gamsbetta. Bismark edited it to make it seem like King William I was making fun of France. He did this to provoke war-and it worked.

Franco-Prussian war 1870

Bismark provokes war with France as a way to unite the Northern and Southern German states through a common enemy. The war started by an Ems Dispatch call which made France declare war just as Bismark had planned. To the Germans it appeared unjustified resulting in Germany uniting by growing anti French sentiment. Italy was also able to capture the Papal states and is finally united with a new capitol, Rome.

Unification of Germany

Prussia was the most powerful German state but Germany was still mainly ruled by Austria. Bismark aimed reforms to increase Prussia's wealth and grew their army leading to three wars which helped Germany achieve unification- Prussian-Danish War 1864, Austro-Prussian war 1866, Franco-Prussian war 1870.

Junckers

Strong conservative nobles in Prussia

The Second Reich

United Germany was renamed this-saying they are the second Holy Roman Empire and they forced France to pay 5 billion Francs in reparations of the Franco-Prussian war.

Victor Emmanuel II

King of Sardinia and later meets with Giuseppe Garibaldi and agrees to rule united Italy under a constitutional monarchy

Camillo di Cavour

Prime minister of Sardinia (Piedmont region of Italy)- strategic helped ally with France during Crimean War and helped conquer new lands and unite Italian Peninsula

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Led rebel nationalists in Southern Italy with Guerrilla warfare and captured Sicily

Otto Von Bismarck

Led Prussia to German unification

What role did war play in unification? Could Italy or Germany have united without military conflict?

Germany used war to a point where it wasn’t even necessary to earn unification. They provoked war with France for no real reason other than that they thought it would unite Southern and Northern Germans against a common enemy. Italy, however, solely took advantage of war to earn back their territories like Venitia from the Austro-Prussian war, but they were also able to get land like Sicily through agreement without a fight.

How did diplomacy and alliances contribute to unification?Could Italy or Germany have unified without foreign support (France for Italy, Prussia for Germany)?

Failed uprisings for independence in the past like Poland, show that it makes it a lot more difficult for a country to get independence without support from a larger country. However, it's not impossible as seen from Latin American countries getting their independence from Europe, but they also weren’t surrounded by big powers who could have shut them down.

Was nationalism the driving force behind unification?

Yes, independent states like in the German Confederation all had the same identity. Combining them together also made them stronger against other larger countries.

How did leadership styles differ?

Ottovon Bismark was a Realpolitik and made decisions for him to gain power (like how he unnecessarily started the Franco-Prussian war). However, leaders like Cavour made alliances with stronger countries like France so that they could gain more power.

What were the biggest obstacles to unification?

The biggest obstacles were taking land from other larger countries. This was dangerous because every country wanted the best for themselves and didn’t want to give their land away.

What internal and external forces resisted unification in both cases?

In Italy, some external forces were Austria who Italy was taking land from. Internal forces were regionalism, were some states in Italy had their own cultures and initially wanted to stay independent. Some Italian rulers like Pope Pius IX thought their power was being threatened by unifying Italy. In Germany, smaller states are also resistant to unification. Their external forces were Austria who they have to remove from the German confederation to make their unified Germany.