Chapter 14. The Age of National Unification

Concert of Europe

This was the idea from the Congress of Vienna that the great powers
(France, Prussia, Austria, Russia, and Great Britain) should work
together.

Ems Dispatch

A Hohenzollern prince (kin to the Prussian king) was invited to take
the vacant throne of Spain, and was disputed by Napoleon III.
– William I agreed to withdraw his cousin’s name, and telegrammed
Bismarck to inform him: the Ems Dispatch.
– Bismarck edited the telegram to make it look as if the king had
insulted France.

Kulturkampf

Fearing that Catholics were more loyal to the Church than the new Germany,
Bismarck attacked the Catholic Church in a conflict called “Kulturkampf.”

– He insisted on controlling all Church appointments, and completely
supervising Catholic education.
– He was forced to back down because of Catholic resentment of his
policies.

Florence Nightingale

Most of the half-million casualties were not from battle but due to disease in
filthy field hospitals.
– This inspired Florence Nightingale to revolutionize the nursing
profession.

Count Cavour

The architect of Italian unification, referred to in Italian as the Risorgimento,
was the chief minister of Piedmont-Sardinia: Count Camillo di Cavour (1810-
1861).
– Cavour was a practical individual who sought ways to enhance the
power of Sardinia.

• Cavour realized to create an Italian state, Austria must be expelled from the
Italian peninsula.
– The events of 1848 had shown that another great power would need
to assist with the expulsion.
• Cavour forged a secret alliance with France.
– Piedmont had joined the Crimean War on the side of the British and
French.
• While barely participating, he earned the gratitude of Napoleon
III.

\
\-hoped to create a united northern Italy.

\-Cavour encouraged Garibaldi to invade the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, thinking it would be a suicide mission.

\-Cavour hoped to unite Italy under Piedmont’s control, and rushed troops to Naples to block the popular Garibaldi’s march.

\-

Interested in papal lands, Cavour waited for a popular revolt to commence in
the Papal States and then sent in Sardinian troops to “restore order.”

Napoleon III

Napoleon III also attempted to live up to his namesake, though it would lead to his downfall.

The war began in April 1859: combined French and Sardinian forces won
multiple battles against Austria.
– Napoleon brought the conflict to a close before Austria was
completely expelled.
• He was horrified by the high number of casualties, and Prussia
was massing troops on the Rhine to aid Austria.
• Both Cavour and Napoleon hoped to create a united northern Italy.
– Napoleon didn’t want to see the entire peninsula unite and pose a
threat to France.

\
\-angered Napoleon III, who portrayed himself as the defender of the Church for the Catholic population of France.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

In the south of Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi (1808-1882) emerged as a powerful
figure.
– He was horrified by the terms of the treaty between France and
Sardinia, which required Italy to hand over Savoy and Nice to France.

• Garibaldi threatened to attack France.
• Cavour encouraged Garibaldi to invade the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies,
thinking it would be a suicide mission.
• Garibaldi surprised everyone, leading his famous army of 1,000 “red shirts”
to conquer the southern Italian kingdom.
• Garibaldi wanted to march on Rome and make it the new capital of a unified
Italy.
– His threat to papal control of the city would have angered Napoleon
III, who portrayed himself as the defender of the Church for the
Catholic population of France.

• Cavour hoped to unite Italy under Piedmont’s control, and rushed troops to
Naples to block the popular Garibaldi’s march.

• Garibaldi joined southern Italy to the north, and with the Papal States
occupied, the King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel, was declared the first king
of Italy on March 17, 1861.
– Only Venetia and Rome were not under the new unified Italy.
• In 1866, Prussia fought Austria and Italy used the opportunity to seize
Venetia from Austria.
• Rome was claimed in 1870 as the new capital after French troops withdrew
from the city following the Franco-Prussian War.
• The new Italy was plagued by corruption, bribery, and a host of problems.
• For romantic nationalists such as Garibaldi, the new Italy was a cold
bureaucratic state led by Sardinian officials.

Otto von Bismarck

Chancellor of Prussia from (1862- 1871), when he became chancellor of Germany. A conservative nationalist, he led Prussia to victory against Austria and France and was responsible for the creation of the German Empire

Georges Boulanger

A coup d'état looked possible under a former French general and
politician, Georges Boulanger.

\-attacked and destroyed the Paris Commune. He also introduced various reforms all on the path for better rights and benefits of soldiers.

\

Queen Victoria

The long reign of Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901) saw a deterioration in the
power of the monarchy.
– This led to her inability to play a role in the selection of prime
minister.

\
\-She was like deeply in love with her husband she didn’t care about the rest of Britain, only her husband and kids

\-When he died unexpectedly, she went into a grievance period, for 40 years she wore black daily

Alexander II

Alexander II (r. 1855-1881) recognized the greatest problem: serfdom.
• In 1861 he freed the serfs, but former serfs had to buy their freedom with
payments over fifty years.

\-introduced zemstvos:

\-the son of Nicholas I who, as czar of Russia, introduced reforms that included limited emancipation of the serfs

Sultan Abdul Hamid II

When Sultan Abdul Hamid II (r. 1876-1909) came to the throne, he scrapped
the constitution and subjugated the non-Muslims in his empire.
– He massacred thousands of Christian Armenians, a precursor to the
Armenian genocide of 1915.

\
\-

Causes of the Crimean War

The main issue that led to the outbreak of hostilities was fears over Ottoman
weakness.
• British and French statesmen feared that Russia hoped to benefit by seizing
Balkan territory from the Ottomans.

\-

• Encouraged by the British, the Ottomans declared war on Russia in 1853.

Outcomes of the Crimean War

Reluctant to quit, Russia was forced to reconsider when Austria
threatened to join the war on the side of the British and French unless
Russia accepted the peace terms.

• Russia was forced to give up territory on the Danube River and to accept a
ban on warships in the Black Sea.
– This was a major blow to Russian ambitions of involvement in
European politics.
– The Russian navy was trapped in ports along the Baltic.
• The real cost of the war was that the Concert of Europe was finally

The British public was horrified by the events of the Crimean War, and Great
Britain became more isolationist regarding European affairs.
• When Austria opposed the building of states in Germany and Italy, they
receive no support from an angry Russia.
• When France opposed Prussian attempts to create a united Germany, they
found little help across the English Channel.

The Risorgimento

"Renewal, to be born" movement in Italy to recreate a strong, unified Italian nation-state

Cavour's Strategies for Uniting the North

Garibaldi's Strategy for Uniting Italy

Garibaldi wanted to march on Rome and make it the new capital of a unified
Italy.

His threat to papal control of the city would have angered Napoleon
III, who portrayed himself as the defender of the Church for the
Catholic population of France.

Prussian Advantages in Unification

Prussia enjoyed significant advantages that helped them achieve unification:
– Through the Zollverein, Prussia had achieved economic preeminence
over the other member states.
• Austria had been excluded from membership.
– By the mid-1800s, Prussia had achieved significant industrialization,
while Austria remained primarily agricultural.
– The Austrian Empire was made up of numerous nationalities, while
Prussia was primarily German.

The Seven Weeks' War

The war became known as the Seven Weeks War.
– The modernization program of the Prussian army was hugely
successful, allowing them to defeat Austria in seven weeks.
– Bismarck treated Austria with courtesy afterwards, to keep her out of
the next stage of the plan: war with France.

The North German Confederation

After Napoleon, Austria and Prussia were the two dominant states within the
German Confederation.

\-William I hoped to challenge Austrian supremacy in the German Confederation but fought with the Prussian parliament over the costs.

\
\-Convincing other German states to join Prussia, Bismarck created the North
German Confederation.

The Franco-Prussian War

Rome was claimed in 1870 as the new capital after French troops withdrew
from the city following the Franco-Prussian War.

\
\-

Bismarck, though he wanted the war, skillfully made France the aggressor in
this conflict:
– A Hohenzollern prince (kin to the Prussian king) was invited to take
the vacant throne of Spain, and was disputed by Napoleon III.
– William I agreed to withdraw his cousin’s name, and telegrammed
Bismarck to inform him: the Ems Dispatch.
– Bismarck edited the telegram to make it look as if the king had
insulted France.

Why the New Germany was Important

The creation of a German Empire completely changed the direction of
European history:
– The new Germany created a bitter enemy in France, who lost the
territories of Alsace and Lorraine, and was forced to pay a huge
indemnity for starting the war.
– The economic power of Germany created tensions with Great Britain,
and helped set in motion the rush to build colonial empires.
• Bismarck had encouraged France to build an empire in Africa
to distract from the loss of Alsace-Lorraine.

– Eventually all the nations of Europe competed for overseas empires to
extend their political and economic interests.
• Partly because they were trying to adjust to a new powerful
German state.

Hausmann's Changes to Paris

Hausmann

The Paris Commune

In the anarchy of the Franco-Prussian War, a radical government called the
Paris Commune had developed in the capital.
– The republican government fought the Commune in armed conflict,
with the massacre of 25,000 Parisians.

• By 1875 the republic was firmly established, with a two-house parliamentary
body and a relatively weak president.
• They still faced serious problems: tensions between the state and Catholic
Church, and significant anti-Semitism.

The Great Exhibition of 1851

Britain boasted this prosperity with the Great Exhibition of 1851.
– 13,000 exhibitors displayed the variety of British goods available due
to industrialization.
– To accommodate them, the architect John Paxton built the first
prefabricated building: the Crystal Palace.

Disraeli vs. Gladstone

• In 1884, Disraeli’s rival William Gladstone extended the vote to heads of
households in the country.
• Rivalry between the two led to a two party system: Disraeli’s Conservative
party, and Gladstone’s Liberal party.
• The long reign of Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901) saw a deterioration in the
power of the monarchy.
– This led to her inability to play a role in the selection of prime
minister.

Russian Peasant Reforms

While enacting some reforms, Alexander II remained an autocrat and refused
fundamental changes.
– This led to the rise of a revolutionary organization, the People’s Will,
which assassinated him in 1881.

Russian Zemstvos

To cope with a population boom across their giant empire, Alexander
introduced zemstvos: district assemblies.
– They were mandated to deal with local issues such as education and
social services.
– They were dominated by the local gentry.

Austrian Problems in the 1800s

By 1866, the Hapsburgs had lost all their territory in Italy, and suffered a
major defeat to Prussia.
– This made them a nonfactor in German affairs.

• In 1867 Vienna was forced to sign an agreement with Hungarian Magyars,
creating a dual Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
• Each state was independent, but united under the mutual leadership of
Francis Joseph: Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.
• With their independence, the Magyars denied any form of self-rule to the
Croat, Serbs, Romanians, and other nationalities within Hungary.
• With less influence in Western Europe, Austria-Hungary tried to become
more influential in the Balkans.
– This ultimately led to disastrous consequences.

The Tanzimat

This reform program began during the reign of Sultan Abdul Mejid (r. 1839-
1861) and was known as the Tanzimat.
• The Tanzimat attempted to:
– Adopt Western methods of waging war.
– Overhaul the Ottoman economy.
– Introduce ideas such as equality before the law and freedom of
religion.

The Russo-Turkish War

Ottoman weakness continued and the empire was humiliated by a defeat in
the Russo-Turkish War (1877-1878).
– At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, the Ottomans were forced to
recognize the independence of Serbia, Montenegro, Romania, and
Bulgaria in the Balkan region.