The Age of Nation-States

Overview of the Mid-Nineteenth Century Political Shift

• Collapse of 1848 Revolutions: The revolutions of $1848$ collapsed, leading to the entrenchment of conservative regimes across the European continent in the $1850s$.
• Realization of Liberal/Nationalist Goals: Within a quarter-century, many goals of early nineteenth-century liberals and nationalists were reached under conservative leadership.     * Italy and Germany were united under constitutional monarchies.     * The Habsburg emperor granted autonomy to Hungary and accepted constitutional government.     * Russia emancipated its serfs.     * France transitioned into a republic.     * Great Britain saw a flourish of liberalism and democracy.     * The Ottoman Empire undertook major reforms.
• Dynamics of Change: Paradoxically, these developments often occurred under conservative leaders like Bismarck and Cavour to maintain subject loyalty or because no other choice remained.
• Expansion of the Franchise: The right to vote was extended to an increasing number of men, shifting political rights from status/wealth to adulthood and manhood.

The Crimean War ($1853$-$1856$)

• Origins and Root Causes: The war originated in Russia's desire to extend influence over the Ottoman Empire.     * The Religious Dispute ($1851$): The Ottoman Sultan assigned care of holy places in Palestine to Roman Catholics to yield to French pressure. This angered Russia, which had oversight of Orthodox Christians since Catherine the Great ($r. 1762$-$1796$).     * Territorial Ambition: Russia sought control over the Ottoman provinces of Moldavia and Walachia (modern Romania).     * Outbreak ($1853$): Russia used the protection of Orthodox Christians as a pretext to occupy Moldavia and Walachia. The Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia shortly after.
• Great Power Involvement:     * Opposition to Russia: France, Britain, and Austria opposed Russian expansion in the eastern Mediterranean due to naval and commercial interests.     * Napoleon III’s Motive: The French emperor sought an activist foreign policy to shore up domestic support.     * Alliances: On March $28$, $1854$, France and Britain declared war on Russia alongside the Ottomans.     * Neutrality: Austria and Prussia remained neutral, though Austria mobilized troops to symbolize support for the Western powers.
• Conduct of the War:     * First war covered by war correspondents and photographers.     * Characterized by inept command and ill-equipped armies on both sides.     * Capture of Sevastopol: After a long siege, the Russian fortress fell in September $1855$ to French and British forces.     * Leadership Change: Tsar Nicholas I died in March $1855$; his son, Alexander II, took the throne and sought to end the conflict.
• Peace Settlement: The Treaty of Paris (March $1856$):     * Russia surrendered territory near the mouth of the Danube River.     * The Black Sea was recognized as neutral.     * Russia renounced claims to protect Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire.     * Austria forced Russia out of Moldavia and Walachia even before the conference.
• Long-Term Results:     * Shattered Image: The image of an invincible Russia (prevalent since the Napoleonic Wars) was destroyed.     * Collapse of the Concert of Europe: The great powers no longer feared revolution as much as they did in $1848$ and showed less reverence for the Vienna settlement.     * Diplomatic Isolation of Austria: Russia felt betrayed by Austria’s lack of support. Austria became vulnerable to domestic pressure.

Reforms in the Ottoman Empire

• The Tanzimat Era ($1839$-$1876$): Meaning "reorganization," it was launched by imperial bureaucrats who studied in Europe.     * Hatt-i Sharif of G™lhane ($1839$): A decree to reorganize administration and military along European lines. It liberalized the economy, ended tax farming, and sought to eliminate corruption.     * Civic Equality: It extended equality to Muslims, Christians, and Jews before the law.
• Hatti-i H™mayun ($1856$): Promulgated at the end of the Crimean War under British and French influence.     * Spelled out rights for non-Muslims: equal obligations for military service, equal opportunity for state employment, and admission to state schools.     * Abolished torture and allowed foreigners to acquire property.
• Westernization Efforts:     * Breakdown of the millet system to define citizens as Ottoman subjects rather than religious members.     * Copying of European legal/military institutions and secular values.
• The Suez Canal Project:     * Proposed by Ferdinand de Lesseps (French) using plans by Alois Negrelli (Tyrolean).     * Began in $1859$; completed $10$ years later ($1869$).     * Symbolized European technological superiority; criticized by Britain for use of Egyptian slave labor.
• Struggles and Failure:     * Power struggles between reformers, the ulama (Muslim religious authorities), and autonomous local rulers in Egypt and Tunis.     * Constitution of $1876$: Proclaimed to demonstrate European-style strength. It created a parliament with an elected chamber of deputies and appointed senate ($1877$).     * The Sultan soon dismissed the parliament.     * The Young Turks: A group of reformist officers who took power in $1908$ and led the empire into World War I on the side of the Central Powers in November $1914$.

Italian Unification

• Romantic Republicanism:     * Carbonari: Secret republican societies ("charcoal burners") founded after the Congress of Vienna.     * Giuseppe Mazzini ($1805$-$1872$): Founded the Young Italy Society in $1831$ to drive out Austria. He believed nationality was a mission assigned by God.     * Giuseppe Garibaldi ($1807$-$1882$): Led insurrections in the $1830s$ and $1840s$, including the ill-fated Roman Republic of $1849$. He used guerrilla warfare tactics.
• Count Camillo Cavour ($1810$-$1861$):     * Prime Minister of Piedmont ($Kingdom of Sardinia$) starting in $1852$.     * He was a monarchist, nationalist, and pragmatist who favored material/economic progress over romantic ideals.     * Policy: Promoted free trade, railways, and expanding credit to prove Italian efficiency to great powers.
• War with Austria ($1859$):     * Cavour sent $10,000$ troops to the Crimean War to gain French sympathy.     * Plombiˆres Meeting (July $1858$): Cavour and Napoleon III plotted to provoke war with Austria.     * Battles: Austrians defeated at Magenta (June $4$) and Solferino (June $24$).     * Peace of Villafranca (July $11$, $1859$): Napoleon III made separate peace; Piedmont received Lombardy but not Venetia.
• Garibaldi’s Campaign ($1860$):     * Garibaldi landed in Sicily with over $1,000$ Red Shirts.     * Captured Palermo and Naples.     * The Compromise: Garibaldi accepted monarchical Italy under Piedmont's domination to avoid civil war.     * Naples and Sicily voted to join Piedmont in late $1860$.
• The New Italian State:     * Victor Emmanuel II proclaimed king in March $1861$.     * Issues: Incompatibility between the industrial north and poor, rural south.     * Transformismo: A system of bribery and favors used to transform political opponents into supporters.     * Completion: Venetia was added in $1866$ (alliance with Prussia). Rome was annexed in $1870$ after French forces withdrew.     * Irredenta: "Unredeemed Italy" (Trent/Trieste) remained under Austrian rule until World War I.

German Unification

• Background:     * German Confederation: $39$ states established in $1815$.     * Zollverein: Tariff union linking the economies.     * William I ($r. 1861$-$1888$): Focused on strengthening the Prussian army. Deadlocked with Parliament over tax approvals for military expansion.
• Otto von Bismarck ($1815$-$1898$):     * Appointed Prime Minister in September $1862$. From Junker stock; former ambassador to Russia and France.     * "Iron and Blood": Contended that great questions are decided by power and action, not speeches.     * White Revolutionary: Used radical means (unification/war) to protect conservative core values (monarchy/Prussian strength).
• The Three Wars of Unification:     * The Danish War ($1864$): Prussia and Austria allied to defeat Denmark, which attempted to incorporate Schleswig and Holstein. Convention of Gastein ($1865$) gave Austria Holstein and Prussia Schleswig.     * The Austro-Prussian War ($1866$): Also known as the Seven Weeks' War. Prussian victory at K™niggr‘tz. Treaty of Prague excluded Austria from German affairs. Venetia was ceded to Italy.     * The Franco-Prussian War ($1870$-$1871$):         * Triggered by the Hohenzollern candidacy for the Spanish throne (Prince Leopold).         * Ems Telegram: Bismarck edited a dispatch from William I to make it appear the King insulted the French ambassador, goading France into war.         * Battle of Sedan (Sept $1$, $1870$): Napoleon III was captured; Paris was besieged.
• The German Empire:     * Proclaimed on January $18$, $1871$, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.     * Structure: Conservative monarchy with a bicameral legislature: Bundesrat (appointed) and Reichstag (universal male suffrage, but limited power).     * Indemnity: France forced to pay a large sum and cede Alsace and part of Lorraine.

France: From Empire to Republic

• The Second Empire of Napoleon III ($r. 1852$-$1870$):     * Authoritarian Phase (Pre-$1860$): Censorship, control of legislature.     * Liberal Phase (Post-$1860$): Free-trade treaty with Britain, relaxed press laws, permitted labor unions. Liberal constitution added in $1870$.     * Failures: Lost control of Italian unification; disastrous Mexican expedition leading to Archduke Maximilian's execution ($1867$).
• The Paris Commune ($1871$):     * Proclaimed March $28$, $1871$. A municipal government intended to run Paris separately from the rest of France.     * Dominated by petty bourgeois members and socialists/anarchists (Proudhon/Blanqui).     * Suppression: The National Assembly's army broke through in May; $20,000$ inhabitants were killed.
• The Third Republic:     * Established because the monarchist majority could not agree on a king (Bourbon vs. Orleans).     * Chambord Issue: The Bourbon claimant refused to accept the tricolor flag, insisting on the white Bourbon flag.     * Settlement ($1875$): Adoption of laws creating a Chamber of Deputies (universal male suffrage), a Senate, and a President.     * Surrounded by scandals (Panama Canal corruption, Legion of Honor awards) but proved resilient.

The Habsburg Empire and the Dual Monarchy

• Austrian Weakness: Defeats in $1859$ and $1866$ forced domestic restructuring. The empire was dynastic, absolutist, and agrarian.
• Constitutional Experiments:     * October Diploma ($1860$): Created a federation of local diets; rejected by Hungarians.     * February Patent ($1861$): Established a bicameral imperial parliament (Reichsrat). Hungarians still refused to cooperate.
• The Compromise of $1867$ (Ausgleich):     * Transformed the empire into the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.     * Separate parliaments and ministers for domestic affairs.     * Shared monarch (Francis Joseph), army, and foreign/finance ministers.
• Nationalist Unrest:     * Trialism: The Czechs of Bohemia wanted a triple monarchy; vetoed by Hungarians and Germans.     * Language Conflict: Count Casimir Badeni made Czech and German equal in Bohemia ($1897$), leading to parliamentary chaos.     * Mark Twain’s Account: Described the Austrian Parliament ($October 28, 1897$) as paralyzed by noise-making, yells, and bell-jangling by Dr. Lecher and Representative Wolf.

Russia: Emancipation and Revolution

• Reforms of Alexander II ($r. 1855$-$1881$):     * Abolition of Serfdom ($1861$): Necessary for Russia to remain a great power. Serfs received personal rights but had to pay for land over $49$ years through redemption payments.     * Zemstvos ($1864$): Provincial and county councils to oversee local matters.     * Judicial Reform ($1864$): Western principles: equality before law, trial by jury.     * Military Reform: Reduced service from $25$ years to $15$ ($1860s$), then to $6$ active years ($1874$).
• Radicalism and Terrorism:     * Populism: Revolutionary movement seeking a social revolution based on peasant communal life.     * Land and Freedom: The chief radical society.     * The People’s Will: Split from Land and Freedom in $1879$; dedicated to assassinating the Tsar.     * Assassination: On March $1$, $1881$, a bomb killed Alexander II. His successor, Alexander III, returned to harsh repression.

Great Britain: Toward Democracy

• The Second Reform Act ($1867$):     * Led by Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative).     * Increased the electorate from $1,430,000$ to $2,470,000$ by admitting large numbers of male working-class voters.
• Gladstone’s Great Ministry ($1868$-$1874$):     * Education Act of $1870$: Government assumed responsibility for running elementary schools.     * Competitive exams for civil service ($1870$).     * Abolished purchase of army commissions ($1871$).     * Secret Ballot Act ($1872$).
• Disraeli in Office ($1874$-$1880$):     * Paternalistic legislation to protect the weak.     * Public Health Act of $1875$: State duty to protect health and well-being.     * Artisan Dwelling Act of $1875$: Government provided housing for the working class.
• The Irish Question:     * Home Rule: Advocacy for Irish administrative autonomy.     * Charles Stewart Parnell ($1846$-$1891$): Leader of the Irish movement.     * Gladstone supported Home Rule in $1885$, splitting the Liberal Party. Formal implementation was suspended until after World War I due to its outbreak in $1914$.