Nationalism

Introduction 

• Nationalism:

  • Pride for one’s country, no matter what it does

  • More extreme than patriotism

  • Generally used negatively

  • A feeling of love & loyalty for one’s country & people

• People with a common heritage united to try to form their own homeland 

• Gave people a common heritage and a sense of identity. 

• Often bred intolerance and led to persecution of other ethnic or national groups.

• Nationalism is identification with one's own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations. The effects of nationalism are different for different groups of people.

• Developed states use of nationalism = dangerous 

• Aspirational nationalism  by “people wishing for a nation”= neutral

• Conservatism 

  • Resistant to change

• Supports:

  • A world before 1789

  • Restoration of royal families to power 

  • A social hierarchy 

  • Established church 

  • Suppression of revolutionary ideas 

• Opposes:

  • Freedom of the press

• Liberalism 

  • Wants change fast

• Supports:

  • Written constitutions 

  • Separation of powers 

  • Freedom of speech, religion 

  • Liberty, equality, property 

  • Laissez-faire economics 

• Opposes:

  • Divine-right monarchs 

  • Old aristocracy 

  • Established churches

• Bonds of a Nation-State

  • Nation State: When such a group occupies a definite territory & is united under its own government

• Culture: a shared way of life (food, dress, behavior, ideals)

• History: a common past; common experiences

• Language: different dialects of one languages; one dialect becomes “national language”

• Territory: a certain territory that belongs to the ethnic group, its “land”

• Nationality: belief in common ethnic ancestry that may or may not be true

• Religion: a religion shared by all or most of the people

• Types of Nationalist Movements

  • Unify - These are mergers of politically divided but culturally similar lands. Italy and Germany. The forming of one nation from two or more states. 

  • Separate - These are people who share a culture but want to break away from the group. Kurds and Quebec.

  • Build a State - These are distinct cultural groups who want to form a nation by accepting a single culture. USA and Turkey

• Patriotism 

  • Pride for one’s country for what it does (but not for EVERYTHING it does)

  • More flexible than nationalism

  • Generally positive term

German Unification 

• Otto von Bismarck

  • Wilhelm I’s Prime Minister (he was a junker)

    • 1st Prime Minister of the 2nd Reich (the empire)

  • Nickname: “Iron Chancellor”

  • Won Danish War (1864)

    • Wins against Denmark = got land from Denmark & respect from other Germans

  • Won Seven Weeks’ War (1866)

    • He provoked Austria to fight

    • Quick win due to railroad and military technology

  • Won Franco-Prussian War (1870)

    • France forced to give up 2 territories rich in coal and iron

      • Alsace and Lorraine

    • France had to pay reparations

    • Final step in German Unification

    • Southern Germans accepted Prussian leadership

  • Bismarck’s goal: Unite southern part of Germany under Prussia

    • Problem:

      • South = Catholic & North = Protestant

    • Bismarck's Idea: “If I can get someone to attack the German Confederation, the south will join Prussia against that enemy”

    • “Generals are famous for fighting the next war with the tactics of the last war.”

      • He puts false stories in newspaper to provoke France

      • France declares war on Prussia and loses

• Wilhelm I

  • King of Prussia

  • Crowned Jan 18, 1871 Kaiser (emperor) of Germany

  • His ministers & army officers were junkers (wealthy landowning nobles)

• Realpolitik

  • Real politics

  • “politics of reality” 

  • (real politics based on the needs of the state)

  • Realpolitik is also known as “pragmatism” and is a way of making political decisions based on being practical instead of based on ideals

• Blood and Iron 

  • Phrase Bismarck used in hopes of increasing Prussian power

  • A foreign policy meaning through war and military strength

• German Nationalism

  • Rise up against French rule

  • Key elements: Language (German), culture (Germanic), and religion (Protestant with some Catholic)

• German States (Prussia and Austria) 

  • 39 German states made up the German Confederation

    • While many of the people living in these states shared a common language, a common culture, common history and for the most part a common language the German people had been intentionally left divided at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars (1815)

    • Two largest were Prussia and Austria

      • In Austria, most people were non-Germans who wanted their freedom

        • Industry not as good as Prussia’s

      • In Prussia, most people were German

        • Army was the strongest in central Europe

        • Industry thrived

  • Bismarck saw Austria as Prussia’s main rival

  • Austria forced to leave German Confederation → Eastern & Western German states united for 1st time while Austria tries to rebuild

  • Everyone living under Austrian rule had different nationalities (Largest being Hungarians) 

    • Austria & Hungary form dual monarchy → Austria-Hungary

Italian Unification 

• Giuseppe Mazzini

  • “The Heart”

  • Mazzini wrote of his dreams for a united Republican Italy where all Italians were united and equal. Mazzini’s writings inspired an entire generation of Italians. However Mazzini opposed Cavour because he feared that Cavour did not have the best interests of Italy as a whole in mind.

• Camillo Cavour

  • “The Brain”

  • Prime Minister of Sardinia under Victor Emmanuel II

  • Wealthy aristocrat

  • Top priority was uniting Italy through realpolitik (careful diplomacy and well-planned alliances)

  • Allied with France (Napoleon III) to drive Austria out of Italy (1859)

    • Agreement: If France helps get Austria out of Lombardy & Venetia, it can have Nice and Savoy

    • A joined French-Sardinian army beat Austria → Other revolts in Northern Italy break out

    • It was at Cavour’s insistence that the King met with Garibaldi and added Southern Italy to his realm. Cavour died in 1861. However, his successors finished his mission and added Rome to the Italian states while France was busy fighting Prussia in 1870.

• Giuseppe Garibaldi

  • “The Sword”

  • Served in armies in both Europe and South America

    • After participating in a failed attempt to unify Italy in 1834, he fled his homeland and spent fourteen years helping in several Latin American wars, thus earning the nickname “Hero of the Two Worlds.”

  • Leader of the Redshirts

  • Led 1,100 nationalists to Sicily (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies)

  • Though he found himself at times on winning and losing sides, his greatest success came in overthrowing the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1860 he landed at Marsala, Sicily, with his “Thousand Redshirts” and destroyed his foes. He then crossed the Strait of Messina and advanced northward up the Italian Peninsula, greeted by enthusiastic crowds and enlarging his forces as he went. The next year he turned over his gains to King Victor Emanuel of Piedmont and Sardinia toward fulfilling his dream of a united Italy.

  • Garibaldi met with King Victor Emmanuel II & agreed to let him rule → a show of nationalism

• Victor Emmanuel II

  • Sardinia’s King

  • Count Camillo Di Cavour was his Prime Minister

  • March 1861: Italian Parliament declared Emmanuel II king of Italy

• Red Shirts

  • Followers of Giuseppe Garibaldi, who wore a red shirt in battle

  • Beat an army 20 times bigger (Marsala, Sicily) and later took Rome and then Nice back from France

  • “Thousand Redshirts”

• Young Italy 

  • Organization formed by Mazzini

  • Worked toward unifying Italy

• Italian States (Sardinia and Sicily)

  •  South: Naples & Sicily joined into the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

    • Monarchy (related to royal family of Spain)

  • Central: The Papal States were returned to the Pope

  • Northern states (Lombardy & Venetia) became part of Austrian Empire

  • Remaining Northern states = independent (but close with Austria)

  • Kingdom of Sardinia

    • Savoy, Piedmont, Nice, Sardinia

    • Only Italian state ruled by Italians

    • Italians looked to Sardinia for leadership

    • King was Victor Emmanuel II

    • Sardinia will need help to drive Austria out of Italy

      • Austria: greatest roadblock to Italian unity

      • Aid from France by Cavour

    • Sardinia annexes most of N. Italy (Northern Italy is united!) in 1860