Comprehensive Study Notes: The Age of Nation-States (1850-1914)

The Crimean War ($1853-1856$)

• Roots of Conflict: The war originated in Russia's long-standing desire to extend influence over the Ottoman Empire. Two specific disputes triggered the conflict:     * Religious Oversight: Since the time of Catherine the Great (r. $1762-1796$), Russia held protective oversight of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, while France held oversight of Roman Catholics. In $1851$, the Ottoman sultan assigned care of certain Palestinian holy places to Roman Catholics, angering Russia.     * Territorial Ambition: Russia sought control over the Ottoman provinces of Moldavia and Walachia (modern-day Romania). In the summer of $1853$, Russia occupied these provinces using the protection of Orthodox Christians as a pretext.
• The War Party:     * Ottoman Empire: Declared war on Russia shortly after the occupation of its provinces.     * France and Britain: Declared war on Russia on March $28$, $1854$, in alliance with the Ottomans. They opposed Russian expansion in the eastern Mediterranean to protect naval and commercial interests.     * Napoleon III: Used the war as an activist foreign policy to shore up domestic support.     * Austria and Prussia: Remained neutral, though Austria mobilized troops to signify support for the Western powers, frustrating Tsar Nicholas I.
• Conduct of the Conflict: The war was characterized by inept leadership on both sides. It was the first war covered by war correspondents and photographers, making the suffering and military failure widely known in Western Europe.
• Death of Nicholas I: The Tsar died in March $1855$, replaced by Alexander II, who was more open to peace.
• Fall of Sevastopol: In September $1855$, the Russian fortress fell to the French and British after a long siege.
• Peace Settlement: The Treaty of Paris ($1856$):     * Russia surrendered territory near the mouth of the Danube River.     * The Black Sea was declared neutral.     * Russia renounced its claim to protect Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire.     * Austria forced Russia to withdraw from Moldavia and Walachia before the conference.
• Long-Term Results:     * Shattered Image: The image of an invincible Russia, prevalent since the Napoleonic Wars, was destroyed.     * Concert of Europe: The informal system for international relations on the continent was shattered. Powers were now more willing to overthrow the existing order than defend it.     * Austrian Isolation: Austria became diplomatically isolated because it did not support Russia (despite Russia having helped suppress the Hungarian revolt in $1848-1849$), and Western powers viewed its support as "half-hearted."

Reforms in the Ottoman Empire

• The Tanzimat Era ($1839-1876$): Meaning "reorganization," this era was sparked by the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt ($1798-1799$) and the need to modernize.
• Hatt-i Sharif of Gülhane ($1839$): A decree reorganization Ottoman administration and military along European lines. It liberalized the economy, ended tax farming, sought to eliminate corruption, and extended civic equality to Muslims, Christians, and Jews.
• Hatt-i Humayun ($1856$): Promulgated at the close of the Crimean War under British and French influence. It explicitly detailed rights for non-Muslims, including equal obligations for military service, equal opportunity for state employment, and admission to state schools. It also abolished torture.
• Secularization and Challenges: The government sought to define citizens as Ottoman subjects rather than members of religious communities (breaking the millet system). Implementation was difficult due to:     * Power struggles between European-oriented administrators and the ulama (Islamic law authorities).     * Tensions from local rulers in places like Egypt and Tunis who acted independently.     * Rising nationalism in Balkan regions.
• The Ottoman Constitution ($1876$): Prompted by foreign defeats in the Balkan wars. It established a parliament with an elected chamber of deputies and an appointed senate ($1877$). However, the sultan soon dismissed the parliament.
• Young Turks ($1908$): A group of reformist military officers who modernized the empire and led it into World War I on the side of the Central Powers in November $1914$, leading to the empire's eventual collapse.
• A Closer Look: The Suez Canal:     * Proposed by Frenchman Ferdinand de Lesseps based on plans by Tyrolian engineer Alois Negrelli.     * Construction began in $1859$ and took $10$ years.     * Symbolized European technological superiority but faced opposition from Britain regarding Egypt’s use of slave labor.

Italian Unification

• Initial Approaches: Nationalism was divided between romantic republicans and those favoring constitutional monarchies.
• Romantic Republicans:     * Carbonari ("Charcoal Burners"): Secret republican societies known for being feared but ineffective.     * Giuseppe Mazzini ($1805-1872$): Founder of the Young Italy Society ($1831$) to drive out Austria and establish a republic. He famously viewed nationality as a "mission assigned by God."     * Giuseppe Garibaldi ($1807-1882$): Led insurrections and guerrilla warfare; both he and Mazzini were involved in the ill-fated Roman Republic of $1849$.
• Count Camillo Cavour ($1810-1861$): Prime Minister of Piedmont (Kingdom of Sardinia) who achieved unification through force and diplomacy.     * Policy: A strong monarchist who rejected Mazzini's romanticism. He promoted free trade, railways, and credit expansion to prove Italian efficiency to great powers.     * Alliance with France: Cavour and Napoleon III met at Plombieres (July $1858$) to plot a war against Austria.
• War with Austria ($1859$):     * Austria demanded Piedmont demobilize in April $1859$, giving Piedmont the pretext of being the aggrieved party.     * French forces aided Piedmont, defeating Austrians at Magenta (June $4$) and Solferino (June $24$).     * Napoleon III, fearing too large a victory, concluded the Peace of Villafranca. Piedmont gained Lombardy, but Venetia remained Austrian.
• Garibaldi’s Campaign ($1860$): Garibaldi landed in Sicily with over $1,000$ "Red Shirts." He captured Palermo and Naples. To prevent a republican revolution, Cavour sent Piedmontese troops south. Garibaldi eventually subordinated his republicanism to his nationalism and accepted Victor Emmanuel II as king.
• The New Italian State ($1861$): Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king in March $1861$.     * Internal Issues: The south was rural and backward; the north was industrializing.     * Politics: Characterized by transformismo, a system of bribery and favors to turn opponents into supporters.     * Unredeemed Italy (Italia irredenta): Venetia was added in $1866$; Rome was annexed in $1870$. Nationalists continued to covet Trent (Southern Tyrol) and Trieste, held by Austria.

German Unification

• The German Confederation: Established at the Congress of Vienna; a loose federation of $39$ states. Austria and Prussia were the dominant competitors.
• The Zollverein: A tariff union that linked the economies of the German states.
• Otto von Bismarck ($1815-1898$): Appointed Prime Minister in $1862$ by William I (r. $1861-1888$) to resolve a deadlock between the monarch and the Prussian Parliament over military taxes.     * Philosophy: A pragmatist known as the "white revolutionary." He stated that great questions are decided by "iron and blood," not speeches.     * Kleindeutsch Solution: Bismarck intended a "small German" unification that excluded Austria.
• The Three Wars of Unification:     1. Danish War ($1864$): Prussia and Austria allied to prevent Denmark from incorporating Schleswig and Holstein. Resulted in the Convention of Gastein: Austria took Holstein, Prussia took Schleswig.     2. Austro-Prussian War ($1866$): Also known as the Seven Weeks’ War. Prussia decisively defeated Austria at Koniggratz. The Treaty of Prague excluded the Habsburgs from German affairs and ceded Venetia to Italy.     3. Franco-Prussian War ($1870-1871$): Triggered by a dispute over the Spanish throne (Hohenzollern candidacy). Bismarck edited the Ems Telegram to insult the French and provoke war.
• Proclamation of Empire: On January $18$, $1871$, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, the German Empire was proclaimed. Germany annexed Alsace and part of Lorraine and imposed a large indemnity on France.
• Government Structure: The German Empire was a conservative monarchy with a bicameral legislature: the Bundesrat (appointed) and the Reichstag (elected by universal male suffrage). The Reichstag had little real power as ministers were responsible only to the monarch.

France: From Liberal Empire to the Third Republic

• The Second Empire represented by Napoleon III:     * Authoritarian Phase (pre-$1860$): Censorship, harassment of dissidents, and control of the legislature.     * Liberal Phase (post-$1860$): Relaxed press laws, permitted labor unions, and a liberal constitution in $1870$.
• Failed Foreign Policy: The disastrous military expedition in Mexico ($1861-1867$) and passive observation of Bismarck’s rise led to the catastrophic Franco-Prussian War.
• The Paris Commune ($1871$): Following the surrender of Paris in the Franco-Prussian War, Parisians elected a municipal government separate from the National Assembly. It was radical but dominated by petty bourgeois members. The National Assembly’s army suppressed it in May $1871$, killing approximately $20,000$ people.
• The Third Republic: Formed because monarchists were divided between the Bourbon and Orleanist houses. Adolphe Thiers and later Marshal Patrice MacMahon provided leadership.     * By $1879$, republicans controlled the government.     * Survived various scandals including the Panama Canal corruption and the threat of General Georges Boulanger.

The Habsburg Empire

• Post-$1848$ Absolutism: Emperor Francis Joseph (r. $1848-1916$) maintained a centralized, dynastic administration that faced internal resentment and foreign policy setbacks.
• Moves Toward Dualism:     * October Diploma ($1860$): A failed federation attempt rejected by the Hungarian nobility.     * February Patent ($1861$): Established a bicameral imperial parliament (Reichsrat). Hungarians again refused to cooperate.     * Ausgleich (Compromise) of $1867$: Transformed the empire into the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. They shared a monarch, army, and foreign policy but were otherwise distinct states with separate parliaments.
• Nationalist Unrest: The Compromise favored Hungarian and German speakers, leaving Czechs, Poles, and Slavs dissatisfied.     * Trialism: The Czech proposal for a triple monarchy (vetoed by Hungarians).     * Obstructionism: By the turn of the century, the Austrian Reichsrat was paralyzed by nationalist conflict (e.g., the Czech and German language disputes in Bohemia under Count Casimir Badeni).

Russia: Emancipation and Revolutionary Stirrings

• Reforms of Alexander II:     * Abolition of Serfdom ($1861$): Serfs were freed but required to pay redemption payments for land over $49$ years. They remained tied to the village communes (mir) which controlled land and payments.     * Local Government: Created zemstvos (county councils) in $1864$ to oversee education and infrastructure.     * Judicial Reform: Introduced Western principles like equality before the law and trial by jury ($1864$).     * Military Reform: Enlistment term reduced from $25$ years to $6$ years of active duty and $9$ in reserves ($1874$).
• Repression and Radicalism: Alexander II remained an autocrat. After an attempt on his life in $1866$ and the Polish January Insurrection of $1863$, Russia became a police state.
• The Populist Movement:     * Alexander Herzen: Published The Bell in London.     * Populism: Students went "to the people" to educate peasants; the peasants distrusted them and turned them over to the police.     * Land and Freedom: A radical society that split into The People's Will, a group dedicated to the overthrow of the autocracy via terrorism.
• Assassination: On March $1$, $1881$, The People's Will assassinated Alexander II with a bomb.
• Alexander III (r. $1881-1894$): Reverted to Grandfather Nicholas I's repressive policies, increasing censorship and the power of the secret police.

Great Britain: Toward Democracy

• Stability: Unlike the continent, Britain handled domestic conflict through existing institutions.
• Second Reform Act ($1867$): Led by Benjamin Disraeli (Conservative). It increased the electorate from approximately $1,430,000$ to $2,470,000$. Disraeli believed working-class voters would support Conservatives if treated with social reform paternalism.
• Gladstone's Great Ministry ($1868-1874$):     * Education Act of $1870$: Government assumed responsibility for elementary schools.     * Ballot Act of $1872$: Introduced the secret ballot.     * Meritocracy: Abolished the purchase of army commissions and Anglican religious requirements for Oxford and Cambridge.
• Disraeli in Office ($1874-1880$): Focused on paternalistic legislation.     * Public Health Act of $1875$: State duty to interfere with private property for health.     * Artisan Dwelling Act of $1875$: Provided housing for the working class.
• The Irish Question: Nationalists sought Home Rule (autonomy).     * Charles Stewart Parnell: Leader of the Irish Land League and the Irish Party in Parliament.     * The Home Rule issue split Gladstone's Liberal Party in $1886$ (leading to the creation of the Liberal Unionists). Home Rule bills passed the Commons but were blocked by the Lords until $1914$, when implementation was suspended for World War I.

Review Questions & Discussion

• Ottoman Reform Results: Modernization was hampered by nationalism, internal power struggles, and the eventual entry into World War I.
• Bismarck's Tools: Used specific conflicts (Danish, Austro-Prussian, Franco-Prussian) to displace Austrian influence and consolidate Prussian power.
• Habsburg Threat: Nationalism was the primary threat, as groups (Czechs, Romanians, Poles) demanded recognition similar to the Hungarians, leading to parliamentary paralysis.
• Mark Twain's Observation ($1897$): Witnessed the Austrian Parliament in a state of "wild and frantic and deafening clamor," where Dr. Lecher gave a $12$-hour speech while opponents used bells and noise to obstruct all business.
• The People's Will Demands: Included popular representation, local self-government, land ownership by the people, and the substitution of the army with a territorial militia.