AP Euro Unit 7 (1815-1914)

19th century perspectives and political developments

Key Ideas

  • Italy and Germany unified on the basis of nationalism

  • Advances in science

    • Positivism - observation and experiments

    • relativism - maybe we all imagined it all

    • darwinsim

  • European imperialism

    • caused by technological gap of industrialism

    • wanted to take resources, fueling industrialization, spread culture, and take-in culture

    • expansion of middle class

      • focus on leisure, art of mundane

  • Nationalism

    • loyalty to a nation

    • the nation is rooted in liberal, participatory principles

    • rooted in a common language

  • Germany

    • As 19th century progressed, Prussia embraced industrial revolution

    • Bismarck unified Germany under Prussian dominace

      • based on conservative, nationalism, liberalism, socialism

    • Real Politik - Politics of power

      • Unification of Germany through warfare

  • Italy

    • Before: Italy divided into principalities and states

    • After: Garibaldi (general) and Cavour (diplomat and Italy’s bismarck)

    • United on the basis on language

Movements in Science

  • Positivism - looking at the world as it is

    • philisophical theory based on observations and empiral proof

    • Ex: Charles Darwin - evolution

      • survival of the fittest

  • Darwinism

    • hand in hand with social darwinism

    • social darwinism

      • emphasized benefits of competition between humans

  • Relativism

    • Nietzsche - nothing’s really objective. Everything is subjective

      • truth is what we make it

    • Freud

      • modern psychology and dreams

  • Physics

    • Einstein replacing Newtonian Physics

      • Rational basis

      • Positivism - might not make sense but they did experiments and observed it so it must be true

European Global Dominance

  • Looking in Africa

    • Technology in medicine made in more possible to go to Africa (prevented Malaria)

    • with social darwinism,

      • Europeans partititioned Africa

        • Berlin Conference

          • organize imperialism so it wouldn’t lead to conflict

  • 2nd Industrial Revolution made it so Europeans could do anything they wanted in Africa and Asia

  • 2nd Wave of Imperialism

    • Spreading European culture and christianity

    • increase in trade

      • creating markets for European goods but also bringing exotic goods

        • seen in Impressionism

        • Europe influencing world but also world influencing Europe