Transcript realpolitik
Mr. White’s World History Italy Before Unification Italy had been politically divided up until the 1800s Individual city states were ruled by local families, or by foreign monarchs Trade barriers, poor transportation, and different Italian dialects discourage political and economic unification Early Attempts Early attempts at Italian unification failed Giuseppe Mazzini formed a secret society for the unification of the Italian states Mazzini was able to get some Italian states to unify to fight Austrian soldiers who had occupied some Italian cities This war to expel the invaders failed, but began to get Italians thinking about unification Victor Emmanuel and Camillo di Cavour Victor Emmanuel, king of Sardinia, tried to keep support for national unity alive With the support of his count, Camillo di Cavour, Victor Emmanuel was able to strength Sardinia as a state to be reckoned with by other European powers Sardinia even participated in the Crimean War, which gave them some say in the end treaty Sardinia Defeats Austria Cavour created an alliance between Italy and France against Austria He then encouraged nationalists in Lombardy to revolt against Austria; in turn, Austria declared war on Sardinia By the time this war had ended, Sardinia had defeated Austria and had expanded its power with new Italian states that unified with it Garibaldi and Southern Italy Giuseppe Garibaldi was a nationalist leader in the southern parts of Italy He had learned guerilla warfare in South America, and had returned to Italy to lead his supporters in a nationalist uprising Garibaldi was able to unite many of the southern Italian states with many military victories The Strength of Prussia The Congress of Vienna had created the German Confederation as a defensive alliance against France Different powerful German states existed, led by Prussia and Austria William I became king of Prussia in 1861 – he supported a strong military for the strength of his nation Otto von Bismarck William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as his prime minister Bismarck shared the king’s view of a strong government and army to achieve national unity Bismarck supported the idea of realpolitik – a nation should pursue its advantage by any means necessary Bismarck believed that the issues of the day would be solved by “blood and iron.” Bismarck’s Plan Bismarck wanted to: Raise money for army expansion Reduce Austrian influence among the German states Unify the German states, except Switzerland and Austria Bismarck went to war three times to do this Prussia’s Wars First, Prussia allied with Austria to defeat Denmark – this created tensions between Prussia and Austria Then, he created ties with Russia, France, and Italy to alienate Austria – this results in a war with Austria, which Prussia wins This establishes the German Confederation, an alliance between German states that Prussia is the head of Franco-Prussian War Finally, Prussia and the German Confederation go to war with France The Prussians quickly and easily defeated the French, using strategy and operational methods similar to Napoleon’s The German states had unified in this war, in a common alliance against the French The Unification of Germany In the French palace of Versailles, the German leaders proclaimed the beginning of the German empire, and thus created Germany William I became the kaiser of Germany Bismarck became chancellor Germany’s Industrial Growth German political and business leaders worked hard to make Germany an industrial power With investment from Great Britain, France, and Belgium, Germany quickly modernized and industrialized By the end of the 1900s, Germany was a strong industrial power German Militarism and Bismarck’s End Bismarck kept socialist groups from taking control of the German government When William II took power as kaiser of Germany, he continued to work with Bismarck to support German militarism Bismarck finally resigns in 1890