Transcript Revolutions of 1848 - Mr. Bergman 2014/15

THE EMERGENCE OF
PRUSSIA
Unification of
Germany
PRUSSIA
 1860 Wilhelm I
 Resurgence of Liberalism during this period - industrialists
embraced it
 Post 1848 nationalism went very quiet…until the 1860s
combined with liberalism
 Both Austria and Prussia were attempting to reconfigure the
German confederation to their advantages in the 1850’s - to
varying degrees of success
 It appeared neither Austria or Prussia was strong enough to
dominate Germany on its own
BISMARCK
 The status quo which returned post 1848 would not survive the
following decade Bismarck- East Prussian Junker
 Realpolitik- politics of reality (remember Machiavelli)
 Principles mattered less than outcomes, ideology mattered less
than the exercise of power
 Bismarck by inclination was a conservative (reactionary in fact) but he was so much more
 He developed a strong sense of duty and that duty was to the
state of Prussia- cultural- Prussia was the focus
BISMARCK
 Parliamentar y democracy was abhorrent to him - however he saw it as a
useful tool (he found it unpredictable and clumsy)
 The structure of the German confederation was such that if Prussia was
to dominate the German states - it must use its militar y and it must get
rid of Austrian influence
 Prussia played an insignificant role in the Crimean War (Prussian army
had fallen into neglect)
 Helmut von Moltke 1 857- Chief of Staf f - he would change ever ything
 His reforms of the 1 860’s made (on paper) the pre -eminent militar y
force of its time
 His reforms would not have come without the help of Bismarck
BISMARCK
 Increase in military might - opposite to liberalism which
controlled the Prussian Assembly
 Why? Taxation was against liberal sentiment and the army would
be under the command of the king, not the people (and the
officer class were all Junkers which offended the middle class
loyalty to the constitution)
 1860- 1862 impasse between parliament and executive in
passing military reforms (parliament would not grant the funds)
 1862 Bismarck becomes Minister President - his solution, ignore
parliament- raise taxes instead of asking for funds
 “Blood and Iron”
BISMARCK
 It was a calculated risk - he felt the majority of the people
would consider the executive (the king) as the more legitimate
source of authority (cultural)
 He would be very right about this
 Funds were raised without angst from the people
 Military reforms were made - von Moltke changed the army for
the better
THE DANISH WAR
 1862 the King of Denmark died without an heir - the eventual
new king was Christian IX
 Schlewig- Holstein- two duchies that create a northern peninsula
of Europe- according to international law they were autonomous
regions under the rule of the King of Denmark
 Christian IX attempted to remove their autonomy and absorb
them into the Danish Kingdom - made Danes happy, Germans
unhappy
 A small force made up of various German states occupied
Holstein
 This was undermining both Prussia and Austria’s authority
amongst the German confederation
THE DANISH WAR
 Bismarck acted quick - he and the Austrians jointly insisted to
Denmark that the international agreements be upheld and the
duchies be autonomous
 The Danes did not withdraw from Schleswig - therefore a joint
force of Prussians and Austrians occupied the duchies in 1864
stopping any further involvement by the smaller German states
 8 month long war- Danes surrender
 The resultant treaty gave the duchies to Prussian and Austrian
joint control
 This made Bismarck look like a German nationalist and angered
the liberal nationalists within Prussia…just what he wanted
AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR
 1860’s- Prussia on the rise- Austria on the decline
 Austria had been fighting a rearguard action against growing
nationalism within its borders since 1815
 Bismarck had always wanted to do away with Austrian influence
and wished to push Prussian power and authority
 Cant have it without removing Austria from the equation and that
wouldn’t occur diplomatically or constitutionally
 Bismarck and Moltke appear to have been rather confident of
beating Austria- however if another nation join with Austrua- they
were not so confident
AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR
 France and Napoleon III - divided Germany was good for
France- Napoleon was happy with Germany and Austria
beating each other up
 But what if one of them prevails and controls all of Germany?
 Bismarck met with Napoleon numerous times in 1865 and
eventually came away feeling confident that Napoleon would
stay neutral
 Bismarck then looked to the new Kingdom of Italy - hated
Austria- agreement with Prussia- in return they would get
Venetia (Finally!!)
AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR
 Tensions arose in 1866 over the administration of Schelswig
and Holstein (not created by Bismarck)
 Italy mobilized its army early - making Austria mobilize its
army therefore making Prussia mobilize…oh Bismarck, what
have you done…
 Austria convinced the German states to join with her and Italy
declared war on Austria- boom- its time for war
 July of 1866 Prussia defeats Austria at Sadowa- it was so
crushing, that the war was over - the German states couldn’t
even mobilize and get to Austria in time for the war to be over
TREAT Y OF PRAGUE
 Austria banished from the German political scene
 Prussia Hanover, Schleswig -Holstein, Frankfurt, Hessen -Kassel
and Nassau
 German Confederation was dissolved and replaced by the
North German Confederation - Prussia expanded plus 21
German states
 Austria ceded Venetia to Italy (Hurray!)
BISMARCK AND THE NORTH GERMAN
CONFEDERATION
 The Confederation was created as a multi -layered parliamentBismarck seen as a liberal nationalist (but really what has he
done)
 The Confederation even passes an act that pardons him for
his actions of the previous years where he ignored the
parliament
 Bismarck decides to be a constitutional democrat - creates (on
the surface) one of the most democratic states in Europe upper house represented by state, lower house represented by
universal adult male suf frage, freedom of speech entrenched
 What the…
BISMARCK AND THE NORTH GERMAN
CONFEDERATION
 Bismarck and any other minister was responsible to the
Crown, not the assembly
 Government had access to revenue over which the assembly
had no control
 Elected representatives could not introduce legislation
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
 Treaty of Prague left southern German unstable
 Politically independent but militarily allied with Prussia and
economically allied with the Zollverein
 Napoleon III saw the Austro - Prussian war as a missed
opportunity - he now had a united Italy to the South and
united Germany to the north
 Then comes Luxemburg- Napoleon argued the duchy of Lux.
Should be ceded to France
 Bismarck had to care - except how that would “look”
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
 Lux. was declared neutral- French and Prussian tension grew
 The comes Spain (what the…) - Queen Isabella was deposed
through a revolution in 1868 and the liberal parliament there
looked to a favorable replacement
 Leopold of Hohenzollern was a suitable candidate (happens to
be Wilhelm’s cousin)
 Word got out of this candidate in France… ohh doggie
 France would have Hohenzollern’s on two fronts!
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
 France asked for assurances from Wilhelm that he would not
support it- Wilhelm actually agreed however the French wanted
actual assurances that a Hohenzollern would never take the
throne of Spain
 Wilhelm sent a telegram to Bismarck saying how unhappy he was
with the French request (he was hanging out in the resort town of
Ems (Rhineland)
 Bismarck took the telegram and edited it slightly to make it
seem like Prussia was insulted and the French proposals denied
 “Ems Dispatch” was then released to the press on July 13 1870 by July 19 France had declared war against Prussia
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
 This literally fell in the lap of Bismarck - not something he
could have planned necessarily
 However after the Austro -Prussian war he knew that to finish
his goals of Prussian expansion, there would likely have to be
an altercation with France
 However since southern German was worried about Prussia
and in truth did not trust them, France would have to strike
first
 He uses the call for nationalism to get support from the
southern states
FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 1870-1871
 Prussian had support from southern states - France fought alone
 Italy did not support France - wanted French troops out of Rome
 Prussia was able to quickly mobilize 400,000 troops vs only
250,000 French
 Battle of Sedan Sept. 1870 - Napoleon III in attendance - French
surrender (100,000 troops plus Napoleon)
 Paris government fell and the new one tried to continue the war
for 5 months
 January 1871 France surrenders - Treaty of Frankfurt
TREAT Y OF FRANKFURT
 France must pay reparations - 5 billion gold francs
 Prussian troops to occupy France until the amount was paid
 Prussia would annex the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine national security
 This will be a constant reminder for the French
 Next slide- Hall of Mirrors Versailles Jan. 1871
WARS OF UNIFICATION
 Crimean War 1854- 1856- Britain, France, Russia, Ottoman
Empire, Piedmont
 War of 1859- Piedmont, France, Austria
 Conquest of Sicily - Garibaldi, Piedmont, Kingdom of Naples
 Danish War 1863- Prussia, Austria, Denmark
 Austro-Prussian War 1866- Austria, Prussia, Italy
 Franco-Prussian War 1870- 71- North German Confederation,
Prussia, France