Transcript Italian and German Unification

Italian Unification (review)
 Prior to 1860 Italy was nothing more than a region of
competing city states
 Italians, under French control during the reign of
Napoleon, learned about liberalism and nationalism.
 The conference of Vienna treated Italy less as a
region of city states and more as a undefined series of
territories.
 One of the outcomes of the conference was significant
Austrian control and influence over most Italian territories
except Piedmont-Sardinia and the Papal States
 Shared a common language and common history
(Roman Empire)
 Barriers to unification included the influence of the
Catholic Church, economic concerns, local loyalties.
Italy Prior to Unification
Early Attempts at
Unification
 Values of the French Revolution influenced
some Italian radicals. These people fell into
three camps
 Italy should be a democratic state with
universal suffrage
 Italy should be a union of states under the
authority of the Papacy
 Italy should be a kingdom headed by the
liberal monarchy of Piedmont-Sardinia.
Early Attempts
Continued…
 Giuseppe Mazzini – a republican nationalist
and patriot
 Called for a centralized democratic
republic with universal suffrage
 Established “Young Italy,” a nationalist
group that wanted to created a united
Italian republic and pushed for
insurrection against the Austrian empire
Early Attempts
Continued…
 Vicenza Gioberti – a Catholic priest and the
premier of Sardinia-Sardinia.
 Wanted to create a federation of states
under a progressive pope (Constitutional
Monarchy)
 Was against violence as a means to
unification
Success of SardiniaPiedmont
 Autocracy was less radical than
republicanism
 Count Di Cavour
 Prime Minister of Sardinia from 18521861
 Wanted to unite northern and central Italy
 Allied with Louis Napoleon to defeat
Austria
Steps Toward Unification
 War with Austria 1859
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Piedmont mobilized it’s army
Austria demanded Piedmont to demobilize
Piedmont claimed that Austria was provoking a war.
France came to the aid of Piedmont
On June 4, The Austrians were defeated at Magenta.
The success of this war, coupled with revolutions across the
peninsula caused Napoleon to fear too extensive of a victory for
Piedmont
 As a result, Napoleon independently reached a peace agreement
with Austria. Piedmont received Lombardy, Austria retained
Venetia.
 Austria was driven from most of northern Italy.
Steps Continued…
 Giuseppe Garibaldi
 Military leader who united the Kingdom of Two
Sicily's to Sardinia
 In 1860, he landed in Sicily with more than 1000
troops
 Captured Palermo and prepared to attack the
midland.
 By September, controlled kingdom of Naples
 Cavour rushed to stop him (why?), conquered the
papal states, except Rome
 Garibaldi favored unification over republican
ideology and accepted the rule of Piedmont.
A Unified Italy (sort of)
Victor Emanuel II (1861)
 First king of United Italy
 Everyone but Piedmont is unhappy
 Republicans are bitter about dominance of
Piedmont over Garibaldi
 Clericals are upset about the conquering of
the Papal States
 Resistance against the monarchy in the
south
A Unified Italy Continued
 Rome joins Italy in 1870
 Disapproved by the Pope
 Papacy removes to the Vatican
 “Risorgimento” (Reawakening) – Term used to
describe unification of Italy
German Unification
 Why is it a big deal?
 Transformed the balance of power in
Europe
 Was achieved by a conservative power
structure rather than through liberal
means
 Had long lasting effects on Europe into the
mid 20th Century
Germany in the 1840’s
 A confederation of 38 sovereign states
 Each had it’s own leader and military
 Dominated by Austria and Prussia
 Lead to growing tension
Common Factors Uniting
Germans
 Similar dialect
 Traditions and Customs
 Literature and Music
 Brothers Grimm – folktales/legends
 Von Herder – Each nation has an individual spirit based
on literature
Problems for Unification
 No good natural boundaries
 Religious tension – North was Protestant, South was
Catholic
 Competition between Austria and Prussia
Germany Prior to
Unification
Early Attempts at
Unification
Frankfurt Assembly
 Held in 1848 to appease liberals
 Consisted of representatives from all 38 states
 Attempted to exclude Austria
 Prussian king refused offer to become King of unified Germany
 Assembly failed and was disbanded
 Divided confederation continued to exist
 Many Germans began migrating to other regions
Strengthening of Prussia
 Creation of Zollverein
 A coalition of German states that managed
customs and economic policies within their
territories
 Customs union allowed goods to pass more freely
between states
 Excluded Austria
 Helped unify states both economically and
socially
 Seen as a means to strengthen Germany against
French aggression
Strengthening of Prussia
Continued…
Otto Von Bismarck (1815 – 1898)
 Appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1862
 Member of the Aristocracy (Junker)
 Conservative – supported monarchy, disagreed with
parliamentary democracy
 Unite Germany “Not by speeches, but by blood and
Iron”
Bismarck’s Plan for
Unification
 Create national unity for Prussian leader
 Isolate Austria and force it out of Germany
 Use diplomacy to assure neutrality of France
and Russia
 Use military to unite Germany
Steps Toward Unification
 Danish War (1864)
 The king of Denmark wanted to annex SchleswigHolstein
 Germany/Prussia and Austria defeated Denmark
 The Austro Prussian War (1866)
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Aimed at reduce Austrian control of German states
Bismarck promised Venetia to Italy for it’s support.
Prussia won victory in seven weeks (Seven Weeks War)
Prussia establishes itself as the only major power among
German states
North German
Confederation
 Hanover, Hess, Nassau and Frankfurt all
annexed by Prussia, leaders removed
 Each state retained local government, but
military forces under federal control.
 Southern states and Austria remained outside
of the Confederation
Franco-Prussian War
 Bismarck needed a common enemy to unite all Germans
 A cousin of William I of Prussia, Leopold, was to take the
Spanish throne, France protested.
 France wanted assurances from William that Prussia would not
tolerate candidacy for Leopold.
 Bismarck disappointed that the issue was solved peacefully
 Edited a telegram from William to the French king to make it
appear as though William insulted France.
 France declared war on July 19
Franco Prussian War
Continued
 Southern German states joined Prussia against France
 Paris captured January 28, 1871
 German Empire proclaimed – William I, King of
Prussia