National Unification
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Transcript National Unification
Nicholas I and the Crimean War,
1853-1856
Turning point in
nineteenth-century
Europe
In Russia: Восточная
война - Vostochnaya
Voina
In Britain: "Russian War"
Russian Expansion: Warm water port?
Crimean War, the Combatants
• Russian Empire:
700,000 troops
• Bulgarian legion:
7000 troops
• Ottoman Empire:
300,000 troops
• British Empire:
250,000 troops
• French Empire:
400,000 troops
• Kingdom of SardiniaPiedmont: 30,000
troops
• Total: 980,000 troops
The Balkans
Russia as defender of Balkan
peoples
Christian Orthodox
Serbs
Greeks
Roumanians
Bulgarians
Slavs (Slavdom)
Serbs
Bulgarians
Slovenes
Croats
Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire: “Sick Man of Europe”
Outbreak of war
• 1690: Ottoman Sultan gave Roman Catholic
Church authority over churches of Nazareth,
Bethlehem and Jerusalem
• 1740: Franco-Turkish treaty solidified RCC’s
authority, but not many Catholics to protect.
• By 1840s Nicholas and Russian Orthodox
Church basically controlled and assumed
authority
• Orthodox and Catholic priests actually fought
over control of these churches.
• 1844: Nicholas visited Britain, talked with
Lord Aberdeen about the Ottoman Empire.
Outbreak of war (continued)
• 1849: Louis Napoleon elected President of
France
• 1851: Louis made himself Napoleon III
• 1852: France seized control of the Holy Places
• January 1853: Nicholas to British Ambassador
Seymour: “We have a sick man on our hands, a
man gravely ill, it will be a great misfortune if one
of these days he slips through our hands,
especially before the necessary arrangements
are made.” (NB: Seymour did not disagree.)
• 1853: Nicholas sent Menshikov to negotiate in
Istanbul.
• 2 July 1853: Russian forces occupied Wallachia
and Moldova, bullying or brinkmanship?
Outbreak of war (continued)
• 2 July 1853: Russian forces occupied
Wallachia and Moldova, bullying or
brinkmanship?
• Vienna note: Russia agreed; the Sultan
thought too vague, and felt snubbed.
• 3 October 1853: Encouraged by British
and French, Sultan Abdülmecid I declared
war on Russia.
Map of Crimean War, 18531856
Crimean War
March 28, 1854:
Britain and France
declared war on
Russia
Crimean Peninsula
Sevastopol
Map of Crimean War, 18531856
Crimean War
War
Correspondents
Nicholas I: No
spies, all we need
is the Times of
London!
Roger Fenton
Battle of Balaklava (October 1854)
Charge of the Light Brigade
Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892; poem 1880)
Florence Nightingale
(1820-1910)
November 1854: Nightingale and nurses
arrived at Scutari
Endgame
March 2, 1855: Nicholas I died
Alexander II vowed change
Armistice signed on 29 February 1856
Treaty of Paris 30 March 1856:
Black Sea became neutral territory, no warships
Ottoman independence and territorial integrity were to be
“respected.”
Ottomans had to proclaim Muslims and non-Muslims equal
before the law.
Moldavia and Wallachia back under nominal Ottoman rule
Russia lost territory it had been granted at the mouth of
the Danube
Russia forced to abandon its claims to protect Christians in
the Ottoman Empire in favour of France.
Death toll
Allies:
• 374,600 total dead
• Turks: total dead and
wounded: 200,000 est.
total dead est. 50,000
• French: 100,000, of which
10,240 killed in action;
20,000 died of wounds; ca
70,000 died of disease
• British: 2,755 killed in
action; 2,019 died of
wounds; 16,323 died of
disease
• Sardinians-Italians: 2,050
died from all causes
Russians:
• (estimates vary):
• High: ca 522,000 killed,
wounded and died of
disease
• Medium: 256,000 killed,
wounded and died of
disease, of which dead
60,000 to 110,000
• Low: ca 143,000 dead and
81,000 injured, of which
25,000 killed in action;
16,000 died of wounds;
89,000 died of disease
Consequences
– Great Reforms in Russia (1860s)
• serfdom abolished in 1861
• Army reformed
– Isolation of Austria
– War correspondents change warfare
– Nursing professionalized
– Britain and France on same side
National Unification
Italy and Germany
In 1848-1849, the liberal nationalists had been defeated in their
efforts to unify Italy and Germany. By the early 1850’s, the
Austrians had re-imposed their control over Italian and German
affairs, and the German confederation had been reestablished.
Leadership now passed into the hands of professional politicians.
They possessed what the revolutionary idealists of 1848 had
lacked: power and the will to use power, practical political
experience, and a clear vision of their goals.
In Italy, Camillo Cavour, the Premier of Piedmont, established a
united Kingdom of Italy in 1861, while in Germany, Otto von
Bismarck, the Prussian minister-president, created a unified
German Empire a decade later.
Divided Italy
• South-Kingdom of the
Two Sicilies ruled by
Bourbon King
• Center- the Pope
governed the Papal
States
• North-Austrian
domination, except for
Piedmont
Camillo Cavour
• As Premier of the
Piedmont carried out
a program of liberal
reform
• Established banks,
built railroads
• Under Cavour,
Piedmont became a
progressive state
Cavour’s Foreign Policy
• Austria presented
roadblock to Italian
unification
• Cavour sought
French assistance
• Sent troops to
Crimean war in 1854to win support from
France and England
Cavour met with Napoleon III 1858
• NIII promised to send
troops to aid the
Piedmont against the
Austrians in war
• Piedmont would get
Lombardy and
Venetia
• NIII would get Nice
and Savoy
Napoleon III
Austro-Sardinian War 1859
• April 1859 Cavour
provoked Austria into
declaring war
• A combined French
and Piedmontese
army counterattacked
• Austrians defeated at
Magenta and
Solferino-pulled out of
Lombardy
NIII backs out of deal with Cavour
• Shocked by the bloodiness of the battles
and fearful of a hostile reaction by French
Catholics if Piedmont moved to annex
Papal States
• NIII made a separate peace with Austria
• Peace of Villa Franca gave Lombardy to
Piedmont
• Austria was allowed to keep venetia
Cavour was furious at Napoleon
III’s double dealing
Piedmont’s annexations in northern
Italy
• By September 1859
revolutionary
assemblies in
Tuscany, Parma,
Modena and a part of
the Papal States
offered to unite with
the Piedmont
Nice and Savoy-done deal
• NIII agreed to allow Piedmont to annex the
Northern territories.
• In exchange NIII received Nice and Savoy
Revolution in Southern Italy
• Revolution broke out in
Sicily in response to the
reactionary policies of the
Bourbon King.
• Spread of revolution to
the south was more than
Cavour expected and
more than NIII could
support
Garibaldi’s Expedition
• Sailed form Genoa with
1,000 “red
shirt”volunteers
• Officially Cavour opposed
the expedition, Secretly
he suuported it
• By April 1860 Garibaldi
had taken Naples, capital
of the Two Sicilies
• Bourbon King fled
The problem with Rome
• Cavour thought that the Red shirts might go for
Rome.
• Could cause Austria and France to defend the
Pope.
• Since 1848 French troops had been in Rome
protecting the Pope against revolution
• In order to restrain Garibaldi, Cavour sent
Piedmontese troops into the Papal statesavoiding Rome
Proclamation of the Kingdom of
Italy
• On March 17, 1861
the Italian Parliament
proclaimed the
establishment of the
Kingdom of Italy with
Victor Emmanuel as
King.
• Cavour died three
months later.
Annexation of Venice and Rome
• April 1866 Italy made
an alliance with
Prussia
• Prussia defeated
Austria in 7 weeks
• Austria ceded Venetia
to the Italians
Addition of Rome
• With the Franco- Prussian war of 1870,
French troops in Rome were removed to
fight the Prussians.
• The Italians occupied and annexed Rome
• The annexations of Venetia and Rome
completed the Risorgimento.
German Unification
Divided Germany
• Following 1848 german
Confederaion made up of
39 States, Austria and
Prussia
• Holding the presidency of
the German
confederation, the
Austrians dominated
Germany as they did Italy
Bismarcks Rise
• King William sought to strengthen the Prussian
Army requiring new taxes
• Liberal parliament would not approve taxes
without concessions from the King
• Bismarck addressed the parliament- “great
issues of the day would not be settled by
parliamentary debate and majority vote, but by
blood and iron”
• Parliament still refused new taxes, Bismarck
proceeded to collect the taxes any way
Schleiswig-Holstein Affair
• Danish King ruled the
partly Danish and
German duchiesalthough they were
not a part of Denmark
• In 1863 the danish
parliament annexed
Schlewig.
• Infuriated German
nationalists
Austro-Prussian alliance
• Bismarck proposed a Prussian alliance with
Austria to take action against Denmark.
• Prussia and Austria went to war with Denmark in
1864.
• Denmark was quickly defeated and gave up
Schleswig and Holstein.
• Bismarck set up joint occupation of the territories
with Prussia getting Schleswig and Austria
getting Holstein.
• Bismarck used arrangement to provoke
arguments with Austrians
Bismarck’s Alliances isolating Austria
• Napoleon III remains neutral-he thought
that Austria would win
• Alliance with Italy-promised Venetia to
Italians if Prussians won
Seven Weeks War
Austro-Prussian war 1866
• Prussia accused the Austrians of violating
German confederation agreements.
• Prussia proposed the abolition of the
German Confederation
• The Prussians defeated the Austrains at
the battle of Sadowa
Treaty of Prague
• Bismarck made a
moderate peace with
Austria.
• Prussia gained full
possession of Schleswig
and Holstein.
• Prussia also annexed the
Northern German States
of Hanover, Hesse,
Nassau, and Frankfurt.
North German Confederation
• Austria was now out of German affairs
• Kleindeutsh
• Prussia dominated the North German
Confederation
• Four independent southern States,
Bavaria,Wurtemburg, Baden, HesseDarmstadt
Southern Germany
• Traditionally quite liberal and Catholic
• Reluctant to be controlled by
autocratic/militaristic/Lutheran Prussia
• Napoleon III opposed the further
expansion of Prussia
• Bismarck believed he would have to fight a
war with France to win the Southern states
The Hohenzollern candidacy
• An 1868 revolution in Spain set the wheels
in motion for Franco-Prussian war
• Spanish revolution led to overthrow of
Queen Isabella-spain needed new
monarch
• A Hohenzollern (Prussian relative) was
considered
• France strongly opposed this possibility
French demands on Prussia
• In the face of French protests, Kaiser William I
withdrew Leopold’s name
• On July 13, 1870 French ambassador Count
Bennedetti met with William I in Ems and asked
the king that a hohenzollern candidacy would
not be considered for Spain
• William I refiused this request and reported it to
Bismarck
Ems Dispatch
• Bismarck edited the Kings report and released it
to the papers.
• Bismarck made it apear that William I and
Bennedetti insulted each other.
• Napoleon III declared war on July, 19 1870
• Bismarck had made alliances with the southern
German states in anticipation of war
• Now all of Germany went to war with France
Franco-German War
• German armies invaded France
• French were defeated at the battle of
Sedan
• In Paris rebels declared the third French
Republic-which sought to continue the war
Completion of German Unification
• January 18,1871 William I was declared
the Emperor of the Germany.
• This occurred in the Hall of mirrors at the
palace of Versailles
Treaty of Frankfurt May 10, 1871
• French ceded the Provinces of Alsace and
Lorraine to the Germans and had to pay
the Germans the equivalent of $1 billion
dollars.
• The annexation of Alsace and Lorraine
enraged the French-pick tha back up in
WWI.
England
&
France
Essential
Question:
How “democratic”
did Britain & France
become by the
beginning
of the 20c?
The
Third
French
Republic:
The Paris Commune
Third French Republic
Declared!
September, 1870 after
France’s defeat at the
Battle of Sedan.
Napoleon III abdicated
the throne.
New government headed
by Adolphe Thiers.
This new government continued the fight
against the Germans who laid siege to
Paris.
To defend Paris, a National Guard was
raised numbering over 350,000.
The Third French Republic
Thiers’ government was seen as:
–Too conservative.
–Too royalist.
–Too ready to accept a humiliating
peace with Prussia.
Prussian troops marched into
Paris in March, 1871.
The French government
established itself at Versailles,
NOT in Paris.
Paris in Revolt!
The Paris Commune
[Communards] was elected
on March 28 and established
itself at the Hôtel de Ville.
Civil War!
Troops from
Versailles
Communards
The Commune was
suppressed by
government troops led
by Marshal Patrice
MacMahon during the
last week of May, 1871.
Known as the “Bloody
Week.”
The Communards
Paris City Hall Destroyed
Attempted Communard
Reforms
* Allowed trade unions & workers
*
*
*
*
cooperatives to take over factories
not in use and start them up again.
Set up unemployment exchanges in
town halls.
Provide basic elementary education
for all they were strongly against
church-controlled schools.
Attempted to set up girls schools.
Day nurseries near factories for working
mothers.
First Communist
Revolution?
It served as an
inspiration
to later
revolutionaries
like Vladimir
Lenin.
* 25,000
Communards
killed.
* 35,000 were
arrested.
Communard Casualties
The
Third
French
Republic:
Government
Structure
Declaring the
3rd French Republic
An Overview of the
3rd French Republic
Politically very unstable.
Rivalry between monarchists and
republicans.
A number of scandals:
– The Boulanger Affair.
– The Panama Canal Scandal.
– The Dreyfus Affair [L’Affaire]
Because there were so many
factions, all governments were
coalitions.
Still, it survived longer than any other
regime since 1789!
The
Third
French
Republic:
Scandals
1.
The Boulanger Affair
* Bonapartism
without a
Bonaparte.
* Most of the army
was dominated by
monarchists.
* BUT, the Minister
of War, General
Georges
Boulanger, was a
republican.
1.
The Boulanger Affair
* Very popular with the troops
the government was
suspicious and removed him
in 1887.
1.
The Boulanger Affair
* Now a national figure, he was the
focal point of conservative opposition
to the republican government.
– Was part of a plot to overthrow the
Republic.
– Was summoned to trial, but he fled to
Belgium where he committed suicide
on the grave of his mistress.
* Boulanger’s fall increased public
confidence in the Republic.
2. The Panama Canal Scandal :
Ferdinand de Lesseps
* President of the French
Company that worked
on the Panama Canal.
– Govt. officials took bribes
from the company to
withhold news from the
public that it was in
serious economic debt.
– One billion francs
affecting 800,000
investors.
2. The Panama Canal Scandal :
Ferdinand de Lesseps
* All but one of the accused went unpunished
due to lack of evidence.
* Anti-Semitism:
– Two German Jews were also
involved they received the most press
coverage.
* Results:
– The scandal proved to the public that the
Republic was corrupt.
– It created a climate of anti-Semitism that would
increase in time.
3.
The Dreyfus Affair
* In 1894 a list of French military documents
[called a bordereau] were found in the waste
basket of the German Embassy in Paris.
* French counter-intelligence suspected Captain
Alfred Dreyfus,
from a wealthy Alsatian
Jewish family he was
one of the few Jews on
the General Staff.
3.
The Dreyfus Affair
* Dreyfus was tried, convicted of
treason, and sent to Devil’s Island in
French Guiana.
* The real culprit was a Major
Esterhazy, whose handwriting was
the same as that on the bordereau.
– The government tried him and found
him not guilty in two days.
3.
The Dreyfus Affair
* A famous author, Emile
Zola, published an open
letter called J’Accuse!
– He accused the army of a
mistrial and cover-up.
– The government
prosecuted him for libel.
– Found him guilty
sentenced to a year in
prison.
J’Accuse!
3.
The Dreyfus Affair
AntiDreyfusards
*
*
*
Dreyfusards
Public opinion was divided it reflected the divisions in Fr.
society.
The Dreyfusards were anti-clericals, intellectuals, free
masons, & socialists.
For Anti-Dreyfusards, the honor of the army was more
important than Dreyfus’ guilt or innocence.
– Were army supporters, monarchists, & Catholics.
Dreyfus, the Traitor!
3.
The Dreyfus Affair
* Dreyfus finally got a new trial in 1899.
* He was brought back from Devil’s Island white-
haired and broken.
* Results:
– Found guilty again, BUT with extenuating
circumstances.
– Was given a presidential pardon.
– Exonerated completely in 1906.
– Served honorably in World War I.
– Died in 1935.
The Zionist Movement
Theodore Herzl
[1860-1904]
*
Was motivated by
the Dreyfus trial to
write the book, Der
Judenstaat, or
The Jewish State in
1896.
*
Creates the First
Zionist Congress in
Basel, Switzerland.
*
“Father of Modern
Zionism.”
New Wave of Anti-Catholicism
* The anti-clerical, republican left took power in
the National Assembly in 1879.
– This anti-Catholicism was a remnant of the
French Revolution.
– They stayed in power until 1914.
*
Ferry Laws [1879-1885]:
– Named after Jules
Ferry, one of the
ablest politicians of
the 3rd Republic.
– Were the first major
attempt at educational
reform.
Ferry Laws
* Only the State could grant degrees.
* Free education in public primary schools.
* Religious instruction was excluded from the
State school curriculum.
* Unauthorized religious orders [Marists,
Dominicans, and Jesuits, who were eventually
expelled from France] were forbidden to teach.
* Authorized Catholic orders could NOT teach in
French public schools.
* State improved training of teachers.
The
Third
French
Republic:
Foreign Policy
Aims of French Foreign
Policy
1. To regain the provinces of Alsace &
Lorraine lost to Germany in 1871.
2. To end her isolation in international
affairs after the Franco-Prussian
War.
3. To expand her colonial empire and
regain some of her prestige lost
after the Franco-Prussian War.
A National Trauma: France’s
Loss of Alsace-Lorraine
French Colonial Empire
* The empire set up under the 3rd Republic
was the greatest France had ever
possessed.
* Jules Ferry played a huge role in French
empire building.
* Ironically, two-thirds of the missionary
priests outside Europe were French!
* By 1914, France was the second largest
colonial power in the world and the largest
in Africa.
France’s Colonial Empire
1889 Paris Exposition
*
*
World’s Fair held in honor of the French
Revolution Centennial.
The Eiffel Tower, completed in 1889, served as
the entrance to the Fair.
1889 Paris Exposition:
Gallery of Machinery
Victorian
England
Britain: 1850-1870s
* The most prosperous period in British
history.
– Unprecedented economic growth.
– Heyday of free trade.
– New fields of expansion shipbuilding
from wood to iron.
• By 1870, Britain’s carrying trade enjoyed a virtual
monopoly.
– Br. engineers were building RRs all over the
world.
– Br.’s foreign holdings nearly doubled.
The “Victorian Compromise”
* Therefore, the aims of the two political parties seemed
indistinguishable.
* But, by the 1860s, the middle class and working class had
grown they wanted the franchise expanded!
* This era saw the realignment of political parties in the House
of Commons:
– Tory Party Conservative Party
under Benjamin Disraeli.
– Whig Party Liberal Party under
William Gladstone.
* Both Tories and Whigs had considered the 1832 Reform Bill
as the FINAL political reform.
The Two “Great Men”
* Benjamin Disraeli,
Conservative Prime
Minister
1868
1874-1880
* William Gladstone,
Liberal Prime
Minister
1868-1874
1880-1885
1886
1892-1894
The 2nd Reform Bill - 1867
* In 1866, Gladstone
introduced a moderate
reform bill that was
defeated by the
Conservatives.
* A more radical reform bill
was introduced by Disraeli
in 1867, passed largely
with some
Liberal support.
The 2nd Reform Bill - 1867
* Disraeli’s Goals:
– Give the Conservative Party control over the reform
process.
– Labor would be grateful and vote Conservative.
* Components of the Bill:
– Extended the franchise by 938,427 an increase of 88%.
– Vote given to male householders and male lodgers paying
at least £10 for room.
– Eliminated rotten boroughs with fewer than 10,000
inhabitants.
– Extra representation in Parliament to larger cities like
Liverpool & Manchester.
* This ended the “Victorian Compromise.”
The 2nd Reform Bill - 1867
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
* A dandy and a romance novelist.
* A brilliant debater.
* Baptized by his father into the
Anglican Church.
* BUT, he was the first & only Prime
Minister of Jewish parentage.
* A strong imperialist.
– “Greater England” foreign
policy.
* Respected by Queen Victoria.
William Gladstone (1809-1898)
* An active legislator and
*
*
*
*
*
reformer.
Known for his populist
speeches.
Could be preachy.
Queen Victoria couldn’t stand
him.
Tried to deal with the “Irish
Question.”
Supported a “Little England”
foreign policy.
Gladstone’s 1st Ministry
Goals: [“Gladstonianism”]
1. Decrease public spending.
2. Reform laws that prevented people from
acting freely to improve themselves.
• He’s against privilege & supports a meritocracy.
• Protect democracy through education.
3. Promote peace abroad to help reduce
spending and taxation, and to help enhance
trade.
• Low tariffs.
• All political questions are moral questions!
Gladstone’s 1st Ministry
Accomplishments:
– 1868: Army reform peacetime flogging was illegal.
– 1869: Disestablishment Act Irish Catholics did not
have to pay taxes to support the Anglican Church in
Ireland.
– 1870: Education Act elementary education made
available to Welsh & English children between 5-13
years.
– 1870: Irish Land Act curtailed absentee Protestant
landowners from evicting their Irish Catholic tenants
without compensation.
– 1871: University Test Act non-Anglicans could
attend Br. universities.
Gladstone’s 1st Ministry
Accomplishments (con’t.):
– 1872: Ballot Act secret ballot for
local and general elections.
– 1872: The settlement of the CSS
Alabama claims [from the American
Civil War] in America’s favor.
– 1873: Legislation was passed that
restructured the High Courts.
– Civil service exams introduced for
many government positions.
Disraeli’s 2nd Ministry
Accomplishments:
– Domestic Policy
• 1875: Artisans Dwelling Act govt. would
define minimum housing standards.
• 1875: Public Health Act govt. to create a
modern sewer system in the big cities &
establish a sanitary code.
• 1875: Pure Food & Drug Act.
• 1875: Climbing Boys Act licenses only
given to adult chimney sweeps.
• 1875: Conspiracy & Protection of
Property Act allowed peaceful picketing.
Disraeli’s 2nd Ministry
Accomplishments:
– Domestic Policy
• 1876: Education Act
• 1878: Employers & Workmen Act
allowed workers to sue employers in
civil courts if they broke legal
contracts.
Gladstone’s 2nd Ministry
Accomplishments:
– Domestic Policy
• 1884 Reform Bill
– Extended the franchise to
agricultural laborers.
– Gave the counties the same
franchise as the boroughs.
– Added 6,000,000 to the total
number who could vote in
parliamentary elections.
• 1885: Redistribution of
Seats Act changes M.P.
seats in Commons to reflect
new demographic changes.
Gladstone’s Last Ministries
3rd Ministry: 1886
– First introduced an Irish Home Rule Bill.
• This issue split the Liberal Party.
• Gladstone lost his position in a few months.
4th Ministry: 1892-1894
– 1893: Reintroduced a Home Rule Bill.
• Provided for an Irish Parliament.
• Did NOT offer Ireland independence!
• Passed by the Commons, but rejected in
the House of Lords.
Home Rule for Ireland??
Gladstone debates Home Rule in Commons.
Women’s Social &
Political Union [W.S.P.U.]
Emmeline Pankhurst
* 1858-1928.
* Her husband & children were all involved in the
suffrage movement.
* They became militants & were arrested and
imprisoned.
* 1917: She and her
daughter, Christabel,
formed the Women’s
Party in 1917:
– Equal pay for equal work.
– Equal marriage & divorce
laws.
– Equality of rights &
opportunities in public service.
– A national system of maternity benefits.
Representation of the
People Act (1918)
* Women over 30 got the right
to vote.
* All men gained suffrage.
– Property qualifications were
completely eliminated!
* Reform Act of 1928
– Women over 21 years of age
gained the right to vote at last!
Victorian
England:
Foreign Policy
The Foreign Policy Debate
“Little
England”
Policy
“Big England”
Policy
* Gladstone.
* Disraeli
* Liberal Party.
* Conservative Party
* England must
* England must be the
invest in her own
people at home.
* Try negotiations,
rather than costly
military solutions.
greatest colonial
power.
* Spend £ on supporting
the empire.
Victorian
England:
Foreign Policy
Issues
1. “Scramble for Africa”
* 1869: Disraeli pushed for the
completion of the Suez Canal.
1. “Scramble for Africa”
* Gladstone opposed the “Mad
Scramble.”
* 1880-1881: First Boer War in
South Africa [Gladstone].
1. “Scramble for Africa”
* 1884-1885: Mahdi uprising in
the Sudan [Gladstone].
Muhammad Ahmad
“al-Mahdi”
Charles Gordon “Pasha”
2. Middle East
* 1878-1880: Second Anglo-
Afghan War
Congress of Berlin (1878)
* Purpose Great Powers & Ottomans
met to settle issues from the RussoTurkish War.
* Disraeli represented England.
Keep the “Sick Man of
Europe” in Good Health!
3. India: The British Raj
The new “Empress of India” receiving the “Jewel in
the Crown” of her Empire.
Britain Is Everywhere!
The Sun Never Sets on the
British Empire
England’s Economic Decline?
(1870s-1914)
Germany & the U. S. became England’s chief economic rivals.
Influx of cheap agricultural products from overseas caused a
rapid decline in British farming.
Germany & U. S. overtake Britain in basic iron & steel
production.
England’s share of world trade fell from 23% in 1876 to 15% in
1913.
British science & technological education lagged behind
Germany.
England is slow to modernize her aging industrial infrastructure.
England clings to free trade while everyone else is
erecting tariff walls.
Fabianism
A British socialist intellectual movement founded in the mid1880s.
Purpose advance socialism by working through the
political system, not through revolution.
Laid the foundations for the British Labour Party.
Famous Fabian Society
members:
– George Bernard Shaw.
– H. G. Wells.
– Sidney & Beatrice
Webb.
– Emmeline Pankhurst.
– Bertram Russell.
– John Maynard Keynes.
The British Labour Party
* Founded in 1900 by
the Scotsman,
Keir Hardie.
– The growth of labor
unions gave voice to
socialism in Britain.
– By 1906, it won 26
seats in Commons.
– Had to form a political coalition with
the Liberal Party.
– By the 1920s, Labour would replace
the Liberals as on of the two major
British political parties.
The Beginnings of the
“Welfare State”?
* Labour’s Political Agenda:
– Gradual socialization of key
industries & utilities.
– Workman’s Compensation Act.
– State employment bureaus.
– Minimum wage set.
– Aid to dependent children & the
elderly.
– Old age pension to all over 70.
– National Insurance Act.
The “People’s Budget”
* The Liberals dominated government from
1906 to 1924.
* The Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer,
David Lloyd George, presented a
“People’s Budget” in 1911.
– Increase income taxes for those in the
higher brackets.
– Raise the inheritance tax.
* The House of Lords rejected this budget.
The Parliament Act of 1911
* A political crisis.
– WHY? Lords had traditionally
approved
all revenue bills passed by the
Commons in
the past.
– By threatening to create
enough new Liberal peer
to control that chamber,
King George V forced the
House of Lords to pass
this bill!!
* Also known as the 4th Reform Bill.
* Provisions:
Summary
Question:
Who was more
“democratic” at
the beginning
of the 20c —Britain
OR France?
Kulturkampf, 1870s
Barring Jesuits
from the Empire
The Kulturkampf
1870: The doctrine of Papal Infallibility published.
1872: Catholic schools brought under state control. The
Jesuit Order banned from Germany.
1873: The ‘May Laws’
– Only candidates for ordination who had been trained in Germany
and passed a state approved examination could become priests.
– All religious appointments had to be approved by the state.
1874: Civil marriage introduced.
1875: All religious orders except nursing orders banned.
Cranium measurements became a popular means of
proving the hereditary nature of papal stupidity
Enemies Within: Social Democrats
August Bebel
The Development of the SPD
• 1869: August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht form the Marxist Social
Democratic Workers’ Party.
• 1875: This merges with Ferdinand Lassale’s General German
Workers’ Association to form the Social Democratic Party of
Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) at a
‘Unity Conference’ in Gotha.
• The party’s ‘Gotha Programme’ (1875) of the SPD called for:
• “universal, direct, equal suffrage, with secret ballot and obligatory voting for
all citizens over 20 years of age”
• freedom of press, association and assembly
• the abolition of child & female labour
• a shorter working week
• free, universal primary education
Anti-Socialist Legislation
•
•
•
1876: Legislation banning the
publication
of
Socialist
propaganda defeated in the
Reichstag.
1878: Two failed assassination
attempts on Wilhelm I provide an
opportunity to introduce antiSocialist legislation.
Oct 1878: The Anti-Socialist Law
passed by the Reichstag:
– Banned socialist organizations
(including trade unions)
– Gave the police powers to break
up socialist meetings
– Outlawed the publication and
distribution of socialist literature
State Socialism
Innovative social insurance policies that failed
to woo workers from SPD or successfully
tackle growing social and economic
problems:
• 1883: Sickness Insurance Act
– Provided medical treatment and up to 13 weeks sick pay
for 3 million low-paid workers.
• 1884: Accident Insurance Act
– Provided protection for workers permanently disabled or
sick for more than 13 weeks.
• 1889: Old Age & Disability Act
– Provided old age and disability pensions for people over 70
and those permanently disabled.
Enemies Within: Minorities
• Poles
• Danes
• Alsatians
Enemies Within: Jews?
• Legally, German Jews had equality before the
law.
• Central Union of German Citizens of the Jewish
Faith est. to prove Jewish loyalty to the empire.
Enemies Within: Degenerates?
• Criminally Insane
• Alcoholics
• “Degenerate” Urban Dwellers
Assessment
Bismarck’s Admirers
Bismarck’s Critics
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
He maintained peace between 1871
and 1890
His policies helped Germany’s
economic development
He pioneered state socialism
In the 1870s he worked closely with
the
National
Liberals
and
implemented many liberal policies
He was not a dictator – his powers
were limited and he worked with the
parties in the Reichstag
His long tenure in power points to
his political skill
•
•
•
•
•
•
He was responsible for France
remaining
isolated
and
embittered
His
influence
has
been
exaggerated
“Negative integration” – using
attacks on minorities to whip up
patriotism
The Kulturkampf was a major
miscalculation
His anti-socialist policies were
unsuccessful
He was unable to delegate and
jealous of perceived rivals
A flawed legacy – Bismarck’s rule
led to Wilhemine & Nazi Germany
Questions for Reading
• How did social/regional divisions affect the
new nation?
• In what ways were these divisions new or
manipulated from above?
• In what ways were they part of people’s lived
experience?
1888 – The Year of Three Emperors
Wilhelm I (1861-88)
Friedrich III (1888)
Wilhelm II (1888-1918)
Wilhelm II, 1859-1941
“I shall let the old
man shuffle on for
six months . . .
then I shall rule
myself.”
‘Dropping the Pilot’
•
•
•
•
Bismarck and Wilhelm disagreed
over the need to retain close links
with Russia.
They clashed over social policy
and the Anti-Socialist Law.
In March 1890 Bismarck and
Wilhelm quarrelled over ministers
access to the monarch.
Wilhelm gave Bismarck an
ultimatum: resign or be dismissed.
The next day Bismarck resigned.