Transcript Nationalist Revolutions Sweep the West (1789

The Age of Nationalism
1850-1914
• From Napoleon III to Republican France
• Unification of Italy
• Unification of Germany and the German
Empire
• Modernization of Russia
• Great Britain and Ireland
• Decline of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
The Age of Nationalism
1850-1914
• Background
• The later 1800s were a time of urban
industrialization and general prosperity in
Europe.
• The growth of the industrial middle class and
that class’s drive for representative government
(dual revolution) found an effective organizing
principle in the later 1800s in nationalism.
Napoleon III in France
• The Second Empire
• New republic called the
Second Republic.
• 1848 presidential
elections: Louis
Napoleon, an
overwhelming victor.
– Name recognition.
– Anti-socialist.
– Authoritarian
nationalism.
Napoleon III in France
• The Second Empire
• When elected, had to
share power with
National Assembly.
– They refused to pay his
debts and refused to allow
him a 2nd term.
• 12/2/1851: coup d’ etat;
president for 10 years.
• 12/2/1852: Napoleon III,
Emperor of France.
Napoleon III in France
• The Authoritarian Empire
• 1850s Economic Success:
– Railroad expansion, public utilities.
– Aid to workers and peasants including right to unionize and
strike.
– Prosperity helped keep popular discontent at a minimum.
• Public works projects:
– Rebuilt Paris.
• Strict censorship of the press.
• Prohibited establishment of political associations.
Napoleon III in France
• The Liberal Empire
• After 1860, several factors combined to lessen
both Napoleon’s popularity and ability to
control the government.
– Domestic and foreign problems
• Cobden Treaty of 1860 with GB lowered French tariffs on
imports of British manufactured goods, which flooded
France.
• Inept intervention in Italy (covered under Italian
unification).
• Attempted to create a French domain in Mexico under
Austrian Archduke Maximilian.
Napoleon III in France
• The Liberal Empire
– As a result of his fooling around in Italy and the
rising power of Prussia, criticism of his regime
became more open.
– Sensitive to public opinion, Napoleon...
• 1868, ended press censorship and permitted political
meetings held under government supervision.
• Under pressure, gradually increased the power of the
legislature.
Political Struggles in France
• The End of the 2nd Empire
– Franco-Prussian War of 1870
• Napoleon III, alarmed over the growing power of
Prussia and goaded by Bismarck, declared war.
• French troops ill-prepared and were easily
defeated by Prussians.
• Napoleon III captured at Sedan on 9/2/70
• Parisians rioted forcing the downfall of the
empire and establishing another republic.
Political Struggles in France
• Peace with Prussia
– French lost the
provinces of Alsace
and Lorraine (bitterly
resented).
– French forced to pay
5 billion francs
(huge!) reparations to
Prussia.
– French citizens were
outraged.
Political Struggles in France
• Socialist Commune of Paris
– Radicals took over the city of Paris.
• May, 1871, “Bloody Week”
– Assembly ordered the French army into Paris and
crushed the rebellion.
– 20k Parisians killed.
Republican France
• Third Republic of 1875
– National Assembly reluctantly agreed to
establish a republic.
• 2 house legislature
– Chamber of Deputies elected by universal manhood
suffrage
– Senate indirectly elected
– elected a president, 7 yr term, with relatively little
power
• A cabinet responsible for government policy and
executive business, headed by a premier and
responsible to the parliament
Problems Facing the 3rd
Republic
•
•
•
•
Anticlericalism
Boulanger Revolt
Panama Canal
Dreyfus Affair
Anticlericalism
• Roman Catholic Church generally
supported the monarchist cause.
– Republican leaders promoted an anticlerical
campaign designed to reduce the church’s
influence in national life.
• The government established a system of free
secular elementary schools to compete with
church-run schools.
• Jesuits were expelled from France
• “God” removed from oaths
Boulanger Revolt
• General Georges
Boulanger, minister of
war, benefited from a
government financial
scandal.
– Threat of a coup with
monarchist and clerical
support.
– Fled the country instead
of revolting.
– Discredited the
monarchists and thus
served to strengthen the
republic.
Panama Canal Crisis
• Panama Company
collapsed and the
project failed.
– Bankrupted
thousands of French
investors.
– Bribery scandal.
– Government survival
further strengthened
the republic.
Dreyfus Affair
• Dec. 1894, an army court-martial convicted
Cpt. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer, of
conveying secret information to the Germans.
– Sentenced to the penal colony of Devil’s
Island, French Guiana.
– Doubt remained about his guilt.
• Forged documents. Implication of another
soldier.
– Confrontation between Dreyfusards and
anti-Dreyfusards.
Dreyfus Affair
• Zola’s “J’Accuse”
– 1898, the novelist Emile Zola, a Dreyfusard,
published a newspaper article, “J’Accuse.”
• Charged the army with forging evidence against
Dreyfus and suppressing evidence that would
vindicate him.
– Dreyfus was pardoned by the French
president.
– 1906, French supreme court invalidated his
convictions.
Dreyfus Affair
• Victory of the Dreyfusards
– Decisive defeat for:
• the ultraconservative officers who dominated the
army
• the monarchists and the church who opposed the
republic.
– 1905, the government abrogated the
Concordat of 1801
• Church and state were now separated.