Transcript The Age of National Unification

The Age of National
Unification
1854-1871
Created by David Silverman
The Age of National Unification
 Europe
was divided and Italy and Germany were both
made up of a number of territories.
 By the 19th Century, Germans and Italians were ready
to unite under one political banner (due to fear of
foreign domination and a shared language)
 This national unification had a tremendous impact on
the future of Europe
 Control of religious sites in Jerusalem and fear of the
Russians, lead to the Crimean War (which impacted
Germany and Italy's unification)
The Crimean War 1854-1856

France and Great Britain declared war on the Russians and most of the fighting took place in the
Crimean region.

Most of the ½ million casualties didn't die on the battlefield, but died due to disease in the filthy field
hospitals.


This event inspired Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) to revolutionize the nursing profession
The war ended after the fall of the Russian fortress of Sevastopol (a chief port in the northern
Black Sea and Russia's access to the Mediterranean.) Russia was forced to back off when Austria
threatened to enter the war. Without a port, or any power, in the Black Sea- the Russian navy
was trapped along the Baltic.
The Crimean War 1854-1856 (continued)

Alfred Lord Tennyson's famous poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade" captures an example of
battlefield stupidity during the war.

After the Crimean War, European efforts to unite broke down even more. Internal conflict
continued.


Great Britain became more isolationist with European affairs

Germans had no unity with other Europeans. British were horrified from war.
The real cost of war was that the idea of the Concert of Europe was shattered.
 This
was an idea that the great powers (France, Prussia,
Austria, Russia, and Great Britain) should work together. A
concept that emerged from the Congress of Vienna.
The Unification of Italy

Pope Pius IX- inspired reactionary policies after
the fall of the Roman Republic.

Italian liberals made an attempt to create an
Italian state in 1848
 Liberals
looked with hope to
the Kingdom of PiedmontSardinia (the one liberal
Italian state that had
preserved its constitution)
 Also called Piedmont, it
consisted of parts of a
northern Italian border
(w/France and Switzerland)
 The King of P-S was Victor
Emmanuel (1849-1878)

Count Camillo de Cavour (1810-1681) was
the chief minister and the true architect of
Italian unification (what is referred to in
Italian as the Risorgimento)
 Unlike
earlier Italian
nationalists like Giuseppe
Mazzini (1805-1872) who
saw state-building in
romanticized terms,
Cavour was practical.
 To enhance the power of
the Sardinian state, he
knew Austria must leave.
So Cavour entered into a
secret alliance w/France
Cavour & Napoleon
The war began in April 1859. The combined French and
Sardinian forces won a series of battles against the Austrians.
 Napoleon brought the conflict to a close before expelling
Austrians from Italy. He was horrified at the high number of
deaths and was threatened by Prussia who was sending troops to
the aid of Austria.
 Cavour was so angered that Napoleon stopped the war that he
resigned as prime minister (but only for one year before returning)
 Both Cavour and Napoleon wanted a unified Italy, but Napoleon
didn't want ALL of Italy unified (only Northern Italy) because he
thought a large Italian state would be more of a threat to France

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882)

Meanwhile in southern Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi emerged.

Garibaldi had been a member of Mazzini's Young Italy movement. He was horrified that the
treaty between Sardinia and France required Italy to hand over Savoy and Nice to the French.
 Garibaldi
wanted to attack France but Cavour encouraged
him to invade the Kingdom of Two Sicilies (thinking it would
be a suicide mission)
 To
everyone's surprise Garibaldi led his famous army of
1,000 "red shirts" and conquered the southern Italian
kingdom. Garibaldi wanted to continue on to Rome but
Napoleon wanted to portray himself as the defender of the
Church.
 Cavour
rushed troops to Naples to block Garibaldi
The New Italian Nation

Victor Emmanuel was declared the first king of Italy in 1861

After a successful invasion of all of the papal lands (aside from Venetia and Rome), everyone
was unified under the Italian flag.


In 1866, after Prussia took Austria, Italians used the opportunity to seize Venetia.

In 1870, Rome was added to Italy and named the capital after French troops withdrew as a result from the FrancoPrussian War.
The new Italian nation was plagued with corruption and bribery. Some felt it lacked the
previous passion and was made up of petty officials from Sardinia.


There was also hostility to the Catholic Church (which wasn't reconciled until 1929 when Mussolini
agreed to restore Vatican City to the papacy)
To this day, there is a still an economic divide in Italy between the highly industrialized North
and the economically backwards South.
German Unification

Although Italian unification had important implications for the rest of Europe, the rise of the
German state in 1871 totally altered the balance of power in Europe.

The root of German unification starts in the Napoleon era which reduced the number of
independent German states. After the fall of Napoleon, Austria and Prussia were the two
dominant states within the German Confederation.

When the Frankfurt Parliament offered the crown to the Prussian King, there was a slight delay
but eventually the Prussians found advantages for them.
 Prussia
was industrialized while Austria was an agricultural
state
 Prussia
was a primarily German state, while Austria was
made up of numerous nationalities.
German Unification (cont...) Bismarck


Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) One of the most remarkable statesmen from Prussian was selected to be
the prime minister under William I (1861-1888) Bismarck was a Junker (a Prussian noble) and known for
his conservative views.

Bismarck delivered his "Blood and Iron" speech when he said "Germany is not looking to Prussia's liberalism but to her
power..."

Despite his push for a strong military, the parliament refused to vote in favor of a military budget. Bismarck proceeded anyway
and never listened to authority.
The key to unification was to modernize the Prussian army with the latest weapons.
 After
the Danish War (aka German-Danish War or Danish-Prussian
War)
 Bismarck cunningly set this up so that the Danish dispute would
help achieve his next goal- war with Austria.
 1866- after securing an alliance with Italy (who wanted Austria removed
from Italian lands) and securing a promise of non-participation from
France- Prussia declared war on Austria under Bismarck's orders.
German Unification (cont...)

Citing petty disputes, Prussia attacked Austria and defeated them in seven weeks (the Seven Weeks War
or the Austro-Prussian War 1866)

Bismarck ignored the advice the his King and generals, who wanted a parade after the Victory, Bismarck treated Austria with
courtesy...in order to keep Austrians out of the next part of his plan- war on France.

After defeating Austria, Bismarck annexed those smaller German states in the north that supported the
Austrian conflict. Other states were convinced to join, and Prussia created the North German
Confederation.

The Franco-Prussian War (1870)- Bismarck provoked a war with France and won
 "Ems
dispatch" a telegram sent by the Prussian King to Bismarck
informing him of the conversation between the King and the
French ambassador to make it appear as though the King had
insulted France.
 Bismarck convinced/bribed the rulers of the German states to
create Germany under Prussian leadership. 1871- William I was
proclaimed German Emperor
German Unification (cont...)


The unified German Empire changed the direction of European History by:

Creating a bitter enemy out of France (who lost territory and money at war)

Creating tension with Great Britain because of the new economic power of the new German State

Encouraging all of the nations of Europe to seek overseas empires to further their political/economical interested within Europe. The
new power developed with the new German state through off the balance for other European nations.
The new Germany was not very stable. Created by military might, commanders lead the nation after
Bismarck's forced retirement.
 Bismarck
attacked the two groups that he felt threatened internal
cohesion of the Reich- the Catholics and the Socialists.
 "Kulturkampf" was the conflict between Bismarck and the Catholic
Church. Bismarck tried to control all Church business and education.
 He also perceived the Socialists as an enemy and called to ban their
right to assemble or publish material
 While Bismarck was hostile and manipulative, he was seen as having
helped Germany and its people during his 25 years in power.
France

After going through a tumultuous time during the French Revolution, stability
finally emerged with the rise of the Third French Republic (1870-1940)

Following the election of 1848, Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III) became
the first and only president of the short-lived Second Republic

Like his predecessor, he staged a plebiscite in 1851 to determine if he should
be granted dictatorial powers for 10 years.

He staged a second plebiscite the following year to determine whether a
second French empire should be created.

France prospered for the first 10 years of Napoleon's reign, especially the
economy

Paris went from a medieval city to a modern one under the guidance of
Georges Haussmann who cleared the slums of the city and built wide
avenues.

Paris also became cleaner by bringing clean water through aqueducts into
the city and sewers to clear waste, which eliminated cholera.
France continued

Napoleon led an authoritarian regime during his first 10 years

Starting in 1860, Napoleon began making concessions (like easing of
censorship) due to the unpopularity of his wars in the Crimean region.

This had the opposite effect of his goal

This encouraged the people to openly display their disenchantment
with his reign.

He boldly created a "liberal empire" in 1859 that never had a
chance to succeed


Napoleon was captured in battle during the Franco-Prussian
War, he was sent into exile in Britain where he died soon
after.
After the collapse of the Second Empire, France created the Third Republic
France continued

The Third Republic had to deal with putting down a revolt in
Paris
 This led to the rise of the radical government, the Paris
Commune, which was caused by the anarchy brought by the
Franco-Prussian War.
 Order was restored after 25,000 Parisians were massacred.
 By 1875 the republic consisted of a two-house
parliamentary body with a chamber of deputies (lower
house). They were elected by a universal male pool of
voters and a Senate chosen by indirect elections. The
president office was relatively weak, as it was
responsible to the chamber of deputies.
 The Third Republic suffered its greatest challenge during the
Boulanger Affair which severely weakened the monarchy
after a coup d'etat
Great Britain



Unlike France, Great Britain enjoyed stability and prosperity in the 2nd half of the 19th
century.

During the Great Exhibition of 1851 - when 13,000 exhibitions of British goods were on display,
as a result of industrialization, and attitudes in England were high.

To accommodate the visitors, John Paxton constructed the first prefabricated building- which
became known as the Crystal Palace
Politically, the nation was slowly evolving towards democracy

The Great Reform Bill of 1832 was one of the 1st steps in this direction

1867- The Second Reform Bill was passed under the prime minister Benjamin Disraeli. He
was one of the most remarkable men to hold the position and extended the bill to include urban
heads of households.

1884- William Gladstone extends the vote even further (to households in the countryside)

Gladstone was Disraeli's rival and their dynamics led to the 2 political parties

Disraeli's Conservative (Tory) Party and Gladstone's Liberal Party
Queen Victoria's long reign (1837-1901) saw an end when it was clear her position had
little effect on choosing the Prime Minister.
Great Britain



Unlike France, Great Britain enjoyed stability and prosperity in the 2nd half of the 19th
century.

During the Great Exhibition of 1851 - when 13,000 exhibitions of British goods were on display,
as a result of industrialization, and attitudes in England were high.

To accommodate the visitors, John Paxton constructed the first prefabricated building- which
became known as the Crystal Palace
Politically, the nation was slowly evolving towards democracy

The Great Reform Bill of 1832 was one of the 1st steps in this direction

1867- The Second Reform Bill was passed under the prime minister Benjamin Disraeli. He
was one of the most remarkable men to hold the position and extended the bill to include urban
heads of households.

1884- William Gladstone extends the vote even further (to households in the countryside)

Gladstone was Disraeli's rival and their dynamics led to the 2 political parties

Disraeli's Conservative (Tory) Party and Gladstone's Liberal Party
Queen Victoria's long reign (1837-1901) saw an end when it was clear her position had
little effect on choosing the Prime Minister.
Russia

The Russian failures during Crimean War, fought in their own backyard, revealed the
backwardness of the Russian society compared to the rest of Europe.

Although Nicholas I Was too reactionary to contemplate reform, his successor
Alexander II (1855-1881) recognized that Russia's problem was serfdom.

Alexander introduced zemstvos (district assemblies) to handle population growth,
education, and social services.

In 1861 Alexander II issued a proclamation freeing the serfs. Until the Russian
Revolution in 1905, serfs were forced to buy their freedom with payments that would
extend for 50 years.

Serfs were given the worst land for agriculture and it was difficult to live

While Alexander II attempted to change the legal system, he didn't put written
constitutions into place and didn't implement changes.

The People's Will organization revolted and assassinated Alexander 1881

The throne went to his reactionary son, Alexander III who brought on a new round of
repression and attempted to weaken the reforms of his father.
Austria

The 19th Century was not a good time for Austria (a
multinational empire in an age of nationalist sentiment)

Battles with Prussia and Italy put Austria out of German affairs

In 1867- the government in Vienna found it necessary to sign an
agreement creating a dual Austrian-Hungarian empire.
 It
would be under the mutual leadership of Francis Josephwho became the Emperor of Austria AND the King of Hungary.
 The
Magyars in Hungary turned on the nationalities (Croats,
Serbs, Romanians, etc)
 As
a result of weak ties with Western Europe, attempts for AustriaHungary to take over the Balkan region were disastrous.
The Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman was another multinational empire and was seen as
the 'weak old man of Europe'

In attempts to change this, a program to modernize the
Ottoman state began in the 2nd half of the 19th century.
 The
reform program (called the Tanzimat) began under the
reign of Sultan Abdul Mejid (1839-1861) to adopt Western
methods
 Western
education played a role in forming a group of liberal
intellectuals known as the "Young Turks"
 The
Young Turks pushed reforms further than the government
and created the monarchy.
The Ottoman Empire (continued)


The brutal Sultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) came to the throne and
the previous constitution was ditched. Hamid attempted to discredit
anything by non-Muslim people and was responsible for the deaths of
thousands of Armenians.

His hatred was only a stepping stone to the Armenian Genocide that
would later be led by the Young Turks 1915

After a general repression during Hamid's reign, by the end the
Young Turks had restored constitutional rule
Ottoman's weakness continued to plague the nation when they sided
with the Central Powers during the first World War.
 After
a humiliating defeat during the Russo-Turkish War, the
Ottomans had to sit by at the Congress of Berlin (1878) when
other nation's were recognized as independent by Europe.
 Including
Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, and Romania
References and Resources

Resources

German Unification part 1

German Unification part 2

German Unification part 3

References
This PowerPoint presentation was
adapted using information from the
Princeton Review’s Cracking The AP
European History Exam
Pearl, Kenneth. Cracking the AP
European History Exam, 2016.
New York: Random House, 2015.
Print.