National Unification and the National State

Breakdown of the Concert of Europe – After the failure of the revolutions of 1848 Germany and Italy would finally be unified by – The Crimean War shifted the balance of power in Europe that allowed Germany and Italy to unify. – The Crimean War was between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. – The Ottoman Empire, centered in now Turkey, was in decline and its influence in the Balkan Peninsula was weakening.

– Russia didn’t have access to warm water ports because their ports would freeze over the winter. – The Russians wanted access to the Mediterranean Sea to compete with British trade. – European nations feared the Russians gaining strength and also wanted to get some territory in the Ottoman Empire. – In 1853 Russia invaded Moldavia and Walachia in the Balkans, the Turks declared war on Russia. – Great Britain and France also declared war.

– The Crimean War was named after the peninsula on the Black Sea where the major battles were fought. – The war was poorly planned and Russia lost many troops that they asked for peace. – The Treaty of Paris in 1856 put Moldavia and Walachia under the protection of the Great Powers, the Ottoman Empire was weakened, Russia held back. – No country gained significantly.

– The Crimean War ended the Concert of Europe (Peace in Europe). – Russia and Austria would be rivals in Eastern Europe – Austria failed to support Russia during the war. – Austria also wanted territory in the Balkans. – Russia was humiliated and withdrew from European affairs for the next 20 years. – Austria was without friends in Europe which opened the door for Germany and Italy to unify.

Italian Unification – 1850 the Austrian Empire was in control of the Italian Peninsula through ties with the Austrian emperor and the kings of the small Italian states. – When unification failed in 1848, all hopes rested on the kingdom of Piedmont. – King Victor Emmanuel II appointed Camillo di Cavour as prime minister. – Cavour knew that if they raised an army they couldn’t defeat the Austrians.

– Cavour therefore made an alliance with France’s Louis-Napoleon. – If France would help Piedmont, they would receive the territories of Nice and Savoy. France Agreed. – Cavour then planned to provoke the Austrians, war soon broke out. – When the war ended, France received the territories, Piedmont received land from Austria, and other Italian states in the north rebelled and joined Piedmont.

– In the south, Giuseppe Garibaldi an Italian patriot who had helped Latin American countries become independent, raised an army of volunteers. – The Red Shirts, as they were called, fought against the Bourbon family who ruled the southern kingdoms. – In July 1860 the fighting began and by September the kingdoms fell. – Garibaldi could’ve challenged King Victor Emmanuel II for control of Italy, but Garibaldi, being a man of the people, gave up control.

– Italian unification was close, the kingdoms of Venetia and the Papal States still remained outside of Piedmont’s control. – The Papal States (where the pope ruled) had strong backing from Catholic France. – When Austria fought Prussia, Italy supported the Prussians, when the Prussians won, they gave the Italians the territory of Venetia. – During the same war the French troops withdrew from the Papal States which allowed the Italian army to move in and annex it.

German Unification – Germans were also looking to unify in – Prussia had become the strongest of the Germany States. – Its government was authoritarian, the king had full control over the government and the army. – Prussia was known for its militarism, or reliance on armed force. – King William I wanted to expand the Prussian army. The legislature refused to levy new taxes to pay for the army.

– William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as Prime Minister. – Bismarck was a practitioner of realpolitik, or “politics of reality” not theory. – Bismarck ignored the legislature and proceeded to collect taxes and strengthen the military. – After defeating Denmark with the help of Austria, Prussia and Austria went to war. – The Prussian army defeated Austria easily.

– Prussia now organized it self into a Northern German Confederacy – The southern German states (Catholic) feared the Prussians (Protestant), but also feared France so they signed a military agreement with Prussia. – Prussia and France became in entangled in a dispute over the throne of Spain. – France declared war on Prussia – Franco-Prussian War

– France was no match for the Prussian forces and the southern German states supported Prussia. – Prussia marched into France, Paris surrendered, the French ruler Napoleon III was captured, and France had to pay 5billion Francs ($1 billion) and give up the territories of Alsace and Lorraine. – France was left burning for revenge. – Southern Germany had agreed to enter the German Confederacy and William I was proclaimed kaiser, emperor of the Second German Reich, or empire

– The First German Reich was the Holy Roman Empire in the middle ages. – Germany had been unified by the strength of the Prussian army and leaders. – With industrial resources, authoritarian and militaristic values, Germany was now the strongest nation in Europe.

Nationalism and reform in Europe Great Britain – Britain avoided revolutionary upheaval because they had already gone through their revolution earlier and peacefully. – Britain had given their industrial middle class a vote therefore avoiding revolution. – Parliament made reforms to stabilize the economy and country - increase in wages. – Britain was the leader in industrialization

– Queen Victoria was the longest reigning monarch in English history. England’s prosperity was known as the Victorian Age. France – After the Revolution of 1848, France moved to restore the monarchy. – Louis-Napoleon asked the people to approve the return of the empire. – A plebiscite, an election where people can only vote yes or no on a proposition, voted 97% yes to the empire

– Louis-Napoleon became Napoleon III, Emperor of France – The Second Empire. – Napoleon III controlled the armed forces, police force, and civil service. Only he could introduce legislation (laws) and declare war. – The legislature only appeared to be a representative government. – Napoleon III was a success for the first couple of years. He focused on the economy and rebuilding France.

– Some opposition arose, but Napoleon III was still popular until they lost the Franco-Prussian War and the Second Empire ended. Austria – Nationalism was the driving force in Europe in the 1800s. – Austria was one of the strongest states in Europe. – In 1848 and 1849 the Hapsburgs (the royal family) crushed rebellions in Austria

– Austria’s defeat by the Prussians forced it to cave in to the Hungarians nationalist. – In the Compromise of 1867, Austria created a dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. IndividualTogether Each had its own constitution Francis Joseph was both emperor of Austria and king of Hungary. Legislation A common army government bureaucracy Foreign policy capital (Vienna for Austria and Budapest for Hungary). System of finances

– In domestic affairs Hungary became its own nation – However, the minority groups that made up the multinational Hungarian empire were not satisfied. Russia – By the mid-1800s Russia was still rural, agricultural dependent, and autocratic. – The Russian czar was still considered as a divine right monarch with unlimited power. – After the Russian defeat in the Crimean War

– After the Russian defeat in the Crimean War, conservative realized that Russia had fallen behind the rest of Europe. – Alexander II decided to make serious reforms. – 1861 Alexander II issued an emancipation edict, which freed the serfs. – The government provided land for the peasants, which they bought from landlords. – The plan did not work, peasants were given the worst lands and they couldn’t support themselves.

– Alexander II could not please everyone. Conservatives thought his reforms were going to destroy the basic institution of Russian society. – Reformers wanted more and faster changes. – The peasants were unhappy because they could not earn a living. – In 1881 radicals killed Alexander II, his son Alexander III turned against reform and returned to the old methods of repression.

Nationalism in the United States – Under the U.S Constitution, the United States was committed to liberalism and nationalism. National unity had not come easy. – The Federalist had favored a strong central government. – The Republicans, feared central power, wanted the federal government to be subordinate to the state government. – Early divisions came to an end when the War of 1812 began.

– The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 changed politics. – Property qualification for voting were reduced making every white male eligible to vote. – In the mid-nineteenth century, slavery became a threat to American unity. – The South’s economy was based on growing cotton and picked by slaves. – Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin made it easier to clean the seeds from the cotton prolonged slavery in the South.

– An abolitionist movement began in the North to end slavery and challenged the ways of the South. – Opinions over slavery began to divide the country. – When Lincoln was elected, war became certain. – South Carolina was the first nation to secede, or withdraw, from the United States. – By February 1861, six other states did the same thing. The Confederate States of America were formed.

– The American Civil War form took the lives of 600,000 men in battle and because of diseases in the camps. – The Union’s forces defeated the Confederate’s. – On January 1, 1863, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves. – In 1865, the Confederate forces surrendered, the United States would be indivisible. – National Unity had prevailed.