Chapter 16 – Europe in the Late Nineteenth Century: Modernization, Nationalism, Imperialism The Rest of Europe

France After 1848 France headed in a conservative and authoritarian direction Louis Napoleon Bonaparte ( ), who had been elected president of the second republic in 1848, seized power and declared himself Emperor Napoleon III in 1852 He ruled as an authoritarian dictator until the 1860s when he inexplicably introduced liberal reforms (released political opponents from jail, eased press censorship, legalized unions, approved a liberal constitution His reign ended with the Franco-Prussian War ( )

France Paris refused to give in to either Napoleon III’s surrender or the Prussians and staged on uprising known as the Paris Commune (1871) Led by radical workers, the Communards (the resisters) waged a war against both the French Provisional Government set up by the Prussians and property owners The Communards included followers of Joseph Proudhon as well as veterans of 1848 After two months Adolphe Thiers, head of the provisional government order the army to take Paris – which they did … twenty thousand Communards were executed without trial The fear of such an uprising strengthened conservatives across Europe The new government became the Third French Republic, a weak and divided government that survived crisis after crisis until WWI

France One such crisis was the Dreyfus Affair The wrongful arrest and conviction of a Jewish artillery officer for selling secrets to the Germans Split the country in two (on one side Anti-Semitic elements – monarchists, army leaders, clergy, nationalists; on the other defenders of the Republic, some liberals) Prominent writers Anatole France and Emile Zola, as well as republican Georges Clemenceau, came to Dreyfus’s defense Dreyfus was cleared and released in 1906 The republican victory was a defeat for the Catholic Church, which had been integral in the Anti-Semitic attacks on Dreyfus; the republican government ordered a strict division of church and state This same political division slowed social reform as well; unlike Britain it took France several more decades before it would pass comprehensive labor and social reform (such as pensions, insurance, working conditions, etc.)

Germany With unification Germany became the German Reich (empire) headed by the king of Prussia William I, now the Kaiser (emperor) and his chancellor Bismarck (the “Iron Chancellor”) There was an elected legislature, the Reichstag, but it had little power in this era Bismarck saw the biggest threat to Germany as cultural – in 1873 he inaugurated a movement designed to rid Germany of international elements known as Kulturkampf (struggle for culture) Subjected the church to the state by limiting priests rights and ordering the education of priests in state schools All marriages were to be performed by the state All churchmen who refused were imprisoned or exiled Bismarck backed off in 1878 with the election of the new pope Leo XIII Catholics remained a political force with the Catholic Center Party Bismarck then turned on the Socialists, despite their small size and support in Germany … despite his efforts the Social Democratic Party survived and is one of the most powerful forces in German politics by WWI To win the support of workers he passed social reforms (insurance programs mostly) By 1900 Germany was on a par with Britain in power and industrial capacity

Italy Italy faced many problems after unification Liberals wanted a secular state with civil marriage and public education; Roman Catholic Conservatives wanted no such thing Literacy was necessary to vote, disenfranchising 25 of Italy’s 27 million citizens Italian workers abandoned the ineffective government and turned to increasingly radical workers movements advocating assassination and terrorism Italy’s elite focused on imperial greatness and urged for international conquest and colonization By WWI Italy was a deeply divided nation; its populace was the most cynical about government action in all of Europe

Russia In the nineteenth century Russia was not like western Europe Impact of the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, Enlightenment, and Industrial Revolution barely felt Still autocratic, dominated by dogmatic religion (Orthodox church), most people were illiterate serfs, and only a tiny urban middle class existed This began to change after Napoleon’s invasion The soldiers influenced by western ideas (mostly liberalism, but also broader Enlightenment ideals) staged the Decembrist Uprising of 1825 when Tsar Alexander I ( ) died and Nicholas I ( ) took over Alexander I

Russia Nicholas’s reign was marked by his fear of revolution Wary of foreign influence, Nicholas instituted official nationality, an ideology and policy of Russian superiority – supremacy of the Russia Orthodox church, the absolute power of the tsar, and the superiority of Slavic culture Created the Third Section, a secret police agency

Russia The Reign of Alexander II ( ) Wanted to maintain tsarist rule, but also wanted the strength and modernization of the west (specifically nationalism and free enterprise industrialization) Emancipated the serfs in 1861 but did not give them individual rights and kept them tied to their villages Allowed limited local self-government; trial by jury; the practice of law Opened borders; allowed western ideas in; built railroads Russian literature and culture flowered among the intelligentsia; maintained a strong notion of the “Russian soul”; gave birth to a Pan-Slavic movement Alexander II was assassinated by frustrated liberals in 1881 Alexander II

Russia Alexander III ( ) returned to the oppression of the old tsars Reinstated the secret police; used anti- Semitism to attack foreign influence But did attempt to force industrialization; built Trans-Siberian Railroad; Minister of Finance Sergei Witte built on the railraid to expand industry Forced industrialization also made a lot of people unhappy; exploited workers while promoting literacy and awareness of the west; increased dissatisfaction of the intelligentsia Led to a failed revolution in 1905 and the situation worsened with the defeat during the Russo-Japanese War (1905) Young tsar Nicholas II ( ) was forced to make some liberal concessions, allowing the formation of a parliament, the Imperial Duma These changes were too little too late Alexander III Nicholas II