The Nation-State

In General 1.Western Europe: Considerable progress with liberal advancements Constitutions Parliaments Liberties Expansion of political democracy Mass politics

2.Britain and France expanded democratic franchise 3.Spain and Italy less successful than Britain and France

4.Central and Eastern Europe discouraged liberal advancements Germany remained conservative through militaristic values Russia & AH was conservative based on the old order Numerous smaller ‘states’ dominated by larger empires

I. Britain A.Preoccupied by the growth of political democracy after 1871 B.Reform Act of )Lowered monetary requirements to vote 2)Enfranchised male urban workers C.Reform Act of )Those who pay rents or taxes can vote 2)Enfranchised male agricultural workers

D.Redistribution Act )Eliminated historical boroughs and counties 2)Constituencies created with fairly equal populations 3)One representative to each constituency E.Payment of salaries 1)House of Commons getting paid 2)Allowed those not wealthy to hold office F.System of gradual reform through parliamentary institutions is the new way of life

G.The Irish Issue… 1)Act of Union 1801 i.United Irish and British parliaments ii.Irish and unfree ethnic group 2)Irish developed sense of nation self-consciousness 3)Irish detest British landlord absenteeism and burdensome rents

G. Continued 4)Gladstone 1870 tried land reform in Ireland i.Too little too late ii.Irish terrorists rebelled against continued evictions of Irish tenants 5)Irish Catholics demand home rule i.Home rule bills proposed in 1886 and 1893 ii.Both failed

G. Continued 6)Home Rule Act of 1914 finally passed 7)New Problem! i.North protestant Irish did not want home rule ii.Central/South Catholic Irish did iii.Tensions mounted 8)WWI stopped the escalation… for now i.Home Rule suspended during war

II. France A.Defeat of France by Prussia in )Ended Napoleon’s 2 nd Empire 2)Provisional government set up 3)Bismarck over-rode provisional government and forced universal male suffrage to elect new government B.Result favored monarchists; Republicanism defeated

C.National Assembly 1)400 seats were monarchists 2)230 seats were republicans D.Republicans set up the Paris Commune in response 1)Fighting broke out in )Many working class men and women stepped up to defend the Commune 3)Gov’t troops brutally suppressed the revolt

E.Legacy of hatred created: 1)20,000 Commune members shot 2)10,000 Commune members sent to penal colony in the S Pacific 3)Women’s involvement brutally suppressed: discouraged future efforts to improve their conditions F.Assembly try to restore monarchy 1)Couldn’t agree on who 2)Wound up improvising a constitution

G.Constitution of )Meant to be temporary 2)Lasted 65 years! 3)Established the 3 rd French Republic H.3 rd French Republic 1)New Elections allowed stronger republican position 2)Bicameral with a President i.Senate (upper house): indirect elections ii.Chamber of Deputies (lower house): universal male suffrage

I.Republicans manage to increase ministerial duties in the hands of the Chamber of Deputies: Prime Minister or Premier became answerable to the Chamber J.More and more middle and working class support 1)Enemies still abound however 2)Monarchists, Catholic Clergy, Professional army officers

K.Boulanger Crisis 1)Georges Boulanger became popular 2)Discontent with 3 rd Republic 3)Supported a ‘revenge’ war with Germany 4)Appeared to be on the edge of a coup d’etat i.Summoned to trial ii.Boulanger fled France! 5)Boulanger’s fleeing increased public’s opinion of Republic & monarchists, etc lost face

L.Panama Scandal (1892) 1)Ferdinand de Lesseps failed to build a canal in Panama – cost French millions of dollars 2)Public saw gov’t as corrupt 3)Reversed popular gains from the Boulanger Crisis

M.Dreyfus Affair (1894) 1)Most serious threat to 3 rd republic 2)Military ‘caught’ Dreyfus (a Jew) supplying secrets to Germans 3)Monarchists (with support from Catholic Clergy) used incident to discredit republicans 4)Emile Zola: proved Dreyfus innocent 5)Military discredited: 1906 leftists support Republic and Dreyfus declared innocent

III. Spain