ITALIAN & GERMAN UNIFICATION

Italy

• Congress of Vienna solidified patchwork region

• Emerging nationalistic groups.

Guiseppe Mazzini (1805-1872)

• Italian nationalist• Fought for liberal and romantic

reasons• founded new organization -

Young Italy– focused on revolution and

spreading brotherhood of free peoples

• felt revolt must come from below

• attempted revolutions 1837, 41, 43-4, 48 all fail.

• Artistic support– Guiseppe Verdi

Messa da Requiem_ II. Tuba Mirum

Camillo Benso di Cavour

• Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia emerges after 1848 Revolutions

• Cavour: Unification from above– chief minister of Piedmont-

Sardinia

– wily, practical politician

– builds economy and political structure

• 1858 secret treaty with France, war with Austria

• northern Italy elects to join Piedmont.

Giuiseppe Garibaldi

• Garibaldi’s revolutionary background

• Garibaldi and i Mille (the Thousand), aka the red shirts– invaded Sicily with 1000

men– move from south - prove

the validity of Mazzini– threat to Rome– surrenders south to

Piedmont.Bridge of Teano

Sardinian expansion

18591860

1866

1870

Prussian Reforms after Napoleon

• Total destruction of Prussian army triggers reform– Leaders realize a brow beaten army of

serfs won’t fight as well as motivated citizens (like the French forces)

• Try to create a professional army

• Reforms keep power in hands of nobles and king.– Rebellions of 1840 and 1848

Wagner: The Valkyrie

Otto von Bismarck(1815-1898)

• Conservative, supporter of strong monarch and aristocratic rights

• Served as ambassador• Becomes Chancellor in

1862 when William I has problems with the Parliament

• Considered the architect of German unification

Otto von Bismarck(1815-1898)

• Assumed inevitable conflict with Austria over leadership in Germany; wants to prepare for war – Orders collection of taxes

without authority!

– Uses money for the army

– dismisses lower chamber

– censorship and fires liberals from government jobs

“The great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches and resolutions of majorities, but by blood and iron” --Otto von Bismarck

Three Wars towards unification

• Preliminary diplomatic actions– isolation– notion of real politik– avoidance of being the

aggressor

1. Schleswig & Holstein (1863)• Danish king dies without an

heir• Bismarck annexes Denmark

2. Austria (1866)– series of diplomatic

maneuvers– feeling pressured, Austria

launches a pre-emptive strike, allied with most south German states.

Bismarck, Von Roon, and Moltke

• Austro-Prussian War (1866)– Prussian army is quickly

assembled and wins decisively

– policy of a “soft peace”• Austria loses no land to

Prussia• small indemnity• lose Venetia to the Italians• gain the Hungarian throne -

done to avoid harsh feelings because Prussia wants Austria as an ally

• formation of North German Confederacy (1867).

Three Wars towards unification

Triumph of Nationalism• Press loves a winner• Heralded as unifier of

Germany (previously a liberal idea)

• Liberals sacrifice rights for expansion, power and military triumph

“Exalt his self esteem toward foreigners and the Prussian forgets whatever bothers him about conditions at home.” Bismarck 1858.

Three Wars towards unification

3. Franco-Prussian War (1870)– Spanish crown becomes

vacant– French and Hohenzollerns

place claim– Ems Dispatch July 14th, 1870– French land demands from

the Austro-Prussian war– Napoleon III declares war– Prussian and German forces

are victorious - siege Paris.

Aftermath

• France is forced to give up Alsace and Lorraine

• France must pay indemnity• Prussia occupies Paris

– harsh treatment builds French resentment and leads to WWI

• South German states join Prussia - formation of German Empire - January 18, 1871

Europe in 1871

Diplomatic Tensions

• European balance of power is irrevocably altered– Bismarck wants to

preserve German power

• Forges new alliances– 1873 the Three

Emperors League– 1879 Dual Alliance– 1881 Triple Alliance– 1887 Reinsurance Treaty

Bismarck and Napoleon III

Zionism

• Jewish Minority – Did not fit the

nation’s identity• Rise of Anti-semitism• Increased violence

– Theodor Herzl 1897• Launched the Zionist

movement– Fought to establish

a Jewish state in Palestine

Latin American Independence

• Independence Movements– To create representative governments

• freedom of commerce • protection of private property

– Constitutions• Create order and representation• Voting rights restricted

– Property – Literacy

Latin American Independence

• Mexico– Miguel Hidalgo 1810– Augustín Iturbide

• South America– Simón Bolivar– 1817-1822

• Victories in Venuzuela, Columbia, and Equador

• Region named Gran Columbia

– Wanted unity• Regional rivalries and

economic competition in 1830s caused separation

Latin American Independence• Most movements shared

enlightenment ideals– Slavery abolished by 1854

• Problems– Regional rivalries and internal

frictions• poor transportation systems • Economies stalled• Years of warfare

– Loyalty issues• Caudillos

– Leaders disagreed• Strong central government or

regional state-based government

– Catholic Church– Indecision made this area a

target for foreign intervention

Moral of the Story

• War is easy…nationalism is hard