National Unification and the National State

Chapter 12, Section 3

Breakdown of the Concert of Europe• Crimean War

– Russia vs Ottoman Empire– Russia wanted to expand into

Ottoman-controlled Balkans

• 1853 – Russians invade Balkan lands– British and French step in to help

Ottomans, fear Russian power grab and control of Mediterranean

– Austria refuses to help Russia

• Treaty of Paris of 1856 – Russia surrenders, the Great Powers now own provinces of Moldavia and Walachia

• Effect – Concert of Europe ends– Austrian refusal to help Russia,

France and Britain against Russia– Russia withdraws from European

affairs

Italian Unification• Italian city-state of Piedmont

begins unification quest– Ruled by Savoy family

• Had to defeat Austrians to accomplish this, but needed help

• Made an alliance with Louis Napoleon and France, then provoked war with Austria– France helped

• Meanwhile, Giuseppe Garibaldi is raising an army of Italians– Called “red shirts” because of

their clothing– Giuseppe takes the two Sicilies

• Giuseppe gives up power to Piedmont, Victor Emmanuel II named king of Italy

German Unification• Following failure of the Frankfurt

Assembly, Germans looked to Prussia to lead unification– Known for large army and militarism,

or reliance on military strength– One of the larger German states

• In 1860s, King William I was denied right to enlarge army by Prussian legislature– Appoints Otto von Bismarck, who

pushes through legislature to enlarge it– Used realpolitik, or politics based on

practical matters, not theories

• Bismarck took most of northern Germany, organized an alliance with southern Germany

German Unification Cont’d• Prussia and France soon became

engaged in arguments for the successor of the Spanish throne

• Bismarck takes advantage, lures France into war in 1870 (Franco-Prussian War)– Combined northern and southern

German states dominate French troops, France surrenders in 1871

• Southern German states agree to enter Northern German Confederation

• William I of Prussia named kaiser, or emperor, of united Germany

Meanwhile, Across Europe…• Great Britain

– Most stable in Europe– Granted more voting rights, increased jobs

through Industrial Revolution

• France– Louis Napoleon holds a plebiscite, or popular

vote, to restore French Empire – 97% say “yes”

– Emperor Napoleon III limited rights, created an authoritarian state

– Lasted until 1871, when French were defeated by Prussia

• Austria– After defeating rebels in 1848-49, still saw

protest– Defeat by Prussia hurt the government,

forced them to consider granting rights– Austria-Hungary formed through

Compromise of 1867

• Russia– Following Crimean War, changes needed– Alexander issues emancipation edict, freeing

serfs, gave land to them– Still did not create a happy people, as lands

were often worst available

Nationalism in the United States• Following War of 1812 with

Britain, surge of Nationalism that would be short lived

• Right to vote available to most white males, but slavery still a problem– Abolitionism challenged slavery

issue

• December 1860 – secession begins– South separates from the North

• American Civil War lasts from 1861-1865– United States forced to overcome

slavery issue and Southern punishments together

Canada

• Canada had been a British possession since 1763 – following Seven Years’ War

• Over time, nationalist sentiment builds within colonies

• British fear a Canadian rebellion that could result in Americans gaining land– 1867 – Parliament passes

British North America Act, establishing a Canadian nation

Exit Slip

• What were the causes and effects of the Crimean War?

• How did Nationalism play into Italian unification?

• How did Nationalism play into German unification?