NATIONAL UNIFICATION IN ITALY AND GERMANY

In both Italy and Germany, nationalism first emerged as a democratic movement inspired by Rousseau. In both Italy and Germany, after 1849 many nationalists looked to their most powerful monarchs for leadership.1859/60: Unification of Italy (except for Rome and Venice) under the leadership of Piedmont and Cavour.1864: Danish War (Prussia under Bismarck allies with Austria to conquer Schleswig-Holstein).1866: Prussia defeats Austria in Seven Weeks War; Italy annexes Venice.1870/71: Franco-Prussian War leads to foundation of the German Empire; Italy annexes Rome.

Italy after the Congress of

Vienna

The muscle and the brains of the Risorgimento: Garibaldi first

meets Giuseppe Mazzini in 1833

MAZZINI’S VISION OF ‘THE NATION’ WAS DEMOCRATIC & EGALITARIAN

“Without Country you have neither name, token, voice, nor rights, no admission as brothers into the fellowship of the Peoples…. Soldiers without a banner, Israelites among the nations, you will find neither faith nor protection. Do not beguile yourselves with the hope of emancipation from unjust social conditions if you do not first conquer a Country for yourselves; where there is no Country there is no common agreement to which you can appeal; the egoism of self-interest rules alone. Do not be led away by the idea of improving your material conditions without first solving the national question. You cannot do it…. Votes, education, the right to work are the three main pillars of the nation; do not rest until our hands have solidly erected them.”

“The Republic of Rome Rings the Bell of Liberty” (1849)

Garibaldini in the Republic of Rome, July 1849

French troops enter Rome to restore Papal rule,April 30, 1849, on the orders of President Louis

Napoleon

Count Camillo di Cavour,Prime Minister of Piedmont

Emperor Napoleon III

THE FRANCO-PIEDMONTESE ALLIANCE,concluded at Plombières in July 1858

(see Western Heritage, 665-66)

Napoleon III promised to support Piedmont in a war to expel the Austrians from Italy, but only if it was a “nonrevolutionary” war.

Piedmont would cede Nice and Savoy to France in exchange for military aid against Austria.

Piedmont should annex northern Italy, but the Pope and King of Naples would be left alone.

The Pope would be invited to serve as president of a loose Italian Confederation.

“Napoleon III at the Battle of Solferino, 24 June 1859”(the Franco-Sardinian army lost 17,000 men killed;

the Austrians, 22,000)

Garibaldi in 1860(chromolithograph

):He appealed for

“Red Shirt” volunteers to carry on the crusade for

national unification

The Embarcation of the Thousand, Genoa, May 1860

The Liberation of Palermo, May 27, 1860

“The Man in Possession. Victor Emmanuel: ‘I wonder when he will open the door.’”

“The Right Leg in the

Boot at Last.”Garibaldi: “If it won’t go

on, Sire, try a little more powder!”(London,

1860)

ENDURING DIVISIONS WITHIN “UNIFIED” ITALY

1. The Vatican excommunicated any Catholic who accepted government office.

2. Italy was unified through a plebiscite, endorsing annexation by Piedmont, not a constitutional convention.

3. Only about 2% of the population could vote.

4. Piedmont’s Free Trade policy ruined the less efficient manufacturers of the South, so the economic gap between North & South widened after 1860.

5. Most government officials in Naples and Sicily came from the North.

The German Confederation of 1815-1866

“Is That Where the Problem Lies?” (1859):Germany’s Nationalist Association sees the path

blocked by the princely houses

Prussia’s King William I appointed

Otto von Bismarck as prime minister in 1862

BISMARCK’S VIEW OF HISTORY

SPEECH TO THE PRUSSIAN HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, September 30, 1862:

“Germany does not look to Prussia's liberalism but to its power. Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden may indulge liberal impulses, but nobody will cast them in Prussia's role for that reason. Prussia must gather its forces and maintain them for the favorable moment, which has already been missed several times. The borders established for Prussia at the Vienna Congress are not favorable for the healthy life of the state. The great issues of the day are not decided through speeches and majority resolutions--that was the great error of 1848 and 1849--but through blood and iron.”

“In the Circus”-- Bismarck tames the Progressives (January 1864)

Schleswig-Holstein

on the eve of the war of 1864

The conquest of Schleswig-Holstein by Prussia & Austria, 1864

THE SEVEN WEEKS’ WAR,

1866: Three Prussian

armies converged swiftly in Bohemia

Christian Sell, “The Battle of Königgratz,” July 3, 1866

(225,000 Prussians rout 215,000 Austrians)

Victory Parade, Berlin,

September 1866

THE INDEMNITY BILL(passed by a vote of 230 : 75 in the Prussian

Houseof Representatives on September 3, 1866)

ARTICLE 1. The government is granted indemnity for all administrative acts undertaken since the beginning of the year 1862 without a legally established state budget….

ARTICLE 2. The government is authorized to expend up to 154 million Taler on administration for the year 1866.

“The German Pasture,” Kladderadatsch, 31 March 1867:Germania tells Bismarck to “Protect my sheep” from

Napoleon III

THE GERMAN INVASION OF FRANCE, AUGUST-OCTOBER 1870

German artillery park at Sedan, September 1870:The new Krupp breech-loading steel cannon

Ernest Meissonier, “The Siege of Paris” (1870-1884)

William I hailed as German Kaiser, Versailles, January 18, 1871

John Trumbull, “The Declaration of Independence” (1819)

The German victory parade down the Champs Elysées, March 1, 1871

The borders of the German Empire, 1871-1918

BISMARCK’S IDEAL FOR THE GERMAN EMPIRE (1871-1918): “Monarchic Constitutionalism”

A new Reichstag was elected by universal and equal manhood suffrage. But the Chancellor served at the pleasure of the Kaiser, and there was no civilian control of the military. No measure could become law unless approved by an upper house of delegates appointed by the state governments (creating a disguised royal veto). Important powers were reserved to the states (Prussia, Bavaria, etc.), e.g., the right to impose direct taxes on property and income. Prussia and most other state governments retained a 3-class suffrage where the weight of your vote depended on how much you paid in taxes.