Modern Europe II

Unit 3 – Nation-States, 1859-1871

Rise of the Nation-State From 1859-1871, there is the consolidation of

a number of nation-states in Europe Includes two new countries: Italy and Germany Creation of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary Radical changes in Russia

What is a nation-state? Where the boundaries of the nation correspond to

the geographical boundaries People share the same language and culture May share common heritage or history Created new ties between the government and

the people

Rise of the Nation-State State of the state prior to 1860

Nations were fragmented into smaller countries or large empires encompassed numerous nations

Two main nation-states in Europe were Great Britain and France

Smaller ones existed (e.g., Portugal and Switzerland) but were not influential

Causes of the development of nation-states Rise in nationalism New technology especially in communication Wars were necessary as they broke the choke-

holds of major powers such as Austria and Russia

Crimean War (1854-1856)

Crimean War (1854-1856) Crimean War would break the power of both

Austria and Russia They were the last countries holding onto the old

style governments and the Congress System Eastern Question

Ottoman Empire was losing its grip on provinces in southeastern Europe

With the slow decline of the Ottomans, who would benefit from their fall?

Strategic location militarily and economically Russia wanted to step into the power vacuum Britain and Austria were hoping to keep the Empire

intact

Crimean War (1854-1856) Cause of the war

Mainly religious Both France and Russia wanted to be the

protectors of religious minorities in Jerusalem and the Holy Land

France had considered itself “sovereign authority” in the region for many years Goes back to Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca (1774)

Abdülmecid I (1839-1861) Ottoman Sultan decided to end the agreement

with France Instead wanted Russian influence

Crimean War (1854-1856) France responded with a show of force

Sent in a number of ships along with a large payment Abdülmecid negotiated a new treaty with France

Granted France the “sovereign authority” Catholic Church was the governing Christian religion Russian Orthodox Church lost control of the Church of

the Nativity Russian response

Nicolas I sent in Russian troops into Ottoman territories of the Danubian Principalities (Moldavia and Walachia)

Crimean War (1854-1856) Britain, France, Austria, and Prussia wanted to

prevent war Did not want Russia to gain a foothold in the east Britain moved part of its fleet into the Black Sea just in

case Abdülmecid was willing to compromise but Nicolas

was not Turks declared war on Russia (October 23, 1853) Battle of Sinop (November 30, 1853)

Turks lost a good chunk of its fleet British and French response

Afraid of the quick advances made by Russia Sent ultimatum to Nicolas requesting withdrawal of

troops from Danubian Principalities

Crimean War (1854-1856) Britain and France declared war on March 28,

1854 Both countries invaded Russia via Crimean peninsula

Battle of Balaclava (October 25, 1854) British led a charge using light cavalry into the “Valley

of Death” Were slaughtered by Russian forces Inspired the poem “Charge of the Light Brigade” by

Tennyson Austrian response

Russia hoped to get Austria as allies Austria was fearful of Russia Did not declare war but did not declare neutrality Also demanded Russia to withdraw its troops

Crimean War (1854-1856) Nicolas died on March 2, 1855

Successor was Alexander II who sued for peace Treaty of Paris (March 30, 1856)

Outcome of the Congress of Paris Designed to maintain the “integrity of the Ottoman

Empire” Danubian Principalities would stay under Ottoman

control Black Sea would remain neutral and demilitarized Russia lost all gains in the Danube region Romania becomes an independent nation France continued to hold the right of protection to

the Christians in the Ottoman Empire

Crimean War (1854-1856) First “modern” war

Extensive use of rifled muskets and underwater mines

Use of trench warfare Railroads and telegraphs allowed for easier

transport and communications Was a “public war”

Numerous correspondents and photojournalists covered it

Most famous was Roger Fenton (1819-1869) Made heroes out of soldiers and army nurses One of the most famous was Florence Nightingale

(1820–1910)

Captain Dames of the Royal Artillery (1855) By Roger

Fenton

Italian Unification Two visions of Italian statehood Republican ideal

Started by Mazzini in 1848 Giuseppi Garibaldi took up the mantel Hoped to achieve national unification through a

popular movement Constitutional monarchy

This was favored by moderate nationalists Wanted economic and political reforms without

democracy Pinned their hopes on Charles Albert, king of

Piedmont-Sardinia When he died, they turned to his son, Victor

Emmanuel II (1849–1861)

Giuseppi Garibaldi (1807–1882)

Italian Unification By 1860, it was clear that the republican model was

not going to work Papacy refused to go along with the ideals of Mazzini and

Garibaldi Therefore, the pope would not outwardly support unification Also, it would be difficult to kick Austria out of Italy without

outside help The burden would fall on Camillo Benso, conte di

Cavour Was the Prime Minister under Victor Emmanuel Did not like the republicans but was willing to work with

them Brought Sardinia into the Crimean War to gain alliance with

France

Italian Unification Reforms made by Cavour

Pursued pragmatic reforms guided by the state Promoted economic expansion and a modern

transportation infrastructure Reformed the currency

Working to unify Italy Relied on diplomacy Cultivated an alliance with France in order to drive

the Austrians from Italy Went to war against Austria in1859 with the help

of the French Piedmont-Sardinia annexed Lombardy Tuscany, Parma, and Modena voted to join as well

Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour (1810–1861)

Italian Unification There were three Italian states in 1860

Northern Italian kingdom under Victor Emmanuel Papal States Kingdom of Two Sicilies

Bringing in the Two Sicilies King Francis II faced a widespread peasant revolt

in 1860 Garibaldi used the opportunity to push his ideas He landed in Sicily in May 1860 with his volunteers

known as “The Thousand” Gained widespread support for unification Toppled Francis in November by taking Naples

Italian Unification Garibaldi planned to march to Rome

This would bring him in confrontation with not only the pope but French forces as well

Garibaldi took Sicily in the name of King Victor Emmanuel

In order to avoid an international crisis, Cavour and Garibaldi were willing to work together Cavour worried that Garibaldi would bring French or

Austrian intervention Cavour preferred that unification take place quickly,

without domestic turmoil The king ordered Garibaldi to cede military

authority

Italian Unification First Italian Parliament (1861)

Assembly ordered by Victor Emmanuel Victor Emmanuel was named King of Italy on

March 17 Third Italian War of Independence (1866)

Italy was able to take Venetia from Austria Taking Rome

Garibaldi attempted to take Rome in 1867 but was defeated by French and Papal forces

With the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, France removed its troops from Rome

This allowed Garibaldi another opportunity Italian soldiers occupied Rome in September 1870

Italian Unification Rome voted to become part of Italy on October 2,

1870 Did not become the official capital until July 1871

Status of the pope Law of Papal Guarantees (May 13, 1871) made the pope

subject to the king of Italy and not an independent sovereign

Pope Pius IX rejected it and declared himself prisoner in the Vatican

All the popes until 1929 rejected being part of Italy Problems with unification

Parliamentary government with limited suffrage Widening gap between industrial north and rural south

Unification of Italy

German Unification In 1850, German states were reeling from

failure Due to the failure of the 1848 revolutions and the

Frankfurt Assembly The main powers had been restored The nationalism movement was stunned

Realpolitik Focus on more realistic types of governments than

one based on ideals. Strong ties to the realism movement of the middle

19th century Became the watchword in the German states in the

1850s and 60s

German Unification Frederick William of Prussia (1840–1861)

Still was staunchly anti-revolution Granted a Prussian constitution with bicameral

parliament However, the power remained in the hands of the

wealthy Voters were divided into three classes based on the

amount of taxes they paid The wealthy classes had a much larger degree of

voting power than a common working man During this period there was an economic boom

Due to six fold output of both coal and iron Led to the growth of the Prussian middle class

German Unification Growing liberalism

Active liberal intelligentsia Liberal civil service

Effects on the military King wanted to expand the standing army and

take military matters out of parliamentary control Industrialists did not like the large standing army

nor the Junkers who were officers Opponents saw the king perhaps creating a

personal army King Wilhelm I (1861-1888)

Was caught in the struggle with the Diet Hired Otto von Bismarck as his Prime minister

Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)

German Unification Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898)

Prime Minister from 1862-1873 Prussian Junker and defender of the monarchy Opposed liberalism and nationalism

Ideas on unification Believed that some sort of union was inevitable and

that Prussia ought to take the initiative Was going to use both diplomacy and war to

achieve this “The great questions of the time will not be

resolved by speeches and majority decisions—that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849—but by iron and blood.”

German Unification Parliamentary crisis in 1862

Diet refused to pass appropriations for the military and the country’s budge

Technically, the government would not be able to collect taxes without approval from the Diet

Bismarck decided to have the government collect the taxes based on the budget of 1861

House of Deputies stated it could not work with Bismarck He dissolved the Diet in 1863

Bismarck’s foreign policy Played the “nationalist card” to pre-empt his liberal

opponents Believed that the German Confederation was no longer

useful Called for the expansion of Prussian territory

German Unification Dispute over Schleswig and Holstein

Both territories contained large German populations First War of Schleswig (1848-1851)

Denmark attempted to annex the Duchy of Schleswig Led to war between Prussia and Denmark Prussia lost and was forced to withdraw

London Protocol (1852) The two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein would be

joined by a person with the King of Denmark In November 1863, Frederick VII of Denmark died

He had no children Led to the dispute over the succession Schleswig and

Holstein

German Unification Christian IX of Denmark (1863-1906)

German Confederation was against the continuing union

Signed the November Constitution making Schleswig part of Denmark

Violated the London Protocol and went against the idea of a “greater Germany”

Second Schleswig War (February–October 1864) German Diet declared an all-German war against

Denmark Prussia joined the war with Austria Prussia wanted control of both Schleswig and Holstein Denmark lost and gave up those two territories

German Unification Gastein Convention (August 14, 1865)

Prussia gained control of Schleswig Austria gained control of Holstein

Problems with Austria Bismarck now wanted to get rid of Austrian influence Already problems with Austrian administration of

Holstein In 1866, Austria backed out of the Gastein

Convention Claimed that only the German Diet could determine

who would control Schleswig and Holstein Prussia responded by invading Holstein

German Unification The Seven Weeks’ War (1866)

Prussians used new technological innovations such as the needle-gun to its advantage

Bismarck kept the war short to keep it limited to Austria Peace of Prague (1866)

Austria gave up Schleswig-Holstein and Venetia Austria agreed to dissolve the German Confederation

Bismarck created the Northern German Confederation Wrote a new constitution King of Prussia was the head of this new Confederation Included a bicameral legislature Weakened the liberal opposition

Territory annexed by Prussia (light blue) in 1866

German Unification In 1870, Leopold of Hohenzollern was offered the

job of Spanish monarch Was a cousin of Wilhelm I Napoleon III convinced Leopold to withdraw his

acceptance Then went on to tell Wilhelm that no other

Hohenzollern should become candidate for the Spanish throne

Ems Dispatch Based on a telegram from Wilhelm to Bismarck Bismarck reprinted a condensed version Main point: France demanded certain actions of

Prussia under the threat of war Both French and Prussians were angered over this

France declared war on Prussia (July 19, 1870)

German Unification The Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)

Quickly showed Prussian military superiority Prussia used railways and new steel artillery (Krupp

cannon) to its advantage Did not become a European-wide war German states rallied to Prussia’s side No European powers came to the aid of France Napoleon captured at the Battle of Sedan

(September 2, 1870) France responded with the creation of the Third

Republic two days later New French government refused to capitulate Prussian troops laid siege to Paris for four months

German Unification Declaration of the German Empire (January 18,

1871) Made by Bismarck in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles Prussian king would receive the hereditary title of

emperor Paris finally fell on January 28, 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt (May 1871)

Returned Alsace-Lorraine to Germany Required France to pay an indemnity of 5 billion francs (~

$375 million) Recognized Wilhelm I as the German Emperor Military occupation of parts of France by Prussian troops

Bismarck also called for the creation of a new French government elected by universal male suffrage

German Unification New German government

Constitution similar to Northern German Confederation

Allowed for universal male suffrage of the Reichstag Minister were answerable only to the emperor Prussia gained the most out of the creation of the

empire Why was Bismarck successful?

A “revolution from above” Master of diplomacy Was willing to go to war to get what he wanted Gave enough reforms to placate the liberals Used nationalistic movement to his own advantage

German Empire (1871)

Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary After 1848, the Austrian empire is still a diverse

group Habsburg rulers had to find a way of holding their empire

together amidst the different nationalistic uprising Franz Joseph attempted to hold the empire together

Passed a series of decrees Adopted of German as the national language Brought an end serfdom (1848) and attempted to

modernize the empire New and more-uniform legal system Rationalized taxation All these decrees did was alienate the non-German

peoples

Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary Ethnic relations grew more tense in the 1850s and

1860s The “nationalities” protested the powerlessness of their

Diets, military repression, and cultural disenfranchisement

The ones most unhappy were the Magyars Compromise of 1867

Negotiated between the Germans and the Magyars Created a Dual Monarchy with two countries: Austria

and Hungary What they shared

Common system of taxation, common army, made foreign and military policy together

Both were joined by one Habsburg ruler Both would send delegates to a common ministry

Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary How they were different

Internal and constitutional affairs were separated Each had its own constitution and government German would be the official language in Austria,

Magyar in Hungary Capital of Austria would be Vienna, capital of

Hungary would be Budapest New system was not democratic

Austria did not get universal male suffrage until 1907

Hungary did not get it until after World War I Power was in the hands of the wealthy landowners

No national unification in Habsburg lands

Alexander II (1855-1881)

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia Alexander II (1855-1881)

Not a liberal but realized changes needed to be made “Slavophiles”

Believed that Russia had its own unique destiny and following western Europe would do more harm than good

Wanted to preserve Russia’s distinctive features Idealized traditional Russian culture Rejected Western secularism, commercialism, and

bourgeois culture “Westernizers”

Called for adoption of European science, technology, and education

Called for liberalism and individual right

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia Russian autocracy

Power in Russia was solely in the hands of the tsar Did not rule by law Instead ruled through decree (ukase) and military

might Tsar pick and chose what western ideas and industry

would be adopted by Russia Serfdom in Russia

Similar to western serfdom Peasants were tied either to the land as farmers or

worked in factories Had to pay their lords certain dues and perform

certain duties Russian government did not interfere in the

relationship between a serf and his lord

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia Calls for an end to serfdom

Was no longer seen as profitable Also created poor, uneducated workers that were of

no benefit to the Russian empire Intelligentsia wanted to bring western ideas into

fruition Alexander was willing to implement reforms

Eased up on censorship Allowed for academic free speech Allowed travel outside of Russia Enforced universal male conscription in the military How to bring an end to serfdom without throwing

the entire country out of whack?

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia The Emancipation Decree of 1861

Serfs were no longer subject to their owners but subjects of the government

Granted legal rights to 22 million serfs Gave former serfs title to a portion of the land (half

the arable land in Russia) Law granted land to the peasant commune (mir),

not individual serfs Required the state to compensate landowners Newly liberated serfs had to pay installments for

their land Land was not divided equally so peasants were not

equal

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia End of serfdom led to greater legal reforms

Trials were now public Legal representation for those in court Class distinctions were abolished in the court Brought in jury system similar to England

Greater representation Created the Zemstvos, which were local councils Designed to govern rural areas and large towns Elected by the people Dealt with various issues including education and

public works Refused to create a nation-wide representative body

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia Russia expanded to both the east and south

Invaded and conquered independent Islamic kingdoms along the Silk Road

Founded Siberian city of Vladivostok in 1860 In most cases, Russia did not assimilate the

populations of new territories After a rebellion in Poland in 1863, Alexander

pulled away from reforms Started paring down reforms

Revolutionaries were not pleased with the reforms Many hoped to bring some form of socialism to

Russia Led by Alexander Herzen

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia Growth in Nihilist (anarchist) movement

Led by Mikhail Bakunin and Sergey Nechayev Created secret terroristic societies, like Narodnaya

Volya (the People’s Will) Alexander responded by turning to the liberals

Hoped to staunch the growth of radicalism Allowed for free speech of political topics Disbanded the secret police set up by his father Planned to implement parliamentary reform Signed edict on March 13, 1881 to create a

nationally elected parliament (Duma)

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia Assassination attempts

1866 – Failed attempt 1873 – Five shots fired by revolutionary Alexander

Soloviev but missed 1879 – Failed attempt by the People’s Will to blow

up the Tsar’s train 1880 – Bomb exploded in the Winter Palace;

Alexander was late for dinner so was unharmed On March 13, 1881 the People’s Will succeeded

Managed to blow up his carriage in St. Petersburg There were three bombers along the route, two

succeeded

Liberalization in Tsarist Russia Assassination hurt the reform movement

Caused reactionary policies in Russia against revolutionaries

The Duma would not meet until 1905 Under Alexander III (1881-1894), there was the

suppression of civil liberties and the reinstatement of the secret police

This was carried on by Nicolas II (1894-1917) Even the Jews were affected

Rumors spread that the Jews were responsible for the assassination

Over 200 anti-Jewish pogroms took place between 1881-1884

May Laws (1882) prohibited Jews from living in rural areas with less than 10,000 people

More restrictions were implemented over next 30 years

Assassination of Alexander II