NATIONALISM
The Unifications of
GERMANY
and
ITALY
What is NATIONALISM?
Nationalism is loyalty and devotion to a
nation of people
It is a sense of national identity exalting
one nation above all others
It can be defined as pride in one’s
nation, and it can also be defined as the
desire of an ethnic group to have its
own country
WHAT FORMS A NATION?
THESE SIX THINGS ARE WHAT GIVE A GROUP OF PEOPLE
IDENTITY AS A NATION-STATE
ITALY and GERMANY:
TWO DIVIDED NATIONS
GERMAN
STATES
ITALIAN
STATES
While nations like
Spain, Russia,
France, and England
were UNITED under
a single
government, the
German and Italian
people were
DIVIDED into
numerous small
states (Germanic
people were found in
numerous small
states like Prussia,
Bavaria, and
Hanover)
“Italy” in 1815 was not a unified nation; it
was divided into three regions
Parts were
independent
and had their
own kings
Parts were
controlled by
the Pope
Parts were
controlled by
Austria and France
In the 1830s, nationalism led to a unification
movement as Italians began to see themselves as
having a shared history (ancient Rome, Renaissance),
shared territory, shared enemies (Napoleonic Wars)
GIUSEPPE MAZZINI
Mazzini was a radical
who established the
nationalist group Young
Italy in 1831 with the
goal of unifying Italy
He led a revolution in 1848,
which led to a brief Italian
republic (but Italy was not
totally unified)
Mazzini was overthrown
and seen as TOO radical
and extreme
COUNT CAMILLO DI CAVOUR
In 1849, the king of
Sardinia named
Cavour his Prime
Minister
Cavour wanted to
make Sardinia very
powerful by
increasing industry
and reducing the
Pope’s influence
COUNT CAMILLO DI CAVOUR
He wanted to unify
all Italian states, but
ONLY if Sardinia
led the unification
movement
Cavour fought wars locally and against
Austria (who had claimed parts of Italy) to
unite the Northern Italian states under the
kingdom of Sardinia
GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI
Meanwhile,
radical
nationalists
prepared for a
revolution in
Southern Italy
in an effort to
unite the
southern states
GIUSEPPE
GARIBALDI
Giuseppe
Garibaldi was a
nationalist who
had joined
Mazzini’s “Young
Italy” and helped
in the Latin
American
independence
movements
GARIBALDI: AN ITALIAN HERO
“Let him who
loves his
country…
follow me.”
He wanted a unified
Italy under a republic
style of government
Garibaldi, who always
wore a red shirt in
battle, named his forces
the “Redshirts”
ITALY IS
UNIFIED
Garibaldi
successfully led
the unification of
Southern Italy,
while Cavour saw
to the unification
of Northern Italy;
now the goal was
to link the two
parts together
Cavour was unhappy
with Garibaldi possibly
replacing him as the
“unifier of Italy”
Cavour does not want
a republic; he wants
Sardinia’s king in
charge of a united Italy
Cavour, an experienced
politician, convinced
the patriotic Garibaldi
to give up his southern
conquests to Sardinia’s
king in the interest of
the common good
↕By 1871, Italy’s
Northern and Southern
halves are unified and a
new country under a
constitutional monarchy
emerges: ITALY
GERMANY
Germany was the
last European
country to unify
all of its parts into
a single nation
There had been
attempts to unify
in the past
centuries, but
they met with
failure
GERMANY
At one point,
Germany had
been divided
into nearly 200
independent
states (all run
by various
kings and
princes who
At the time of the Congress of
had their little
Vienna, 39 Germanic states
pieces of
were loosely associated (called
territory)
the German Confederation)
PRUSSIA
Prussia was the
most powerful and
influential of the
39 German states
Austria was the
only other
German-speaking
nation that rivaled
Prussia’s power
PRUSSIA
Prussia had a great
deal of military and
industrial power
Prussia badly wanted to
unify the 39 states into a
new nation, Germany
PRUSSIA
“Prussia was not a country with an army,
but an army with a country.”
OTTO VON BISMARCK
Otto von Bismarck was
the Prime Minister of
Prussia in the 1860s
Bismarck’s goal was the
unification of the
German states under the
leadership of Prussia
He led a conservative political
party called the Junkers
(wealthy landowners)
OTTO VON BISMARCK
 Otto was an advocate
of realpolitik: “politics
of reality” where there
is no room for idealism
 Bismarck was ruthless
and saw using force,
threats, and deceit as
ways to achieve
Prussia’s political goals
“BLOOD AND IRON”
 In 1862, Bismarck makes
his intentions known:
“Germany will not be
united through
speeches and
diplomacy, but through
blood and iron.”
“BLOOD AND IRON”
The “blood” Bismarck
was speaking of referred
to people of German
blood uniting together
and the “iron” referred
to the power of Prussia’s
industry and military
To unite the German states, Bismarck started
wars with Denmark, Austria, and France
The Franco-Prussian War against France convinces
the Catholics in southern Germany that unification
with Prussia was better than unification with France
Seven Weeks War against Austria led to the North
German Confederation (a united northern Germany
under Prussia’s control)
PRUSSIA IS VICTORIOUS
GERMANY IS UNITED
By rallying the
German people
together in these
wars, Prussia
gains support
from all German
states for
unification under
one government
In 1871, Wilhelm I (the First) becomes
Kaiser (emperor) of the united Germany
Otto von
Bismarck
becomes the
Chancellor
of Germany
Each German
state has a local
ruler and army
and handles its
own domestic
affairs, but…the
Kaiser heads the
German national
government
THE BALANCE OF POWER SHIFTS
 The balance of power in Europe is
disturbed by the sudden
emergence of Germany as a
military and industrial powerhouse
 Germany wants what many
European countries already have:
a rich and powerful empire
 This competition will eventually
lead to the bloodiest, most
destructive wars in human history

Created by
Christopher Jaskowiak