Chapter 23- Nationalism
Triumphs in Europe
By James Kazlausky
Section 1-Building a German
Nation
• After the invasions made by Napolean, territorial
changes developed in German speaking lands.
Many people welcomed the French ruler, others
were sparked with German nationalism and
demanded a unified German state. Metternich
for example, felt Germany should have
dismantled the German states in order to unify
them. Instead the German Confederation was
created, a weak body headed by Austria. The
position as king was offered to the Prussian King
Frederick IV of Prussia; he declined.
• Otto Von Bismarck, the Prussian prime
minister, helped in the unification of
Germany. He believed in the way of “the
ends justified the means.” Unfortunately,
Bismarck was not a German nationalist.
He was a Prussian nationalist. He had the
purpose to strengthen the Prussian army
and pursue an aggressive foreign policy.
• Bismarck ventured Prussia into 3 main wars:
• Schleswig and Holstein- Austria and Prussia took
over these provinces and divided them.
• War with Austria- Prussia won and took all lands won
in the Schleswig and Holstein war. They also got rid of
the German Confederation led by Austria and added the
new North German Confederation led by Prussia.
• Franco-Prussian War- Napoleon declared war on
Prussia after seeing it take over Austria and after the
Spanish offered Bismarck a spot on the throne. With the
help from the Germans, Prussia crushed the French
giving Prussia yet another victory.
• *Bismarck also set up a two house legislature, but the
way it was set up, it was far from democratic. Real power
was in the hands of the emperor and his chancellor.
Section 2- Strengthening Germany
• William I and his chancellor, Bismarck, are
now running Germany and have made it
very powerful. German shipping was
second only to England among European
powers.
• Germany’s industry was very popular and
was very well developed, due to a strong
work force and a larger population of
50,000 employees.
• Germany was also very supportive of their
scientific developments. They developed
new chemicals and dyes.
• Economic development was very
supported. A single currency was made,
banking system was new, and the
railroads were coordinated.
• They wished for economic and military
power.
• Bismarck tried to eliminate all threats to his
country. He isolated the French so his ties could
grow with Austria and Russia. He also caused
tension with Britain’s navy.
• He also tried to eliminate the Catholic church
and socialists from his government.
• He tried to make Catholics focus on loyalty
towards the throne and not towards the pope.
He launched the Kulterkampf to try and
supervise Catholic activities.
• This idea backfired and the church rebelled. He
realized his mistake and quickly made peace
with the church.
• Bismarck also felt that socialists would
undermine the loyalty of German workers and
turn them to a revolution.
• He tried to shut socialism down, but his idea
backfired, they united against him.
• Instead he steered people away from socialism
by giving them benefits by following his ways.
• It partly worked, but socialism was still a belief of
many.
• William II soon followed, who asks Bismarck to
resign due to his belief in divine right to rule. He
introduced many reforms and strengthened the
navy to fight rivals, Britain and France at sea.
Section 3- Unifying Italy
• Around the 1830’s, Italy was a very
separated country and was lacking unity.
• Giuseppe Mazzini was the first to step
forward and wanted to form a united Italy.
• After the Congress of Vienna, Austria had
held land in Northern Italy. Now revolts
were brought up against them and they in
turn sent troops to crush these rebels.
• Mazzini founded young Italy, which was a
secret society to help unite Italy.
• Although his rebellion failed, it gave life to
other nationalists and united the country.
• Nationalism soon arose in Sardinia, led by
Victor Emmanuel II. He then appointed
Count Camillo Cavour as his prime
minister. Cavour wished to expell Austria
from Italy and add land to Sardinia.
• Cavour later helped Britain and France
against Russia. It gave them support from
other countries and a say at the peace
conference. With this power Sardinia and
France got rid of the Austrians in Italy and
Sardinia got the land they wanted.
• Soon, Garibaldi and his red-shirts were
taking control of Sicily and unifying it as
one. He also later took control of the major
parts of Italy. He turned these lands over
the Victor Emmanuel II and crowned him
king of Italy.
• Soon after Rome was retaken and named
capital since the fall of the Roman empire.
• Although Italy was now united as one
country it still was not truly united.
• There was a split between the north and
the south due to their economies. Their
was also a split between the religious
organization of the people, concerning the
pope and the government.
• Still some people went against this united
government but the turmoil was handled.
Italy’s industry rose as well as its
economy. Italy lacked resources but they
made up for it in other industries.
Section 4- Nationalism Threatens
Old Empires
• The Hapsburg Empire consisted of
Austria, Romania, Poland, Ukraine and
Italy and was led by Metternich and
Francis I. They tried to keep the kingdom
conservative and steer them away from
nationalism. They tried to limit industry and
keep the country traditional. Despite their
efforts, factories were popping up
everywhere and socialism was stirring.
• Of the 50 million people in the Hapsburg empire,
less then a quarter of them were Germanspeaking Austrians. Austria was the main land of
the empire. Due to this wide spread of
nationalities, rival groups often shared the same
region. When nationalist revolts erupted, the
government quickly crushed them.
• Young Francis Joseph soon inherited the throne
and set up a constitution and a legislature. This
body was mainly German-speaking Austrians
which angered other countries of the empire.
The Hungarians especially would settle for
nothing less than self government.
• In 1866 Austria loses to Prussia in a war. A
year later Francis Deak, a Hungarian
leader, compromises a Dual Monarchy of
Austria-Hungary.
• Under the agreement Austria and Hungary
were two separate states led by Francis
Joseph. They shared the same ministries
of finance, defense, and foreign affairs.
Other then that they were independent of
each other.
• The Balkans in the Ottoman power was as
bad as the Hapsburg empire. Nationalism
erupted and caused crises and wars.
• The Russians saw the empire in a weak
state and started an invasion. So did other
countries like Britain, France and
Austrians.
• The empire was divided up and taken by
other countries. In between all these wars,
nationalities revolted and fought among
themselves. This region was later referred
to as the “Balkan powder keg”, the
explosion that came in 1914 helped set off
World War I
Section 5- Russia: Reform and
Reaction
• By 1800 Russia was the biggest nation in
Europe. It had great natural resources and it size
gave it global interests and influence.
• Unfortunately it fell behind and was highly
undeveloped. By the 1800’s, czar’s feared
modernization because it would undermine
absolute rule. The country was ruled by rich
landowners but was mostly made up of serfs.
Serfdom had disappeared in Western Europe by
the 1700’s but still remained in Rusia.
• Alexander I took the throne in 1801. He
seemed interested in reform and even
talked about freeing the serfs. When
Napoleon invaded in 1812 he drew back
from the reform.
• Nicholas I takes the throne in 1825 and
quickly suppresses any revolts for liberal
ideas, the “Decembrist Revolt.”
• Nicholas was a very strict ruler and
focused on the 3 pillars of Russian
absolutism. “Orthodoxy, autocracy, and
nationalism.”
• Even though he was strict, Nicholas did try
to modernize towards the end of his rule.
• Alexander II took the throne in 1855 during
the Crimean War. Russia lost, revealing
how not modernized they truly were.
• Liberals demanded for change and in
1861 the serfs were freed. Other reforms
like assemblies, trial by juries, woman’s
liberation were made at this time.
• Many radicals were not happy with the
reforms like the terrorist group called the
“People’s Will.” They assassinated the
czar and other officials.
• The new Alexander III, took the harsh
methods of Nicholas I and shut down all
liberal movements. He was strict and had
a secret police to expel critics.
• He also persecuted Russian Jews.
Pogroms, or attacks on the Jews, were
performed and they were robbed and beat.
They became refuges and had to escape
to a safer area, like the U.S..
• Under Alexander III and his son Nicholas
II, Russia entered and industrial age. The
Trans-Siberian Railway was built
stretching 5,000 miles long. He tried to
industrialize.
• He faced socialist revolutionaries such as
Vladimir Ulyanov, or Lenin. His brother
was executed as being part of the
assassination of Alexander III. He wanted
revenge on the government. He was a
follower of the ideas of Karl Marx and
would take power in a revolution to
transform Russia.
• War broke out in 1904 between Russia
and Japan. Russia had been losing.
Nicholas II feared his people revolting. As
crisis deepened, Father George Gapon
organized a religious march to show the
czar how much the people were really
suffering. When the people got to the
palace of the czar, Nicholas II, in fear,
called on his army. They fired at the march
for no reason. This day is known as
“Bloody Sunday”, the day when the
people’s trust was lost in the czar.
• After Bloody Sunday, reforms needed to
be made. He gave people more freedom
and created a Duma, or a an elected
national legislature. No law could be
passed without going through the Duma.
• The Duma didn’t last. Nicholas tried to
have a prime minister, but because of the
prime minister’s conservative beliefs, he
was assassinated. By 1914, Russia was
still an autocracy, with peasant and worker
unrest.