The Unification of
European Nations
Or
The Road to World
War One

Nationalism
• Nationalism is defined as pride in one’s country
• One of the results of Napoleonic era was a sense of nationalism or being connected to one’s homeland

Nationalism
• Nationalism
– Strong feelings for one’s country.
– People who share a common language, history heritage.
– Nationalism causes people to join together to form their own government without outside interference.

Nationalism
• Historically, however, nationalism takes on a far greater meaning. Throughout history, large groups of people who share a cultural identity (language, customs, history) have felt the pulling power of nationalistic feeling.

Nationalism
• The spirit of nationalism also includes the belief that one's nation is better off as an autonomous state.
• Autonomy is defined as a nation governing itself independently.

Nationalism
• Still another aspect of nationalism is the willingness to go to extreme measures to achieve self-rule.
• Revolutions, wars, ethnic tension, and other conflicts of varying degrees have occurred throughout history because of a love for one's country.
• The French Revolution,
The American
Revolution, The
Revolution in Haiti

Nationalism
• 6 bonds that unify a people
– common religion
– common language
– common ethnicity or ancestry
– common history
– common land
– common culture

Nationalism
• Good
– Can work to bring people together.
– Give people a common goal.
– Pride or loyalty to one’s country.
• Bad
– Can pull countries apart.
– Can cause revolts and wars within the country.
– Extreme nationalism can cause world wars because one country feels it is better then another.

Nationalism
• Nationalism can unite people into cohesive, stable nations.
• Likewise, it can tear nations apart which can result in long periods of social upheaval and political chaos.

Nationalism
• Nation-state
– When the nation has it’s own independent government.

Nationalism
• Nationalism can be like a bomb and split nations apart
– Russia
– Ottoman Empire
– Austro-Hungarian
• These nations/empires controlled vast numbers of different ethnic groups who wanted self government.

Nationalism
• Nationalism can be like a magnet and bring people together to create nationstates.
• Places like Italy and
Germany

Congress of Vienna
• Met in 1814-1815 to redraw the map of
Europe after the
Napoleonic Era.
• European leaders wanted to restore order and stability to
Europe.

Congress of Vienna
• The Key Participants
– Austria
– Russia
– England
– France

Congress of Vienna
• Goals
– Prevent France from going to war again.
• Actions
– Strengthen countries around France.
• Belgium, Holland and
Lux become the
Netherlands
– Austria takes control of Italy.

Congress of Vienna
• Goal
– Return Europe to the way it was before
Napoleon
• Action
– Give power back to monarchs

Nationalism
• The French Revolution and wars caused a strong sense of nationalism in France.
• Napoleon inspired nationalism among the nations he conquered.
– People hated the French and the French rule.
Drove people to develop their own sense of nationalism.
– French revolution showed that people could be free.

Nationalism
• Europe saw many national uprisings after
Napoleon
– Greece, 1821, revolted against the Ottoman Empire
– Poland, 1830, revolted against the Russians
– Belgium, 1831, separated themselves from the Dutch
– Revolutions of 1848, Italy, Germany.
• Remember Revolutions were one way of people gaining their independence and running their own nations

Nationalism
• While nationalism had built strong empires in France, Spain Portugal, Britain and Russia two regions in Europe still remained feudal.
• Germany and Italy had been the center of
European warfare and remained disunified
• By the middle of the 19 th Century that would change

Italy and Nationalism
• After the fall of the
Roman Empire Italy had been a nation of small states.
• Napoleon united Italy into the Kingdom of
Italy.
• The Congress of Vienna redivided Italy and placed Italy under the rule of Austria.
• Italy continued to remain a country of small feudal states

Italian Unification
• In 1849 the King of
Sardinia Victor
Emmanuel II and
Count Camillo
Cavour began to work for Italian unification

Italy
• The Congress of Vienna had ensured that
Italy remained divided up
– The Austrians controlled Venetia, Lombardy and Tuscany in the north
– France controlled Rome and the Papal states
– Spain controlled Sicily and Naples
– The only thing Italy controlled was Sardinia and island off the coast of Italy

The Three Leaders of Italy
• Count Camillo
Cavour
– Used alliances with
Prussia and France to drive out the
Austrians.

Italian Unification
• Cavour used the rivalry between Austria and France to start a war between both countries
• Cavour sided Italy with France and together Italy and France drove the
Austrians out of northern Italy by 1859
• Northern Italy was turned over to the
Italians

The Three Leaders of Italy
• Giuseppe Mazzini
– Formed the Young
Italy Movement in
1831.
– Was exiled for his views.
– His writing and speeches inspired other nationalist.

The Three Leaders of Italy
• Giuseppe Garibaldi
– Lead forces (Red
Shirts) which helped control the north and south of Italy.

Italian Unification
• In the south Garibaldi started a revolutionary movement to drive the
Spanish out of Italy
• Garibaldi’s followers known as Red Shirts began attacking the Spanish in Sicily
• In 1860 the Red Shirts and Garibaldi had driven the Spanish out of Italy
• Finally in 1870 the French withdrew from
Italy leaving it a newly unified country

Italian Unification
• By 1861 most of Italy was unified
• Victory Emmanuel II became king of the newly unified Italy

Italy and Nationalism
• Prior to independence Italy because it was sectioned off had developed regionally and lacked a sense of unity
• Problems
– There was no tradition of unity for Italy.
– Urban sections fought with rural sections.
– North fought with the South.
– The Catholic Church resisted the unification.

Germany and Nationalism
• Most Germans lived in small states to which they felt loyalty.
• Feeling of nationalism were felt by Germans who wanted to be free of the French.
• The German region had not been unified since the decline of
Charlemagne’s Holy
Roman Empire
• Nationalist called for a unified Germany.
• The Congress of Vienna blocked this idea.

Germany and Nationalism
• The Rise of Prussia
– Prussia establishes itself as the strongest of the
German states.
– Sets up a trade union with the other German states helping to unify Germany.
– Bismarck is appointed
Chancellor of Prussia
– Prussia wanted to unify the German regions into a powerful nation-state to compete against other
European nations

Germany and Nationalism
• Otto von Bismarck
– Strong political leader
– Did not believe in nationalism but saw unification as a way to make the King of
Prussia the King of
Germany.

Germany and Nationalism
• Realpolitik
– Bismarck’s idea of politics.
– Means “the politics of reality”
– Tough power politics with no room for ideals
– No friends, don’t trust anyone.

Germany and Nationalism
• Blood and Iron
– Bismarck believed that the only way to unify Germany was through “blood and iron” or war.
– In 7 years Prussia fought 3 wars

War with Austria
• Bismarck knew he had to drive the Austrian and their influence out of the
German region
• Prussia and the German states defeat the
Austrians in seven weeks
• This quick victory also kept other European nations from entering the war

Franco-Prussian War
• Franco-Prussian War 1870
• Used nationalism and hatred against France and Napoleon to invade France.
• Bismarck and the Prussian formed an alliance with the
Catholic states along the French boarder to stop French aggression
• In 1870 Bismarck provokes a war with France and France declares war on Prussia
• The Catholic states now become unified under Prussia in a effort to fight the war
• By 1871 the Prussian win the war
• Prussia gains land from France.
• Germany is unified

Germany and Nationalism
• In 1871 the German states unite under the
Prussian king William I.
• William calls himself Kaiser which means emperor.

Results of German Nationalism
• Germany quickly industrialized and became a world power
• Germany quickly developed a strong army and navy
• Germany further began to colonize in Africa and Asia
• By 1888 Bismarck was out favor with the socialist
• In 1890 William II dismissed Bismarck
• By 1914 Germany felt it was strong enough to handle any European power.

Zionism
• Anti-Semitism
– Hatred of the Jews
• There had always been a hatred of the Jews in the world since the death of
Christ
• In 73 CE the Jews had be exiled from their homeland in
Palestine/Israel by the
Romans.
• This was called the Diaspora.
• Jews had to find other places to lived and many moved into
Europe
• The Jews had no homeland or country to call their own

Zionism
• As nationalism grew in Europe many nations wanted to expel those who did not fit the countries national background.
– The French did not want people who were not French
• Many countries became intolerant of Jews

Zionism
• Some countries in Eastern Europe began to expel and in some cases even murder their Jewish populations.
• As Anti-Semitism grew Jews knew they needed to find their own homeland

Zionism
• Jews began buying property in Palestine from Arab landholders
• They organized into farming
Communities
• In 1896 a Jewish
Journalist Theodor
Herzl witnessed the horrors of Anti-
Semitism in France and called for Jews to from their own nation state

Zionism
• Herzl’s movement was called Zionism
• It was devoted to creating an independent nation state in Palestine
• In 1947 the nation state of Israel was created

Indian Nationalism
• The British had taken over India during the late 16 th Century
• Because of British rule the Indians were forced to follow British laws, customs and live under the British government even in their own homeland

Indian Nationalism
• India
– Indians under British rule begins to have nationalist feelings.
– 1885 the Indian National Congress is formed.
• Made up of Hindu professionals
• Called for equal opportunity to serve in Indian government.
• Wanted greater democracy and self rule.
• Wanted a Hindu controlled government
– In 1911 the Muslim League is formed
• Made up of Muslim professionals
• Wanted self rule
• Wanted a Muslim controlled government

Indian Nationalism
• Indians begin to revolt against the British
• Gandhi leads a movement of peaceful protest from 1919 to
1946
• Finally in 1947 Indian gains it’s independence from the British
• However even today both Hindu s and
Muslims still fight over
India

The Ottoman Empire
• The Sick Man of Europe
– By the 1800’s many European countries saw the
Ottoman Empire as the “sick man of Europe”
– The Ottoman Empire had been in decline since the
16 th Century
– The Ottoman Empire had fought a series of wars with Russia over the Balkans and Black Sea area.
These wars drained money and men out of the
Ottoman Empire
– The Ottoman Empire controlled a diverse group of people such as
• Greeks, Slavs, Arabs, Bulgarians and Armenians

The Ottoman Empire
• Britain and France were worried that if the Ottoman Empire fell the Russian would take over the eastern Mediterranean
• Britain and France kept the Ottoman
Empire going to keep Russia from expanding

The Ottoman Empire
• The Balkans
– As the Ottoman Empire weakened many groups decided to try and break away from the Ottoman
Empire
– In 1878 the Slavic state of Serbia declared its independence
– Russia supported a Pan-Slavism movement
• Based on the idea that all Slavic people shared a common nationality.
• Serbians or Serbs fought for freedom.
• Austria-Hungary feared Serbian nationalism and believed it would spread to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and took over two areas belonging to Serbia (Bosnia and
Herzegovina) in 1908.
• By 1914 the Balkans were the “powder keg of Europe”

The Ottoman Empire
• Because of this take over by the Austro-
Hungarian Empire it strained relations between Serbia and the Austro-Hungarian
Empire
• This would lead to the start of World War
One in 1914

The Ottoman Empire
• Turkey
• In an effort to strengthen the Muslim control of the Ottoman Empire a group of Muslims called the Young Turks wanted to take control of Turkey and make it an independent Muslim state
• By 1914 the Young Turks did have control of Turkey

The Ottoman Empire
• During World War One the Young Turks committed acts of genocide against the
Armenian Christians that lived in Turkey
• 1.5 million Armenians were killed between 1914 and 1918
• After the war the Young Turks were removed from power
• Even today Turkey refuses to acknowledge that a genocide occurred in Turkey

Results of Nationalism
• Nationalism drove Germany and Italy to unify
• Nationalism in the America’s lead to independent movements
• In India (Sepoy) China (Boxers) and
Africa (African National Congress) nationalistic movements lead to an effort to drive foreign influence out of these regions

Results of Nationalism
• Nationalism lead by Napoleon lead to a strong sense of nationalism in France and a nationalistic movement in Europe
• Nationalism drove countries to compete against one and other for colonies

Results of Nationalism
• By 1914 people of the world had a strong sense of identification to one’s country