Revolutions
and
Nationalism
Revolutions of 1848
 Considered the watershed political event of the 19th
century.
 1848 revolutions influenced by romanticism, nationalism,
and liberalism, as well as economic dislocation and
instability.
 Only Britain and Russia avoided significant upheaval.
 Neither liberals or conservatives could gain permanent
upper hand.
 Resulted in end of serfdom in Austria and Germany,
universal male suffrage in France, parliaments
established in German states (although controlled by
princes & aristocrats), stimulated unification impulse in
Prussia and Sardinia-Piedmont.
 Last of liberal revolutions dating back to the French
Revolution
Consequences
 The revolutions failed to pull popular support
from working classes.
 Middle classes led the revolution, but as it
turned more radical, they held back.
 Were they were successful, old guard was left
in place and they turned against them.
 Nationalism divided more that united.
 Some gains lasted (abolition of serfdom, etc.)
France 1848:
The February Revolution
 Working class and
liberals unhappy with
King Louis Philippe,
esp. his minister
Francois Guizot (who
opposed electoral
reform).
 King dismisses
Giuzot, but riots break
out.
 King forced to
abdicate on Feb. 24.
Francois Guizot
The Provisional Government
 Second French Republic declared by
Chamber of deputies.
 Modernate republicans led by liberal Alphonse
Lamartine (allied w/ bourgeoisie)
 Socialists led by Louis Blanc
 national workshops created by Blanc to
provide work for the unemployed
 Reforms: abolished slavery in the empire, 10 hr
workday in Paris, abolished death penalty.
 April elections for new Constituent Assembly
resulted in conflict between moderate
republicans (who won) and socialists
The June Days Revolt
 Workers attempted to create a revolutionary
republic after Blanc was dropped from
assembly.
 Results in “June Days” Revolution
 Cause: gov’t closed national workshops
 Marked beginning of class warfare in France
 Workers sought war against poverty and
redistribution of income.
 Barricades put up in streets to oppose gov’t
forces (Hugo’s Les Miserables based on this)
France 1848
The Second Republic
 General Louis Cavaignac:
assumed dictatorial powers &
crushed revolt (10,000 dead)
 Victory for conservatives
 Nov 1848 – constitution provided for
elected president and one-house
parliament
 Election of 1848: Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte (1803-1873) defeated
Cavignac
 1852: Louis Napoleon consolidates
power and becomes Emperor
Napoleon III
Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte
Second French Republic
 Constitution: Unicameral legislature (National
Assembly); strong executive power; popularlyelected president of the Republic
 President Louis Napoleon Bonaparte: seen
by voters as a symbol of stability and
greatness
 Dedicated to law and order, opposed to
socialism and radicalism, and favored the
conservative classes—the Church, army,
property-owners, and business.
 Granted universal male suffrage
 Falloux Law: Napoleon returned control of
education to the Church (in return for support)
The Coup D’etat
Emperor Napoleon III.
 The Assembly did not grant
Louis Napoleon the allowance
for a 2nd presidential term
resulting in his plotting a coup.
 On Dec 2, 1852, he had
opponents arrested.
 Through a series of plebiscites,
he consolidated power with the
help of the Bonapartists,
becoming Emperor Napoleon
III.
The Second Empire
 1851-1860: Napoleon III’s control was direct
and authoritarian.
 Economic reforms resulted in a healthy
economy
 Infrastructure: canals, roads; Baron Haussmann
redevelops Paris
 Movement towards free trade, hurt economy
 Banking: Credit Mobilier funded industrial and
infrastructure growth
 Foreign policy struggles resulted in strong
criticism of Napoleon III
 Algeria, Crimean War, Italian unification struggles,
colonial possessions in Africa
The Second Empire
 1860-1870: Regime liberalized by a series of
reforms.
 Liberal reforms (done in part to divert attention
from unsuccessful foreign policy)
 Extended power of the Legislative Assembly
 Returned control of secondary education to the
government (instead of Catholic Church)
 In response, Pope Pius IX issued Syllabus of
Errors, condemning liberalism.
 Permitted trade unions and right to strike
 Eased censorship and granted amnesty to political
prisoners
Revolution in Austria, 1848
 Habsburg empire was vulnerable to revolutionary
challenge
 Ethnic minorities sought nationalistic goals:
Hungarians, Slavs, Czechs, Italians, Serbs, Croats,
and others. (More non-Germans than Germans lived in
the empire)
 Austrian gov’t was reactionary; liberal institutions were
non-existent.
 Social reliance on serfdom doomed masses of people
to a life w/o hope.
 “February Revolution” in France sparked rebellion for
liberal reforms.
Vienna, 1848
 March 13 – rioting breaks out in
Vienna
 Austrian empire collapsed;
Metternich fled
 Constituent assembly meets.
 Serfdom (robot) abolished,
revolution withers.
 Revolutionary gov’t failed to
govern effectively
 Ferdinand I abdicates,
Habsburgs restored royal
absolutism under Franz Joseph
(r. 1848-1916).
Franz Joseph
Hungary, 1848
 Louis Kossuth (1802-1894)
Hungarian (Magyar nationalist)
leader demanded independence.
 March laws provided for
Hungarian independence.
 Austrians invade, Hungarian
armies drove within sight of
Vienna.
 Slavic minorities resisted Magyar
invasion and Hungarian army
withdrew
 Austrian and Russian armies
defeated Hungarian army.
 Hungary would have to wait until
1866 for autonomy
Louis Kossuth
Bohemia, 1848
 Prague Conference developed notion of
Austroslavism: constitution and
autonomy within Habsburg empire.
 Pan-Slav Congress failed to unite Slavic
peoples in the empire.
 Austrian military ultimately attacked
Prague and occupied Bohemia and
crushed rebellion.
Preserving the Austrian
Empire
 Internal national divisions and military
defeats at the hands of the Italians,
Prussians and French caused continued
disunity in the Austrian Empire.
 Under nationalist Ferencz Deak,
Hungary gained autonomy.
 Franz Joseph became king of Hungary in
the now Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Britain
 The Chartists
 Movement reached its
height with the Kennington
Common demonstration on
April 10, 1848.
 Could have been the
prelude to revolution in
Britain, but meeting was
peaceful.
 Leaders did not follow-up
on the meeting and
Chartist movement died.
Kennington Common
demonstration on April 10, 1848
Effects of Nationalism
 Many aspects of European political and
cultural life in the middle to late 18th
century took on nationalist overtones.
 The French Revolution had promoted
and spread these ideas at the beginning
of the century.
 The desire for national self-determination
combined with aspects of conservatism,
liberalism and romanticism made
nationalism a driving force in European
affairs.
The Impact of Nationalism
 In Central and Eastern Europe, nationalism
was the most powerful ideology of the middle
19th century.
 It would have a strong impact in Western
Europe as well (balanced by liberalism).
 Nationalism had cultural roots (language,
history, symbolism) that gave a sense of
identity.
 It soon took on political aspects, being used by
liberals and conservatives to promote their
agendas.
Crimean War
 Causes
 Dispute between two groups of
Christians over privileges in the Holy
Land
 1852, Turks (who controlled the region)
negotiated an agreement with France to
provide enclaves in the Holy Land to
Roman Catholic religious orders.
 This arrangement seemed to jeopardize
existing agreements which provided
access to Greek Orthodox religious
orders (that Russia favored)
Crimean War
 Czar Nicholas I ordered
Russian troops to occupy
several provinces on the
Danube (excuse for Russian
expansion)
 Russia would withdraw once
Turks had guaranteed rights
for Orthodox Christians
 Turks declared war on Russia
in 1853, when Nicholas
refused to withdraw.
 1854, Britain & France
declared war against Russia,
protecting their interests.
 1855, Piedmont joined in the
war against Russia.
Crimean War
Battle of Balaklava
 Most of the war fought on the
Crimean peninsula in the Black
Sea.
 War was reported on widely in
newspapers.
 Gained “nationalist” stature at
home due to reporting and
poems like “Charge of the
Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord
Tennyson
 Florence Nightingale: famous
for superb nursing and improved
medical treatment (more men
died of disease than combat)
Peace Settlement
 Deadlock in war broken with the taking of
Sevastopol.
 Peace of Paris: Russia emerged as the big
loser in the conflict
 Russia no longer had control of maritime trade
on the Danube, had to recognize Turkish
control of the mouth of the Danube, and
renounced claims to Moldavia and Walachia
 Russia renounced role of protector of the
Greek Orthodox residents of the Ottoman
Empire.
 Agreed to return all occupied territories to the
Ottoman Empire.
Italy, 1848
 Italian nationalists and liberals seek to end
foreign domination of Italy
 Milan, Lombardy and Venetia seek expel
Austrian rulers
 Bourbon rulers in Kingdom of Two Sicilies and
House of Savoy in Sardinia-Piedmont grant
liberal constitutions.
 Sardinia-Piedmont declared war on Austria.
 Beginning in May, revolutions suppressed.
Italy, 1848
Giuseppe Mazzini
 Giuseppe Mazzini established
Roman Republic in 1849
protected by Giuseppe
Garibaldi
 Pope Pius IX forced to flee
 Austrian General Radetsky
crushes Sardinia-Piedmont;
regains Lombardy and Venetia.
 French troops take back Papal
States.
 Victor Emmanuel II takes
throne in Sardinia-Piedmont.
Italy, 1848
 Causes for failure:
 Rural people did not
support revolutions,
focused mainly on
urban middle classes.
 Revolutionaries not
united, fear of radicals
among moderates
leads to collapse.
 Lack of leadership
and administrative
experience among
revolutionaries.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Divided Italy
 Following the Revolution of 1848, the
Risorgimento seemed a distant dream.
 Italy remained divided into three main
parts:
 Kingdom of the Two Sicilies – ruled by
Bourbon monarch.
 Pope ruled the Papal States.
 In the North, Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled
by the House of Savoy; Tuscany, Modena
and Parma were dominated by Austria while
Venice and Lombardy were part of the
Austria Empire.
Count Camillo Cavour (1810-1861)
 Born of nobility, he became
a liberal early in his career.
 In 1848, he was elected to
the new Piedmontese
Parliament and rose
through the ranks.
 King Victor Emmanuel II
(r. 1849-1878) appointed
him premier in 1852.
Count Camillo Cavour
 Cavour quickly instituted a program of
liberal reforms, hoping to discredit
Austrian tyranny and creating a united
North Italian state.
 He reformed the currency and finance
systems.
 Balanced the state budget.
 He modernized railroads and factories.
 He established banks.
Piedmont – Austrian War
 Cavour sought alliance with France to help
deal with Austria.
 Piedmont sends troops to the Crimea.
 Napoleon III agrees to deal with Cavour.
 Provides French troops to fight against Austria.
 Piedmont would gain Lombardy and Venetia.
 France would gain Savoy and Nice.
 Cavour provokes Austria into war in April
1859.
Piedmont – Austrian War
 Austria attacked, but were turned back by
the Piedmontese and the French at the
Battles of Magenta and Solferino.
 Napoleon III made a separate peace with
Austria (Peace of Villafranca), giving
Lombardy to Piedmont but retaining
Venice.
 Cavour resigned in disgust, but returned
in 1860 when revolutionary assemblies
across northern Italy moved to join with
Piedmont.
Revolution in Southern
Italy
 Revolution broke out in Southern Italy in
1860 against Bourbon Francis II.
 Guiseppe Garibaldi sailed south with
1000 Red Shirts to Sicily to support the
revolt, taking Palermo.
 In August, they crossed to the Italian
mainland, Francis II fled.
 On Sept. 7, Garibaldi took Naples.
The Kingdom of Italy
 Cavour then sent troops to take control of the
Papal States before Garibaldi moved against
Rome.
 Garibaldi allowed the annexation of the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
 On March 17, 1861 an Italian parliament
proclaimed the Kingdom of Italy with Victor
Emmanuel II as king.
 Wars between Prussia and Austria and France
allowed Venetia and Rome to be incorporated
into Italy by 1870.
The German States, 1848
 Revolutions inspired by 1848
revolutions in France
 Liberals demanded
constitutional government and
a union or federation of
German states.
 Frederick William IV rejected
liberal constitution; imposed
conservative one that
guaranteed royal control of
gov’t (lasted until 1918).
Frederick William IV
Frankfurt Parliament
 Liberal, romantic, & nationalist
leaders called for elections to a
constituent assembly, from all
states in the German Bund, for
the purpose of unifying the
German states.
 Sought war with Denmark to
annex Schleswig & Holstein;
Prussia declared war on
Denmark
 Presented constitution for a
united German federation.
 Selected Prussian King
Frederick William IV as
emperor; he declined claiming
“divine right of kings”
Collapse of the Revolution
 Failure of Prussia and Austria to support
unification movement resulted in its collapsed
 Frederick William’s attempt to unify Germany
ended in failure
 Austria demanded Prussian allegiance to the
Bund (that Austria dominated)
 “Humiliation of Olmutz”: Prussia dropped
plan to unify Germany, leaving Austria as
dominant German state in the Bund.
 Prussia would seek revenge in 1866 (AustroPrussian War)
Divided Germany
 After 1848, liberal nationalists were in a
weak position politically.
 The German Confederation was
reestablished as a loose union of 39
states (including the powerful Prussia
and Austria).
 The union was dominated by Austria,
which held the presidency.
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)
 Bismarck was born on
Prussian Junker
aristocracy.
 Worked unhappily in civil
service and became a
farmer.
 Elected to the Landtag
(Prussian Parliament) in
1847.
 Here he would begin his
practice of “realpolitik”
Otto von Bismarck
Wilhelm I
 In 1852, he became Prussia’s
rep. at the Confederation
(later he became ambassador
to Russia and France).
 Wilhelm I (r. 1861-1888)
named him minister-president
to push forward expansion of
the military.
 Despite liberal opposition, he
raised taxes to do so, claiming
change would come through
“blood and iron.”
The Schleswig-Holstein
Affair
 1863 annexation by Denmark infuriated
German nationalists.
 Prussia and Austria allied to defeat
Demark in 1864.
 The Convention of Gastein provided for
joint Austrian-Prussian rule of the duchies.
 Bismarck began making deals with
France, Italy and Russia for neutrality in
dealing with Austria.
The Seven Weeks War
 In 1866, Prussia accused Austria of
violating the Convention of Gastein.
 In June, they went to war.
 Austrians were soundly defeated at the
Battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa) on July 3.
 In the Treaty of Prague, Prussia gained
several states in northern Germany, the
German Conf. dissolved and Italy
received Venetia.
The North German
Confederation
 Prussia established the North German
Confederation in 1867.
 South German states of Bavaria,
Wurttemburg, Baden, and Hesse
remained independent.
 Bismarck wanted to absorb them, but
differences (south was Catholic and
liberal) and French opposition made this
difficult.
The Hohenzollern
Candidacy
 An 1868 Spanish revolution resulted in the
nomination of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern as
king.
 The French protested and the Prussians
acquiesced.
 At Elms, French Count Benedetti demanded
further Prussian concessions, Wilhelm I refused.
 Bismarck had notes of the meeting (known as the
Elms Dispatch) released. Napoleon III was
enraged and declared war on July 19, 1870.
 The South German states allied with Prussia.
The Franco-Prussian War
 The German armies quickly mobilized and
invaded France.
 On Sept. 2, the Napoleon III was captured and
a large part of the French Army surrendered at
Sedan.
 In Paris, rebels proclaimed the Third French
Republic and continued the war.
 On May 10, the Treaty of Frankfurt ended the
war.
 Germany got the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine
and 5 billion francs.
 The French greatly resented their defeat.
The
German Reich
 During the war negotiations continued in
Germany.
 As a result, on Jan. 18, 1871 Wilhelm I
was proclaimed Kaiser before an
assembly of German princes in the Hall
of Mirrors at Versailles.
 The unification of Germany was
complete, Bismarck became Chancellor.
Politics and Culture in The
Second Reich
 Bismarck, fearing internal opposition to
conservative rule, moved against
enemies: Catholics and Socialists.
 Catholics – with the Kulturkampf program,
attempted to take control of church functions
away; this failed.
 Socialists – the Social Democratic Party of
Ferdinand Lassalle was forced
underground in public life, but continued to
gain in Reichstag elections.
Lessons and Impact
 Liberal nationalists had failed to unify Germany
and Italy from below in 1848 .
 Where they failed, conservative nationalists
were able to succeed from above in the 1860s.
 The unification of Germany and Italy changed
the balance of power established at the
Congress of Vienna (1815) at the expense of
Austria and France.
 Immediately, Germany became the most
powerful nation on the European continent.
Reform in Russia
 After defeat in the Crimean War, Tsar
Alexander II abolished serfdom in 1861.
 Mir (village communes) grew in importance for
establishing farming communities for former
serfs.
 Zemstvos (district councils) were created in
1864 to increase local control.
 Revolt in Poland in 1863 and the assassination
of Alexander II in 1881 kept the government in
tight control.
Popular Culture
 Mass culture in Europe reached more
people than ever before.
 Culture took on distinctly national
elements.
 Museums, theatres, opera houses and
historic sights opened to the public and
were treated with national reverence.
Newspapers
 By mid century, newspapers and
periodicals took on great importance.
 Circulation of some newspapers
increased tenfold in less than a half
century.
 Newspapers grew in size, used new
technologies (telegraph and
photography) and made considerable
profits on advertising and subscriptions
Changing Styles
 Most cultural expressions of the
period reflected national pride
and connections to history.
 Opera was the most popular
artistic form as it attempted to
synthesize the arts.
 Richard Wagner
 Giuseppe Verdi
 The novel continued to grow as
the main literary style.
 Romanticism began to give way
to realism (c. 1850-1880) in all
of the arts of the period.
Realism – Edgar Degas
The Bellelli Family
Realism - Jean-François Millet
The Gleaners
Cultural Professions
 Writers, artists and performers were able
to make a considerable living during this
period by excelling in their profession.
 This was extended to academics as
departments of history, economics, and
the arts took shape at universities.
 History had a special place in the
formation and understanding of national
cultures.
Religious Thought
 In many ways, the 19th century was a
very religious period.
 Reaction against the Enlightenment
fueled this pattern.
 Strict “Victorian” morality permeated the
culture.
 Religious influence brought about the
end of slavery and established charity
organizations.
Cultural Impact
 National cultures during the Middle 19th
Century were more dynamic than ever
before.
 The arts were national and urban, rather
than centered in courts or salons.
 Mass culture allowed more writers, artists
and musicians to succeed at their craft
and reach a larger audience than ever
before.