WESTERN CIVILIZATION II
The Age of
Nation-States
The Crimean War
Originally between Russia & Ottomans
Ottomans give Catholic France control of the
Holy Lands instead of Orthodox Russia
Russia vows to protect Christians in the Holy
Lands - move to invade - Ottomans declare
war
Russia invades Moldavia and Walachia
(Rumania) - Austria forces out
The Crimean War
Britain & France
fear Russian
aggression declare war
Both sides have
naval interests in
the Black Sea
Both sides blunder
- large casualties
The Crimean War
First photographed war
Prussia neutral - but gains from
Austrian/Russian conflict
Russia looses control of Black Sea
in defeat
Concert of Europe unable to keep
the peace - next generation not
committed to power balance each nation seeks own goals
Italian Unification
Sought unification since
Congress of Vienna
Romantic Republicans
lead insurrections Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Wanted path of selfdetermination away from
Austria
Plans for Italian Unification
Plan 1 - unite behind Pope (1848/9) - Austria
and France defeat the Roman Republic
Plan 2 - unite behind only independent state,
Piedmont (Sardinia) - made independent by
Congress of Europe as a buffer between
France and Austria
Piedmont Prime Minister aids France in
Crimean War with 10,000 troops - thrusts
Piedmont onto world stage
Camillo Cavour
Cavour & Napoleon III
scheme to provoke war to
drive Austria out of Italy
France gets provinces of Nice
& Savoy for help
Piedmont/France drives
Austria - Napoleon III fears
Piedmont - signs own treaty
with Austria
The New Italian State
Garibaldi unites
southern Italy - Sicily
and Naples
Northern Italy united
with Piedmont
Garibaldi accepts total
unification
Venetia and Rome
added by 1870
Italy
Gain Venetia in deal with Prussians in war
with Austria
Gain area around Rome after French lose
Franco-Prussian War - city of Rome remains
hostile
Form of government: monarchy - Victor
Emmanuel from Piedmont
Franchise limited - corruption abounds
German Unification
Unification attempted by
liberals since 1815
Prussia becomes dominant in
German affairs
Prussian King Wilhelm I and
Chancellor Otto von
Bismarck embrace “Small
German” policy
Otto von Bismarck
Prussian nobleman
Liberal turned
conservative
Pro-industrial
Pro-military
Anti-Parliament seeks to unite
Germans without
legislature
Bringing Germany Together
Beats Danes who try to take Holstein and
Schleswig out of German Confederation
Beats Austrians
in 7 weeks to
gain dominance
over German
speaking people
The North German Confederation
Bismarck annexes Hesse, Nassau, & Hanover
(formerly supported Austria) in new group
King of Prussia as leader
Bicameral legislature with no real power
Bismarck steals thunder of some liberals who
wanted unification
Bismarck seeks a war to bring southern
German states into the Confederation
The Franco-Prussian War
Queen Isabella of Spain deposed
Spanish pick a Hohenzollern, Leopold
(cousin to Wilhelm)
France objects, asks Wilhelm for support
Bismarck revises The Ems Telegram to look
like Wilhelm insulted France
France declares war on the Northern
Confederation
The Franco-Prussian War
Southern German states side with Bismarck
Germans capture Napoleon III
Defeat French in 9 months - forced to give up
provinces of Alsace and Lorraine
German Empire proclaimed - most important
event in Europe in the 19th century
Italy and Germany become new rivals to
France and Austria
France: Liberal Empire
The Third Republic proclaimed after
Napoleon III’s capture - France sues for peace
Paris Commune attempts to rule Paris
independently of France
National Assembly kills
over 20,000 to restore order
Government looks for a king
to rule - Chambord refuses because of use of
revolutionary flag
France: The Third Republic
Chamber of Deputies elected by universal male
suffrage
Senate chosen indirectly - president selected
from group
Government proves to be surprisingly efficient
against corruption and ineptitude
Lasts until Germans march into Paris again in
World War II
The Dreyfus Affair
Divided French society on
the fairness of government
Captain Alfred Dreyfus
convicted of espionage to
Germany during FrancoPrussian War, convicted
The Dreyfus Affair
Accusations against the government
Corruption - cover-up for mistakes - AntiSemitism
Government refuses new trial even with
evidence of forgery
Writer Emil Zola reports on case - stirs public
New trial again convicts - President pardons
France remains politically divided
The Habsburg Empire
Excepting Russia, the least liberal of European
governments
Franz Joseph comes to power in 1848 - rules
in absolutist style
Problem of holding ethnically diverse
population together - Magyars, Slavs, Italians
Loss of Italy suggested inefficient chain of
command - Franz Joseph reorganizes twice both rejected by Magyars
The Compromise of 1867
Franz Joseph creates two nations
ruled by him - The Dual Monarchy Austria & Hungary (Magyar)
Separate Parliaments created
Czechs want same deal - trialism Franz Joseph agrees but Magyars
oppose - did not want to give
autonomy to its subject groups of
Romanians and Croatians - continued unrest
The Dual Monarchy
Czech leaders appeased
with jobs
Demonstrations in
Reichsrat for Czech
nationalism until WWI
Franz Joseph gives right
of language in ethnic
areas, introduces
universal male suffrage
in Austria
Russian Reform
Nicolas I dies during Crimean
War - Alexander II institutes
reforms including abolition of
serfdom (U.S. and Brazil remain)
Former serfs given rights but no
land - forced to buy from
landowners over 49 year period interest paid to the government
Russian Reform
Many fail to pay - debt not forgiven until 1906
Without landlords to control serf, new system
of government needed - Village communes
“Zemstovs” organized to adjudicate local
matters
Military reformed to fill ranks after abolition
of serfdom - terms of service shortened - rules
relaxed
Russian Repression
Alexander II squelches revolt by the
Polish nobility, emancipates their serfs,
forces Russian language on Poles
Alexander becomes more repressive after
assassination attempt in 1866 - creates
police state
Radical opposition begins to mount exiled Alexander Herzen leads effort
Revolutionaries in Russia
Social revolution preached in radical
societies like “Land and Freedom”
Young revolutionaries go to peasants to
educate them - peasants turn revolutionaries
over to the police
Courts give light sentences in hope of
support
Assassination of Alexander II
Attacks against government continue until
Alexander II is killed
Son Alexander III rules with an iron fist
Britain: Toward Democracy
Continues to refine liberal form of
government - symbol of the confident liberal
state
Address issues of
expanding suffrage,
secret ballot, education,
care for the poor
Parliament passes the Second Reform Act of
1867 - increases electorate by 1,000,000
British Prime Ministers
Benjamin Disraeli conservative - hoped
expanded middle class would
favor conservatism
William Gladstone - liberal backs government’s
assumption of responsibility
for education
Disraeli and Gladstone
Both seek reform
Take turns as Prime
Minister
Gladstone gives support
to Irish home rule,
splitting Liberal Party
Irish hold balance of
power in Parliament Home rule passes on the third attempt
WESTERN CIVILIZATION II
The Age of
Nation-States