Nationalist Movements
Of the 19th Century
Aim: How can nationalism be a uniting and divisive force? (19th century nationalist
Movements)
Vocabulary: nationalism, communion, annex, realpolitik, blood and iron,
Zionism, anti-semitism
Joseph MazziniAn Essay on the Duties of Man
Addressed to Workingmen (1858)
“Country is not only a mere zone of
territory. The true Country is the Idea to
which it gives birth; it is the Thought of
love, the sense of communion which
unites in one all the sons of that territory.”
Q: Why do you think Mazzini is known as the
“Soul” of the Italian unification movement?
Hanover.edu
Q: How does the Mazzini excerpt embody nationalism?
Bonds
That create
Nationalism
Nationality
•Belief in a common
ethnic ancestry
Language
•Can be different
dialects, one chosen as
“national language
Culture
•Shared way of life (food,
dress, etc)
History
•A common past,
common experiences
Religion
•A religion shared by
most or all people
Territory
•A certain territory that
belongs to them, its
“land”
Nation-State
•Defends the nation’s
territory and its way of life
•Represents the nation to
the rest of the world
•Embodies the people
and its ideas
The major figures of Italian
Unification
• Mazzini- “The Soul”
• Cavour- “The Brain”
• Garibaldi- “The Sword”
Mazzini
Cavour
Garibaldi
http://www.italcultindia.com
• Mazzini- wrote and spoke eloquently about his
desire to see Italy unified. He began the Young
Italy movement.
• Cavour-successful diplomat, he convinced
France to fight the Austrians. He expanded the
power of Sardinia-Piedmont by adding other
Italian states to it.
• Garibaldi-He and his “Red Shirts” conquered
southern Italy and joined it to the state Cavour
had unified under the control of SardiniaPiedmont in the north.
Obstacles to Unification
Political Divisions
• Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont-Italian
control
• Lombardy and Venetia-annexed to Austria
• Duchies of Parma, Modena and Tuscany
and the Kingdoms of the Two Sicilies
(Naples)-Austrian control
• Papal States-under Church control
Opposition to Italian Unification
Austria
• Sought to discourage nationalist uprisings within their empire
• Wanted to retain Lombardy and Venetia
• Wanted to maintain influence in the duchies and Two Sicilies
• Reactionary rulers feared unification
Papal
• Belief that a united Italy would end Pope’s rule over Papal States
Discord among Nationalists
• Mazzini and Garibaldi wanted a democratic Italian republic
• Gioberti wanted an Italy under leadership of pope
• Cavour wanted a liberal Italian monarchy
Process of Italian
Unification
Until 1860 present-day Italy was composed of several small states
and territories. In 1860 almost all of the states in northern Italy
became part of the Kingdom of Sardinia. In 1861 the Kingdom of
Sardinia was joined by all the southern states except Rome and
became the Kingdom of Italy. In 1871 Rome joined the now-united
Italy and became its capital.
Encarta
Which factors do you think
promoted nationalism in Italy?
• Glorious past of the Roman Empire
and Renaissance
• Resented subjugation to Austria
• Desired unity
The Many Sides and
Policies of
Otto von Bismarck
“Germany is too small for the both
of us!”
Otto von Bismarck: Letter to Minister von Manteuffel, 1856
Because of the policy of Vienna [the Congress of Vienna, 1815],
Germany is clearly too small for us both [Prussia and Austria];
as long as an honorable arrangement concerning the influence
of each in Germany cannot be concluded and carried out, we
will both plough the same disputed acre, and Austria will
remain the only state to whom we can permanently lose or from
whom we can permanently gain. . . .I wish only to express my
conviction that, in the not too distant future, we shall have to
fight for our existence against Austria and that it is not within
our power to avoid that, since the course of events in Germany
has no other solution.
Fordham.edu
Otto von Bismarck Speech to the
Reichstag September 30, 1862
• “…It is true that we can hardly escape
complications in Germany, although we do
not seek them. Germany does not look to
Prussia’s liberalism, but to her
power…Prussia must collect her forces
and hold them in reserve for an opportune
moment…Not by speeches and majorities
will the great questions of the day be
decided…but by blood and iron.”
Q: How does Bismarck promote the
Use of Realpolitik in this speech?
http://www.csustan.edu
Realpolitik in History
Can you think of other political/literary
figures in world history who favored
Realpolitik?
•
•
This Harper's Weekly cartoon by Thomas Nast
addresses the "Chancellor Crisis" of 1877, when
German chancellor Otto von Bismarck took an
extended leave of absence from his political
duties. It was an act that caused great concern and
uncertainly among many of the other world
powers. The German phrase in the caption is part
of the title "The Watch on the Rhine," a song
popular with German soldiers during the FrancoPrussian War (1870-1871). The cartoonist has
altered it to translate into "The Watch on Bismarck"
to emphasize the message that the eyes of the
world are watching what Bismarck will do next.
Here, Bismarck sits leisurely smoking his pipe, with
German beer and pretzels at the ready, while
Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary and Prime
Minister Benjamin Disraeli of Great Britain peer
anxiously from beside and underneath the table,
respectively. They are surrounded by other foreign
figures or symbols, eager to catch a glimpse of
Bismarck's movements. Along the wall on the left,
they are (clockwise from the door): Turkey
(Ottoman Empire), Russia, France (the hat upon a
pole), King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy, and the
miter of Pope Pius IX. In the tree are (left to
right): China (hanging from the limb), Spain
(bullfighter's hat), John Bull (staring into binoculars),
an Irishman behind him, and the feathered head of
a native (either African or Asian). The French figure
lurking behind the tree on the far right is not
identified.
Harperweek.com
Caring for the elderly
Otto von Bismarck
German Chancellor 1862-1890
• Germany became the first
nation in the world to adopt an
old-age social insurance
program in 1889, designed by
Germany's Chancellor, Otto
von Bismarck. The idea was
first put forward, at Bismarck's
behest, in 1881 by Germany's
Emperor, William the First, in a
ground-breaking letter to the
German Parliament. William
wrote: ". . .those who are
disabled from work by age and
invalidity have a well-grounded
claim to care from the state."
Ssa.gov
Unification of Germany
http://astro.temple.edu
Timeline of the Unification of
Germany
• Prussia victories:
• The Danish War (1864)
• The Austro-Prussian War a.k.a The 7
Weeks War (1866)
• The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871).
• King (Kaiser) William I of Prussia became
ruler of a united Germany in 1871.
The Dreyfus Affair
• Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army was
accused of giving military secrets to the Germans in
1894.
• Due to rampant Anti-Semitism in France Dreyfus was
found guilty of treason.
• An official in the French army, Lieutenant Picquart,
discovered evidence that Dreyfus was not the sabateur.
• The army, however, was more interested in maintaining
its image than convicting the real traitor, Walsin
Esterhazy.
• Theodore Herzl was a journalist who was present at
Dreyfus’ trial. The trial had a profound effect on him and
the Zionist movement was born.
Zionism
“We are a people-one people…in countries
where we have lived down for centuries
we are still cried down as strangers…no
nation on earth has survived such
struggles and sufferings and we have
gone through…”
-Theodore Herzl 1896
Q: Why was the establishment of a Jewish homeland necessary
According to this passage?
Fordham.edu
Think of religious groups that have
been persecuted throughout history
and their responses to it:
Compare the Nationalist
Movements
• In which ways was the Zionist nationalist
movement similar to that of Germany and
Italy?
• How was Zionism different from the
nationalist movements of Germany and
Italy?