Giuseppe Mazzini –
“The Heart”
• Grassroots
unification
• Italian Risorgimento
Camillo di Cavour –
“The Brain”
• Prime Minister of
Sardinia
• A liberal – wanted to
make Sardinia a model of
progress, efficiency, and
fair government for
others to admire
• Tried to improve the
economy
Camillo di Cavour –
“The Brain”
• Didn’t idealize war, but
willing to use war to
unify Italy – Crimean
War (1855-1856)
– Reorganized and
strengthened Sardinian
army
• Main architect of Italian
unification
Guisseppe Garibaldi –
“The Sword”
• “Hero of Two
Worlds”
• Red Shirts
King Victor Emmanuel II,
House of Savoy
• Only native Italian
monarch in Italy
Italian Unification Timeline
1859 – War
With Austria,
Italy gets
Lombardy with
help of
Napoleon III
Revolution of 1848
1852 – Cavour becomes
Prime Minister of Sardinia
1860 –
Garibaldi
and the
“Red
Shirt”
Land in
Sicily
1866: 7 Weeks’ War, Italy sides
with Prussia & receives Venice
•1861- Victor Emmanuel II
Proclaimed “King of Italy”
•Cavour dies
1870 FrancoPrussian
War,
Italy takes
Rome
ITALY
UNIFIED
1871: Rome
proclaimed
capital
of unified
Italy
Otto von Bismarck: The Founding of
A German Empire
Nationalism Comes to Germany
• France and Russia had long-standing policy of
keeping Germany weak and divided
• Nationalism came to Germany, but different from
Italy
– Superiority to Slavs
– Independent of West – own particular way of life and
political system
– Were not widespread ideas of individual liberty –
tended to glorify the state
Revolution of 1848 in Germany
• Series of revolutions in German
states
• Frankfurt Parliament of 1848
– Offered crown of unified Germany
to Frederick William IV
• Turned it down – would not accept
crown “from the gutter”
• German states restored
Path to Unification
• “Blood and Iron”
• ZOLLVEREIN a customs union of
German states that did not include
Austria.
• REALPOLITIK, which means
“realism" – do what is necessary, not
what is right or moral
• SCHLESWIG AND HOLSTEIN
Seven Weeks' War
Franco-Prussian War
• NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION
• EMS TELEGRAM: Queen Isabella
– France opposed the choice of a Prussian
Hohenzollern prince to replace Isabella.
– Napoleon III demanded in July 1870 that KING
WILHELM OF PRUSSIA also oppose it.
– Wilhelm was reluctant to start trouble with France,
so he crafted a polite, diplomatic response, which
one of his officials conveyed to Bismarck.
– Bismarck edited the king's words to create the
impression that the French ambassador and King
Wilhelm had traded diplomatic insults. France thus
declared war on Prussia on July 19, 1870.
– France quickly defeated, GERMAN EMPIRE
PROCLAIMED
German Unification Timeline
1818 –
Prussia
eliminates
tariffs
1848 –
Revolution &
Frankfurt
Parliament
1819 - Carlsbad Decrees
1844 – Zollverein includes
Almost all German states
1862 –
William I
Bismarck
appointed
Head of
cabinet
1866- 7 Weeks’ War;
German Confederation
Dissolved; Prussia takes
Schleswig & Holstein
1864 – Austria &
Germany defeat Denmark:
Austria takes Schleswig,
Prussia takes Holstein
1870 FrancoPrussian
War;
France loses
AlsaceLorraine
1871: German
Empire
Proclaimed;
Bismarck
appointed
Chancellor
GOALS
BISMARCK
CAVOUR
METHODS
BISMARCK
CAVOUR
GOALS
METHODS



Unification of Germany
Increase Prussian Power
Decrease Austrian influence in Germany
(drive them out of Germany)



Unification of Italy
Make Sardinia a model of progress and
efficiency (liberalism)




“blood and iron” – war, trickery,
etc… (7 Weeks War, tricked Austria;
Franco-Prussian War)
Realpolitik – do whatever is
necessary to achieve goals, not what
is moral or right
Did not favor war, but was willing to
use it if necessary (got involved in
Crimean War to have a place at the
peace negotiations in order to bring
up the Italian question; joined
Prussia in 7 Weeks War to get
Venetia)
Used plebiscites and majority
opinion to unify
Let the “Red Shirts” and Garibaldi
do work for him