Achieving Nationalist
Goals in
Italy and Germany
After 1850, European political leaders
became less interested in policies
shaped by idealism (liberalism and
nationalism). Instead, they pursued
the interests of their states with coldly
realistic considerations of power and
little regard for ideals or morality.
Leaders of
Italian and
German
Unification
Movements
Camillo di Cavour
from Piedmont-Sardinia
Otto von Bismarck
from Prussia
Why did Cavour and
Bismarck succeed in
uniting their nations,
whereas all attempts
before them had failed?
Lombardy & Venetia, the
richest part of Italy, under
Austrian control
Piedmont-Sardinia, ruled by
Victor Emmanuel II, a king
from the House of Savoy
Modena, Parma, &
Tuscany, independent
duchies
Papal States, under
temporal and spiritual
control of Pope Pius IX
Kingdom of the 2 Sicilies,
ruled by Ferdinand II, a
Spanish Bourbon
Uprisings in Naples suppressed,
separatist Sicilians forced to reunite
Broken Promises of Constitutions:
Papal States, Tuscany, Piedmont
Failure of Mazzini’s Roman Republic
Old Dukes of Modena, Parma, Tuscany
restored by Austrian forces
Reasons for Failure:
1. lack of cooperation among revolutionaries
2. liberals insisted on constitutions in each
state before unification; radicals disagreed
3. different ideas of unity:
Mazzini -- a republic
Pope Pius IX -- a confederation
Charles Albert -- a kingdom
4. lack of popular support
5. superiority of Austrian forces
. . . from The Duties of Man
Giuseppe Mazzini
(1805-1872)
The Soul
“O my brothers, love your
Country! Our country is our
Home, the house that God has
given us, placing therein a
numerous family that loves us,
and whom we love; Our country
is our common workshop,
whence the products of our
activity are sent forth for the
benefit of the whole world.”
•
•
•
•
encouraged trade and industry
expanded railway net in Piedmont
The Brain
promoted agricultural production
joined Britain and France vs. Russia in the
Crimean War
• secret agreement with Napoleon III at
Plombières
• Napoleon III pledged to support Cavour in any war
vs. Austria, as long as Austria attacked first
• Napoleon accepted Piedmont’s right to annex
Austria’s lands in northern Italy
• Napoleon agreed to the formation of an Italian
confederation with Piedmont in control of the
northern part of the peninsula
• In return, Cavour offered to give Napoleon Savoy
and Nice (two ethnically French sections of
Piedmont)
“The experience of recent years and previous centuries has
proved how little Italy has benefitted from conspiracies,
revolutions, and disorderly uprisings …. Now, gentlemen, I
believe that the principal condition for the improvement of
Italy’s fate, the condition that stands out above all others, is to
lift up her reputation once more. . . . And for this two things
are necessary: first, to prove to Europe that Italy has
sufficient civic sense to govern herself freely and according
to law, and that she is in a condition to adopt the very best
forms of government; second, to prove that her military valor
is as great as that of her ancestors.”
(From a speech to the Parliament of Piedmont, 1855)
• Cavour’s armies defeated Austrians in the
summer of 1859, driving them from
Lombardy.
• Meanwhile, in the Papal States and other
parts of central Italy, revolts broke out as
people aimed to overthrow their leaders and
join Piedmont!
• Finally, Napoleon had second thoughts
about supporting Italy, and allowed Cavour
to take only Lombardy.
Garibaldi Returns!
Leading a volunteer-army
of Red Shirts, he marched
up from the south, and
kingdoms all along the way
fell to his rebels.
Giuseppe Garibaldi
(1807-1882)
“Italians!—The Sicilians are
fighting against the enemies
of Italy, and for Italy. It is the
duty of every Italian to
succour them with words,
money, and arms, and, above
all, in person. . . . Listen not
to the voice of cowards, but
arm, and let us fight for our
brethren, who will fight for us
tomorrow. . . .
The Sword
As Garibaldi’s armies
approached Rome, Cavour
decided to take action to prevent
him from further conquest.
Garibaldi gives in,
and accepts Victor
Emmanuel,
Piedmont’s king,
as ruler in 1860.
Historiography:
Traditional view: unification achieved through
cooperation of Cavour & Garibaldi
Dennis Mack Smith: Italy unified despite the
fact that Cavour and Garibaldi distrusted each
other
Idealist view: a culmination of Risorgimento
liberalism and nationalism
Fascist view: (same as above but no liberalism)
Marxist view: unification (and nationalism)
was a way for the middle classes to gain power
King Victor
Emmanuel II
proclaimed Constitutional
King of Italy, March 1861
“[T]he national unity which
is today attained will have,
I hope, the effect of
rendering less bitter the
struggles of parties, the
rivalry of which will have
henceforth no other end
than the development of the
productive forces of the
nation.”
Forces Uniting Germans:
 language
 reaction against Napoleon
 Zollverein (except Austria)
 traditions, customs, literature
Forces Dividing Germans:
 Austria & France
 1848 failures
 religion: Catholic south, Protestant north
Prussia?!
 reactionary government dominated by
conservative Junkers
 little popular involvement in politics, as the
Diet had few true powers
 no freedom of expression
Yeah, Prussia!!
 the only German state with a modern economy
 industry, banks, road/rail networks
 Otto von Bismarck
A True Conservative . . .
• wanted to maintain Junker
power
• meant to preserve the
monarchy
• cared little for nationalism,
a middle-class cause
German Chancellor
1862-1890
. . . in Liberal Nationalist
Disguise!
• wanted Prussia to dominate Germans
(not Austria)
• courted the middle-class for success
• promoted economic development
• accepted trappings of a parliamentary
system
 Prussia’s King Wilhelm I desired military
reform . . .
 which would involve a 25% tax increase.
 Liberals in parliament said NO, so . . .
Wilhelm selected Bismarck
as chancellor to break the deadlock.
Bismarck sent Prussian bureaucrats
to collect taxes without Diet
approval, and the people
willingly paid!
Bismarck’s
"Iron and Blood"
speech
September 29, 1862
“Not by speeches and
decisions of majorities
will the greatest
problems of the time be
decided-that was the
mistake of 1848-49-but
by iron and blood.”
Franz von Lehnbach, Otto von Bismarck , oil on canvas, 1879
German Historical Museum, Berlin
1863 supports Russia in
putting down Polish
Rebellion
1864 war vs. Denmark over
Schleswig-Holstein
1865 Biarritz agreement
with Napoleon III
1866 Austro-Prussian War
 Prussia defeated Austria, annexing
Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse-Cassel,
Hanover, Nassau, and Frankfurt
 North German Confederation united
under Prussian leadership
 Proof of Prussian
military
superiority
1866 Indemnity Bill: Bismarck
admitted government fault in collecting
taxes illegally in return for retroactive
Diet approval
Most southern German states had
little interest in a merger with north
Germany in the 1860s, so . . .
 A Hohenzollern candidate for Spanish throne?
 The Ems telegram to Bismarck:
"Count Benedetti intercepted me on the promenade and
ended by demanding of me in a very importunate manner
that I should authorize him to telegraph at once that I
bound myself in perpetuity never again to give my consent
if the Hohenzollerns renewed their candidature. I rejected
this demand somewhat sternly as it is neither right nor
possible to undertake engagements of this kind.”
Bismarck’s Edited, Press-Released
Version of the Ems Telegram:
"After the news of the renunciation of the Prince von
Hohenzollern had been communicated to the Imperial
French government by the Royal Spanish government,
the French Ambassador in Ems made a further demand
on His Majesty the King that he should authorize him to
telegraph to Paris that His Majesty the King undertook
for all time never again to give his assent should the
Hohenzollerns once more take up their candidature. His
Majesty the King thereupon refused to receive the
Ambassador again and had the latter informed by the
adjutant of the day that His Majesty had no further
communication to make to the Ambassador."
 French defeat at the Battle of Sedan
• Napoleon III taken prisoner
• (+ 82,000 other Frenchmen)
 Creation of the German Empire, Jan. 1871
• Wilhelm I becomes the German Kaiser
• unity imposed from above; constitution seen as a
gift from the princes to the German people rather
than a right of the people
• Reichstag = universal male suffrage, but little true
power
• Bundesrat = appointed members
 Treaty of Frankfurt, Feb. 1871
• surrender of Alsace-Lorraine
• national humiliation for France
• 5000 million francs indemnity
• ceremonial entry to Paris by
Prussian army
 Was Bismarck a genius diplomat, architect of a long-laid
plan of German unification?
“What an extraordinary man Bismarck is! He meets me for the first time
and tells me all he is going to do. He will attack Denmark in order to get
possession of Schleswig-Holstein, he will put Austria out of the German
confederation; and then he will attack France -- an extraordinary man!”
(British PM Disraeli on a meeting with Bismarck in 1862)
 Was Bismarck merely a master opportunist?
“By himself the individual can create nothing; he can wait [only] until he
hears God’s footsteps resounding through events and then spring forward
to grasp the hem of his mantle!” (Bismarck himself)
"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable . . . the art of the
next best."
"Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made."
"Better pointed bullets than pointed words."
"Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied."
"I am bored. The great things are done. The German Reich is
made."
"A generation that has taken a beating is always followed by a
generation that deals one."
"Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans." (Bismarck's
prediction on what would trigger the next war)