Situation at the beginning of the 19th century
What was the general political situation and tendencies in Europe at the beginning of the 19th c.? 1790-1815-1848-1870
The 1789–1815 period is defined by the French Revolution and Napoleon;
1815–48 forms a period of reaction and adjustment;
1848–71 is dominated by a new round of revolution and the unifications of the German and Italian nations.
In the early 19th century the greatest pressure came from the liberals (students, bankers, or manufacturers). They wanted:
- written constitutions
- an extension of the suffrage
- civil rights
- a free-market economy
- national liberation.
(Britannica)
The Congress of Vienna marked the first series of international meetings that aimed to reorganize Europe after the Napoleonic Wars.
Who were the allied powers and what was their main aim? (4)
To draw up a settlement for Europe:
1. Austria
2. GB
3. Prussia
4. Russia
Where did they take place?
Was there a common grievance and what triggered / caused them ?
Across Europe except Britain (parliamentary gov) and Russia.
The 1848 Revolutions were revolts against European monarchies.
They sprang from socio-economic crises:
- overpopulation in the countryside
- urbanization: atrocious living and working conditions
- harvest crises (1845-6)
- industrial crises : fall in demand, unemployment
How many states were there in the Italian Peninsula and what were 4 conseqences of Napoleonic occupation (- 1814)?
1. State boundaries rearranged into 3 parts: 1. Piedmont (France); 2. Kindom of Italy (Napoleon); 3. Naples (Napoleon's brother)
2. power of pope reduced
3. peasants were freed
4. political participation of middle class
All these measures showed the Italians that unification was possible. Paradoxically, opposition to French rule (tax, repressive police, conscription) also helped promote nationalism.
1. Why "Germany" had no real significance in 1815 (absolute monarchy ruled again at that time) ?
2. What triggered the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire? (962-1806)
3. Who shared control of "Germany" ?
1. In the late 18th c., some 23 million Germans were divided into 314 states - cultural, religious, national disunity
2. Napoleonic wars : Napoleon defeated Austria and Prussia (1805-7) and took the left bank of the Rhine.
3. Prussia in the north and Austria in the south: "peaceful dualism" (Austrian Foreign Minister Metternich).
What did the 1815 Vienna Peace Settlement (Vienna Congress) aim? (3)
- restore old order:
1. hereditary monarchy,
2. power of church,
3. aristocratic influence
Name five agreements of the congress.
1. peace / security / order
2. restoration of rulers and states based on ligitimacy
3. balance of power
4. reward for victors
5. CONTAINMENT of France
Were these revolutions expected? Why?
No, because the economic situation was starting to improve. Economic distress however in big cities helped to encourage subversive propaganda. Urban revolutions mostly.
1. What were the 2 main aims of the Vienna Congress concerning Italy?
2. Austrian Minister Metternich famously said "Italy is a geographical expression". What did he mean and who controlled Italy following the congress?
1. Aims:
a. Prevent France from regaining control.
b. Suppress revolutionary /nationalistic movements
by making sure Austria controlled the region (reinstated pre Napoleon rulers).
2. No unity was possible:
NORTHWEST: King of PIedmont § Sardinia (Victor Emmanuel of Savoy)
NORTHEAST: Austria (Lombardia, Venetia, etc)
PAPAL STATES (pope, centre)
KINGDOM OF 2 SICILIES (Naples and Sicily): King Ferdinand the 1st of Bourbon
What did Prussia and Germany gain following the Vienna Congress? (territory)
1. Prussia: Northern Germany
2. Germany became a loose confederation of 39 states under Austrian control
What was the Swiss situation ? Post French conquest, 1803 act
The Helvetic Republic created in 1789 after the French Conquest.
The 1803 Act of Mediation (dictated by Napoleon to stabilize the country) substituted a new Swiss Confederation for the Helvetic Republic, forcing it into close association with France.
Was the Congress a success?
More of a compromise aiming to create stability: no war between great powers for 40 years. No world war for 100 years.
What measures were promised by the old regimes?
- new liberal governments
- constitutional reforms
What role played the opposition between 1815-1848?
1. Role of secret societies?
2. Demands of the 1820/1 and 1831 revolutionaries?
3. 1848-9 revolutions: first step to unification failed; Battle of Novara 1849
4. Effect of failures?
1. overthrow absolute monarchs and liberate Italy from Austrian grip/control
2. liberal demands for constitutional rule; national demands after 1831.
3. the economic crisis contributed to the 1848 revolutions.
A first alliance (Charles Albert, king of Piedmont + republican revolutionary Mazzini in Milan § Tuscany + Pope) were ready to fight Austria to pursue the goal of a united Italy. It failed because there was no cohesion between states.
Battle of Novara (first Italian war of independence from Austria): Charles Albert loses and abdicates in favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel II.
In Rome, a Roman Republic was created with Mazzini at its head until French troops (called by the Pope) restored the Pope.
4. Austria consolidated its control; Pope established a reactionary regime; King Ferdinand of Bourbon re-established his control in the South.
1. What was the situation between 1815-1848 (Vormarz)? What were the Carlsbad Decrees?
2. What was the Zollverein?
1. Vormarz or Restoration was a period before the March 1848 Berlin revolution marked by illiberality and repression, on one hand, and the emergence of a liberal and nationalist opposition, on the other.
The 1815 Federal Act: states were asked to produce a constitution.
Following the assassination of author Kotzebue (1819), Metternich introduced Carlsbad Decrees: a series of resolutions that ensured suppression of liberal and nationalistic tendencies and censorship.
Riots in several states asking for liberal constitutions.
1848: In May 1844 the first German National Assembly began planning a unified democratic Germany with a central government.
2. A free trade area comprising 18 states contributing to the formation of a national market : a first step to unification.
What was the socio-economic situation in Europe?
- increase in population
- longer life expectancy
- farming developments
BUT
-limited medical progress
Define nationalism (in what countries?) during this period.
Italy and Germany
A movement promoting the unification of groups of people sharing a common religion, history, ties of blood and/or community.
Did they succeed or fail?
Failed. No cohesion, different demands. Armies rescinded / annulled the promised reforms.
1. What were Victor Emmanuel's 2 main aims in Piedmont after Novara battle, the only Italian state (also most prosperous) with a constitution and a free pass?
2. Who was Cavour and what was his role in unification?
3. What happened after France had declared war on Austria 1859 to help Piedmont?
1. speed up recovery + fight Austria again
2. Liberal nationalist (Prime MInister 1861), convinced that foreign help was needed to achieve Emmanuel's aims: he involved Piedmont in the Crimean war (between Russia - Ottomans, England, France) and got invited to the 1856 Treaty of Paris, which allowed him to secretly negotiate with Napoleon III for military help against Austria (Pact of Plombières, France). France would annex Savoy and Nice, Piedmont would annex northern Italy.
3. France won at Magenta and Soferino, but with huge losses that angered the French population, so Napoleon III signed an armistice with Austria at Villafrance: Lombardy (went France); Venetia (wnet to Austria); rulers of Tuscany § Modena restored.
Cavour tried to persuade Emmanuel to fight on but the latter refuses.
1. Who was Bismark?
2. What was his role in the Prussia-Austria war and in the German unification?
1. Prussian Prime Minister appointed by King William I in 1862.
He attacked (with Austria) Denmark to get hold of 2 Danish territories.
2. Relations with Austria deteriorated and in 1866 a war broke out over who should control Germany (and the Danish territories): Prussia (with the help of Italy who had been promised Venetia + telegraph § railways) won in 7 weeks:
- Prussia annexed the Danish territories + Frankfurt, Hanover, Nassau, Hesse-Kassel
- Venetia went to Italy
- German Confederation replaced by Northern Confederation comprising all the German states north of the river Main
- 4 southern states remained independent but signed alliance with Prussia
When did massive industrial development occur?
After 1850.
What were the demands of the liberals and who were they?
- Freedom of speech, of press and worship;
- right to trial;
- right to form political associations;
- consitutions limiting absolute power;
- parliamentary governement (like in Britain).
Middle-class people.
Between this liberalism and the nationalism that sought freedom from foreign rule, the line could not be clearly drawn.
What was the Swiss situation around 1847?
What were the principles upon which the new Swiss federal state was based?
Civil war reaching its peak with the Sonderbund war against the Catholics who supported religious freedom and sovereign cantons. The Protestants - who promoted Protestant ethics and a unified state - won.
Principles:
1. French human rights;
2. German philosophy of the rule of law/Rechtsstaat (liberal claims against absolutism);
3. English utilitarianism (actions fostering individual + collective happiness)
1. Who was garibaldi and what was his role in unification?
2. When did Italy become unified?
1. Garibaldi, a republican revolutionary, conquered Sicily (where a revolt had broken out) and Naples (1860) with around 1000 middle-class volunteers. While advancing to Rome he was met by Emmanuel and Cavour's armies: Garibaldi saluted Emmanuel as the first king of Italy and handed over his conquests before retiring to Caprera.
Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861 (except Papal territories and Venetia).
2. 1870: fight between Victor Emmanuel and Rome: Pope defeated and refused to negotiate; Rome voted for union and bacame capital; church and state were now separated.
What caused the war between Prussia and France and what were its consequences? 1870
Immediate cause: the candidacy of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern for the Spanish throne: France felt threatened by a Spanish-Prussian alliance.
Napoleon III demanded King William he should renounce support for the Prince for all time - William agreed but not for all time - Bismarck omitted the courtesies in a telegram which sounded as if they had insulted each other: France declared war on July 19.
The southern German states joined Prussia in the war, which resulted in the unification of all the German states (except Austria) into modern Germany.
France was defeated and in 1871(Versailles) William was proclaimed Emperor of the German Empire (Kaiser). The Frankfurt Peace Treaty:
- reparations of 5 billion francs
- annexation of Alsace and Lorraine by Prussia
- 4-year army station in France