Italy Before 1848 • After the Congress of Vienna, Austria ruled the North of Italy – Spain ruled the South – The Pope ruled the middle • Giuseppe Mazzini organizes Young Italy – Nationalistic group dedicated to Italian independence – No one over 40 could join Italy During 1848 • Revolts broke out in 8 Italian states – Mazzini headed a republic in Rome • Revolts were eventually repressed – Mazzini was driven into exile After 1848 Italian Unification • Italians wanted to unify under the kingdom of Piedmont Sardinia • Sardinia’s King Victor Emmanuel II appoints Camillo di Cavour prime minister – Person most responsible for unification • Cavour first unifies the North – Allies with France to take Italian lands from Austria in 1858 • France helps a little but fails to get Venetia for Cavour’s Sardinia • Cavour next unifies the South – In 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi leads a group of nationalists in the South of Italy • Called themselves the Red Shirts • Goal was to free Italy of foreign rule – Once Garibaldi freed south Italy he gave the lands to Victor Emmanuel II • The Kingdom of Italy was formed in 1861 – Venetia eventually joined in 1866 – In 1870, Italians took the Papal states from the church Italy: Unification to 1914 • Biggest problem was the Pope – refused to accept Italian control of Rome – In 1871 Italy passed Law of Papal Guarantees • Set up Vatican as a sovereign state • Italy paid the pope 600,000 a year – The Pope still wasn’t happy • Italy tried to industrialize – north was much more successful than the south • widespread strikes • radical political parties – many peasants from the south came to America for a better life The Unification of Germany Prussian King Wilhelm Needs Help • Wanted to unify Germany but liberal Prussian parliament kept getting in the way • Appointed a Junker (conservative, wealthy land owner) named Otto von Bismarck as his prime minister – Bismarck suspended parliament • Told them ‘the great questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and majority decisions… but by blood and iron.’ • Used realpolitik to achieve unification of Germany – Using realism, not idealism, in political decisions Otto von Bismarck The King in Cinderella (No historical relevance other than I thought they look similar.) The War With Denmark • Bismarck knew Prussia needed lands from Austria in order to unify Germany – Bismarck made an alliance with Austria in 1864 and attacked Denmark – Prussia & Austria quickly defeated Denmark and took land from them • Austria took Holstein & Prussia took Schleswig – Bismarck knew this would lead Prussia and Austria into a border conflict The War With Austria • Bismarck purposely stirred up border conflicts between Prussia and Austria – Upset, Austria declared war on Prussia in 1866 • Prussia quickly won the Seven Weeks War – Austria lost all their German lands – Prussia took control of the Northern German lands • Bismarck quickly normalized relations with Austria Franco- Prussian War • Bismarck set out to isolate France – Prussia had signed a peace treaty with Russia in 1863 – Bismarck got a pledge from Britain to remain neutral if France and Prussia went to war • Bismarck alters a 1870 telegram (Ems Dispatch) from the Prussian King Wilhelm I to Napoleon III – Make it look like Wilhelm insulted Napoleon – French people were outraged and France declared war • Prussian troops overwhelmed the French – They surrendered after 4 months The German Empire • The southern German states unified with Prussia after the Franco-Prussian War • The German Empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles in 1871 – Wilhelm I was crowned Kaiser of The Second Reich • Germany and Britain were the two most powerful countries in the world • France lost Alsace and a part of Lorraine – Humiliated, France vowed revenge Bismarck Becomes Chancellor • Bismarck’s realpolitiks did not work as well on domestic affairs – Tried to oppress Catholics in the south • Pope told German Catholics to refuse to obey them • Bismarck eventually repealed anti-Catholic laws – Tried to eliminate the Socialists • Used an assassination attempt on the Kaiser to ban them in German politics • When that didn’t work he marginalized them by incorporating sickness, accident, and old age insurance into Germany William II Becomes Kaiser • William II was not as clever as Bismarck – A Militarist and a bully – Saw Bismarck not as a help but a threat • Forced Bismarck to resign in 1890 • Wanted a Hohenzollern, not Bismarck dynasty • Germany’s industry under William II was surpassing Great Britain – His statements to create a navy larger than Great Britain forced the British to seek alliances against the Germans The Decline of Austria Austria • Austria Before the Revolution of 1848 – Metternich’s main concern was containing the Austrian Empire’s nationalistic uprisings • Germans within the Empire wanted an independent Germany • Italians within the Empire wanted an independent Italy • Austria During the Revolution of 1848 – Hungarian nationalist liberal Louis Kossuth demanded more autonomy for Hungary • Austria gave in to some Hungarian demands – Metternich fled to England • Austria After the Revolution of 1848 – Austria was greatly weakened by nationalistic uprisings The Dual Monarchy: Austria-Hungary • Austria was weak after Prussia defeated them • Franz Joseph knew he had to give into Hungarian demands • In 1867 Augleich was enacted • Created a dual monarchy • Austria and Hungary • were two separate nations • Both ruled by the same person.