The Age of Nationalism

1. The Age of Nationalism 1850-1914

2. Questions • Why did nationalism become in one way or another an almost universal faith in Europe and in the US between 1850 and 1914? • How did nationalism evolve so that it appealed not only to the middle class liberals but also to the broad masses of society?

3. France • The 2nd republic- Louis Napoleon elected president in December 1848 • Had a good name • Middle-class and peasant owners feared the socialist challenge of urban workers • Louis had an effective program planned: Napoleonic Ideas and The Elimination of Poverty • He believed that the government should represent the people • Elected to a 4 year term but wanted to run again • National Assembly would not change the constitution for him to run so he conspired with key leaders and seized power in a coup d’etat • The people supported him • 92% voted to make him president for 10 years • A year later 97% made him hereditary emperor

4. Emperor Napoleon III • Great success with the economy • Banks, railroad, industrial revolution • Limited but did not disband the assembly • Wanted to gain influence an territory for France • Problems in Italy and the growing strength of Prussia brought him trouble from Catholics and nationalists at home • Middle class liberals denounced his rule • He was forced to grant more authority to the assembly to maintain a good image in the public eye

5. Italia • Prior to 1850, the Italians had never been united • Divided into rival city-states • Reorganized in 1815 • Lombardy and Venetia- Metternich’s Austria • Sardinia and Piedmont- Italian monarch • North-central Italy- Tuscany • Central Italy and Rome- Papacy • Naples and Sicily- the Bourbons • Three approaches to unification • Mazzini- centralized democratic republic • Fr. Gioberti- federation of existing states under the presidency of the pope • Vittorio Emanuele, king of Sardinia- retained a liberal constitution which granted parliamentary government

6. Italian Unification

7. Cavour and Garibaldi • Count Camillo di Cavour- dominant political figure in Sardinia who sought to unify north and central Italy as an expanded kingdom of Sardinia • Could not drive the Austrians out of Lombardy and Venetia so the count formed a secret alliance with Napoleon III • Cavour lured Austria into attacking Sardinia so that France would come to his aid • Napoleon defeated the Austrians but turned face against cavour granting him Lombardy only • Garibaldi led forces against the Austrians in the war and gained a name for himself • In 1860, with eh secret support of Cavour he led a guerilla army of 1000 Red Shirts that gained the support of Sicilian peasantry • They outsmarted the 20,000 men royal army, took Palermo and marched into the mainland, took Napoli and prepared to attack Rome • Cavour did not support this attack and sent his troops to stop garibaldi • Didn’t want war with France • Garibaldi and Vittorio Emmanuelle rode through Napoli with cheering crowds • By 1866 the kingdom of Italy included Venice and by 1870- Rome

8. Germany • After 1848 German states were at a stalemate • A new Germany excluding Austria was becoming a reality • The Italian uprising in 1859 made an impression on the German states • William I of Prussia became king in 1861 an wanted to double the military • The wealthy were heavily represented in the electoral system and wanted less military and wanted parliament to have ultimate authority • Military budget was denied • King William then called on Otto von Bismarck to head a new ministry and defy the parliament

9. Bismarck • “The most important figure in German history between Luther and Hitler” • Strong personality and a desire for power • “one must always have two irons in the fire.” • Became chief minister in 1862 and declared the government would rule without parliamentary consent • In 1864 a Danish king tried to bring provinces into a centralized Danish sate against the will of the German confederation so Prussia joined Austria in expelling the Danish king • Bismarck then forced Austria out of the northern provinces • After neutralizing France and Russia, Bismarck embark on the 7 week Austro-Prussian War • Austria lost no territory to Prussia but Venetia was ceded to Italia

10. German Unification

11. The Franco-Prussian War • 1870–71, conflict between France and Prussia that signaled the rise of German military power and imperialism. It was provoked by Otto von Bismarck (the Prussian chancellor) as part of his plan to create a unified German Empire. • Under pretense of securing the Spanish throne for a distant relative of Prussia's William I and Napoleon III • On Aug. 4, 1870, the Germans crossed the border into Alsace. They defeated the French at Wissembourg • The Germans began their march on Paris, and on Sept. 1 the attempt of Napoleon III and MacMahon to rescue Bazaine led to disaster at Sedan. The emperor and 100,000 of his men were captured • Napoleon was deposed, and a provisional government of national defense was formed under General Trochu, Léon Gambetta, and Jules Favre.

12. Franco Prussian War

13. Lasting Effects • Thiers was named chief of the executive power in France, and provision was made for the election of a French national assembly, which met at Bordeaux. The assembly accepted (Mar. 1) the preliminary peace agreement, which was formalized in the Treaty of Frankfurt (ratified May 21, 1871). • Alsace, except the Territory of Belfort, and a large part of Lorraine were ceded to Germany, which on Jan. 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles had been proclaimed an empire under William I. • Paris refused to disarm and to submit to the Thiers regime, and the Commune of Paris was formed. The French troops loyal to Thiers began the second siege of Paris (Apr.–May, 1871). After the cruel suppression of the commune, peace returned to France. • Third French Republic and the German Empire • Desire for revenge guided French policy for the following half-century. Prussian militarism had triumphed and laid the groundwork for German imperialistic ventures. The Papal States, no longer protected by Napoleon III, were annexed by Italy, which thus completed its unification. These and other effects were links in the chain of causes that set off World War I.