Realpolitik

1. Realpolitik Chapter 25-2

2. Italian Unification • Movement in Italy shifted from Mazzini to • King Victor Emmanuel of Sardinia-Piedmont • Supported by Prime Minister, Count Cavour • Supported by Garibaldi and Red Shirts

3. Count Cavour • King Victor Emmanuel’s Prime Minister 1852-61 • A moderate nationalist and aristocratic liberal • Edited Il Risorgimento, a newspaper arguing that Sardinia should be the foundation of a new, unified Italy

4. Cavour made Sardinia-Piedmont a liberal and economically viable state: • Modeled on the French Constitution of 1830: some civil liberties, parliamentary government with elections and parliamentary control of taxes • Reformed the Judicial system • Built up infrastructure (and employment) • Law on Convents : Secularized monastic land • Siccardi Law: decreased influence of th Church

5. The Pope’s Response • Same as his response to the French Falloux Law • Syllabus of Errors: 1864 warned against liberalism, rationalism, socialism and separation of Church and state, as well as religious liberty

6. Cavour • Had hoped to unify northern and central Italy • Will become much more • Joined Brits and French against Russia in 1855 during the Crimean War Sought favor from French

7. Plombieres 1859 • Cavour gained a promise from Napoleon III that France would support a Sardinian war with Austria for the creation of a northern Italian kingdom controlled by Sardinia • In return, France would gain Savoy and Nice • Austria was provoked and declared war on Sardinia in 1859

8. Italian Unification • 1859 Sardinia-Piedmont gained Lombardy but not Venetia as a result of the war • Napoleon III aided Sardinia briefly but feared internal divisions, Austria’s army, threat from Prussia • 1860 Cavour annexed Parma, Modena, Romagna, and Tuscany • France got Nice and Savoy

9. In the Meantime… • Garibaldi liberated Southern Italy and Sicily with 1,000 Red Shirts in 1860 • Then, Garibaldi allowed his conquests to be absorbed into Sardinia-Piedmont • February 1861 Victor Emmanuel declared the King of Italy (all but Venice andRome)

10. Still Italy • 1866 Sardinia made an agreement with Bismarck during the Austro-Prussian War: • Sardinia agreed to open up a front against Austria in exchange for Venice • 1871 Rome was captured by Italian troops and became the capital • France had been defeated by Germany and could not protect the Pope’s holdings

11. The End of Italy • Politically unified BUT a big social and cultural gap • The North: Progressive and industrialized and Urban • The South: Stagnant and agrarian

12. German Unification • After Humiliation of Olmutz … • The Zollverein still a source of tension • Kleindeutsch Plan: A unified Germany without Austria

13. Otto von Bismarck • Led the drive for a Prussian-based unified Germany • Junker background • Obsessed with power • The Gap Theory: gained Bismarck favor with the King: If the King and the legislature came to a stalemate; the King should decide since he had granted the constitution

14. Bismarck continued • The Gap refers to the fact that the Constitution did not foresee this kind of problem • The Army crisis regarding reforms in the army created the stalemate • Said, “The great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches and resolutions- that was the blun der of 1848 and 1849- but by blood and iron.”

15. Bismarck continued • The government continued to collect taxes even though the parliament refused to approve the budget • Bismarck oversaw a number of reforms improving the Prussian military

16. 1863 Prussian-Danish War • Germany and Austria defeated Denmark and took control of Schleswig and Holstein • They were jointly administered by Austria and Prussia but many conflicts • Led to the Austro-Prussian War

17. 1866 The Austro-Prussian War • Or the German Civil War (7 weeks) • Bismarck prepared for war by first making negotiations with France, Italy and Russia for noninterference • Prussia had a superior military • Breech-loading rifles, use of RR’s for troops • Austria was given generous terms • Italy gained Venice for opening up a front for Prussia against Austria

18. 1867 The North German Confederation was established • President: King William I • Included all of the German states except: Baden, Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Saxony • Federal Constitution allowed each state its own local government

19. The North German Confederation • Parliament…Reichstag…bicameral: • Bundestag…lower house elected by universal male suffrage • Bundesrat…upper house. Representatives from each state • Above shared power equally

20. The North German Confederation continued • The government structure allowed Bismarck to circumvent the Middle class by appealing directly to the working classes (Like Napoleon III) • The Middle Class will be shut out of power and influence until WWI

21. 1870-1871 The Franco-Prussian War • Bismarck tried to provoke a war with France • The Ems Dispatch: A telegraph written by Bismarck giving his version of a meeting between the King and a French minister • Bismarck claimed that the French diplomat ws kicked out of Germany after he had asked the King not to interfere with the Spanish succession

22. Franco-Prussian War • In fact, William I was agreeable and did not throw the French diplomat out • Bismarck’s Plan: to further unify Germany and to annex Alsace-Lorraine • The Ems Dispatch was an insult to France and they declared war

23. Franco-Prussian War continued • Bismarck used the war to bring the four remaining German states into the North German Confederation • France was easily defeated. Shocked many • 1871 Napoleon III captured • Paris fell • Decisive battles: Metz and Sedan

24. Treaty of Frankfurt • Alsace and Lorraine were ceded to Germany • King William I became Emperor of Germany • Called Kaiser Wilhelm • Bismarck now the Imperial Chancellor • Government structure remained but the Parliament had little real power • The government became a conservative autocracy with nobility allied with the king

25. The Austro-Hungarian Empire • Earlier defeat (Austro-Prussian War) forced Austria to deal with its ethnic groups • Czechs and Hungarians continued with demands of autonomy at the very least • Austria’s defeat weakened its control at home

26. Ausgleich (Compromise) • Official creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (dual monarchy) • Hungarians had their own assemble, cabinet, and administrative system • But would support and participate with Austria in the Imperial army and in the Imperial Government

27. Different Ethnic Groups = no integration • Language in government and shcools was a divisive issue • Bohemia a real problem (Czech or German?) • Conservatives and socialists tried to make it work by stressing economic concerns • Unsuccessful • 1907 Universal male suffrage

28. Anti-Semitism in Austria-Hungary • Jewish population in Austrian cities grew rapidly after Austria gave Jews full legal equality in 1867 • By 1900 10% of the population • Jewish population successful in : banking, trade, the arts, intellectual community and science (Freud) • German extremists charged Jews with controlling the economy and corrupting German culture with alien ideas and modern art

29. Magyar Rule in Hungary • 1867 Magyar nobility revived the constitution of 1848 and used it to dominate Magyar peasants and minority groups • Only the wealthiest 25% of pop could vote • Croatians and Romanians in particular resented laws enforcing the use of Magyar language in schools • After 1871 Austro-Hungarian Empire much weakened