Unification of Italy and Germany
The spirit of nationalism led to the unifications of two of Europe’s largest ethnic and cultural populations- the Italians and Germans in the late nineteenth century. Both were masterminded by shrewd ministers of state- Cavour in Italy and Bismarck in Prussia.
Italy had a previous history of a unified nation. The Italians had a shared language, an ancient shared history of ruling the known world and a common culture. This made Italy a natural breeding ground for nationalism. After Napoleon’s defeat the Congress of Vienna divided Italy.
-The pope received his papal states.
- the king of Sardinia got back his kingdom of Sardinia and Piedmont
- the Spanish king got the Kingdom of the two Sicilies ( Naples and Sicily)
- Austria annexed Lombardy and Venetia
- small duchies in Northern and central Italy were ruled by Austrian princes.
Only the pope and the king of Sardinia were Italians.
The first movement towards attaining freedom from foreign rule was started by a secret society called Carbonari. Their revolts in 1821 and 1830 were brutally suppressed by Prince Metternich. The task of unification fell on three great giants of the movement – Mazzini, Count Cavour and Garibaldi. The first played the role of a prophet, the second of a statesman and the third of a brave soldier and patriot.
Mazzini wanted Italy to become a republic. He founded Young Italy and believed that young men of Italy could easily bring about the liberation of their motherland. He appealed to the youth through his speeches and writings and through the several branches of Young Italy established all over Italy.
King Victor Emmanuel II appointed Count Cavour as his Prime Minister in 1852. He believed that Piedmont and Sardinia were too small a power to strike a blow on Austria as Sardinia and piedmont had suffered a defeat at the hands of the Austrians in 1848. He was convinced that his kingdom could fight only if a foreign power helped her. So he concentrated on development in his state. He encouraged modern agriculture and rapid industrialization and followed the policy of free trade and reorganised the army.
In 1855 he decided that his state should join the Crimean War. The war was fought between France, Britain and Turkey on one side and Russia on the other. This way he would get the sympathy of France and Britain if he fought on their side. After the war he appealed to France and Italy to support the cause of Italian unification. Napoleon III ruler of France agreed to help Italy if attacked by Austria. In return France would get Nice and Savoy. Cavour provoked Austria who declared war in 1859. In the battles that followed Austria was defeated and Lombardy was liberated. The French army suddenly withdrew but Lombardy was given to Piedmont. This saw the people of Parma, Modena, Tuscany and Romagna rose against the Austrian rulers and merged with their states with Piedmont.
Garibaldi also known as the Sword of Italian Unification was a disciple of Mazzini. In 1859 he had helped Piedmont in her war against Austria. When Sicilians rose against their foreign ruler, Cavour urged Garibaldi to help the rebels. So commenced one of the most daring exploits of Garibaldi – the liberation of Sicily and Naples. He left for the island of Sicily with his followers called the Red Shirts. The Sicilians welcomed him and his 1150 Red Shirts and overthrew the Spanish Bourbon monarchy. Encouraged by his success, Garibaldi crossed the straits of Messina to liberate the people of Naples from Spanish rule. Garibaldi could have become a dictator of southern Italy but he proved to be a patriot par excellence. He surrendered all the territories he had conquered to King Vistor Emmanuel and refused all rewards.
In 1866, on the eve of the Austro Prussian War, Bismarck promised Venice to Italy if it fought against Austria. The Austrians were defeated by Prussia and Austria was forced to part with Venice to the Italians.
When the Franco-Prussian war broke out in 1870, Napoleon II was forced to withdraw French troops from Rome. With no French protection, the pope was forced to merge Rome with Italy thus all parts of Italy were liberated and united.
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The architects of Italian Unification: Cavour, Mazzini, Victor Emmanuel II and Garibaldi.
The Unification of Germany
Before the advent of Napoleon, Germany was a congery of more than two hundred petty and independent principalities each ruled by a prince. It was Napoleon who welded them as 39 states . It was his oppressive rule that gave rise to nationalist sentiments. The Congress of Vienna established a loose kind of confederation. The ruler of every German state was a sovereign in his territory and therefore opposed every move of the liberals to bring about unification of Germany. A few German states like Schleswig, Hanover and Holstein were governed by foreign kings and they were least expected to support national movements.
Before 1817 Prussia had a customs house in each district and they hampered the free flow of goods from one corner of the state to the other. In order to encourage free flow of goods, the Prussian government passed an act which introduced Tariff Reforms. These reforms converted Prussia into a free trade zone. To ensure other German states did the same, Prussia levied heavy transit duties on tariff goods coming from them. The other states agreed to join the Customs Union of Prussia. A few German states and Austria did not join this union. Thus, Prussia took a leading role in bringing about the economic union of German states in 1837. This economic union, Zollverein paved the way for political unity.
In 1848 the Germans rose in rebellion against their rulers. Th e liberals in the German states took a lead in holding elections and the Frankfurt Assembly met. The Frankfurt Assembly began to draw up a new constitution for the whole of Germany and offered the crown to the Prussian king, Frederick William IV. He turned down the offer as he was being offered constitutional monarchy and also because he feared the Austrian empire would declare war between his state and Austria. The Frankfurt failed to achieve its objective and the national movement was suppressed.
The last stage in the Unification of Germany began with the rise of Otto von Bismarck. He belonged to the landowning German aristocracy, the ‘Junkers’. He was a staunch conservative and believed in a strong and enlightened monarchy. He believed the Prussia’s greatness depended upon her military force. In his address to the Prussian Parliament he said, “ not by speeches and resolutions of the majorities are the great questions of the day to be decided, but by blood and iron”. Bismarck was convinced that Prussia alone could lead all German states and unification could be achieved only through war against the enemies of German unification. He realised that Austria was the principal enemy. He made strenuous efforts along with others to keep the armed forces well trained and well armed.
Prussia had always looked at Schleswig and Holstein as rightfully belonging to her. These were under the Danish king. He planned to involve Austria in a war with Denmark and after the war pick a quarrel with Austria over the share of the spoils. So he called upon Austria as the leader of the German confederation to join Prussia in sending a combined force against Denmark. In 1864, these combined forces defeated Denmark . it was agreed that Austria would administer Holstein and Prussia would administer Schleswig.
Bismarck began to make diplomatic preparations to isolate Austria if war broke out. Russia was friendly as Prussia had helped her to suppress the Poles who revolted in 1863. He offered compensation to Napoleon III of France , it it remained neutral in the event of a Austro-Prussian war. He offered Venetia to the Italian ruler for his military support. He wanted Italy to attack Austria from the south. He knew Britain would not take sides.
In 1866 , Austria declared war on Prussia as Prussia occupied Holstein and proposed the elimination of Austria from the German Confederation. Most of the German states supported Austria as it was the leader of the German Confederation. Austria was defeated and excluded from the German political system. Venetia was given to Italy. Prussia annexed Schleswig and Holstein, Hanover, Hesse Cassel, Nassau and Frankfurt. All the states north of the river Maine joined the North German Confederation lead by Prussia. The southern states wished to remain independent.
France was shaken by Prussia’s victory. Napoleon could not secure compensation for remaining neutral and his repeated claims were turned down by Bismarck. Prussia’s rise alarmed the French. Bismarck began making preparation for a likely war with France as that would fulfil his main objective – the annexation of the southern German states. These states were between France and North Germany and in the event of a war would be forced to join North German Confederation.
Bismarck secured the neutrality of Russia. Austria was friendly as Prussia had offered generous terms in the treaty signed at Prague after the Austro-Prussian war. Britain’s neutrality was taken for granted and France was isolated.
Reasons for the French Prussian war: the throne of Spain fell vacant and it was offered to Prince Leopold, a relative of the Prussian King. After he had rejected the offer, Bismarck forced him to accept. This provoked France and she demanded his rejection. France ordered her ambassador to see the Prussian king to get official confirmation and to secure an assurance that his relative would not offer himself as a candidate again. What transpired between the two was communicated to Bismarck through a telegram. Bismarck abridged to telegram to give the impression the ambassador had been insulted by the Prussian king. Humiliated, the French Emperor declared war. At this juncture Bismarck the French Emperor’s greed for others territories. The southern German states left with no option, joined the North German Confederation.
The Prussians defeated France after crossing its borders and then proceeded towards Paris . France signed a humiliating treaty at Frankfurt by which it ceded Alsace and part of Lorraine to Prussia, agreed to pay 2five billion francs as war indemnity and till the settlement was done. Prussian army would occupy her soil. . on January 18,1871 Wilhelm I of Prussia was officially crowned emperor of Germany and given the title of Kaiser. In a final insult to the French, the Germans held the ceremony at the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles.