Achieving Nationalist Goals in Italy and Germany

Achieving Nationalist Goals in

Italy and Germany

After 1850, European political leaders became less interested in policies

shaped by idealism (liberalism and nationalism). Instead, they pursued

the interests of their states with coldly realistic considerations of power and

little regard for ideals or morality.

Camillo di Cavourfrom Piedmont-Sardinia

Otto von Bismarck from Prussia

Leaders of Italian and

German Unification Movements

Why did Cavour and Bismarck succeed in uniting their nations, whereas all attempts

before them had failed?

Kingdom of the 2 Sicilies, ruled by Ferdinand II, a Spanish Bourbon

Papal States, under temporal and spiritual control of Pope Pius IX

Lombardy & Venetia, the richest part of Italy, under Austrian control

Piedmont-Sardinia, ruled by Victor Emmanuel II, a king from the House of Savoy

Modena, Parma, & Tuscany, independent duchies

Uprisings in Naples suppressed, separatist Sicilians forced to reunite

Broken Promises of Constitutions: Papal States, Tuscany, Piedmont

Failure of Mazzini’s Roman Republic

Old Dukes of Modena, Parma, Tuscany restored by Austrian forces

Reasons for Failure:

1. lack of cooperation among revolutionaries

2. liberals insisted on constitutions in each state before unification; radicals disagreed

3. different ideas of unity:Mazzini -- a republicPope Pius IX -- a confederationCharles Albert -- a kingdom

4. lack of popular support

5. superiority of Austrian forces

Giuseppe Mazzini(1805-1872)

The Soul

. . . from The Duties of Man

“O my brothers, love your Country! Our country is our Home, the house that God has given us, placing therein a numerous family that loves us, and whom we love; Our country is our common workshop, whence the products of our activity are sent forth for the benefit of the whole world.”

• encouraged trade and industry

• expanded railway net in Piedmont

• promoted agricultural production

• joined Britain and France vs. Russia in the Crimean War

• secret agreement with Napoleon III at Plombières

The Brain

• Napoleon III pledged to support Cavour in any war vs. Austria, as long as Austria attacked first

• Napoleon accepted Piedmont’s right to annex Austria’s lands in northern Italy

• Napoleon agreed to the formation of an Italian confederation with Piedmont in control of the northern part of the peninsula

• In return, Cavour offered to give Napoleon Savoy and Nice (two ethnically French sections of Piedmont)

“The experience of recent years and previous centuries has proved how little Italy has benefitted from conspiracies, revolutions, and disorderly uprisings …. Now, gentlemen, I believe that the principal condition for the improvement of Italy’s fate, the condition that stands out above all others, is to lift up her reputation once more. . . . And for this two things are necessary: first, to prove to Europe that Italy has sufficient civic sense to govern herself freely and according to law, and that she is in a condition to adopt the very best forms of government; second, to prove that her military valor is as great as that of her ancestors.”

(From a speech to the Parliament of Piedmont, 1855)

• Cavour’s armies defeated Austrians in the summer of 1859, driving them from Lombardy.

• Meanwhile, in the Papal States and other parts of central Italy, revolts broke out as people aimed to overthrow their leaders and join Piedmont!

• Finally, Napoleon had second thoughts about supporting Italy, and allowed Cavour to take only Lombardy.

Garibaldi Returns! Leading a volunteer-army of Red Shirts, he marched up from the south, and kingdoms all along the way fell to his rebels.

Giuseppe Garibaldi(1807-1882)

The Sword

“Italians!—The Sicilians are fighting against the enemies of Italy, and for Italy. It is the duty of every Italian to succour them with words, money, and arms, and, above all, in person. . . . Listen not to the voice of cowards, but arm, and let us fight for our brethren, who will fight for us tomorrow. . . .

As Garibaldi’s armies approached Rome, Cavour

decided to take action to prevent him from further conquest.

Garibaldi gives in, and accepts Victor Emmanuel, Piedmont’s king, as ruler in 1860.

Historiography:

Traditional view: unification achieved through cooperation of Cavour & Garibaldi

Dennis Mack Smith: Italy unified despite the fact that Cavour and Garibaldi distrusted each other

Idealist view: a culmination of Risorgimento liberalism and nationalism

Fascist view: (same as above but no liberalism)

Marxist view: unification (and nationalism) was a way for the middle classes to gain power

King Victor Emmanuel II

proclaimed Constitutional King of Italy, March 1861

“[T]he national unity which is today attained will have, I hope, the effect of rendering less bitter the struggles of parties, the rivalry of which will have henceforth no other end than the development of the productive forces of the nation.”

Forces Uniting Germans: _____________________ reaction against Napoleon ______________________ traditions, customs, literature

Forces Dividing Germans: ___________________ ___________________ ________________________________

Prussia?! -

little popular involvement in politics, as the Diet had few true powers

-

Yeah, Prussia!! -

industry, banks, road/rail networks

-

A True Conservative . . .• • meant to preserve themonarchy•

German Chancellor 1862-1890

. . . in Liberal Nationalist Disguise!

• • courted the middle-class for success• •

Prussia’s King Wilhelm I desired military reform . . ..

Liberals in parliament said NO, so . . .

Wilhelm selected Bismarck as chancellor to break the deadlock. Bismarck sent Prussian bureaucratsto collect taxes ______________________, and the people willingly paid!

Franz von Lehnbach, Otto von Bismarck , oil on canvas, 1879German Historical Museum, Berlin

Bismarck’s"Iron and Blood"

speechSeptember 29, 1862

“Not by speeches and decisions of majorities will the greatest problems of the time be decided-that was the mistake of 1848-49-but by iron and blood.”

1863 supports Russia in putting down Polish Rebellion

1864

1865 Biarritz agreement with Napoleon III

1866

Prussia defeated Austria, annexing _____________, Hesse-Cassel, Hanover, Nassau, and Frankfurt

Proof of Prussian militarysuperiority

1866 : Bismarck admitted government fault in collecting

taxes illegally in return for retroactive Diet approval

Most southern German states had little interest in a merger with north Germany in the 1860s, so . . .

A Hohenzollern candidate for ______________? The ______________________ to Bismarck:

"Count Benedetti intercepted me on the promenade and ended by demanding of me in a very importunate manner that I should authorize him to telegraph at once that I bound myself in perpetuity never again to give my consent if the Hohenzollerns renewed their candidature. I rejected this demand _______________ as it is neither right nor possible to undertake engagements of this kind.”

Bismarck’s Edited, Press-Released Version of the Ems Telegram:

"After the news of the renunciation of the Prince von Hohenzollern had been communicated to the Imperial French government by the Royal Spanish government, the French Ambassador in Ems made a further _______

____________ the King that he should authorize him to telegraph to Paris that His Majesty the King undertook ______________________to give his assent should the Hohenzollerns once more take up their candidature. His Majesty the King thereupon refused to receive the Ambassador again and had the latter informed by the adjutant of the day that His Majesty had ___________

____________________ to make to the Ambassador."

French defeat at the Battle of Sedan• •( )

Creation of the German Empire, Jan. 1871• • ; constitution seen as a gift from the princes to the German people rather than a right of the people• Reichstag = ____________________but little true power• Bundesrat = ______________________

Treaty of Frankfurt, Feb. 1871• • national humiliation for France• • ceremonial entry to Paris by

Prussian army

Was Bismarck a genius diplomat, architect of a long-laid plan of German unification?

“What an extraordinary man Bismarck is! He meets me for the first time and tells me all he is going to do. He will attack Denmark in order to get possession of Schleswig-Holstein, he will put Austria out of the German confederation; and then he will attack France -- an extraordinary man!” (British PM Disraeli on a meeting with Bismarck in 1862)

Was Bismarck merely a master opportunist?

“By himself the individual can create nothing; he can wait [only] until he hears God’s footsteps resounding through events and then spring forward to grasp the hem of his mantle!” (Bismarck himself)

"Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable . . . the art of the next best."

"Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made."

"Better pointed bullets than pointed words."

"Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied."

"I am bored. The great things are done. The German Reich is made."

"A generation that has taken a beating is always followed by a generation that deals one."

"Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans." (Bismarck's prediction on what would trigger the next war)