Chapter

23

Nationalism Triumphs in Europe 1800–1914

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1 Building a German Nation

2 Strengthening Germany

3 Unifying Italy

4 Nationalism Threathens Old Empires

5 Russia: Reform and Reaction

Chapter Review and Assessment

Unification in Europe, 1873 Nationalist movements led to the creation of several new nations across Europe.

CHAPTER EVENTS GLOBAL EVENTS

SECTION 1 Building a German Nation

Reading Focus

What early changes promoted German unity?

How did Bismarck unify Germany?

What was the basic political organization of the new German empire?

Vocabulary

chancellor

Realpolitik

annex kaiser Reich

Taking Notes

Make a flowchart showing the key events that led to a united Germany. Print out this flowchart to help you get started. Add more boxes as needed.

Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor of Prussia, led the drive for German unity.

Setting the Scene

The Prussian legislators waited restlessly for Otto von Bismarck to speak.

They knew he wanted them to vote more money to build up the Prussian

army. Liberal members of the parliament, however, opposed the move. At

last, Bismarck rose and dismissed their concerns:

“Germany does not look to Prussia's liberalism, but to her

power…. The great questions of the day are not to be decided

by speeches and majority resolutions—that was the mistake of

1848 and 1849—but by blood and iron!”

—Otto von Bismarck, quoted in Modern and Contemporary European

History, 1815–1940 (Schapiro)

Bismarck delivered his “blood and iron” speech in 1862. It set the tone for

his policies in the years ahead. Bismarck was determined to build a strong,

unified German state, with Prussia at its head.

Steps Toward Unity

In the early 1800s, German-speaking people lived in a number of small and medium-sized states as well as in

Prussia and the Austrian Hapsburg empire. Napoleon's invasions unleashed new forces in these territories.

Impact of Napoleon Between 1807 and 1812, Napoleon made important territorial changes in German-

speaking lands. He annexed lands along the Rhine River for France. He dissolved the Holy Roman Empire

and organized a number of German states into the Rhine Confederation.

At first, some Germans welcomed the French emperor as a hero with enlightened, modern policies. He

encouraged freeing the serfs, made trade easier, and abolished laws against Jews. However, not all Germans

appreciated Napoleon and his changes. As people fought to free their lands from French rule, they began to

demand a unified German state.

Napoleon's defeat did not resolve the issue. At the Congress of Vienna, Metternich pointed out that a united

Germany would require dismantling the government of each German state. Instead, the peacemakers created

the German Confederation, a weak alliance headed by Austria.

Prussian Leadership In the 1830s, Prussia created an economic union called the Zollverein (tsawl fuh rīn). It

dismantled tariff barriers between many German states. Still, Germany remained politically fragmented.

In 1848, liberals meeting in the Frankfurt Assembly again demanded German political unity. They offered

the throne of a united German state to Frederick William IV of Prussia. The Prussian ruler, however, rejected

the notion of a throne offered by “the people.”

Bismarck and German Unity

Otto von Bismarck succeeded where others had failed. Bismarck came from Prussia's Junker (yung ker)

class, made up of conservative landowning nobles. Bismarck first served Prussia as a diplomat. In 1862,

King William I made him chancellor, or prime minister. Within a decade, the new chancellor had united the

German states under Prussian rule.

Master of Realpolitik Bismarck's success was due in part to his strong will. He was a master of Realpolitik, or

realistic politics based on the needs of the state. Power was more important than principles.

Although Bismarck was the architect of German unity, he was not really a German nationalist. His primary

loyalty was to the Hohenzollerns, the ruling dynasty of Prussia. Through unification, he hoped to bring more

power to the Hohenzollerns.

Strengthening the Army As chancellor, Bismarck moved first to build up the Prussian army. Despite his

“blood and iron” speech, the liberal legislature refused to vote funds for the military. In response, Bismarck

strengthened the army with money that had been collected for other purposes. He then was ready to pursue an

aggressive foreign policy.

In the next decade, Bismarck led Prussia into three wars. Each war increased Prussian power and paved the

way for German unity.

Wars With Denmark and Austria Bismarck's first maneuver was to form an alliance in 1864 with Austria. They

seized the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. Prussia and Austria “liberated” the two

provinces, which were largely inhabited by Germans, and divided up the spoils.

In 1866, Bismarck invented an excuse to attack Austria. The Austro-Prussian War lasted just seven weeks

and ended in a decisive Prussian victory. Prussia then annexed, or took control of, several other north German

states.

Bismarck dissolved the Austrian-led German Confederation and created a new confederation dominated by

Prussia. He allowed Austria and four other southern German states to remain independent. Bismarck's

motives, as always, were strictly practical. “We had to avoid leaving behind any desire for revenge,” he later

wrote.

The Franco-Prussian War In France, the Prussian victory over Austria worried Napoleon III. A growing

rivalry between the two nations led to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.

War and Power

In 1866, Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke analyzed the importance of Prussia's war against Austria:

The war of 1866 was entered on not because the existence

Germans recalled only too well the invasions of Napoleon I some 60 years earlier. Bismarck played up the

image of the French menace to spur German nationalism. For his part, Napoleon III did little to avoid war,

hoping to mask problems at home with military glory.

Bismarck furthered the crisis by rewriting and then releasing to the press a telegram that reported on a

meeting between King William I and the French ambassador. Bismarck's editing of the “Ems dispatch” made

it seem that William I had insulted the Frenchman. Furious, Napoleon III declared war on Prussia, as

Bismarck had hoped.

A superior Prussian force, supported by troops from other German states, smashed the badly organized and

poorly supplied French soldiers. Napoleon III, old and ill, surrendered within a few weeks. France had to

accept a humiliating peace.

The German Empire

Delighted by the victory over France, princes from the southern German

states and the North German Confederation persuaded William I of Prussia

to take the title kaiser (kī zer), or emperor. In January 1871, German

nationalists celebrated the birth of the Second Reich, or empire. They called

it that because they considered it heir to the Holy Roman Empire.

Coronation Of Kaiser William I

A constitution drafted by Bismarck set up a two-house legislature. The

Bundesrat, or upper house, was appointed by the rulers of the German

states. The Reichstag, or lower house, was elected by universal male

suffrage. Because the Bundesrat could veto any decisions of the Reichstag,

real power remained in the hands of the emperor and his chancellor.

of Prussia was threatened, nor was it caused by public opinion and the voice of the people; it was a struggle, long foreseen and calmly prepared for, recognized as a necessity by the Cabinet, not for territorial expansion, for an extension of our domain, or for material advantage, but for an ideal end—the establishment of power. Not a foot of land was exacted from Austria…. Its center of gravity lay out of Germany; Prussia's lay within it. Prussia felt itself called upon and strong enough to assume the leadership of the German races.

—Helmuth von Moltke, quoted in Readings in European History (Robinson)

Primary Sources Why,

according to von Moltke, did Prussia go to war against Austria?

SECTION 2 Strengthening Germany

Reading Focus

What marked Germany

as an industrial giant?

Why was Bismarck

called the Iron

Chancellor?

What policies did

Kaiser William II follow?

Vocabulary

Kulturkampf

social welfare

Taking Notes

Print out the diagram started here. As you read the section, add other causes that led to a strong German nation.

Germany increased its power by building up its industry and armed forces.

Setting the Scene

In January 1871, German princes gathered in the glittering Hall of Mirrors

at the French palace of Versailles. They had just defeated Napoleon III in

the Franco-Prussian War. The palace of Louis XIV seemed the perfect

place to proclaim the new German empire. To the winners as well as to the

losers, the symbolism was clear. French domination of Europe, dating from

the age of Louis XIV, had ended. Germany, headed by William I and his

chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, was now the dominant power in Europe.

The German Industrial Giant

In the aftermath of unification, the German empire emerged as the industrial giant of

the European continent. By the late 1800s, German chemical and electrical industries

were setting the standard worldwide. German shipping was second only to Britain's

among the European powers.

Economic Progress Germany, like Great Britain, possessed several of the factors that

made industrialization possible. Germany's spectacular growth was due in part to

ample iron and coal resources, the basic ingredients for industrial development. A

disciplined and educated work force also helped the economy, and a rapidly growing

population—from 41 million in 1871 to 67 million by 1914—provided a huge home

market along with a larger supply of industrial workers.

The new nation also benefited from earlier progress. During the 1850s and 1860s,

Germans had founded large companies and built many railroads. The house of Krupp

boomed after 1871. It became an enormous industrial complex that produced steel

and weapons for a world market. Between 1871 and 1914, the business tycoon

August Thyssen built a small steel factory of 70 workers into a giant empire with

50,000 employees.

Science, Government, and Industry German industrialists were the first to see the

value of applied science in developing new products such as synthetic chemicals and

dyes. They supported research and development in the universities and hired trained

scientists to solve technological problems in their factories.

The German government promoted economic development. After 1871, it issued a

single currency for Germany, reorganized the banking system, and coordinated

railroads built by the various German states. When a worldwide depression hit in the

late 1800s, Germany raised tariffs to protect home industries from foreign

competition. The leaders of the new German empire were determined to maintain

economic strength as well as military power.

The Iron Chancellor

As chancellor of the new German empire, Bismarck pursued several foreign-

policy goals. He wanted to keep France weak and isolated while building strong

links with Austria and Russia. He respected British naval power but did not seek

to compete in that arena. “Water rats,” he said, “do not fight with land rats.”

Later, however, he would take a more aggressive stand against Britain as the

two nations competed for colonies to expand their overseas empires.

On the domestic front, Bismarck applied the same ruthless methods he had used

to achieve unification. The Iron Chancellor, as he was called, sought to erase

local loyalties and crush all opposition to the imperial state. He targeted two

groups—the Catholic Church and the socialists. In his view, both posed a threat

to the new German state.

Campaign Against the Church After unification, Catholics made up about a third

of the German population. The Lutheran Bismarck distrusted Catholics—

especially the clergy—whose first loyalty, he believed, was to the pope instead

of to Germany.

In response to what he saw as the Catholic threat, Bismarck launched the

Kulturkampf, or “battle for civilization.” His goal was to make Catholics put

loyalty to the state above allegiance to the Church. The chancellor had laws

passed that gave the state the right to supervise Catholic education and approve

the appointment of priests. Other laws closed some religious orders, expelled

the Jesuits from Prussia, and made it compulsory for couples to be married by

civil authority.

Bismarck's moves against the Catholic Church backfired. The faithful rallied

behind the Church, and the Catholic Center party gained strength in the

Reichstag. A realist, Bismarck saw his mistake and worked to make peace with

the Church.

Campaign Against the Socialists Bismarck also saw a threat to the new German

empire in the growing power of socialism. By the late 1870s, German Marxists

had organized the Social Democratic party, which called for parliamentary

democracy and laws to improve conditions for the working class. Bismarck

feared that socialists would undermine the loyalty of German workers and turn

them toward revolution. He had laws passed that dissolved socialist groups, shut

down their newspapers, and banned their meetings. Once again, repression

backfired. Workers were unified in support of the socialist cause.

Otto von

Bismarck

1815–1898

Bismarck spent his early years on his father's country estate. He worked briefly as a civil servant, but found the work boring. At 24, Bismarck resigned his post as a bureaucrat. “My ambition strives more to command than to obey,” the independent-minded young man explained.

The resignation did not end his career in government. While he was a delegate to the Prussian assembly in 1847, his conservative views and passionate speeches in defense of government policies won him the support of the Prussian king. He was rewarded with appointment to the post of prime minister, a position he held for 28 years.

Theme: Impact of the IndividualWhat path did Bismarck take to win political power?

Bismarck then changed course. He set out to woo workers away from socialism

by sponsoring laws to protect them. Bismarck made it clear that Realpolitik

influenced social reform as well as foreign policy:

“Give the workingman the right to work as long as he is healthy,

assure him care when he is sick, and maintenance when he is old …

then the socialists will sing their siren songs in vain, and the

workingmen will cease to throng to their banner.”

—Otto von Bismarck, quoted in Economic Development of Europe (Ogg and

Sharp)

By the 1890s, Germans had health and accident insurance as well as

old-age insurance to provide retirement benefits. Thus, under Bismarck,

Germany was a pioneer in social reform. Its system of economic

safeguards became the model for other European nations.

Bismarck's plan was only partly successful. Although workers benefited from

his measures, they did not abandon socialism. In fact, the Social Democratic

party continued to grow in strength. By 1912, it had more seats in the Reichstag

than were held by any other party. Yet Bismarck's program showed that

conditions for workers could be improved without the upheaval of a revolution.

Later, Germany and other European nations would build on Bismarck's social

policies, greatly increasing government's role in providing for the needs of its

citizens.

Kaiser William II

In 1888, William II succeeded his grandfather as kaiser. The new emperor was

supremely confident of his abilities and wished to put his own stamp on Germany.

In 1890, he shocked Europe by asking the dominating Bismarck to resign. “There

is only one master in the Reich,” he said, “and that is I.”

William II seriously believed that his right to rule came from God. He expressed

this view when he said:

“My grandfather considered that the office of king was a task that God

had assigned to him…. That which he thought I also think…. Those

who wish to aid me in that task … I welcome with all my heart; those

who oppose me in this work I shall crush.”

—William II, quoted in Europe Since 1815 (Hazen)

Not surprisingly, William resisted efforts to introduce democratic reforms. At the

same time, his government provided services, from programs for social welfare, or

programs to help certain groups of people, to cheap transportation and electricity.

An excellent system of public schools, begun under Bismarck, taught students

obedience to the emperor along with reading, writing, and mathematics.

Like his grandfather, William II lavished funds on the German military machine,

already the most powerful in Europe. He also launched an ambitious campaign to

expand the German navy and win an overseas empire to rival those of Britain and

France. You will read in later chapters how William's nationalism and aggressive

militarism helped increase tensions on the eve of World War I.

SECTION 3 Unifying Italy

Reading Focus

What were the key obstacles to Italian unity?

What roles did Count Camillo Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi play in the struggle for Italy?

What challenges faced the new nation of Italy?

Vocabulary

anarchist

emigration

Taking Notes

As you read, make a timeline to show events from 1831 to 1871 in Italy. Print out the timeline shown here to help you get started.

During the 1800s, influential leaders helped to create a unified Italy.

Setting the Scene

At the Congress of Vienna, Italian nationalists hoped to end centuries of

foreign rule and achieve unity. To Metternich, the idea of a unified Italy

was laughable. Italy, he was convinced, was a mere “geographic

expression.”

Although the people of the Italian peninsula spoke the same language, they

had not experienced political unity since Roman times. By the early 1800s,

though, Italian patriots were determined to build a new, united Italy. As in

Germany, unification was brought about by the efforts of a strong state and

a shrewd, ruthless politician—Count Camillo Cavour.

Obstacles to Italian Unity

For centuries, Italy had been a battleground for ambitious foreign and local

princes. Frequent warfare and foreign rule had led people to identify with

local regions. The people of Florence considered themselves Tuscans,

those of Venice Venetians, the people of Naples Neapolitans, and so on.

But as in Germany, the invasions of Napoleon had sparked dreams of

national unity.

The Congress of Vienna, however, ignored the nationalists. At Vienna,

Austria took control of much of northern Italy, while Hapsburg monarchs

ruled various other Italian states. In the south, a French Bourbon ruler was

put in charge of Naples and Sicily.

In response, nationalists organized secret patriotic societies and focused

their efforts on expelling Austrian forces from northern Italy. Between

1820 and 1848, nationalist revolts exploded across the region. Each time,

Austria sent in troops to crush the rebels.

Mazzini's Young Italy In the 1830s, the nationalist leader Giuseppe Mazzini

founded Young Italy. The goal of this secret society was “to constitute

Italy, one, free, independent, republican nation.” In 1849, Mazzini helped

set up a revolutionary republic in Rome, but French forces soon toppled it.

Like many other nationalists, Mazzini spent much of his life in exile,

plotting and dreaming of a united Italy.

The Tide of Nationalism “Ideas grow quickly,” Mazzini once said, “when

watered by the blood of martyrs.” Although revolution had failed,

nationalist agitation had planted seeds for future harvests.

To nationalists like Mazzini, a united Italy made sense not only because of

geography, but also because of a common language and history.

Nationalists reminded Italians of the glories of ancient Rome and the

medieval papacy. To others, unity made practical economic sense. It would

end trade barriers among the Italian states and stimulate industry.

First Stirrings of Nationalism

After the failed revolution in northern Italy, many rebels came through Genoa, begging for funds to pay for safe passage to Spain. An impressionable Giuseppe Mazzini described his reaction to the situation:

“He held out a white handkerchief, merely saying, ‘For the refugees of Italy.’ My mother … dropped some money into the handkerchief…. That day was the first in which a confused idea presented itself to my mind—I will not say of country or of liberty—but an idea that we Italians could and ought to struggle for the liberty of our country…. The idea of an existing wrong on my own country, against which it was a duty to struggle, flashed before my mind on that day for the first time, never again to leave me.”

—Giuseppe Mazzini, Life and Writings

Primary Sources How did

the man's request influence Mazzini's thinking?

The Struggle for Italy

After 1848, leadership of the Risorgimento (ree sor jee mehn toh), or

Italian nationalist movement, passed to the kingdom of Sardinia. Its

constitutional monarch, Victor Emmanuel II, hoped to join other states to

his own, thereby increasing his power. *

Cavour In 1852, Victor Emmanuel made Count Camillo Cavour his prime

minister. Cavour came from a noble family but favored liberal goals. He

was a flexible, practical, crafty politician, willing to use almost any means

to achieve his goals. Like Bismarck in Prussia, Cavour was a monarchist

who believed in Realpolitik.

Once in office, Cavour moved first to reform Sardinia's economy. He

improved agriculture, had railroads built, and encouraged commerce by

supporting free trade. Cavour's long-term goal, however, was to end

Austrian power in Italy and annex its provinces of Lombardy and Venetia.

Intrigue With France In 1855, led by Cavour, Sardinia joined Britain and

France in the Crimean War against Russia. Sardinia did not win territory,

but it did have a voice at the peace conference. Sardinia also gained the

attention of Napoleon III.

In 1858, Cavour negotiated a secret deal with Napoleon, who promised to

aid Sardinia in case it faced a war with Austria. A year later, the shrewd

Cavour provoked that war. With help from France, Sardinia defeated

Austria and annexed Lombardy. Meanwhile, nationalist groups overthrew

Austrian-backed rulers in several other northern Italian states. These states

then joined with Sardinia.

Garibaldi's Red Shirts Next, attention shifted to the kingdom of the Two

Sicilies in southern Italy. There, Giuseppe Garibaldi, a longtime nationalist

and an ally of Mazzini, was ready for action. Like Mazzini, Garibaldi

wanted to create an Italian republic. He did not, however, hesitate to accept

aid from the monarchist Cavour. By 1860, Garibaldi had recruited a force

of 1,000 red-shirted volunteers. Cavour provided weapons and allowed two

ships to take Garibaldi and his “Red Shirts” south to Sicily.

With surprising speed, Garibaldi's forces won control of Sicily, crossed to

the mainland, and marched triumphantly north to Naples.

Unity at Last Garibaldi's success alarmed Cavour, who feared that the

nationalist hero would set up his own republic in the south. To prevent this,

Cavour urged Victor Emmanuel to send Sardinian troops to deal with

Garibaldi. Instead, the Sardinians overran the Papal States and linked up

with Garibaldi and his forces in Naples.

In a patriotic move, Garibaldi turned over Naples and Sicily to Victor

Emmanuel. Shortly afterward, southern Italy voted to approve the move,

and in 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was crowned king of Italy.

Two areas remained outside the new Italian nation: Rome and Venetia.

Cavour died in 1861, but his successors completed his dream. In a deal

negotiated with Bismarck, Italy acquired Venetia after the Austro-Prussian

War. Then, during the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, France was forced to

withdraw its troops from Rome. For the first time since the fall of the

Roman empire, Italy was a united land.

Challenges Facing the New Nation

Italy faced a host of problems. Like the many states Bismarck cemented

into the German empire, Italy had no tradition of unity. Few Italians felt

ties to the new nation. Strong regional rivalries left Italy unable to solve

critical national issues.

Divisions The greatest regional differences were between the north and the

south. The north was richer and had more cities than the south. For

centuries, northern Italian cities had flourished as centers of business and

culture. The south, on the other hand, was rural and poor. Its population

was booming, but illiterate peasants could wring only a meager existence

from the exhausted farmland.

Hostility between Italy and the Roman Catholic Church further divided the

nation. Popes bitterly resented the seizure of the Papal States and of Rome.

The government granted the papacy the small territory of the Vatican.

Popes, however, saw themselves as “prisoners” and urged Italian

Catholics—almost all Italians—not to cooperate with their new

government.

Turmoil Under Victor Emmanuel, Italy was a constitutional monarchy with

a two-house legislature. The king appointed members to the upper house,

which could veto bills passed by the lower house. Although the lower

house consisted of elected representatives, only a small number of men had

the right to vote.

In the late 1800s, unrest increased as radicals on the left struggled against a

conservative government. Socialists organized strikes while anarchists,

people who want to abolish all government, turned to sabotage and

violence. Slowly, the government extended suffrage to more men and

passed laws to improve social conditions. Still, the turmoil continued. To

distract attention from troubles at home, the government set out to win an

overseas empire.

Progress Despite its problems, Italy did develop economically, especially

after 1900. Although the nation lacked important natural resources such as

coal, industries did sprout up in northern regions. Industrialization, of

course, brought urbanization as peasants flocked to the cities to find jobs in

factories. As in other countries, reformers campaigned to improve

education and working conditions.

The population explosion of this period created tensions. One important

safety valve for many people was emigration, or movement away from

their homeland. Many Italians left for the United States, Canada, and Latin

American nations.

Vatican City

As Italian nationalists unified Italy, the Papal States lost their independence. Today, only one Papal State exists: Vatican City. Located in Rome, Vatican City is the world's smallest and least populated nation. At just over 108 acres, it is “just big enough to keep body and soul together,” noted Pope Pius XI. In 1929, the Italian government granted the pope control of Vatican City. This gave him political independence as head of the Catholic Church. Named a United Nations world heritage site, Vatican City houses St. Peter's Basilica, the Sistine Chapel, and other churches and museums.

Theme: Political and Social SystemsWhy do you think the government granted the pope control of Vatican City?

Looking Ahead

Although unification brought great challenges, it also brought increased

strength. By 1914, Italy was significantly better off than it had been in

1861. But it was hardly prepared for the great war that broke out in that

year and into which it was soon drawn.

SECTION 4 Nationalism Threatens Old Empires

Reading Focus

How did nationalism contribute to the decline of the Austrian empire?

What were the main characteristics of the Dual Monarchy?

How did the growth of nationalism affect the Balkans?

Taking Notes

Print out the table shown here. As you read this section, add information about the threats and changes that led to the decline of the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires.

Desires for national independence threatened to break up the Austrian and Ottoman empires.

Setting the Scene

The Hapsburgs had controlled the Holy Roman Empire for nearly 400

years when Napoleon invaded the German-speaking states. Austria's center

of power now lay in Eastern Europe. Further wars resulted in continued

loss of territory to Germany and Italy. Why did nationalism bring new

strength to some countries and weaken others?

In Eastern Europe, the Austrian Hapsburgs and the Ottoman Turks ruled

lands that included diverse ethnic groups. Nationalist feelings among these

subject people contributed to tensions building across Europe.

A Declining Empire

In 1800, the Hapsburgs were the oldest ruling house in Europe. In addition

to their homeland of Austria, over the centuries they had acquired the

territories of Bohemia and Hungary, as well as parts of Romania, Poland,

Ukraine, and northern Italy.

Challenge of Change Since the Congress of Vienna, the Austrian emperor

Francis I and Metternich, his foreign minister, had upheld conservative

goals against liberal forces. “Rule and change nothing,” the emperor told

his son. Under Francis and Metternich, newspapers could not even use the

word constitution, much less discuss this key demand of liberals. The

government also tried to limit industrial development, which would

threaten traditional ways of life.

Austria, however, could not hold back the changes that were engulfing the

rest of Europe. By the 1840s, factories were springing up. Soon, the

Hapsburgs found themselves facing the problems of industrial life that had

long been familiar in Britain—the growth of cities, worker discontent, and

the stirrings of socialism.

A Patchwork of People Equally disturbing to the old order were the urgent

demands of nationalists. The Hapsburgs presided over a multinational

empire. Of its 50 million people at mid-century, fewer than a quarter were

German-speaking Austrians. Almost half belonged to different Slavic

groups, including Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians, Romanians, Serbs,

Croats, and Slovenes. Often, rival groups shared the same region. The

empire also included large numbers of Hungarians and Italians.

The Hapsburgs ignored nationalist demands as long as they could.

“Peoples?” Francis I once exclaimed. “What does that mean? I know only

subjects.” As you have read, when nationalist revolts broke out across the

Hapsburg empire in 1848, the government crushed them.

Early Reforms Amid the turmoil, 18-year-old Francis Joseph inherited the

Hapsburg throne. He would rule until 1916, presiding over the empire

during its fading days into World War I.

An early challenge came when Austria suffered its humiliating defeat at

the hands of France and Sardinia in 1859. Francis Joseph realized he

needed to strengthen the empire at home. Accordingly, he made some

limited reforms. He granted a new constitution that set up a legislature.

This body, however, was dominated by German-speaking Austrians. The

reforms thus satisfied none of the other national groups that populated the

empire. The Hungarians, especially, were determined to settle for nothing

less than total self-government.

The Dual Monarchy

Austria's disastrous defeat in the 1866 war with Prussia brought renewed

pressure for change from Hungarians within the empire. One year later,

Francis Deák (deh ahk), a moderate Hungarian leader, helped work out a

compromise that created a new political power known as the Dual

Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.

Under the agreement, Austria and Hungary were separate states. Each had

its own constitution and parliament. Francis Joseph ruled both, as emperor

of Austria and king of Hungary. The two states also shared ministries of

finance, defense, and foreign affairs, but were independent of each other in

all other areas.

Parliament Building In Budapest

Although Hungarians welcomed the compromise, other subject peoples

resented it. Restlessness increased among various Slavic groups, especially

the Czechs in Bohemia. Some nationalist leaders called on Slavs to unite,

insisting that “only through liberty, equality, and fraternal solidarity” could

Slavic peoples fulfill their “great mission in the history of mankind.” By

the early 1900s, nationalist unrest often left the government paralyzed in

the face of pressing political and social problems.

Balkan Nationalism

Like the Hapsburgs, the Ottomans ruled a multinational empire. It

stretched from Eastern Europe and the Balkans to North Africa and the

Middle East. There, as in Austria, nationalist demands tore at the fabric of

the empire.

In the Balkans, Serbia had won autonomy in 1817, and southern Greece

won independence in the 1830s. But many Serbs and Greeks still lived in

the Balkans under Ottoman rule. The Ottoman empire was home to other

national groups, such as Bulgarians and Romanians. During the 1800s,

various subject peoples staged revolts against the Ottomans, hoping to set

up their own independent states.

Such nationalist stirrings became mixed up with the ambitions of the great

European powers. In the mid-1800s, Europeans came to see the Ottoman

empire as “the sick man of Europe.” Eagerly, they scrambled to divide up

Ottoman lands. Russia pushed south toward the Black Sea and Istanbul,

which Russians still called Constantinople. Austria-Hungary took control

of the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This action angered the Serbs,

who also had hoped to expand into that area. Meanwhile, Britain and

France set their sights on other Ottoman lands in the Middle East and

North Africa.

In the end, a complex web of competing interests contributed to a series of

crises and wars in the Balkans. Russia fought several wars against the

Ottomans. France and Britain sometimes joined the Russians and

sometimes the Ottomans. Germany supported Austrian authority over the

discontented national groups. But Germany also encouraged the Ottomans

because of their strategic location in the eastern Mediterranean. In

between, the subject peoples revolted and then fought among themselves.

By the early 1900s, observers were referring to the region as the “Balkan

powder keg.” The explosion that came in 1914 helped set off World War I.

SECTION 5 Russia: Reform and Reaction

Reading Focus

How did conditions in Russia affect progress?

Why did czars follow a cycle of absolutism, reform, and reaction?

How did the problems of industrialization contribute to the growing crisis and outbreak of revolution?

Vocabulary

colossus

emancipation

zemstvo pogrom Duma

Taking Notes

As you read this section, make an outline of the information. Use Roman numerals for the main headings. Use capital letters for the subheadings, and use numbers for the supporting details. Print out this outline that has been started for you.

Industrialization and reform came more slowly to Russia than to Western Europe.

Setting the Scene

Although serfdom had almost disappeared in Western Europe by the

1700s, it survived and spread in Russia. Masters exercised almost total

power over their serfs. In the 1800s, a noble who became a revolutionary

described the brutal treatment of serfs:

“I heard … stories of men and women torn from their families

and their villages, and sold, or lost in gambling, or exchanged

for a couple of hunting dogs, and then transported to some

remote part of Russia to create a [master's] new estate; … of

children taken from their parents and sold to cruel masters.”

—Peter Kropotkin, Memoirs of a Revolutionist

Reformers hoped to free Russia from autocratic rule, economic

backwardness, and social injustice. But efforts to modernize Russia had

little success, as czars imprisoned critics or sent them into icy exile in

Siberia.

Conditions in Russia

By 1815, Russia was not only the largest, most populous nation in Europe

but also a great world power. Since the 1600s, explorers had pushed the

Russian frontier eastward across Siberia to the Pacific. Peter the Great and

Catherine the Great had added lands on the Baltic and Black seas, and

czars in the 1800s had expanded into Central Asia. Russia had thus

acquired a huge multinational empire, part European and part Asian.

Other European nations looked on the Russian colossus, or giant, with a

mixture of wonder and misgiving. It had immense natural resources.

Russia's vast size gave it global interests and influence. But Western

Europeans disliked its autocratic government and feared its expansionist

aims.

Obstacles to Progress Despite efforts by Peter and Catherine to westernize

Russia, it remained economically undeveloped. By the 1800s, czars saw

the need to modernize but resisted reforms that would undermine their

absolute rule. While the czars wavered, Russia fell further behind Western

Europe in economic and social developments.

A great obstacle to progress was the rigid social structure. Landowning

nobles dominated society and rejected any change that would threaten their

privileges. The middle class was too small to have much influence. The

majority of Russians were serfs, laborers bound to the land and to masters

who controlled their fates.

Serfdom Most serfs were peasants. Others might be servants, artisans, or

soldiers forced into the czar's army. As industry expanded, some masters

sent serfs to work in factories but took much of their pay.

Many enlightened Russians knew that serfdom was inefficient. As long as

most people had to serve the whim of their masters, Russia's economy

would remain backward. Landowning nobles had no reason to improve

agriculture and took little interest in industry.

Russian Absolutism

For centuries, czars had ruled with absolute power, imposing their will on

their subjects. The changes brought about by the Enlightenment and the

French Revolution had almost no effect on Russian autocracy.

Alexander I When Alexander I inherited the throne in 1801, however, he

seemed open to liberal ideas. The new czar eased censorship and promoted

education. He even talked about freeing the serfs.

By the time Napoleon invaded Russia in 1812, Alexander had drawn back

from reform. Like earlier czars, he feared losing the support of nobles. At

the Congress of Vienna, he joined the conservative powers in opposing

liberal and nationalist impulses in Europe.

Revolt and Repression When Alexander I died in 1825, a group of army

officers led an uprising known as the Decembrist Revolt. They had picked

up liberal ideas while fighting Napoleon in Western Europe and now

demanded a constitution and other reforms. The new czar, Nicholas I,

suppressed the Decembrists and cracked down on all dissent.

Nicholas used police spies to hunt out critics. He banned books from

Western Europe that might spread liberal ideas. Only approved textbooks

were allowed in schools and universities. Many Russians with liberal or

revolutionary ideas were judged to be insane and shut up in mental

hospitals. Up to 150,000 others were exiled to Siberia.

Nicholas I and Absolutism To bolster his regime, Nicholas I embraced the

three pillars of Russian absolutism symbolized in the motto “Orthodoxy,

Autocracy, and Nationalism.” Orthodoxy referred to the strong ties

between the Russian Orthodox Church and the government. Autocracy was

the absolute power of the state. Nationalism involved respect for Russian

traditions and suppression of non-Russian groups within the empire.

Still, Nicholas realized that Russia needed to modernize. He issued a new

law code and made some economic reforms. He even tried to limit the

power of landowners over serfs. But he could see no way to change the

system completely without angering Russian nobles and weakening the

power of the czar. Before he died, he told his son, “I am handing you

command of the country in a poor state.”

Reforms of Alexander II

Alexander II came to the throne in 1855 during the Crimean War. The war

had broken out after Russia tried to seize Ottoman lands along the Danube.

Britain and France stepped in to help the Turks, invading the Crimean

peninsula that juts into the Black Sea. The war, which ended in a Russian

defeat, revealed the country's backwardness. It had only a few miles of

railroads, and the military bureaucracy was hopelessly inefficient. Many

felt that dramatic changes were needed.

Emancipation A widespread popular reaction followed. Liberals demanded

changes, and students demonstrated for reform. Pressed from all sides,

Alexander II finally agreed to reforms. In 1861, he issued a royal decree

that required emancipation, or freeing the serfs.

Freedom brought problems. Former serfs had to buy the land they had

worked for so long. Many were too poor to do so. Also, the lands allotted

to peasants were often too small to farm efficiently or to support a family.

As a result, peasants remained poor, and discontent festered.

Still, emancipation was a turning point. Many peasants moved to the cities,

taking jobs in factories and building Russian industries. Equally important,

freeing the serfs boosted the drive for further reform.

Other Reforms Along with emancipation, Alexander set up a system of

local government. Elected assemblies, called zemstvos, were made

responsible for matters such as road repair, schools, and agriculture. At the

local level, at least, Russians gained some experience of self-government.

The czar also introduced legal reforms based on ideas such as trial by jury.

He eased censorship and tried to reform the military. A soldier's term of

service was reduced from 25 years to 15, and brutal discipline was limited.

Alexander also encouraged the growth of industry in Russia, which still

relied almost entirely on agriculture.

A movement to liberate women also swept the urban centers of Russia.

Since they were denied education in Russia, hundreds of privileged young

women left their homes and families to study abroad in the few universities

that would accept them. Many came to support revolutionary goals.

Reaction to Change

Alexander's reforms failed to satisfy many Russians. Peasants had freedom

but not land. Liberals wanted a constitution and an elected legislature.

Radicals, who had adopted socialist ideas from the West, demanded even

more revolutionary changes. The czar, meantime, moved away from

reform and toward repression.

Revolutionary Currents In the 1870s, some socialists carried the message of

reform to the peasants. They went to live and work among the peasants,

sometimes preaching rebellion. These educated young men and women had

little success. The peasants scarcely understood them and sometimes turned

them over to the police.

The failure of this “Go to the People” movement, combined with renewed

government repression, sparked anger among radicals. Some turned to

terrorism. A revolutionary group calling itself the People's Will

assassinated officials and plotted to kill the czar. Their first attempts failed.

Then, on a cold March day in 1881, terrorists hurled two bombs at

Alexander's carriage. One struck down several guards. The second killed

the leader known to some as the “czar emancipator.”

Crackdown Alexander III responded to his father's assassination by

reviving the harsh methods of Nicholas I. To wipe out liberals and

revolutionaries, he increased the power of the secret police, restored strict

censorship, and exiled critics to Siberia. He relied on his adviser and

former tutor, Constantine Pobedonostsev (puh beh duh naws tsehv), who

rejected all talk of democracy and constitutional government as “the lies of

hollow and flabby people.”

The czar also launched a program of Russification aimed at suppressing the

cultures of non-Russian peoples within the empire. Alexander insisted on

one language, Russian, and one church, the Russian Orthodox Church.

Poles, Ukrainians, Finns, Armenians, and many others suffered

persecution. The Russification campaign also targeted Jews and Muslims

in the empire.

Persecution and Pogroms Russia had acquired a large Jewish population

when it carved up Poland and expanded into Ukraine. Under Alexander III,

persecution of Russian Jews increased. The czar limited the number of

Jews who were allowed to study in universities and practice professions

such as law and medicine. He revived old laws that forced Jews to live in

certain restricted areas.

Official persecution encouraged pogroms, or violent mob attacks on Jews.

Gangs beat and killed Jews and looted and burned their homes and stores.

The police did nothing to stop the violence. Faced with savage persecution,

many Jews escaped from Russia. They became refugees, or people who

flee their homeland to seek safety elsewhere. Large numbers of Russian

Jews went to the United States. Though they often faced prejudice and

great hardship there, they were safe from pogroms and official persecution.

Jewish immigrants sent joyful news back to Russia: “There is no czar in

America!”

Building Russian Industry

Under Alexander III and his son, Nicholas II, Russia finally entered the

industrial age. In the 1890s, Count Serge Witte, finance minister to

Nicholas, focused on economic development. Witte encouraged railroad

building to connect iron and coal mines with factories and to transport

goods across Russia. He secured foreign capital to invest in transportation

systems and industry. Loans from France helped build the Trans-Siberian

Railroad. Begun in the 1890s, it linked European Russia to the Pacific

Ocean.

The drive to industrialize increased political and social problems.

Government officials and business leaders applauded and encouraged

economic growth. Nobles and peasants opposed it, fearing the changes

brought by the new ways.

Industrialization also created new social ills as peasants flocked to cities to

work in factories. Instead of a better life, they found long hours and low

pay in dangerous conditions. In the slums around the factories, poverty,

disease, and discontent multiplied.

Russia's Long Iron Road

Beginning in the 1890s, Russian workers laid more than 5,000 miles of track to build the Trans-Siberian Railroad, the longest railroad in the world at that time. Siberia's harsh landscape and climate challenged workers. Iron, stone, hardwoods, and food had to be shipped thousands of miles to the crews.

In the chilling winters, many workers died from

Radicals sought supporters among the new industrial workers. At factory

gates, socialists handed out pamphlets that preached the revolutionary

ideas of Karl Marx. Among the revolutionaries of the 1890s was young

Vladimir Ulyanov, whose older brother had been executed for plotting to

kill Alexander III. Like many revolutionaries, Ulyanov used an alias, or

false name—Lenin. In 1917, Lenin would take power in a revolution that

transformed Russia.

hypothermia. With no safety devices, some fell to their deaths onto frozen rivers. To lay tracks in some areas, workers had to dynamite permanently frozen soil. These explosions often proved fatal, as did epidemics of bubonic plague, anthrax, and cholera.

Theme: Geography and History What geographic and climatic challenges did the railroad builders face in Siberia?

Turning Point: Crisis and Revolution

War broke out between Russia and Japan in 1904. Nicholas II called on his

people to fight for “the Faith, the Czar, and the Fatherland.” But despite

their efforts, the Russians suffered one humiliating defeat after another.

A Peaceful March News of the military disasters unleashed pent-up

discontent created by years of oppression. Protesters poured into the

streets. Workers went on strike with demands for shorter hours and better

wages. Liberals called for a constitution and reforms to overhaul the

inefficient, corrupt government.

As the crisis deepened, a young Orthodox priest, Father George Gapon,

organized a march for Sunday, January 22, 1905. Father Gapon felt certain

that the “Little Father,” as many Russians called the czar, would help his

people if only he understood their sufferings. The parade flowed through

the icy streets of St. Petersburg toward the czar's lavish Winter Palace.

Chanting prayers and singing hymns, workers carried holy icons and

pictures of the czar. They also brought a petition for justice and freedom,

which was addressed to Nicholas.

Bloody Sunday Fearing the marchers, the czar had fled the palace and

called in soldiers. As the people approached, they saw troops lined up

across the square. Suddenly, gunfire rang out. Men and women ran and

fell. More shots left hundreds dead or wounded in the snow.

A woman stumbling away from the scene of the massacre moaned: “The

czar has deserted us! They shot away the orthodox faith.” Indeed, the

slaughter marked a turning point for Russians. “Bloody Sunday” killed the

people's faith and trust in the czar.

The Revolution of 1905 In the months that followed Bloody Sunday,

discontent exploded across Russia. Strikes multiplied. In some cities,

workers took over local government. In the countryside, peasants revolted

and demanded land. Minority nationalities called for autonomy from

Russia. Terrorists targeted officials, and some assassins were cheered as

heroes by discontented Russians.

At last, the clamor grew so great that Nicholas was forced to announce

sweeping reforms. In the October Manifesto, he promised “freedom of

person, conscience, speech, assembly, and union.” He agreed to summon a

Peter

Stolypin

1862–1911

Violence surrounded Peter Stolypin, who was once described as “a tall stiff man

Duma, or elected national legislature. No law, he declared, would go into

effect without approval by the Duma.

Results of the Revolution The manifesto won over moderates, leaving

socialists isolated. These divisions helped the czar, who had no intention of

letting strikers, revolutionaries, and rebellious peasants challenge him.

In 1906, the first Duma met, but the czar quickly dissolved it when leaders

criticized the government. Nicholas then appointed a new prime minister,

Peter Stolypin (stuh lee pihn). Arrests, pogroms, and executions followed

as the conservative Stolypin sought to restore order.

Stolypin soon realized that Russia needed reform, not just repression. To

regain peasant support, he introduced moderate land reforms. He

strengthened the zemstvos and improved education. These reforms were

too limited to meet the broad needs of most Russians, and dissatisfaction

still simmered. Stolypin was assassinated in 1911. Several more Dumas

met during this period, but new voting laws made sure they were

conservative. By 1914, Russia was still an autocracy, simmering with

unrest.

with a dead white face and a dead white beard.” As governor and later prime minister, he used harsh measures to silence opposition. On his orders, trials of terrorists were held within 24 hours of arrest; executions were held immediately upon conviction. More than 1,000 suspected terrorists were executed in less than a year. The noose used to hang them came to be known as “Stolypin's necktie.”

Stolypin and his family were also the targets of violence. In 1907, his opponents bombed his house, killing many servants and severely injuring his children. Four years later, Stolypin himself was assassinated while attending the theater.

Theme: Impact of the IndividualHow did Stolypin deal with terrorism?