Unit 6: Nation states and empires in Europe I

UNIT 6 – NATION STATES AND EMPIRES IN EUROPE

UNIT 6

NATIONSTATES ANDNATIONSTATES ANDEMPIRES IN EUROPEEMPIRES IN EUROPE

1. THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA

Even before Napoleon's final defeat, representatives of the European powers gathered in Vienna to

negotiate a full and definitive settlement of the peace of Europe. The Congress of Vienna, as the peace

conference became known, met from September 1814 to June 1815. Leaders were convened by emperor

Francis I and his foreign minister Prince Metternich. They had a clear idea: they wanted to restore the Old

Regime. Metternich opposed the ideals of French Revolution. Under his influence, three principles emerged

to guide the decisions of the Congress:

1. Compensation for the victors.

2. Restauration of the balance power in order to ensure peace.

3. Legitimacy: restoring the governments that had ruled Europe before Napoleon and French

Revolution.

Other leaders at the Congress agreed with Metternich's goals, specially Czar Alexander I of Russia.

Other representatives were: King Frederick William III of Prussia and Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, a French

representative. All these representatives supported a return to the Old Regime, all of them excluding Great

Britain's representative.

Ilustración 1: Europe during Napoleon's empire


They started restoring Europe. In May 1814 the victors had stripped France of its conquest and

restored its 1792 boundaries. Now they added territory to nations bordering France.

- The Netherlands received Belgium.

- Prussia gained territory along the

Rhine River to prevent a French

expansion there.

- German states were organized in a

German Confederation and Switzerlanad

became an independent confederation

and declared itself forever neutral.

- Portugal, Spain, Sardinia and Two

Sicilies' kings were restored to their

thrones.

- Austria received the Italian provinces

of Lombardy, Venetia, Illyria and the

Tirol.

However, they had many problems

over Polish territory, specially between Czar Alexander and the Prussia's king. Finally, they agreed with

Talleyrand, who proposed that Russia received part of Poland and the rest of it went to Prussia.

The Congress of Vienna was a success because the great powers established arragements to enforce

the terms of the Congress on a continuing basis. In September 1815, Csar Alexander invited the rulers of

Austria and Prussia to join him in the Holly Alliance, because they were the “Crhistian princes”. Most

European countries joining the Holy Alliance which meant the alliance could commit European rulers to help

another put down internal rebellion and revolution. They also decided to meet regularly to mantain peace

and discuss common interests: to combat the spread of revolutionary ideas and mantain peace through

European cooperation.

2. THE OUTBREAK REVOLUTION

While Metternich and the other continental rulers tried to return to the days before the French

Revolution, liberals began to react. Liberals had been inspired by the ideals of the Revolution and the

Declaration of the Rights of Man. Liberals demanded reforms and many movements swept across other parts

of Europe such as a revolt in Spain in 1820.

- 1820 REVOLUTIONARY WAVES

Metternich saw the European revolts as an emergency: he clamped down on the universities, accusing

them of creating revolutionaries. He also called the German Confederation to adopt the Carlsbard Decrees,

which prohibited any political reforms, stablished censorship and formed a secret police. European leaders

created the Congress Troppau in 1820. Despite British objections, Austria, Prussia and Russia agreed to send

military intervention to support governments against internal revolutions. This army was sent to Naples and

later entered to Spain, in 1823.

Ilustración 2: Europe after The Congress of Vienna


Nevertheless, the first real failure of Metternich's system ocurred in 1821, when liberals, inspired by

French Revolution' ideals and liberlism, revolted against of Ottoman sultan. First the Holy Alliance refused

help Greeks because Turkish sultan was a legitimate ruler, but finally, by 1830 Europeans (Great Britain,

France and Russia) helped the Greeks to become an independent state.

- 1830 REVOLUTIONARY WAVES.

Greek independence sparked another series of revolutions in Europe: in 1830 revolution broke out

once again in Paris where liberals overthrew the reactionary Bourbon monarch, king Charles X, and replaced

him with the more moderate Louis Philippe, duke of Orléans.

Soon, revolution started in Brussels: revolutionaries demanded independence from the Dutch in

December in 1830. After brief fighting, and considerable diplomacy, the European powers recognized

Belgium's independence.

In Germany the Paris revolt caused great excitement among many intellectuals and students. In

southern Europe, both Spain and Portugal, emerged as constitutional monarchies. In Italy, liberal and

nationalist revolutionaries in Italy, who had already organized in secret societies, also rose in rebellion. They

were once again put down by Austrian troops, however.

Perhaps the bloodiest uprising took place in Poland, where Polish nationalist and liberals had also

organized secret societies to fight Russian domination.

- 1848 REVOLUTIONARY WAVES

In 1848, revolution once again broke out across Europe. In central and eastern Europe nationalism was

the primary cause, and in western Europe, the industrialization and its problems still continued and middle

and working class called for political participation. Socialists joined liberals in calling for change.

Once again, the spark for revolution came from France, when radical reformers called for overthrow

of the monarchy and the establishment of a new republic. When the king Louis Philippe called out the army to

keep order, violence soon followed. Louis Philippe abdicated and France established a republic; the revolution

spread to the rest of Europe and even Metternich himself was forced to resign.

Like the revolutions of 1830, those of 1848 also failed in the end. Liberals had little sympathy por

socialist demands and often preferred to support the conservatives rather than accept more radical change.

3. UNIFICATION IN ITALY AND GERMANY

3.1. THE GROWTH OF ITALIAN NATIONALISM: THE ITALIAN UNIFICATION

Since the fall of the Roman Empire, the Italian Peninsula had been divided into a number of competing

states, each with its own government, dialect, economy and customs. Napoleon and his invading army had

united many of the Italian states into the kingdom of Italy. The Congress of Vienna, however, left Italy divided

once again. After Austria took over Lombardy and Venetia, Italian nationalism grew in opposition to Austrian

rule.

Along 19th century, many thinkers and writers revived interest in their rich cultural traditions and they

started to call for Italians to join together and liberate Italy from foreign rule. This nationalistic movement

became known as the resurgimento, or “resurgence”. Nationalist formed secret societies to promote their


cause, such as the Carbonari or “charcoal-burners”, for example, plotted to overthrow the Austrians. For

example, the Young Italy movement, launched in 1831 by Giussepe Mazzini could be sentenced to death if

caught.

Many Italian states opposed unification because they did not want to give up their power to one

central government. As liberal revolution spread throughout Europe in 1848, Italian nationalists led rebellions

of their own: first in Lombardy, later in Sardinia, the kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and Tuscany to grant

constitutions. Revolutionary movements soon failed because Austrian troops stopped it; revolution only

succeeded only in Sardinia.

Despite the failure of the revolts of 1848, Italian patriots continued to work for a unified nation. They

could not agree on how to achieve unity, however. Many Italians wanted a federation of states headed by the

pope. Most liberals wanted a republic and others wanted a constitutional monarchy under king Victor

Emmanuel II of Sardinia.

CAVOUR AND SARDINIA. One of the main architecs of Italian

unification was Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, the prime minister of Sardinia.

Initially he did not support the unification, but he was resented for the Austrian

occupation of Italy. Cavour believed in a political resurrection of a nation, and

also he believed in a economic resurrection. Cavour worked to improve the

economy by funding railroad construction, encouraging industrialization and

negotiating free-trade agreements.

Cavour also reorganized and strengthened the Sardinian army. By 1859

he had won a powerful ally against Austria. In return, Sardinia transferred

control of the provinces of Savory and Nice to France in 1860.

GARIBALDI AND THE RED SHIRTS. Italians consider Cavour the “brain”

of Italian unification, Mazzini its “heart” and Giuseppe Garibaldi, has been dubbed the “sword” of Italy.

Garibaldi had joined Mazzini's Young Italy movement in 1833. Cavour asked him, in 1859, to lead part of

Sardinian army in the war with Austria. Garibaldi accepted and finally, the Austrians agreed to give up

Lombardy, while keeping Venetia.

Garibaldi and his followers, known as the Red Shirts because of their coloful

uniforms, aided rebels fighting against Bourbon rule in Kingdom Two Sicilies,

practising “guerrilla” warfare against the Bourbon troops. By July 1860 the Red

Shirts controlled the island of Sicily. Then he marched over south with Sardinian

troops and conquer Naples, meanwhile Cavour had annexed the small kingdoms of

central Italy.

Garibaldi, finally offered the territories to King Victor Emmanuel II of

Sardinia. The new kingdom of Italy held elections in 1861. By those days the only

holdouts were Venetia, still belonged to Austria, and the Papal States. When war

broke out between Austria and Prussia in 1866, the Italians sided with the Prussians.

Austria was defeated, and Italy won Venetia. In 1870 Italian troops entered Rome, which completed the

unification.

Ilustración 3: Camillo Benso di Cavour

Ilustración 4: Garibaldi


3.2. THE GERMAN UNIFICATION

In the early 1800s, Germany was a patchwork of independent states, but after the Congress of Vienna

the German states were united into the German Confederation.

The first major step toward German unity after the Congress involved the economy. The Junkers

(aristocratic land-owners) asked the King of Prussia to abolish all tariffs within his territory. This economic

decision was known as the Zollverein. By 1844 the Zollverein included almost all of the German states.

The strongest calls for political unification came from liberalism. In 1848, when the Revolution swept

through Europe, German liberals also seized the opportunity to revolt against Metternich. Berliners set up

barricades, forcing the retreat of royal soldiers. King Frederick William gave into nationalist demands and

proclaimed the German unification. German unification was not accomplished by a revolution, but by the

policies of a king and his powerful chancellor, Bismarck.

Bismarck was the leader of conservatives. In 1862 William I, the new Prussian

king, appointed Bismarck as head of the Prussian cabinet. He started the

Realpolitik or “realiscti politics”, some policies based on Prussian interests

rather than on liberal ideals. He built the Prussian army into a great war

machine than would soon work for the unification. Bismarck wanted a unified

Germany around Prussia so he thought it was essential to drive Austria out of

its leadership position within the German Confederation. He planned two wars

to get these objectives: the Seven Weeks' War and the Franco-Prussian War.

Bismarck looked for Italy and France help in these wars against Austria. When

Prussia won against Austria, several northern states united with Prussia, and

only three southern states remained outside Prussian control. Bismarck

decided to annex those three southern states by provoking war with his recent

ally France in 1870. After Franco-Prussian War, France lost Alsace and part of


Lorraine and had to pay a huge indemnity. On January 18, 1871, representatives of the allied German states

met and they proclaimed King William I of Prussia kaiser, or emperor, of German Empire.

Education

Unit 6: Nation states and empires in Europe I