GS Notes

1.3 - World History Notes 10

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Elaborate Notes

Italian Unification (Risorgimento)

The unification of Italy, known as the Risorgimento (Resurgence), was the political and social movement that consolidated different states of the Italian peninsula into the single state of the Kingdom of Italy in the 19th century.

Historical Context and Pre-Unification Italy:

  • Legacy of Rome and the Renaissance: Italy was the heart of the Roman Empire and the birthplace of the Renaissance, creating a powerful, albeit fragmented, sense of shared cultural and historical identity. Thinkers from Dante to Machiavelli had dreamt of a united peninsula.
  • A “Geographical Expression”: Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich famously dismissed Italy as a mere “geographical expression.” The peninsula was politically fragmented into:
    1. Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont: Ruled by the native House of Savoy. The only independent Italian state with a liberal constitution.
    2. Lombardy and Venetia: Controlled directly by the Austrian Empire.
    3. Central Duchies: Tuscany, Parma, and Modena, ruled by Austrian-backed Hapsburg monarchs.
    4. Papal States: Ruled by the Pope, protected by French troops.
    5. Kingdom of the Two Sicilies: (Naples and Sicily) ruled by the Bourbon dynasty, linked to Spain.

Factors Catalyzing Unification:

  1. The French Revolution and Napoleon: The revolutionary ideals of ‘Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity’ spread to Italy. Napoleon’s invasions (1796-1815) shattered the old feudal order. He consolidated numerous states into larger entities like the Kingdom of Italy and introduced modern administrative and legal systems (Napoleonic Code), fostering a sense of administrative unity and awakening nationalist aspirations.
  2. The Congress of Vienna (1815): The reactionary decisions of the Congress, which restored Austrian dominance and the old rulers, created widespread resentment among Italian liberals and nationalists, providing a clear common enemy.
  3. Secret Societies and Early Revolts: In response to repression, secret societies emerged. The most famous was the Carbonari (charcoal burners), a network of revolutionary cells. They initiated unsuccessful revolts in Naples (1820) and Piedmont (1821), which were crushed by Austrian intervention. Their failure highlighted the need for more organized leadership and mass support.
  4. The Risorgimento Movement and Key Figures:
    • Giuseppe Mazzini (The Soul): An idealistic patriot and philosopher, Mazzini believed in a popular, democratic revolution to create a unified, republican Italy. In 1831, he founded the secret society “Young Italy” (La Giovine Italia), which aimed to educate the Italian people about their nationhood. His motto was “God and the People.” Although his revolutionary attempts (e.g., the Roman Republic of 1849) failed, his writings and unwavering idealism inspired a generation of nationalists, including Garibaldi. As historian Denis Mack Smith argues in Mazzini (1994), his primary contribution was ideological, making the idea of a united Italy a moral and political imperative.
    • Revolutions of 1848: Inspired by the revolution in France, uprisings erupted across Italy. Charles Albert, King of Sardinia-Piedmont, declared war on Austria (First Italian War of Independence) but was decisively defeated at the Battle of Novara (1849). This failure demonstrated that Italy could not defeat Austria without foreign assistance and that leadership would have to come from the strong, constitutional monarchy of Sardinia-Piedmont. Charles Albert abdicated in favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel II.
    • Count Camillo di Cavour (The Brain): Appointed Prime Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont in 1852, Cavour was a pragmatic statesman and a master of Realpolitik. He believed unification must be led from above by Sardinia. He focused on modernizing Piedmont’s economy, building railways, and strengthening its army. His diplomatic goal was to win an alliance with a major European power to oust Austria.
    • Giuseppe Garibaldi (The Sword): A charismatic military leader and a disciple of Mazzini, Garibaldi was the popular hero of the Risorgimento. He led numerous volunteer armies, most famously his “Redshirts”, and was instrumental in the conquest of Southern Italy.

The Stages of Unification:

  1. First Stage (1859) - War with Austria:

    • Cavour skillfully brought Sardinia-Piedmont into the Crimean War (1853-56) on the side of Britain and France. This earned him a place at the Congress of Paris (1856), where he publicized the “Italian question” and denounced Austrian tyranny.
    • He secured a secret alliance with Napoleon III of France at the Treaty of Plombières (1858). France pledged military support against Austria in exchange for the Sardinian territories of Nice and Savoy.
    • Cavour provoked Austria into declaring war in 1859 (Second Italian War of Independence). The combined Franco-Sardinian forces won key victories at Magenta and Solferino.
    • However, Napoleon III, fearing a powerful Italian state and facing pressure from French Catholics, abruptly signed a separate armistice with Austria at Villafranca. Sardinia only gained Lombardy.

  2. Second Stage (1860) - Annexation of Central Italy:

    • Inspired by the war, nationalist uprisings overthrew the rulers of Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and the Papal state of Romagna.
    • Cavour, with British diplomatic support, organized plebiscites (public votes) in these regions, which overwhelmingly voted to join the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont.

  3. Third Stage (1860-61) - Garibaldi and the South:

    • In May 1860, Garibaldi and his “Expedition of the Thousand” Redshirts sailed to Sicily and conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies with remarkable speed, aided by popular peasant revolts.
    • Cavour, fearing Garibaldi would establish a radical republic in the south or attack Rome (which would provoke a French intervention), sent the Sardinian army south.
    • At the historic meeting at Teano, Garibaldi, a true patriot, handed over his conquests to King Victor Emmanuel II. Plebiscites confirmed the merger of the south with the north.
    • In March 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was officially proclaimed, with Victor Emmanuel II as its king.

  4. Fourth Stage (1866) - Annexation of Venetia:

    • Italy allied with Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War (1866).
    • Despite poor performance by the Italian army, Prussia’s overwhelming victory at the Battle of Sadowa forced Austria to cede Venetia to Italy, as per the Treaty of Vienna (1866).

  5. Fifth Stage (1870) - Annexation of Rome:

    • Rome remained under the Pope’s control, protected by a French garrison.
    • During the Franco-Prussian War (1870), Napoleon III withdrew his troops from Rome to fight Prussia.
    • Italian forces entered Rome in September 1870. A final plebiscite confirmed its annexation, and in 1871, Rome became the capital of a fully unified Italy.

German Unification

The unification of Germany was primarily a process of political consolidation under the leadership of the Kingdom of Prussia, culminating in the proclamation of the German Empire in 1871.

Historical Context and Pre-Unification Germany:

  • A “Linguistic Expression”: Unlike Italy, Germany’s shared identity was primarily linguistic and cultural, rather than rooted in a single ancient political entity. Politically, the area was a patchwork of states. The medieval Holy Roman Empire was a loose confederation, dissolved by Napoleon in 1806.
  • The German Confederation (1815): The Congress of Vienna created the German Confederation, a league of 39 states dominated by Austria. This arrangement was designed to be weak and preserve the balance of power, frustrating nationalist ambitions.
  • The Three Archenemies:
    1. Austria: As president of the Confederation, it actively suppressed German nationalism to protect its multi-ethnic empire and its dominance in German affairs.
    2. France: Traditionally sought to keep Germany divided and weak to ensure its own security and influence along the Rhine.
    3. Denmark: Controlled the German-speaking duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.

Factors Catalyzing Unification:

  1. The French Revolution and Napoleon: As in Italy, Napoleon’s actions had a dual impact.
    • Positive: He abolished over 300 petty states and the Holy Roman Empire, creating the Confederation of the Rhine (a grouping of 16 states). This simplified the political map. He also introduced liberal reforms and the Napoleonic Code.
    • Negative: His domination and exploitation of German lands ignited a powerful wave of nationalist resistance, exemplified by the “War of Liberation” (1813-14) and the writings of philosophers like Johann Gottlieb Fichte in his Addresses to the German Nation (1808).
  2. Economic Unification: The Zollverein:
    • Initiated by Prussia in 1818 and formally established in 1834, the Zollverein was a customs union that removed tariffs among member German states.
    • By the 1840s, it included most German states except Austria. This created economic integration under Prussian leadership and demonstrated the benefits of unity. Historian W.O. Henderson called it the “mighty lever” of unification.
  3. Rise of Prussian Power: After 1815, Prussia gained the industrially rich Rhineland, giving it immense economic and military potential. Its government was efficient, its army disciplined, and its leadership ambitious under the Hohenzollern Dynasty.
  4. Intellectual and Cultural Nationalism (Romanticism): Thinkers like Hegel and historians like von Ranke emphasized the unique destiny of the German state. Romantic writers like the Brothers Grimm collected German folk tales, fostering a shared cultural identity.
  5. Failure of Liberal Nationalism (1848): The Frankfurt Parliament of 1848, a liberal assembly, attempted to unify Germany under a constitutional monarchy. It failed when King Frederick William IV of Prussia refused to accept a crown “from the gutter.” This failure proved that unification would not be achieved through liberal, parliamentary means, but through the authoritarian power of a state—Prussia.
  6. Otto von Bismarck and Realpolitik:
    • Appointed Prime Minister of Prussia in 1862 by King William I, Bismarck was the architect of German unification.
    • A master of Realpolitik (politics based on practical objectives rather than ideology), he famously declared that the great questions of the day would be decided not by “speeches and majority decisions… but by blood and iron.” His goal was to unify Germany under Prussian domination, excluding Austria.

The Three Stages of Unification (Bismarck’s Wars):

  1. First Stage (1864) - The Danish War:

    • Issue: The succession crisis in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.
    • Action: Bismarck shrewdly formed an alliance with his rival, Austria, to defeat Denmark.
    • Outcome (Treaty of Vienna, 1864): Prussia took administration of Schleswig, while Austria was given the German-speaking Holstein, which was landlocked within Prussian territory. This was a deliberate trap, making future conflict with Austria almost inevitable.

  2. Second Stage (1866) - The Austro-Prussian War (Seven Weeks’ War):

    • Diplomatic Preparation: Bismarck masterfully isolated Austria. He promised Venetia to Italy for its alliance, secured Russian neutrality by aiding Russia against a Polish revolt, and played on Napoleon III’s ambitions to ensure French neutrality.
    • Action: Using a dispute over the administration of Holstein as a pretext, Prussia declared war. The highly efficient Prussian army, equipped with the superior needle-gun and using railways for rapid mobilization, crushed the Austrians at the Battle of Sadowa (or Königgrätz).
    • Outcome (Treaty of Prague, 1866): The treaty was lenient on Austria to avoid future enmity. Austria was simply excluded from German affairs. The German Confederation was dissolved, and Prussia annexed several northern German states to form the powerful North German Confederation.

  3. Third Stage (1870-71) - The Franco-Prussian War:

    • Goal: To provoke a war with France to rally the independent southern German states (like Bavaria and Württemberg), who were Catholic and suspicious of Protestant Prussia, to the nationalist cause. Bismarck believed a war with France “lay in the logic of history.”
    • Provocation: The opportunity arose with the Spanish throne succession crisis. Bismarck manipulated a telegram describing a meeting between the Prussian King and the French ambassador, the Ems Dispatch, making it appear as if both sides had insulted each other. This enraged public opinion in both France and Germany.
    • Action: France, feeling its honor was at stake, declared war. As Bismarck had calculated, the southern German states joined Prussia out of patriotic fervor. The German armies decisively defeated the French at the Battle of Sedan (1870), capturing Emperor Napoleon III.
    • Outcome (Treaty of Frankfurt, 1871): The treaty was deliberately humiliating for France. It was forced to cede the iron-rich provinces of Alsace and Lorraine and pay a massive war indemnity.
    • Proclamation of the German Empire: On January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles (the historical heart of French monarchy), William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor (Kaiser). This act cemented the unification and sowed the seeds of French revenge.

Post-Unification: Bismarck’s Foreign Policy and the Path to World War I

  • Maintaining the New Order: After 1871, Bismarck’s primary goal was to preserve the newly-created German Empire and maintain peace in Europe. His foreign policy was based on “quarantining France” to prevent it from finding allies for a war of revenge.
  • The Alliance System:
    • League of the Three Emperors (1873): An alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia to maintain the conservative order. It was weakened by Austro-Russian rivalry in the Balkans.
    • Triple Alliance (1882): When the League faltered, Bismarck formed a stronger military alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. He cleverly pushed Italy into the alliance by supporting French claims in Tunisia, which Italy also coveted.
  • The Shift after Bismarck: After Bismarck was dismissed by the new Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1890, Germany abandoned his cautious policy for an aggressive and expansionist Weltpolitik (world policy). This alarmed other powers.
  • Formation of the Triple Entente:
    1. Franco-Russian Alliance (1894): France, no longer isolated, allied with Russia.
    2. Entente Cordiale (1904): Britain, alarmed by Germany’s naval buildup, settled its colonial disputes with France.
    3. Anglo-Russian Convention (1907): Britain and Russia resolved their differences, leading to the formation of the Triple Entente between France, Russia, and Great Britain.
  • Europe was now divided into two hostile armed camps—the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente—a rigid structure that made a large-scale conflict highly probable.

Prelims Pointers

  • Risorgimento: The 19th-century movement for Italian unification.
  • Carbonari: An Italian secret society of coal miners; an early nationalist organization.
  • Young Italy: Secret society founded by Giuseppe Mazzini in 1831 for a united, republican Italy.
  • Giuseppe Mazzini: Known as the “Soul” of Italian Unification.
  • Count Cavour: Prime Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont; the “Brain” of unification.
  • Giuseppe Garibaldi: Leader of the “Redshirts”; the “Sword” of unification.
  • Victor Emmanuel II: King of Sardinia-Piedmont, became the first King of a united Italy.
  • Treaty of Plombières (1858): Secret alliance between Cavour’s Sardinia and Napoleon III’s France against Austria.
  • Battle of Sadowa (Königgrätz) (1866): Decisive Prussian victory over Austria, leading to Prussia’s dominance in Germany and Italy’s acquisition of Venetia.
  • Zollverein (1834): A German customs union led by Prussia that created economic unity.
  • Carlsbad Decrees (1819): Issued by Metternich to suppress nationalist activities in German universities.
  • Otto von Bismarck: Prime Minister of Prussia, later Chancellor of Germany. Pursued a policy of “Blood and Iron.”
  • Hohenzollern Dynasty: The ruling house of Prussia.
  • Three Wars of German Unification:
    1. Danish War (1864)
    2. Austro-Prussian War (1866)
    3. Franco-Prussian War (1870-71)
  • Ems Dispatch (1870): A telegram edited by Bismarck to provoke France into war.
  • Battle of Sedan (1870): Decisive German victory over France; capture of Napoleon III.
  • Treaty of Frankfurt (1871): Ended the Franco-Prussian War; France ceded Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.
  • Hall of Mirrors, Versailles: Site where the German Empire was proclaimed in 1871.
  • League of the Three Emperors (1873): Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia.
  • Triple Alliance (1882): Military alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy.
  • Triple Entente (1907): Alliance of France, Russia, and Great Britain.

Mains Insights

Comparative Analysis: Italian vs. German Unification

  1. Nature of Nationalism:

    • Italy: Often described as a “reality,” Italian nationalism drew from a deep-rooted, shared cultural heritage (Roman Empire, Renaissance). It had a strong popular and romantic element, driven by figures like Mazzini and Garibaldi.
    • Germany: Described as “sheer romance” (in the sense of being constructed), German nationalism was more political and intellectual, forged in opposition to Napoleon and consolidated through economic integration (Zollverein) and Prussian military might.

  2. Leadership and Ideology:

    • Italy: Unification was a product of diverse forces: Cavour’s pragmatic monarchism, Mazzini’s republican idealism, and Garibaldi’s popular militarism. Cavour, a liberal, used plebiscites to legitimize annexations, showing a semblance of democratic process.
    • Germany: Unification was a “revolution from above,” almost single-handedly engineered by the authoritarian and conservative Bismarck. He disdained liberalism and parliaments, relying exclusively on diplomacy and military force (“Blood and Iron”).

  3. Role of the Leading State:

    • Sardinia-Piedmont: Was relatively weak and required foreign assistance (France) to challenge a major power like Austria. Cavour’s policy was the “Italianization of Italy.”
    • Prussia: Was a major European military and industrial power in its own right. It did not need foreign help to defeat its enemies; rather, it used diplomacy to isolate them. Bismarck’s policy was the “Prussianization of Germany,” ensuring Prussia’s dominance in the new empire.

  4. Nature of the Final State:

    • Italy: Emerged as a constitutional monarchy but was plagued by deep divisions, notably the economic and cultural gap between the industrial North and the impoverished, agrarian South (Mezzogiorno), and conflict with the Papacy (the “Roman Question”).
    • Germany: Emerged as an immensely powerful, authoritarian, and militaristic federal empire. Prussian dominance was enshrined in the constitution, and the army held a special, prestigious status, influencing the political culture of the new nation.

Historiographical Debates:

  • Bismarck: Master Planner or Opportunist? Historians debate whether Bismarck had a long-term master plan for unification or was a brilliant diplomat who skillfully exploited opportunities as they arose. The latter view, argued by historians like A.J.P. Taylor in Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), is more widely accepted.
  • “Prussianization of Germany” and its Consequences: The debate centers on whether unification was the creation of a new German identity or simply the expansion of Prussian power and its authoritarian culture. This “Prussianization” is often cited as a key factor in Germany’s aggressive foreign policy leading up to World War I, as the state was built on military victory and the glorification of force rather than liberal consensus.

Cause-Effect Relationships (Path to World War I):

  • The Unification of Germany fundamentally altered the European balance of power. It created a new, powerful, and dynamic state in the center of the continent, replacing the previously fragmented and weak German lands.
  • The harsh terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871), especially the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, created a deep-seated French desire for revenge (revanchisme). This made a future Franco-German conflict almost inevitable and became the central antagonism in European diplomacy.
  • Bismarck’s post-1871 alliance system, designed to preserve peace by isolating France, ironically created the rigid bloc system that led to war. His complex web of treaties was too dependent on his genius. His successors’ inability to manage it, coupled with Kaiser Wilhelm II’s aggressive Weltpolitik, led to the formation of a rival bloc (Triple Entente), creating a powder keg in Europe.
  • The defeat and exclusion of Austria from both Italy and Germany pushed its imperial ambitions southeast into the Balkans. This brought Austria-Hungary into direct conflict with Russia’s expansionist goals in the same region, creating the “Balkan Tinderbox” that would ultimately ignite World War I.

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