Unification of Italy 1858 – 1870

 

  • In the early 19th century, Italy was a collection of fragmented states, mostly controlled by the Austrian government and the catholic church
  • There were several liberal nationalist groups such as the Carbonic (common people) and the Young Italy Organization.  Both were fighting for Italian independence from Austrian rule.
  • Piedmont’s king, Victor Emmanuelle II, along with his prime minister Camillo Cavour would be responsible for engineering the unification of Italy
  • Since Piedmont was a liberal kingdom with a constitutional monarchy, both Britain and France would support the concept of Italian Unification.
  • By 1850 France had become a republic again under new leader Louis Napoleon, the nephew of The Napoleon.
  • France would offer military aid to Piedmont in order to help them liberate the Northern Italian states from Austrian rule.
  • Victories against Austria would result in several Italian states gaining their independence (Lombardy, Tuscany, Modena, Naples and Sicily)
  • In 1861, Italy was declared a kingdom with Victor Emmanuelle as the king.
  • The state of Venetia would not be joining the union until 1866 because of a deal with Louis Napoleon made with the new Austrian emperor, Franz Josef.
  • Finally by 1870, the city of Rome and the Papal States would be forced to join the kingdom of Italy.
  • Italy had been unified and would play an important role in future wars.
  • After the union was complete in 1870, a plebiscite was held to legitimize its nationhood.  It passed easily.

 

Unification of Germany 1864 – 1871

 

  • The German state of  Prussia under Kaiser Wilhelm I, along with his prime minister, Otto von  Bismark, would be responsible for the unification of Germany
  • To unite the German states under Prussia’s rule, Bismark would convince the Kaiser to go to war with three countries:
    1. Denmark – 1864 – this was a short war resulting in two southern provinces of Demark  Schleswig and Holstein joined with Prussia; Bismark asked the Austrians for help to defeat these twp regions, pretending to be friends
    2. Austria – 1866 – Bismark decided to backstab Austria and attack by surprise.  To make sure he would be successful he asks Italy for help to sandwich Austria between Prussia and Italy.  Austria was defeated and Italy was rewarded with Venetia in 1866.
    3. France – 1870 – Bismark wanted to crush France and eliminate any opportunity for Louis Napoleon to lay claim to German territory around the Rhine River.  France was defeated by January 1871.  On January 21, 1871, Kaiser Wilhelm of Prussia became Emperor of Germany after a ceremony in the Palace of Versailles.  France would lose two provinces, Alsace and Lorraine to the new Germany.  Bismark would set up a complicated system of alliances in an attempt to keep Germany secure:

a.  League of Three Emperors (1872) – a public treaty between Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany

b.  Dual Alliance (1879) – a secret treaty between Germany and Austria-Hungary

c. Triple Alliance (1882)  - a secret alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy

d. Reinsurance Treaty (1887) – a secret alliance between Germany and Russia

 

Otto von Bismark used Nationalism to create a powerful Germany which intimidated many European countries.