Italian Unification Research Paper

During these trying times in Europe, unification was only made possible because of great leaders. For Italy, those leaders were Giuseppe Mazzini, Cavour, and Giuseppe Garibaldi. Thanks to Cavour, Italy could unite with Napoleon III of France to drive Austria out of Italy’s northern provinces. Cavour sparked war in 1859 and then in 1860 Garibaldi lent his help by capturing Sicily in the south. After a successful victory

Despite the fact that Italy was unified, it wasn’t as nearly as strong as Germany was becoming. Bismarck joined both authoritarianism and nationalism to increase Prussia’s power. He was a very clever diplomat and used whatever means possible to work towards his goal. Bismarck’s Realpolitiks, the pursuing of realistic goals by any available method instead of the pursuit of an ideology. Bismarck never wanted to have enemies for long and hoped to pacify the Liberals with foreign policy achievement, notably the unification of Germany. He wanted to exclude Austria from the unification process. This led to the Austria-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. His plan was successful. Even with the fact south German states were reluctant to join in his unification because of strong religious and political traditions. After the overpowering of France in 1871 the southern states finally joined. This was the defeat the brought them together.

During the period of 1864 to 1871, Bismarck led Prussia into three significant wars. As said by G.A Craig in The Germans, 1991, the unified Germany was “created in 1871 by Bismarck’s diplomacy and Prussian military power.” The first of these wars was the war with Denmark over the provinces of Schleswig-Holstein in 1864. Prussia and Austria combined their military forces and won against the much weaker Denmark with considerable ease. This was a contributing factor in the second of the three wars, which was fought against Austria, as the two states

At this moment Bismarck saw his opportunity to trap Austria. Bismarck knew Austria will be forced to side with Prussia against the Danes because they wish to keep their appearance of superiority in the German Confederation and because neither Austria nor Prussia wished the other to appear more devoted to the German states (doc21). Otto von Bismarck was not concerned whether or not the Germans in Holstein were happy but only cared about the expansion of Prussian power and the seizure of Schleswig and Holstein by Prussia (doc20). Austria and Prussia were now allied together along with Saxony and Hanover in order liberate the twin duchies of Schleswig and Holstein from the Kingdom of Denmark (doc23). The joint forces of Austria and Prussia threatened war with the king of Denmark (doc24). King Christain IX of Denmark was unable to count on support of England, France nor Russia and is forced to abdicate, ending the Prussian-Danish War (doc 25). Ending the Prussian-Danish War, the Joint Austrian-Prussian Agreement was made. Of this agreement Prussia will occupy and administer Schleswig, Austria will occupy and administer Holstein, Austria will allow for a transportation and communication corridor through Holstein, for the purpose of serving Prussian troops in Schleswig, and Austria will allow for the construction of a Prussian naval base in Kiel which is located on the Baltic Sea coast of Holstein (doc26). By having a Prussian naval base in

“Under Prussian leadership, all the German states north of the Main River now formed the North German Confederation” (698). Bismarck had finally achieved his goal by unifying Germany, but he had the southern German states to get. In the Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck created another war by creating friction between Prussia and France through a telegram. During the war, North German Confederation supported France, while the southern German states helped Prussia. The war eventually led to the defeat of France and at the Battle of Sedan, they were able to capture Napoleon III.

Nationalism is a sense of pride one has towards their nation's achievements and the belief that the nation should be able to control the government, and each facet of manufacturing. After Napoleon’s exile to Elba, the Congress of Vienna tried to resolve the issues in Europe. Delegates from Austria, Britain, Prussia and Russia wanted a new Europe that left Germany and Italy as separate states. Strong nationalist groups led to the reuniting of Italy in 1861 and Germany in 1871. The resolution at the end of the Franco-Prussian war left France irritated at the loss of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. France was destined to recover this lost territory. Large areas of both Austria-Hungary and Serbia were home to opposing nationalist groups, but all had the same vision to have freedom from the states in which they lived. (Crocker, 2017).

As the main source of national identity, nationalism “makes [people] feel connected not only to one another but also to the homeland itself” (Jusdanis 28). In the case of the American founding, when the delegates from respective states met to construct a more perfect union, they did not identify themselves as Virginians or New Yorkers. Instead, they defined themselves as “we the people of the United States” as it appears in the Preamble to the US constitution. The shared interest in liberty and freedom as well as the attachment to the land of their fathers made it possible for the vast population of the thirteen states to think of itself as a unified body despite their internal ethnic and cultural divide. By identifying themselves as a member of certain group, people will form a society with certain shared value, which ultimately can become the political units for a democratic government. Nationalism is essential for creating a cohesive political community.

This was important to the idea of how to an establishment of the nation. Nationalism strove for the ideas of a shared history, language, and culture. Nationalism was best exemplified in Western Europe by Germany. However, with ethnically mixed groups like countries in Eastern Europe nationalism was not possible to form the base of a nation. Rather, it leads to events like the Boasian War in the 1990 's which witness an ethnic cleansing. The idea of ethnic cleanings roots a nation in the belief of nationalism as the base of formation of a nation. However, nationalism did not work in countries where ethnic diversification results from being part of an empire.

Following the Napoleonic Wars, there was a great amount of diplomatic instability within Europe, and in the Italian states there was a call to unify every state into one nation, Italy (text, 717). A leader of the unification movement, Camillo di Cavour (1810-1861) wanted to prevent chaotic revolutions to unite Italy, rather he wanted to unify the Italian states by promoting the economic developments of the Italian states (text, 717). Cavour was a prime minister of the Piedmont-Sardinia territory, he was a great leader who pushed for the advancement and increase of the region’s economic and military powers, which he believed would help promote a unified Italy (text, 717). Cavour’s territory had much to gain from a unified Italy including a larger amount of available labor, and also a

Nationalism ultimately lead to nations isolating each other and opposed the idea that countries could come together for forgiveness of their actions. Nationalism fought against peace and allowed anger to

All each side needed was an excuse or a reason to go to war with one another. Such a pretext seemed to present itself in a decision made by a third party, Spain. In 1869, the Spanish “parliament” offered the nephew of the King that appointed Otto von Bismarck, Prince Leopold, the Spanish throne. Bismarck saw this as the opportunity he needed in order to go to war with France because with Spain being the country that borders France on the Western side of Europe, there would be a Prussian Monarchy on either side of France. Although, at the request of France, Wilhelm I rescinded the decision to send his nephew to the Spanish throne. Bismarck was not pleased by the decision as he saw that as his opportunity to defeat France and unify the Germanic states into one full entity. France however took this modest victory to the head and soon demanded in 1870 that King Wilhelm I issue a document that renounce any and all future claims to the Spanish throne, stating as well that any attempt to do so would result

Finally, Spanish Sicily began to fall apart near the end of the Thirty Years War and in 1647 there was a revolt in Palermo. Spanish troops were sent in and a Cardinal named Trivulzio took the position of viceroy. In 1674 another revolt broke out in Messina, this time mainly led by the upper class who were trying to cling to their privileges. French troops were then sent by Louis XIV to stem the revolt and restore order. Fighting between the French and Spanish ensued and in the end France left the island around 1677.

According to the textbook,” the southern German states honored their military alliances with Prussia and joined the war effort against the French. (P. 668).” On September 2, 1870, The Prussia armies advanced into France and at Sedan, and that they captured the whole French army and Napoleon himself. Even when the second Empire of French collapsed, the war did not stop, the war kept on going. However, after a couple of months, Paris was capitulated. Paris was capitulated in January 28,1871. The Peace Treaty was officially signed in May. The France had to pay 5 billion Francs which is about 1 billion dollars, and the France had to give up the Provinces of Alsace to the German state. The French people weren’t pleased with this treaty. The

Austrian pre-dominance ceased, the German Confederation ended and Prussia took control of multiple states (Schleswig, Holstein, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau and Frankfurt). The new North German Confederation was formed (under Prussian “control”), incorporating all German states north of the River Main. With Austria at the helm, the German states had been at the mercy of the aggressive foreign policies of the French, Russian and Austrian empires. Under Prussia’s leadership, the German states could face the changes created by advanced industrialisation and form a new, stronger empire to assert European supremacy. In a shrewd tactical move, Bismarck convinced his king not to pursue Austrian territory for Prussia. This was true to Bismarck’s aim of preserving ‘two irons in the fire’ for the future. He reasoned that moderate treatment of his defeated rival would ensure Prussia’s continued ability to occupy her intermediate position between Austria and France. This made it possible for future alliance between Prussia and Austria, especially as Austria felt that Italy was more the aggressor than

During the 1850’s and 60’s, both Germany and Italy unified, and disrupted the old Balance of Power. Both unifications, came to be because of Chancellors, Count Cavour for Italy, and Otto Von Bismarck for Germany. Both men knew the neede other countries help, to unite. Italy first went to France, promising them land in central Italy, if they would help defeat the Austrians. France won two major battles, but Napoleon III thought the war was becoming too expensive, so he made a secret peace treaty with Austria. This meant Italy only won one of the territories they wanted. It wasn’t until Garibaldi, that Italy United. He lead a small band of soldiers known as the Red Shirts, who were know for the red shirts, and their guerrilla warfare tactics.