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I’m going to talk about the unification of Germany and Italy and how these two places went about unification and how that affected Europe. Also, I’m going to compare and contrast the effects that these two places unifying had on Europe. Before the French revolution both Italy and Germany were divided into many states, Germany was divided way more than Italy with more than three hundred states which had to have been harder to unite. Many people don’t know about the unification of Germany and Italy occurred or know that Germany had to do many things to achieve unification and ultimately start a war and use other wars to work towards the goal of unification. Now looking at Italy in 1866 Italy signed a pact with Prussia promising support if Prussia went to war with Austria. Prussia promised to get Venetia for Italy. Eventually several months later, war between Prussia and Austria did happen. Austria was defeated by Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War. In the peace settlement, Prussia awarded Italy with Venice and the other surrounding territories. They made Florence the capital of Italy. Wherefore Germany went to war three times to achieve unification. The World Book encyclopedia says that for hundreds of years Germany lived in separate states, one of the most powerful was the kingdom of Prussia. During the late 1800’s, Otto Con Bismarck, the prime minister of Prussia, united most of these states and cities under Prussian leadership. After Bismarck, German leaders tried
In a letter to an Italian friend, Napoleon wrote, “I do not wish to see Italy united. I want only independence. Unity would bring danger to me…” (Doc 11). Despite all of the bitter resentment, Cavour was pleasantly surprised when the northern and central states of Italy called for a fusion, and he returned to power in 1860 (McKay et al
The Establishment of Revolutionary Changes in Germany After World War One In 1918 people in Germany were shattered by the unexpected defeat of the First World War. As the war ended the German emperor, the Kaiser, abdicated and early in 1919 Germanys politicians drew up what has often been described as the most democratic constitution in the world. The revolutionary changes after the war were vast.
When traveling in Italy, one would hardly guess the fragmentation that Italy had been previously associated with not 150 years prior. What were specific events that could have shifted Italian Identity that led to the unification of Italy in 1870? General Population: For or Against Unification of
After being separated since the fall of the Roman Empire and acting as only “a geographic expression,” Italy finally underwent the process of unification and succeeded in 1870. For hundreds of years, Italy was ruled under city-states, therefore the peninsula was unable to form a unified nation. However, through several political leaders, such as Giuseppe Mazzini and Camillo Cavour, helped manifest the Italian unification process to success in the 19th century. As Italy struggled for unity and national identity in the period circa 1830-1870, contrasting viewpoints emerged on what type of government should rule over the peninsula, with options such as a republic, papacy, or not unifying at all.
The Italian Unification was a political and social movement where the different states of the Italian peninsula were to combine into a single Italy. The Italian Unification occurred close in time to the German Unification, which occurred only one year later. The Unification of Italy was a widely controversial topic discussed by many italian citizens and leaders during the 19th century. Many people destined for Italy to be unified as one country, a country that they considered to be stronger overall when compared to the individual countries, and would also create a new national identity and rid Italy of civil problems, like wars and revolutions that were occurring at the time. Others despised the ideas of Italian Unification, jumping ahead
It has been said by several historians that the second half of the nineteenth century was the ‘Age of Bismarck.’ In the mid 1800’s Bismarck provided dynamic leadership- a trait which had been lacking during the events of 1848-89. Ian Mitchell stated “Bismarck was everywhere.” However, there has been a considerable degree of debate concerning the role of Bismarck in the unification of Germany. Some argue that unification would have been inevitable and had nothing to do with Bismarck, although others argue that the unification was solely down to Bismarck’s role. There are differing opinions on whether Bismarck was a planner or an opportunist or whether he was merely just
World War II plays a very important part in the history of the world. It still has effects that we deal with today. So, what events could have possibly started such a monumental world war? Well, the events are: World War I, Great Depression, expansion of imperialism, Versailles Treaty, and the rise of Germany. This was a dangerous chain reaction of events that lead to the devastating effects of the war.
When Napoleon was sentenced to exile in Elba, The Congress of Vienna was held. The Congress of Vienna was supposed to sort out all of Europe’s problems in a nonviolent way. Countries from all over Europe sent their delegates to represent them. The big countries were Britain, France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. Their delegates decided on a new Europe, a Europe that left both Italy and Germany divided into states. In 1861 Italy was unified, as well as Germany in 1871 due to strong nationalist movements. France lost the Alsace-Lorraine to Germany which had a lot of natural resources in the Franco-Prussian war and were now eager to take it back. In Sebria and Austria-Hungary lived large areas of differing nationalist groups, all enthusiastic to become free from the states in which they lived.
Bismarck was the man who did the most to unify Germany. It was clear that unification was one of his major objective which he announced in his famous ‘Blood and Iron speech’. I was fascinated by how he managed to unify the so many divided states. Thus, my historical investigation examines the question, to what extent was the Franco-Prussian war Bismarck’s final step to unify Germany? To assess whether the Franco-Prussian war was Bismarck’s final step for unifying the loose net of 39 German states or not, the investigation analyses the previous steps made by Bismarck to unify Germany. It investigates the events between 1962, when Bismarck became Minister president of Prussia and 1971, when Germany became officially unified. The events analyzed are the Danish war, The Prussian Austrian war and the Franco Prussian war.
Whoever ignores this love of the individual regions of Italy will always build on sand.” (DOC 2) People believed the diverse social classes and power would not make for a unified country. Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, a politician from Piedmont-Sardinia, said, “Active power resides almost exclusively in the middle class and part of the upper class, both of which have ultraconservative interests to defend.” (DOC 4) Daniele Manin, a politician from Venice, wrote, “Peoples who have different origins and customs should not be forced together, because otherwise civil war will follow the war of independence.” (DOC 6) People against unification felt that bringing the diverse states together would cause more problems and do more harm than good. There were obvious pros and cons to the unification if Italy, but some civilians were on the fence.
Jens George Reich stated, “People imagine the reunification will be the answer to all their dreams.” While reunification marked the official end of communism within Germany, in reality problems were arising from the processes that were unexpected by the people of Germany. The reunification was implemented ineffectively by incompetent management amidst unfavourable economic and social circumstances which resulted in political, economic and social consequences as problems associated with the East far outweighed the advantages that could be provided by the West. Indeed, German citizens dreamed that the West could provide a degree of peace and economic stability that would reinforce a cohesive German identity.
Between 1815, the end of the Napoleonic Wars, and 1850 the German states experienced a growth of nationalism and the desire for unity. The obstacles to German unification were religious divisions, rulers’ fear of losing power, and the opposition from Austria. The tension and rivalry that existed between the two largest German states intensified and the existing religious divisions and made the possibility of unification more difficult.
By 1871 both the kingdom of Italy and the empire of Germany were united. Even though both countries used popular trends to that time, both liberalism and nationalism, the process unifying these two countries was very different. The end result was Germany emerging as a strong nation and Italy appropriately, the weaker.
war with a unique goal for its conclusion as his main goal was not to
Germany became a unified country in 1871 under the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The separate states up until this time were independent, Prussia being the strongest and most influential, followed by Austria. There are several contributing factors to the unification of Germany, the most influential of which being the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The three wars that Prussia fought with Denmark, Austria and France also played significant roles in the unification of the German states. Another factor to consider is the increase in support of nationalism around Western Europe at the time, and the changes in German society. Through an evaluation of these factors and relevant sources one can