4 min read•june 18, 2024
Jillian Holbrook
Jillian Holbrook
The demonstrated the weakness of the Ottoman Empire and contributed to the breakdown of the , thereby creating the conditions in which Italy and Germany could be unified after centuries of fragmentation. Ultimately, the Concert of Europe failed to address growing nationalism in Italy and Germany, an issue that led to the and the , which resulted in the and Germany as nation-states, respectively.
Unification was a well-recognized idea in Italy, with enduring support from romantic nationalists like . He began a group called , mostly focusing on the future generations of Italy, to encourage them to unify.
The major steps to unification included:
2. The removal of foreign influence:
Foreign influence consisted of Spain in Naples and Sicily; France in Genoa, Alsace, and Lorraine; and Austria in Lombardy and Venetia. Giuseppe Garibaldi, a liberal nationalist, organized an untrained military called the . With nearly a thousand men, the Red Shirts removed the from Sicily and Naples. Cavour allied with the French to drive Austria from Lombardy. Together, Cavour’s diplomatic strategies and Garibaldi’s military campaigns spurred Italian unification.
3. Official unification in 1871:
Cavour and King Victor Emmanuel II allowed the Italian provinces to vote for unification. With their only other options being controlled by foreign powers, many voted to support a unified Italy.
The final two provinces to unify consisted of Rome and Venetia. Italy finally took Venice after electing not to help Austria in the . France removed its protective force from Rome to fight against Germany in the Franco-Prussian War, allowing Cavour to take over.
German unification was the sole goal of Prussia’s Chancellor, . The , the economic unity of the German states, inspired the idea of nationalism. Bismarck used the nationalist movement to increase Prussia’s power and began working to eliminate foreign influence, much like the process of unification in Italy.
Moreover, Bismarck utilized , a political philosophy that emphasizes practical and material factors as the basis for making decisions in politics rather than ideological or ethical considerations. It prioritizes national interests, power, and security above moral or ethical principles. For Bismarck, this meant employing diplomacy, industrialized warfare, and manipulating democratic mechanisms for German unification.
Not only was France forced to sign a resolution recognizing Germany as a legitimate country, but they had to do so at the itself (which was quite embarrassing for the French). In addition to paying reparations and ceding territory, the French carried tension and colonial conflicts with Germany into WWI.
Austria dealt with internal tensions between different nationalities represented in their empire, particularly the Hungarians. They solved these tensions by signing the with the Hungarians to create a dual monarchy.
The Crimean War (1853-1856) between Russia and a coalition of France, Great Britain, and Austria resulted in early, but those dissipated after a change in the Russian monarch.
Russia wanted to extend its influence in the Ottoman Empire by having control over holy sites of Christianity (the Ottomans actually gave that control to France) and invaded two provinces of the Ottoman Empire. France, Britain, and Austria came to the aid of the Ottomans, fearing Russian overreach. The war ended benevolently when died. His son, , took the throne and ended the conflict.
The peaceful resolution fostered a positive relationship between Russia, Great Britain, and France for the future.
The First Balkan War of 1912-1913 included the Ottoman Empire and several Balkan states: Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Montenegro. Balkan states sought independence from Ottoman rule and successfully pushed the Ottoman Empire out of most of .
Later in 1913, the Second Balkan War occurred between Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The conflict sparked due to disagreements over the division of territories won in the First Balkan War, with Bulgaria attacking its former allies, Serbia and Greece. Bulgaria lost.
The two Balkan Wars fueled nationalist tensions and drew the Great Powers into a series of alliances and crises that exploded in World War I.