Introduction
As we have seen, the French
Revolution and Napoleon spread the ideas of liberalism and nationalism
across Europe. These ideas took root and gave rise to several
outbreaks of revolution in the 1820's, 1830's, and 1840's, the most
severe being the revolutions of 1848. Although most of these
revolutions failed, they continued the spread of liberal &
nationalist ideas and also gave reformers a more realistic appreciation
of what it would take to achieve their goals. The revolutions of 1848
especially influenced the peoples of Eastern Europe under Hapsburg and
Ottoman rule as well as the peoples of Italy and Germany in Central
Europe.
Eastern Europe
, especially
the Balkans in the southeast, saw national independence from foreign
rule, rather than national unity, as the critical issue. The spread of
nationalist ideas among the various Slavic peoples there after the
revolutions of 1848 combined with the steady decay of the Hapsburg and
Ottoman Empires to create a particularly volatile situation. These
generated growing nationalist movements that destabilized the already
crumbling Hapsburg and Ottoman empires. To complicate matters even
further, Russia became increasingly involved in Balkan politics, posing
as the champion of Slavic liberties and nationalism against the Slavs'
Turkish and Austrian masters. This heightened tensions between
Austria, Turkey, and Russia and would provide the spark to set off
World War I.
Central Europe
, Germany and Italy in particular, had been
broken into numerous states, a situation which had invited centuries of
foreign intervention, conquests, and wars in both countries. Here
also, the revolutions of 1848 combined with German and Italian
frustration over this situation to generate strong sentiments for
national unification in both countries. The middle classes in Italy
and Germany especially supported national unification by strong
governments that could end internal tolls, build national railroads,
and support new industries. Both Italy and Germany were lucky to have brilliant prime
ministers to lead them through unification: Camillo Cavour for the
Italian state of Sardinia and Otto von Bismarck for the German state of
Prussia. Both men skillfully combined strong internal developments of
their respective states with opportunistic diplomacy and warfare to
unify Italy and Germany by 1871. Both nations would also strive to
industrialize in the latter 1800's. Germany proved especially
successful in this endeavor. However, the presence of two unified
nations in place of a multitude of little states, especially that of a
strongly industrialized Germany, seriously upset the balance of power
in Europe, which would also lead to World War I.
General News
Posts
