Through a focus on any three countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth century.
(1) Germany:
The Frankfurt parliament was the first step of German unification but this initiative of nation building was repressed by the monarchy and big landlords of Prussia. German unification was a long and complicated process. In the beginning of the 19th century, German was not a unified country. It was a collection of 39 autocratic states, ruled by only wealthy and powerful once. It was a difficult affair to unite Germany. The credit of unifying Germany goes to Bismark as He fought three wars to unified Germany.
(i) Danish- Prussian War in 1864: In beginning many European royals were independently having undersized territories dived by different laws, custom, and languages. When the Danish King Friedrich VII died in 1864.The Danish War helped Bismark strengthen his internal position in Prussia. Without much effort, Prussia defeated Danish.
(ii) Austro- Prussian War in 1866: In 1864 Bismark constructed an alliance with Austria to fight with Denmark. After the defeat Prussia received Schleswig and Austria administered the Holstein. But this situation could not stand for long and relations between Australia and Prussia worsened over the control of Schleswig-Holstein. Prussian troops occupied Holstein the Seven Weeks War (1866), Austria was totally crushed by Prussian forces at the battle of Sadowa, and was completely removed from any involvement in German affairs. An extraordinary lenient treaty, the Treaty of Prague was signed to expel Austria from the German Confederation so that Austria did not remain an enemy of Prussia. Prussia was now able to dominate the other German states without fear of Austria intervention.
(iii) Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71: With Austria out of the Bismark’s way and to complete German unification process Bismark now had only one hurdle, and that was France. The southern provinces doubted Prussia’s commitment to unite the Germany of all provinces. Prussia’s Protestantism and historic militarism made the gulf between north and south quite serious. Therefore Bismark turned raelpolitik to unite the Germanic provinces by constructing a war against the common enemy. Prussia was completely victorious over France at the battle of Sedan in 1870 and gained control over Alsace-Lorraine.
For unification Bismark followed ‘Blood and Iron’ policy. Thus, the long planned journey of German unification was completed in 1871.
(2) Greek
The Greek War of independence
It’s an event that mobilized nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe. Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century. This was a successful war of independence waged by Greek revolutionaries between 1821 and 1829 against the Ottoman Empire. The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for independence amongst the Greeks. Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from many West Europeans who had sympathies for ancient Greek culture. Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilization and mobilized public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire. The English poet Lord Byron organized funds and later went to fight in the war, where he died of fever in 1824. Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent nation.
(3) Italy:
For unification of Italy Giuseppe Mazzini and Count Camillo de Cavour played very important role. They both helped in the development of the nation.
Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian revolutionary, born in Geneva on June 22nd, 1807 in a middle class family. He was a patriot, political activist, writer, founder of young Italy and played very important role in liberal nationalism who strived to found a unified democratic republic of Italy. He was one of the three revolutionaries who made a significant contribution in Italian unification. His efforts led to the unification of Italy. He believed in single unified republic instead of being a patchwork of small state kingdoms so in 1830, he joined the revolutionary Carbonari (a Young Italy), whose basic principle was the union of the several states and kingdoms into one republic. In 1831, at the age of 24 he was sent into exile for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He founded underground societies like Young Italy in Marseilles, and Young Europe in Berne. To evoke people’s reaction Mazzini wrote several essays that voiced the injustice to the working class such as the peasants, professionals, artist, and intellectuals. He was elected as a member of Constituent Assembly and acquired the responsibilities of framing a constitution for the roman public.
Count Camillo de Cavour, a political leader and an Italian statesman, premier of the Kingdom of Sardini. He was born at Turin on the August 1, 1810. He was the active force behind King Victor Emmanuel II, he was responsible more than any other man for the unification of Italy under the house of Savoy. Of a noble Piedmontese family, he entered the army at the age of 10 but came under suspicion for his liberal ideas and was forced to resign in 1831. He then devoted himself to travel, agricultural experimentation, and the study of politics. He was a significant figure in the movement towards Italian unification and the founder of the original Italian liberal party. Cavour was a liberal and had faith in free trade, public right of opinion and secular rule. So on becoming the Prime Minister of Piedmont –Sardinia on November 4, 1852 Cavour strengthened the kingdom, reform taxation, stabilized the currency, and the improved the railway system. In 1853, He supported the French and British in the Crimean War with troops, in anticipation to enhance the prestige of Piedmont-Sardinia. He engineered a tactful diplomatic alliance with France which helped Sardinia piedmont in defeated Austrian force in 1859. Count Camillo de Cavour made considerable efforts of the creation of modern Italian state. But unfortunately he died only three months after the declaration of a united Italy on June 6, 1861.