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Guiseppe Mazzini led a revolution to unite his county of Italy from Napoleon.

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A Crash Course in Mexican History #5: Mexican Revolution, PRI, & Mexican Muralism

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Unification of Germany was bound to lead to the war between Prussia and Austria, Bismarck anticipated this in 1856

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Unification of Germany was bound to lead to the war between Prussia and Austria, Bismarck anticipated this in 1856.

Fight for Hegemony

Deleuz Schleswig and Holstein were deliberately chosen by Bismarck as good reasons for war with Austria. First, the conflict over the duchies reduced the likelihood of interference by other powers on the side of Austria; secondly, in case of victory, both duchies retreated to Prussia as an additional trophy in addition to the main prize - hegemony in German affairs.

Possession of Holstein under unclear conditions of joint ownership under the Gastein Convention rather created problems for Austria, than gave it benefits, as this duchy was separated from the empire by Prussian territory. An attempt by Austria to settle the matter by exchanging Holstein for a modest territory in the region of the Prussian-Austrian border came upon Bismarck's categorical refusal. By February 1866 he decided on war, which was extremely unpopular both in Germany and among the Prussian society.

Before continuing with his plans he needed to put diplomatic efforts with some of the great powers first.

Tsar Alexander II favorably treated Prussia, the only great power that did not oppose Russia in the Crimean War. Bismarck won the king's confidence even more with the promise in 1866 to support Russia's demand for the repeal of the article of the Paris Treaty of 1856, which banned Russia from having the Black Sea navy.

The contradictions between France and Austria did not outweigh the fact that the politically united Germany was a serious threat to France's national security. Bismarck in the fall of 1865 met with Napoleon III at a seaside resort in Biarritz, where he offered France the duchy of Luxembourg in exchange for neutrality. Napoleon made it clear that he wanted more, namely the Belgian kingdom. This strengthening of France was not part of Bismarck's plans, he preferred to take a break in the state bargaining. France continued to be the most serious threat to Prussian expansion. Success could be brought only by a swift campaign in time to free the Prussian army before Napoleon III decided to enter into conflict. To do this, it was necessary to weaken the Austrian army by war on two fronts.

Bismarck used the discontent of the Italian Kingdom, formed in 1861, by the fact that Austria continued to hold the Venice area. Bismarck pledged to King Victor Emmanuel II to give him Venice at any outcome of the war between Italy and Austria. April 8, 1866, was signed a treaty of alliance, according to which Italy was to attack Austria, if Prussia begins the war in a 3-month period.

War With Austria

June 7, 1866 Prussian troops began to occupy Holstein under the pretext of stopping anti-Prussian agitation. June 14, Austria, with the support of other major states of the German Union, held a decision at the All-German Seim on the mobilization of troops against Prussia. Bismarck addressed the German people with a speech in which he introduced Prussia as a victim of Austrian aggression caused by the Prussian proposal to reform the German Union towards closer unity. On June 16 Prussian divisions crossed the borders of Austrian Bohemia and other German states, allied to Austria. On June 20, Italy joined the war against Austria.

In fact, the alignment of forces was as follows: Prussia in alliance with Italy against Austria and Saxony. The allies of Prussia were small northern German states. Austrian allies were the big states of the German Union of Bavaria, Hannover, Saxony, etc. but only Saxony exhibited any significant armed forces.

Prussia had to deal with three enemy groups. Austria and Saxony in the south; Bavaria and Württemberg in the south-west; Hanover, Hesse and Kassel in the west. The German troops did not bring much trouble to the Prussians. On June 29, the Hanoverian army capitulated, after which 3 Prussian divisions (48 thousand) turned to the South German states, which did not manage to mobilize forces. The successful advance of the Prussians in Bavaria was stopped only by the ceasefire.

The main events unfolded in Bohemia (Czech Republic), where 280 thousand troops were located. The Prussian army was opposed by the slightly weaker Austrian grouping. In a number of battles the Austrians were defeated, their demoralized troops retreated from the border. On July 1, the Austrian commander Benedek asked Emperor Franz Joseph to conclude peace. July 3 at the Battle of Königgrätz in the upper Elbe Prussians defeated the main Austrian army and by mid-July they reached the approaches to Vienna. Huge trouble was in Hungary, whose inhabitants were preparing to secede from the Austrian Empire. Although the Austrians still had enough troops to continue the war, further resistance could lead the empire to collapse.

Bismarck, overcoming the discontent of his king and the Prussian generals, was in a hurry to defeat Austria for other reasons: Russia and France could increase the price for their neutrality. The French Foreign Minister advocated an immediate attack on Prussia. Napoleon III, embarrassed by the rapid defeat of the Austrians, hesitated, nevertheless, a few days before the truce, the French ambassador in Berlin proposed that Prussia agree to the annexation of Luxembourg. The war ended sooner than the great powers managed to come to their senses. July 26, 1866 in Nicolsburg, with the mediation of France, the preliminary peace was signed.

Peace and Results

During the peace talks on August 16, Napoleon III, through the ambassador in Berlin, offered Bismarck to conclude a secret offensive and defensive alliance, the condition of which was the accession of Belgium and Luxembourg to France. Bismarck pretended that he was ready to come to terms with the future strengthening of France, but actually delayed the consideration of the issue. Meanwhile, August 23, 1866 in Prague was concluded the final peace treaty with Austria .

The main result of the victory of Prussia was the withdrawal of Austria from the German Union. The subsequent creation of the North German Union and the accession of Jan. 12, 1867 Schleswig-Holstein to Prussia, were the logical completion of the removal of Austria from German affairs.

Venice was annexed to the Italian kingdom, although this can not be considered a direct result of the fighting. Even before the outbreak of the war on June 12, 1866, Austria agreed to cede Venice to the French emperor so that he transferred it to his ally, King Victor Emmanuel II. However, the Italians still decided to fight, formally observing the terms of the Prussian-Italian treaty, but in fact hoping for more significant territorial acquisitions.

Bismarck deliberately refused territorial acquisitions at the expense of Austria, not wanting to stir up a thirst for revenge in her. A burdensome indemnity was imposed on Austria.

The German allies of Austria suffered grate losses as well. Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt lost to Prussia part of their lands north of the River Main. In September 1866 Prussia annexed the kingdom of Hanover, the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel, the Duchy of Nassau and the city of Frankfurt. Saxony avoided absorption only thanks to the demand of Austria. The Prussian kingdom in 1867 had 24 million inhabitants.

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German Unification - The Austro-Prussian War Of 1866 - About History

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Unification of Germany was bound to lead to the war between Prussia and Austria, Bismarck anticipated this in 1856. Deleuz Schleswig and Holstein were deliberately chosen by Bismarck as good reasons for war with Austria.

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The Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910, ended dictatorship in Mexico and established a constitutional republic. A number of groups, led by revolutionaries including Francisco Madero, Pascual Orozco, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, participated in the long and costly conflict. Though a constitution drafted in 1917 formalized many of the reforms sought by rebel groups, periodic violence continued into the 1930s.

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The Mexican Revolution, which began in 1910, ended dictatorship in Mexico and established a constitutional republic. A number of groups, led by revolutionaries including Francisco Madero, Pascual Orozco, Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, participated in the long and costly conflict. Though a constitution drafted in 1917 formalized many of the reforms sought by rebel groups, periodic violence continued into the 1930s.

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Mexican Revolution - Facts, Summary & Causes

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The Mexican Revolution, also known as the Mexican Civil War, began in 1910, ended dictatorship in Mexico and established a constitutional republic. Discover the timeline, the leaders involved and how the revolution started and ended.

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Pushing back aggressions by Europe's greatest powers, Haiti's 'founding father' set the stage for the world's first sovereign Black state.

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How did Toussaint L'ouverture, born into bondage in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present-day Haiti) and enslaved for more than half his life, come to lead the most successful slave revolt in history-and help precipitate the downfall of European colonialism in the western hemisphere?

Saint-Domingue in the late 18 th century thrived as the wealthiest colony in the Americas. Its sugar, coffee, indigo and cotton plantations minted money, fueled by a vast enslaved labor force. A French colony since 1697, it occupied the western third of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, while the Spanish had colonized the eastern side, called Santo Domingo (now the Dominican Republic).

In 1791, revolution brewed among the island's brutally enslaved majority-inspired in part by the egalitarian ideals driving France's own recent revolution. As the island's enslaved workers organized to burn plantations and kill many owners, Toussaint initially laid low. Having been free for some 15 years, he farmed his own plot of land in the north of the island, while continuing to oversee his former owner's plantation. Eventually, wielding knowledge of African and Creole medicinal techniques, he entered the war as a physician. But he quickly distinguished himself as a canny tactician and a strategic, charismatic leader.

As a general, Toussaint led his forces to victory over the planter class-and thousands of invading French troops. But that was only the start. Navigating the complex, ever-shifting politics of dueling colonial powers, he successfully repelled the aggressions of Europe's mightiest nations (France, Spain and England), using his diplomatic guile to cannily play them off one other. He conquered the Spanish side of Hispaniola, uniting the island and establishing himself as governor. In that role, he worked to quell widespread domestic unrest and restore the island's war-battered economy. And with an education steeped in Enlightenment philosophy, he built on those humanistic ideals to create a constitution that would forever abolish slavery.

Although Toussaint died in a French jail a year before Saint-Domingue gained full independence (and rechristened itself as Haiti) in 1804, his myriad efforts set the stage for the establishment of the second sovereign nation in the western hemisphere after America-and the world's first sovereign Black state. Here's how he did it.

He Played Empire Against Empire

In 1792, France was in a dicey situation. It had recently become a republic, stoking the ire of European monarchies. Furthermore, Saint-Domingue's sustained slave rebellion had put France's wealthiest colony in the Americas at risk of falling under the control of its enemies, England and Spain. So that same year, French commissioners arrived in Saint-Domingue in the apparent spirit of compromise. Rebel leaders, including Toussaint, refused the overture, choosing to do battle instead with the 6,000-man fleet France had also sent.

Toussaint was aware of his regiment's lack of training, but he was also aware of France's desperate position in the face of Spanish and British hostility. So when it suited his needs, he joined forces with France's enemies.

Feigning outrage at the execution of King Louis XVI in 1793, he made an alliance with neighboring Santo Domingo, taking command of a Spanish auxiliary force to reclaim a swath of Saint-Domingue territory. He refused to negotiate with French commissioners until 1794, when France formally abolished slavery in its territories. Toussaint then rejoined the French forces, beat back the Spanish and began his sustained campaign against the British, who had their own designs on Saint-Domingue.

His army ousted British forces in 1798, causing them to lose more than 15,000 men and 10 million pounds in the process. Nonetheless, Toussaint continued to dangle the prospect of British influence in Saint-Domingue as a check against French complacency and to spur trade with Britain's neighboring colony of Jamaica. Toussaint entered into a secret agreement with the British army that eased their naval blockade of imported goods.

He went a step further in 1799, opening diplomatic talks with the Americans to renew commercial ties that would benefit both economies-a major coup for Toussaint. In just two years, American exports to the colony rose more than 260 percent, to $7.1 million. The alliance with the Americans also afforded naval protection on trading vessels destined for Saint-Domingue, an important buffer against British aggressions.

He Played to Multiple Bases

To revitalize a local economy torn by conflict, Toussaint had to leverage his considerable political skills to reconcile the conflicting interests of Saint-Domingue's racial, class, religious and cultural orders. Judging the resources of the merchant and planter classes as integral to rebuilding Saint-Domingue, Toussaint extended generous restitution policies in the name of republican fraternity, going so far as to punish any acts of retribution against former slaveholders. This ensured him a loyal base of allies who did his bidding at regional and international levels. Under his stewardship, Saint-Domingue initiated a robust civic overhaul and public-works projects that created roads, widened canals and improved public sanitation.

That extensive leniency to white citizens, alongside his increasingly autocratic measures to compel Black citizens to work on plantations, corroded his standing among the Black majority. Still, through much of his tenure as governor, he worked vigorously to safeguard their interests and ensure they were now paid for their labor. He traveled extensively to quell internal unrest, relying on his deep cultural ties and Afro-spiritualist cues to reinforce his image as their defender. Under his stewardship, thanks in large part to the efforts of the black masses, the island's agricultural cultivation was restored up to two-thirds to what it had been prior to the 1791 uprisings, according to Toussaint's biographer C.L.R. James.

He Cultivated His Legend

The secret to Toussaint's impact lay also in the trait common to history's greatest heroes-the forging of a persona that verged on the superhuman. James writes that Toussaint saw himself in the avenger role described by Enlightenment thinker Abbé Raynal: as a figure who rises up to eradicate human bondage. Toussaint led charges into battle, and survived numerous brushes with death, lending him a supernatural aura that he cultivated to enrapture followers and enemies alike.

His legend grew. One French official in Saint Domingue credited Toussaint's ability to be in several places at once to his vitality and unmatched understanding of the terrain. And after Napoleon sent 20,000 French troops in 1802 to regain control of Saint-Domingue, a secretary in the expedition described Toussaint as like a tiger: visible where he wasn't and invisible where he was. In time, for his unprecedented achievements, he would be hailed as the Black George Washington and the Napoleon Bonaparte of the Caribbean.

But these honorifics fail to capture the measure of Toussaint Louverture and his far-reaching impact. He was a singular leader who helped charter a revolution extraordinary in its insistence that any declaration of "inalienable liberties" rings hollow when constrained by notions of color or creed. His was a revolution that carried far wider geopolitical implications: Historians credit it with spooking France from further colonial endeavors in the hemisphere and inspiring Napoleon to offload the Louisiana territory to the United States, effectively doubling the young republic in size.

Toussaint would not live to see his country's eventual independence. Captured during Napoleon's 1802 expedition to subdue the colony, he was transported to a French jail, where he died a year later. While it was his radical deputy, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who would outlast the French assault and declare Haiti's independence in 1804, it is Toussaint's leadership that laid the groundwork for that extraordinary achievement.

Fact Check

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How Toussaint L'ouverture Rose from Slavery to Lead the Haitian Revolution | HISTORY

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Pushing back aggressions by Europe's greatest powers, Haiti's 'founding father' set the stage for the world's first sovereign Black state.

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For many centuries, the Italian peninsula was a politically fragmented conglomeration of states. This was the case when the United States announced its independence from Great Britain in 1776

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Summary

For many centuries, the Italian peninsula was a politically fragmented conglomeration of states. This was the case when the United States announced its independence from Great Britain in 1776. When war broke out between Austria and the Revolutionary French Government in 1792, the French invaded the Italian peninsula, consolidated many of the Italian states, and established them as republics. In 1799 the Austrian and Russian armies pushed the French out of the Italian peninsula, which led to the demise of the fledgling republics.

After Napoleon's rise to power, the Italian peninsula was once again conquered by the French. Under Napoleon, the peninsula was divided into three entities: the northern parts which were annexed to the French Empire (Piedmont, Liguria, Parma, Piacenza, Tuscany, and Rome), the newly created Kingdom of Italy (Lombardy, Venice, Reggio, Modena, Romagna, and the Marshes) ruled by Napoleon himself, and the Kingdom of Naples, which was first ruled by Napoleon's brother Joseph Bonaparte, but then passed to Napoleon's brother-in-law Joachim Murat.

The period of French invasion and occupation was important in many ways. It introduced revolutionary ideas about government and society, resulting in an overthrow of the old established ruling orders and the destruction of the last vestiges of feudalism. The ideals of freedom and equality were very influential. Also of consequence, the concept of nationalism was introduced, thus sowing the seeds of Italian nationalism throughout most parts of the northern and central Italian peninsula.

With the downfall of Napoleon in 1814 and the redistribution of territory by the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), most of the Italian states were reconstituted: the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (often referred to as Sardinia), the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Parma, the Papal States, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (fused together from the old Kingdom of Naples and Kingdom of Sicily). These were largely conservative regimes, presided over by the old social orders.

Although the Italian peninsula remained fragmented through the mid-1800s, the concept of a united Italy began to take root. Secret societies formed to oppose the conservative regimes. Several of these societies also promoted Italian nationalism and the idea of a unified Italian political state. One such society was the group Young Italy, founded in 1831 by Guiseppe Mazzini. Mazzini was an ardent advocate of the necessity for Italian unification through the desires and actions of the Italian people. Thus, the movement of Italian unification, a process referred to as the Risorgimento (resurgence) proliferated by mid-century.

The revolutions of 1848 ignited nationalist sentiment throughout the Italian peninsula. There were widespread uprisings in several Italian cities that year, mostly by the professional classes (such as doctors, lawyers, shopkeepers) as well as students. Lombardy-Venetia and Milan tried to rise up against Austrian rule. Although the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia sent troops to aid the revolt, it was crushed by the Austrians at Custoza in July 1848. The Italian uprisings were unsuccessful and by 1849 the old regimes were once again in place.

Yet, the idea of the Risorgimento continued to gain adherents after 1848. The final push for Italian unification came in 1859, led by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia (then the wealthiest and most liberal of the Italian states), and orchestrated by Piedmont-Sardinia's Prime Minister, Count Camillo di Cavour. A skilled diplomat, Cavour secured an alliance with France. The Franco-Austrian War of 1859 was the agent that began the physical process of Italian unification. The Austrians were defeated by the French and Piedmontese at Magenta and Solferino, and thus relinquished Lombardy. By the end of the year Lombardy was added to the holdings of Piedmont-Sardinia.

The northern Italian states held elections in 1859 and 1860 and voted to join the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, a major step towards unification, while Piedmont-Sardinia ceded Savoy and Nice to France. Giuseppi Garibaldi, a native of Piedmont-Sardinia, was instrumental in bringing the southern Italian states into the unification process. In 1860, Garibaldi cobbled together an army (referred to as the "Thousand") to march into the southern part of the peninsula. Landing first in Sicily and then moving onwards into Naples, Garibaldi and his men overthrew the Bourbon monarchy and turned over the southern territories to Victor Emmanuel II, King of Piedmont-Sardinia. In early 1861 a national parliament convened and proclaimed the Kingdom of Italy, with Victor Emmanuel II as its king. At this point, there were only two major territories outside of the parameters of the new Kingdom of Italy: Rome and Venetia.

In 1866 Italy joined Prussia in a campaign against Austria (the 1866 Austro-Prussian War) and thus won Venetia. In 1870, taking advantage of the fact that France (the country responsible at the time for guarding the Papal States) was distracted by involvement in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), the Italian army entered Rome. That year, Rome and the Papal States were incorporated into Italy and the Risorgimento completed. During the summer of 1871, the Italian capital moved to Rome from Florence (it was moved from Turin to Florence in 1865).

Major Events

Overall Impact upon U.S. Foreign Policy

The history of recognitions (and the establishment of relations, where applicable) between the United States and the Italian states impacted several different areas of U.S. policy, including:

Trade and Commerce. The industrialization process that swept through the northern United States in the early nineteenth century spread through the northern and central Italian states in the mid-nineteenth century. As a result, the Italian states (and after 1861, the Kingdom of Italy) and the United States both sought to cultivate trade and commercial ties for mutual benefit.

Immigration and Citizenship. By the 1870s Italian immigration to the New World (both to the United States as well as to Argentina, amongst other South American countries) began to increase. Indeed, some of the "fathers" of modern Italy spent time in the United States. Garibaldi spent enough time in the U.S. to gain a U.S. passport, and was offered a commission in the U.S. Army during the Civil War.

U.S. Civil War. The unification of the Italian states impacted the foreign policy of the United States in numerous ways. Perhaps the issue that had the most immediate impact upon U.S. foreign policy in the early 1860s was over the question of recognition of the U.S. Confederacy. The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed just as the U.S. Civil War began. U.S. President Abraham Lincoln wanted to ensure that the new Italian state did not recognize the U.S. Confederacy. Washington also worried that, with Italy's long coastline, Confederate ships might seek shelter in Italian waters. With this in mind, the Italian government gave "strong assurances that no Confederate ship would be admitted to Italian ports unless it was a question of adverse weather conditions or other vis major."

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Unification of Italian States - Countries - Office of the Historian