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As the 19th century was beginning, Mexico was under Spanish control in an area that was societally controlled by race. When Spain was given an illegitimate king, the people started to break out into juntas or locally formed governments with the intention of ruling over the king. One of Mexico's big mistakes was when one one the major leaders, Miguel Hidalgo, retreated from a fight in fear of facing powerful troops; this resulted in Mexico being defeated as the Spanish army regrouped and attacked the Mexican army. After Hidalgo was sentenced to death, Jose Maria Morelos took over the control of the revolution after a series of battles resulted in Spain capturing important Mexican cities. In 1813, Hidalgo created a group to organize the independence of Mexico; they formally declared Mexico's separation from Spain and ratified the first national constitution.

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Mexican War of Independence | 3 Minute History

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This work of art is titled "Mexican Independence" and was made in 1821 by Granger. It is a work of romantic art.

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This work of art is an oil painting in the romanticism style painted by A. Puccinni in the 19th century.

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This work of art is part of a 90 set collection of paintings all painted in the 19th century by Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth, and Max Slevogt. It is painted in the style of impressionism.

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Jose Maria Morelos joined Hidalgo in fighting the Spanish and when Hidalgo died, he took over control of the revolution. Since he couldn’t properly control the whole area after taking victories in battles, he began using guerilla tactics. In 1813, he started the Congress of Chilpancingo and in November they declared Independence from Spain. In October of 1814, the congress organized the first national constitution. He was later captured and shot as a traitor.

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, in full José María Morelos y Pavón, (born September 30, 1765, Valladolid, Mexico-died December 22, 1815, San Cristóbal), revolutionary priest who assumed leadership of the Mexican independence movement after Miguel Hidalgo 's 1810 rebellion and subsequent execution.

Morelos was a child of mixed ethnic heritage in a society in which fine-line categorical distinctions were drawn on the basis of the composition of one's ethnic background. Generally, he is characterized as having been a pardo-that is, the progeny of mixed European, Native American, and African heritage. He is also sometimes characterized as mulato pardo, which, under another classification scheme, is defined as a person of half Native American and half African descent.

Born in poverty, Morelos worked as a muleteer and cowhand until at the age of 25 he began study for the priesthood at the Colegio de San Nicolás in Valladolid. He held several obscure curacies serving mostly Indians and mestizos. Early in 1811 he joined Hidalgo's insurrection, and after Hidalgo's death (July 31) he took command of the movement in southern Mexico. Between 1812 and 1815 he controlled most of Mexico southwest of Mexico City, holding at one time or another Acapulco, Oaxaca, Tehuacán, and Cuautla (Santiago Cuautla). Lacking manpower to consolidate control over all of the region after his victories, he turned increasingly to guerrilla tactics.

Morelos called the Congress of Chilpancingo in 1813 to form a government and draft a constitution. In November the congress declared Mexico's independence, and in October 1814 at Apatzingán it promulgated an egalitarian constitution. The congress was safe, however, only so long as it moved from place to place under the protection of Morelos's nomadic army. Finally, royalist forces caught up with the insurgents, but Morelos fought a rearguard action allowing most of the revolutionary government to escape. He was captured, however, and, after being defrocked, was shot as a traitor.

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José María Morelos | Independence leader, Mexican War, Insurgent leader

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José María Morelos, revolutionary priest who assumed leadership of the Mexican independence movement after Miguel Hidalgo's 1810 rebellion and subsequent execution. Morelos was a child of mixed ethnic heritage in a society in which fine-line categorical distinctions were drawn on the basis of the

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King Victor Emmanuel II was given commands to be a general but proved that his skills were only as good as that of a soldier. In November of 1852, he decided to give the power to a more worthy leader, Count Cavour; whose triumphs throughout the year made him king of Italy. But when Cavour died in 1861, Emmanuel came back into power with a more direct role in government. With this new power, although there were setbacks, he achieved great things. Making Rome the capital of Italy was so demanding for Pius IX that he refused all ideas of making peace. As a result, no meeting ever took place between the leaders.

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Victor Emmanuel II, (born March 14, 1820, Turin, Piedmont, Kingdom of Sardinia-died January 9, 1878, Rome, Italy), king of Sardinia-Piedmont who became the first king of a united Italy.

Brought up in the court of his father, Charles Albert, and given a conventional monarchical education emphasizing religious and military training, he was married to his cousin Maria Adelaide, daughter of an Austrian archduke. After the Revolution of 1848, when war broke out with Austria, Victor Emmanuel was given command of a division. In the luckless campaign that followed he proved a brave soldier but an indifferent general.

Ascending the throne on his father's abdication, he consolidated his position by suppressing the republican left and paying an indemnity to Austria, which brought him considerable opprobrium in Italy. In November 1852 he made the momentous decision to turn the government over to the able, determined Count Cavour, whose skillful manoeuvres over the next few years made him king of Italy. At the decisive battles of Magenta and Solferino, he commanded the Piedmontese corps in person, and following the armistice of Villafranca, he exercised a valuable restraint on Cavour, who wanted to continue the war alone. The following year Victor Emmanuel secretly encouraged Garibaldi in the conquest of Sicily and Naples; he then led his Piedmontese army into papal territory to link up with Garibaldi in the face of an excommunication by Pius IX.

Following Cavour's death in 1861, Victor Emmanuel played a more direct role in government and despite setbacks achieved two notable triumphs: the acquisition of Venetia through war on the side of Bismarck's Prussia in 1866, and of Rome after the withdrawal of the French garrison in 1870. The occupation of Rome as the national capital so antagonized Pius IX that he refused all overtures toward reconciliation, and no meeting ever took place between the two sovereigns; nevertheless, on Victor Emmanuel's death in 1878 Pius permitted his burial in the Pantheon.

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Victor Emmanuel II | Unification of Italy, Risorgimento, Savoy Dynasty

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Victor Emmanuel II, king of Sardinia-Piedmont who became the first king of a united Italy. Brought up in the court of his father, Charles Albert, and given a conventional monarchical education emphasizing religious and military training, he was married to his cousin Maria Adelaide, daughter of an

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In 1862, Otto Von Bismarck was made the new Minister President of Prussia by King William. Prussia's victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 made it possible for him to create a confederation that excluded Austria from the federation’s affairs and replaced the last confederation. After they defeated the French in the Franco-Prussian War, the founding of the German Empire was announced  in 1871 at Versailles, which united all scattered parts of Germany except Austria. Bismarck had to deal with a series of complex conferences, negotiations, and alliances. Bismarck skillfully maintained Germany’s position and used the balance of power to keep Europe at peace in the 1870s and 1880s.

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24.4.4: Otto von Bismarck and the Franco-Prussian War

In the 1860s, Otto von Bismarck, then Minister President of Prussia, provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France, aligning the smaller German states behind Prussia in its defeat of France. In 1871 he unified Germany into a nation-state, forming the German Empire.

Learning Objective

Clarify Bismarck's intentions with respect to the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War

Key Points

King William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as the new Minister President of Prussia in 1862.

The Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 enabled him to create the North German Confederation which excluded Austria from the federation's affairs and ended the previous German Confederation.

After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, the German princes proclaimed the founding of the German Empire in 1871 at Versailles, uniting all scattered parts of Germany except Austria.

Victory in the Franco-Prussian War proved the capstone of the nationalist issue, rallying the other German states into unity.

Some historians argue that Bismarck deliberately provoked a French attack to draw the southern German states-Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria, and Hesse-Darmstadt-into an alliance with the North German Confederation dominated by Prussia, while others contend that Bismarck did not plan anything and merely exploited the circumstances as they unfolded.

Juggling a very complex interlocking series of conferences, negotiations, and alliances, Bismarck used his diplomatic skills to maintain Germany's position and used the balance of power to keep Europe at peace in the 1870s and 1880s.

Key Terms

Kulturkampf

Refers to power struggles between emerging constitutional and democratic nation states and the Roman Catholic Church over the place and role of religion in modern polity, usually in connection with secularization campaigns.

Junker

A noble honorific, meaning "young nobleman." The term became popularly used as a reference for the landed nobility (particularly of the east) that controlled almost all of the land and government, or by extension the Prussian estate owners regardless of noble status. With the formation of the German Empire in 1871, this dominated the central German government and the Prussian military. The term is often contrasted with the elites of the western and southern states in Germany, such as the city-republic of Hamburg, which had no nobility.

North German Confederation

A confederation of 22 previously independent states of northern Germany with nearly 30 million inhabitants, formed after Prussia left the German Confederation with allies. It was the first modern German nation state and the basis for the later German Empire (1871-1918) when several south German states such as Bavaria joined.

realpolitik

Politics or diplomacy based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than explicit ideological notions or moral and ethical premises. In this respect, it shares aspects of its philosophical approach with those of realism and pragmatism. The term is sometimes used pejoratively to imply politics that are coercive, amoral, or Machiavellian.

Otto von Bismarck was a conservative Prussian statesman who dominated German and European affairs from the 1860s until 1890. In the 1860s he engineered a series of wars that unified the German states, significantly and deliberately excluding Austria, into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership. With that accomplished by 1871, he skillfully used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germany's position in a Europe which, despite many disputes and war scares, remained at peace.

In 1862, King Wilhelm I appointed Bismarck as Minister President of Prussia, a position he would hold until 1890 (except for a short break in 1873). He provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France, aligning the smaller German states behind Prussia in its defeat of France. In 1871 he formed the German Empire with himself as Chancellor while retaining control of Prussia. His diplomacy of realpolitik and powerful rule at home gained him the nickname the "Iron Chancellor." German unification and its rapid economic growth was the foundation to his foreign policy. He disliked colonialism but reluctantly built an overseas empire when it was demanded by both elite and mass opinion. Juggling a very complex interlocking series of conferences, negotiations, and alliances, he used his diplomatic skills to maintain Germany's position and used the balance of power to keep Europe at peace in the 1870s and 1880s.

A master of complex politics at home, Bismarck created the first welfare state in the modern world, with the goal of gaining working-class support that might otherwise have gone to his Socialist enemies. In the 1870s he allied himself with the Liberals (who were low-tariff and anti-Catholic) and fought the Catholic Church in what was called the Kulturkampf ("culture struggle"). He lost that battle as the Catholics responded by forming a powerful Centre party and using universal male suffrage to gain a bloc of seats. Bismarck then reversed himself, ended the Kulturkampf, broke with the Liberals, imposed protective tariffs, and formed a political alliance with the Centre Party to fight the Socialists.

Bismarck-a Junker himself-was strong-willed, outspoken, and sometimes judged overbearing, but he could also be polite, charming, and witty. Occasionally he displayed a violent temper, and he kept his power by melodramatically threatening resignation time and again, which cowed Wilhelm I. He possessed not only a long-term national and international vision but also the short-term ability to juggle complex developments. As the leader of what historians call "revolutionary conservatism," Bismarck became a hero to German nationalists; they built many monuments honoring the founder of the new Reich. Many historians praise him as a visionary who was instrumental in uniting Germany and, once that had been accomplished, kept the peace in Europe through adroit diplomacy.

Prussia's victory over Austria in 1866, a war that ended the German Confederation and resulted in the creation of the North German Confederation, increased already existing tensions with France. The Emperor of France, Napoleon III, tried to gain territory for France (in Belgium and on the left bank of the Rhine) as compensation for not joining the war against Prussia and was disappointed by the surprisingly quick outcome of the war. The conflict was caused by Prussian ambitions to extend German unification and French fears of the shift in the European balance of power that would result if the Prussians succeeded. Some historians argue that Bismarck deliberately provoked a French attack to draw the southern German states-Baden, Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse-Darmstadt-into an alliance with the North German Confederation dominated by Prussia, while others contend that Bismarck did not plan anything and merely exploited the circumstances as they unfolded.

A suitable pretext for war arose in 1870 when the German Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was offered the Spanish throne, vacant since a revolution in 1868. France pressured Leopold into withdrawing his candidacy. Not content with this, Paris demanded that Wilhelm, as head of the House of Hohenzollern, assure that no Hohenzollern would ever seek the Spanish crown again. To provoke France into declaring war with Prussia, Bismarck published the Ems Dispatch, a carefully edited version of a conversation between King Wilhelm and the French ambassador to Prussia, Count Benedetti. This conversation had been edited so that each nation felt its ambassador had been slighted and ridiculed, thus inflaming popular sentiment on both sides in favor of war.

France mobilized and declared war on July 19. The German states saw France as the aggressor, and-swept up by nationalism and patriotic zeal-they rallied to Prussia's side and provided troops. A series of swift Prussian and German victories in eastern France, culminating in the Siege of Metz and the Battle of Sedan, saw Napoleon III captured and the army of the Second Empire decisively defeated. A Government of National Defense declared the Third Republic in Paris on September 4 and continued the war for another five months; the German forces fought and defeated new French armies in northern France. Following the Siege of Paris, the capital fell on January 28, 1871, and then a revolutionary uprising called the Paris Commune seized power in the capital and held it for two months until it was bloodily suppressed by the regular French army at the end of May 1871.

Bismarck acted immediately to secure the unification of Germany. He negotiated with representatives of the southern German states, offering special concessions if they agreed to unification. The negotiations succeeded; patriotic sentiment overwhelmed what opposition remained. While the war was in its final phase, Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor on January 18, 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Château de Versailles. The new German Empire was a federation; each of its 25 constituent states (kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies, principalities, and free cities) retained some autonomy. The King of Prussia, as German Emperor, was not sovereign over the entirety of Germany; he was only primus inter pares, or first among equals.

Victory in the Franco-Prussian War proved the capstone of the nationalist issue. In the first half of the 1860s, Austria and Prussia both contended to speak for the German states; both maintained they could support German interests abroad and protect German interests at home. After the victory over Austria in 1866, Prussia began internally asserting its authority to speak for the German states and defend German interests, while Austria began directing more of its attention to possessions in the Balkans. The victory over France in 1871 expanded Prussian hegemony in the German states to the international level. With the proclamation of Wilhelm as Kaiser, Prussia assumed the leadership of the new empire. The southern states became officially incorporated into a unified Germany at the Treaty of Versailles of 1871 (signed February 26, 1871; later ratified in the Treaty of Frankfurt of May 10, 1871), which formally ended the war.

Under the Treaty of Frankfurt, France relinquished most of its traditionally German regions (Alsace and the German-speaking part of Lorraine); paid an indemnity, calculated (on the basis of population) as the precise equivalent of the indemnity that Napoleon Bonaparte imposed on Prussia in 1807; and accepted German administration of Paris and most of northern France, with "German troops to be withdrawn stage by stage with each installment of the indemnity payment."

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In the 1860s, Otto von Bismarck, then Minister President of Prussia, provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France, aligning the smaller German states behind Prussia in its defeat of France. In 1871 he unified Germany into a nation-state, forming the German Empire.