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When Napoleon invaded Italy he created a kingdom of Italy in the North. However when Napoleon was defeated Italy reverted back to independent. The first Italian war of independence failed. The kingdom of Italy was then proclaimed in 1861. Rome had then been declared the capital of Italy after the German unification.

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We will now discuss the making of another great modern nation- Germany.

Rise of Germany

The situation of the German States

The German States have a common bond of unity on the basis of language, race and culture. They were also rich in resources like coal and iron. In spite of this cultural and linguistic unity German States were exploited because of lack of unity among Germans. This was the reason of pain for the German nationalists.

Coal and Iron Reserves of Germany

Exploitation by Non-Germans

For many centuries Austria of the Hapsburgs was the leading German Power. Then Prussia came to the front. There was a conflict between these two for the leadership of the German States. Actually, from ancient time German States were having non-german leadership. Example: Holy Roman Empire.

It was the union of German and Italian States. In which the rulers of these states elected their leader who was guided by the Pope. As Pope was under the influence of European powers like Austria and France etc. So, he rarely bothered about the interest of German States.

Napoleon destroyed the Holy Roman Empire. But after, Austria became the leader of the German States. This non-German leadership was the cause of frustration for German Nationalists.

Promotion of Trade and Commerce

Napoleon humbled both Austrians and Prussian Leaders. Napoleon not only destroyed the Holy Roman Empire but in western Germany, he unified the many smaller states. He then established a single state of Westphalia. This gave promotion to trade and commerce.

This also gave the message that political unity would lead to the economic empowerment of the German States. Thus both in Italy and Germany Napoleon, unconsciously and without wishing it, gave an impetus to the spirit of nationalism and the idea of freedom.

Role of Intellectuals

Eventually, Napoleon prepared the ground for German unification. These intellectuals played an important role. One of the leading German nationalists of the Napoleonic period was Fichte, a philosopher, but also an ardent patriot who did much to rouse up his people. Fichte gave the concept of German idealism, glorifying German culture, race. This ideology was taken to its peak by Fredrick William Nietzsche, who gave the concept of superman and also declared God is Dead.

Unification of Germany

Phases of Unification of Germany

Phases of the unification of Germany are described as below,

German Diet

In the , Austria became a leader of the German States. There were 39 states. It was not possible for Austria to individually handle all the states. Therefore, Austria formed Parliament of the German States called the German Diet. This Parliament had certain rights,

1. General resolution can be passed by two-thirds of the majority.

2. Constitutional and fundamental changes require acceptance from all the states. (which was not feasible without political unity among 39 states)

Although Austria denied any type of unity among the German States but the system of German Diet eventually provided formal political unity for the German States. This got strengthen by economic unity created by Prussia through Zollverein.

Zollverein

German nationalists and intellectuals had already got the practical taste of political unity. In 1834, Prussia formed a customs union or Zollverein. They joined by most of the German states. The union abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two.

The network of railways further stimulated mobility, harnessing economic interests to national unification. A wave of economic nationalism strengthened the wider nationalist sentiments growing at the time. In this situation, a turning point in European and German history was the outburst of revolutions of 1830 and 1848.

Second Frankfurt Parliament

Revolution of 1830 activated the middle class which wanted the constitution. While the revolution of 1848 ignited labor class who wanted a change in the political order. The Monarchs of Europe feared the unity among the middle class and labor class. So they decided to go for the constitutional arrangement for the people.

In the German regions, a large number of political associations whose members were professionals, businessmen, and prosperous craftsmen came together in the city of Frankfurt. On 18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives marched in a festive procession to take their places in the Frankfurt parliament.

They drafted a constitution for the German nation with the provision of constitutional monarchy. When the deputies offered the crown on these terms to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, he rejected it because of two reasons:

The representatives of different states gave the proposal. The kings did not accept this proposal. Prussia did not want to be a nominal head of the German Federation.

In Olmutz Convention, Austria warned Prussia that if Prussia got involved in activities against Austria, it should ready for the consequences.

Finally, this ended the peaceful path of the Unification of Germany. It made clear that war with Austria was the demand of that time to become an independent nation. At this stage, about the middle of the century, there rose a man in Prussia who was to dominate for many years not only Germany but European politics. This man was Otto von Bismarck, a junker- that is a landowner in Prussia. We will discuss this personality in theupcoming post.

Thank you so much. 🙂 Stay Connected. 🙂

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We will now discuss the making of another great modern nation- Germany . The German States have a common bond of unity on the basis of language, race and culture. They were also rich in resources like coal and iron .

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For any centuries Austria was leading German power then came Prussia. There was a conflict between these two leaderships of Germany. They then used the union of German and Italian states, which people elected leaders who were guided by the Pope. Napoleon had destroyed the Holy Roman empire, so then Austria became the leader of the German states. Which was the cause for Germans frustrations.

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The Unification of Italy was a 19th century political and social movement that resulted in the unification of the different states of the Italian Peninsula, into a single state - the Kingdom of Italy.

Beginning in the 1840s, the unification was completed in 1871, the same year as the unification of Germany .

This article will give details about the Unification of Italy within the context of the .
Background of the Unification of Italy

The Italian Peninsula had fragmented into different city-states upon the demise of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. Although briefly united under the Ostrogothic Kingdom, it again fell to disunity following the invasion of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) in the 500s.

The northern half of Italy was under the control of the Holy Roman Empire (a German-speaking Empire) beginning in the 8th century while the central and the southern half were intermittently governed between the Kingdom of Naples, Kingdom of Sicily and the Papal States.

The state of affairs continued well into the 17th century until the rise of the Italian city-states, such as Milan and Venice, changed the balance of power in the region. Wars would be fought between the states and the Holy Roman Empire culminating in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Although it would end the involvement of the Holy Roman Empire, most of Northern Italy would still be ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs, who ruled the Holy Roman Empire at the time. The Spanish Wars of succession would end the Habsburg Rule in Italy by 1714

Italy under Napoleon

The empire established by Napoleon had served as a fuel for revolutionary ideas, as he even encouraged nationalism. Italy would be split again following the Napoleans' fall in 1815, its city-states divided among various European powers, with the Empire of Austria having the most power. But by this time the Italian people had enough of foreign involvement in their land and would begin a series of insurrections to drive the foreigners out and unite their country.

The Unification of Italy Begins
Unification of Italy: UPSC Notes - Download PDF Here
During the 1820s and 1830s, the movement for unification would grow finally culminating in revolutions break out in many Italian states in 1848. Although the revolutions would be suppressed, it did little to stem the tide of revolutionary activities. Guiseppe Garibaldi would emerge as the face of Italian unification during this period.

Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807-1848) was a revolutionary who had taken part in 1848 insurrection but had to go into exile when it failed. Lending his support to King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont, he would return to Italy in 1860 bringing with him an army consisting of volunteers from Sicily and Naples. In 1858, Victor Emanuel, along with other northern Italian states, had allied with France to permanently end Austrian involvement in the region.

The insurrection in 1860 would be a success as Garibaldi and his army of Redshirts would conquer the island of Sicily and Naples. Meanwhile, the northern states had joined up with Piedmont-Sardinia and accepted Victor Emmanuel II as their King. Garibaldi handed Naples and Sicily to him in November 1860 and by 1861 Italy was declared as a kingdom. Only Venice and Rome would remain under foreign control and they became a part of Italy in 1866 and 1871 respectively. Thus, the Unification of Italy was completed.

The aftermath of the Unification

Although the reunification was a reality, it leads to total domination of the Kingdom of Piedmont. Despite promises that regional authorities would participate equally in the government, it was the ruling class of Piedmont that dominated the government during the initial years.

The Italian people wanted a united Italy with a weak central government and strong states. What they got instead was a strong central government with little to no power exercised by the states.

The new Kingdom of Italy was structured by renaming the old Kingdom of Sardinia and annexing all the new provinces into its structures. The first king was Victor Emmanuel II, who kept his old title.

The new constitution was Piedmont's old constitution. The document was generally liberal and was welcomed by liberal elements. But this was resented by pro-clergy elements in Venice, Rome Naples and Sicily.

The first decade of the Kingdom of Italy saw civil wars raging in Sicily and Naples which was harshly suppressed. The inevitable long-run results were a severe weakness of national unity and a politicized system based on mutually hostile regional violence. Such factors remain in the 21st century
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Unification of Italy [1848 -1871]: Background, Events and Aftermath

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The Unification of Italy was a 19th century political and social movement that resulted in the unification of the different states of the Italian Peninsula, into a single state - the Kingdom of Italy. To know more about the events regarding the unification of the Italian Peninsula, read the full article here.

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The Italian unification started in the 1840s and ending in 1871. The northern half the Italy was run by the Roman Empire. During the 1820s and the 1830s revolutions started to break out in the Italian states. The Italian people wanted to unite the with a weak central government and string states. They ended up getting a strong central government with little to no power by the states.

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Shortly before dawn on September 16, 1810, Father Miquel Hidalgo made a crucial, impulsive decision that led to Mexico's bloody struggle for independence from Spain. In the early 19th century, Mexicans were discussing how to revolt against Spain. Father Hidalgo, the leader of a revolutionary group, heard that the Spanish government had ordered his arrest.

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In the early 19th century they were discussing how to revolt against Spain. The leader Father Hidalgo heard that Spain wanted to arrest him so he rang the church bell to call people to the church. He rallied everyone to go fight. His speech mentioned " Viva Mexico and Viva la independencia". These words ae still remembered in Mexico repeated on Mexican Independence day.

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Mexican War of Independence | 3 Minute History

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Mexico was firmly under Spanish rule and was arranged by race. When Napoleon invaded the Spanish land he forced the leaders out and put his brother on the thrown. The Mexican army was faced by many men and were defeated outside the capital on October. As the Spanish army marched on to the Us they were proven guilty of treason and were sentenced to death. In 1813 Mexico finally declared there independence from Spain and ratified there first constitution.

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For centuries Germany was divided into many different states which unified in the Holy Roman empire. In the Napoleonic wars a confederation was made in Germany although it was ineffective. The revolutions of 1848 began and started to spread across Germany. In the Frankfurt assembly the Germans kept talking about how they wanted to unify Germany. With the hep of newly unified Italy the the Prussians emerged victories and Unified northern Germany under Prussia's rule.