TOPIC - 3 Nation States — Unification of Italy, Germany and Britain. - Class 10 PDF Download

Quick Review

■ After 1848, the conservatives began to use nationalist ideas to strengthen the monarchy. The unification of Italy and Germany came about through this process.

■ Unification of Germany (1866-1871) 

•  In 1848, middle-class Germans tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation into a nation state under an elected parliament. 
•  In Prussia, nation building acts were repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military and were supported by the landowners (Junkers). 
•  Prussia took over the leadership of the movement.
•  Otto von Bismarck, chief minister of Prussia, was the architect of the leading role of Prussia in the process of nation-building. 
•  Prussia emerged victorious after fighting three wars over seven years against the combined forces of Austria, Denmark and France and the process of unification of Germany was completed.
•  18th January 1871: The new German empire headed by the German Emperor Kaiser William I was declared in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. 
•  The unification of Germany established Prussian dominance in Europe.
•  The New German Empire focused on modernizing the currency, banking, legal and judicial systems.

■ Unification of Italy

•  Italy was divided into seven states.
•  Only Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian princely house. 
•  The North Italy was under Austrian Habsburgs. 
•  The centre part was under Pope. 
•  The South region was under the Bourbon Kings of Spain.
•  During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini formed a coherent program for uniting the Italian Republic and formed a secret society called Young Italy. 
•  Failure of the 1831 and 1848 revolutionary uprisings prompted King Victor Emmanuel II from Sardinia-Piedmont to unify the Italian states. 
•  Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont, Count Cavour, led the movement for the unification of Italy.
•  In the year 1859, Sardinia-Piedmont with an alliance with France defeated the Austrian forces.
•  In 1860 Sardinia-Piedmont’s forces marched into south Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Scillies and drove out the Spanish rulers.
•  In 1861, Victor Emanuel was declared as the king of united Italy and Rome was declared the capital of Italy. 

■ Britain has a different history of how it consolidated as a nation—state without uprisings and revolutions. The British Isles was inhabited by ethnic English, Welsh, Scot or Irish. The English nation grew more in power and wealth, and it began to exert influence over the other nations of the islands.

■ The concept of nation states, with England as the centre, came in 1688 after the Parliament snatched power from the monarchy. In 1707, the Act of Union between England and Scotland resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’.

■ To ensure the growth of British identity, Scotland’s cultural and political institutions were suppressed. The British imposed control over Ireland as well. Ireland was deeply divided into two groups, Catholics and Protestants. The 

English favoured the protestants, and helped them establish their dominance over a largely Catholic Ireland.

■ In 1801, Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom after a failed Irish revolt. The symbols of new Britain were the English language, the British Flag (Union Jack), and the British national anthem, (God save our Nobel King).

Know the Personalities

● Otto Von Bismarck : Otto von Bismarck was the architect of a Prussian consolidation that was also a form of German unification. Once the empire was established, he actively and skillfully pursued pacific policies in foreign affairs, succeeding in preserving the peace in Europe for about two decades.

● Kaiser William : Wilhelm II was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. In newly formed Germany a lot of emphasis was placed on modernising the currency, and the banking, legal and judicial systems.

● Count Camillo di Cavour : The Chief Minister of Piedmont, Count Camillo di Cavour, helped the king in forming an alliance with France, and they defeated the Austrian forces in 1859. Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri, generally known as Cavour, was an Italian statesman and a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification.

● Giuseppe Garibaldi : He was an Italian general, politician and nationalist who played a large role in the history of Italy. He has been hailed as one of the ‘Fathers of the Fatherland’ for his contribution to the Italian Risorgimento, which unified the fractured nation under one rule. He joined the war along with his armed volunteers called the ‘Red Shirts’. In 1860, Garibaldi and his troops marched into Southern Italy and the Kingdom of Two Sicilies.

Know the Dates

● 1855 : The Kingdom of Sardinia participated from the sides of British and French in the Crimean War.

● 1858 : Cavour formed an alliance with France.

● 1859-1870 : Unification of Italy.

● 1859 : Sardinia-Piedmont with an alliance with France defeated the Austrian forces. Large number of people under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the movement.

● 1860 : Sardinia-Piedmont’s forces marched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and drove out the Spanish rulers.

● 1861 : Victor Emmanuel II was declared as the King of United Italy and Rome was declared the capital of Italy.

● 1866-1871 : Unification of Germany.

● 1871 : The Prussian King, William I was proclaimed the German Emperor.

● 1905 : Slav nationalism gathers their force in the Habsburg and Ottoman empire.

● 1914 : Beginning of the First World War.