Italian and German Unification

Question 1

Who was Napoleon III?

Answer 1

An authoritarian emperor of France in 1853. He rebuilt Paris in order to make the citizens there more proud of their country while displacing thousands of working-class Parisians through demolition and slum clearance. He also had a lot of economic growth but was not good with dealing with foreign policies.

Question 2

Who was Baron Haussmann?

Answer 2

A French official who helped rebuild Paris that reflected the elegance and grandeur of Paris buildings and created new boulevards, parks and public works.

Question 3

What was the state of Germany before unification?

Answer 3

Germany was split into 39 sovereign states grouped in the German Confederation, which was established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to replace the destroyed Holy Roman Empire.

Question 4

What were the Carlsbad decrees?

Answer 4

Prohibited any reforms that conflicted with absolute monarchy. The decrees established censorship of newspapers and created a secret police force that spied on citizens who were suspected of liberal or nationalist revolutionary activities.

Question 5

What is Zollverein?

Answer 5

An international trade agreement in Prussia that gave a free trade link between states except for Austria to further Germany economically.

Question 6

What is the Frankfurt Assembly?

Answer 6

The first freely elected parliament for all German states, including the German-populated areas of the Austrian Empire. They were called to discuss reforms and attempt to draft a constitution for a unified Germany but faced opposition from the aristocracy and military.

Question 7

Who was William (Wilhelm) I?

Answer 7

The proclaimed Emperor (Kaiser) of the new German Empire.

Question 8

Who was Otto von Bismarck?

Answer 8

The Prime Minister of Prussia in 1862 who distrusted the Western German states but saw German nationalism as a way to strengthen Prussia. He believed that unification comes through “Blood and Iron” (War and Industrialization).

Question 9

What is the concept of Realpolitik?

Answer 9

A system of politics or principles based on practicality rather than morality or ideological considerations to benefit the country.

Question 10

What are Schleswig-Holstein and the 7 Weeks War?

Answer 10

Prussia declared war on Austria, exploiting its economical disadvantages and the Habsburgs’ internal ethnic struggles to win quickly. Austria gave up all claims to Schleswig-Holstein, surrendered Venetia to the Italians, and agreed to dissolve the German Confederation. Bismarck created the North German Confederation in its place. They also made a dual monarchy creating Austria-Hungary.

Question 11

What is the Franco-Prussian War?

Answer 11

Bismarck’s plan to bring the Southern German States to Prussia using Hohenzollerns (Prussia’s ruling family) controversy of occupying the Spanish throne.

Question 12

How did the Franco-Prussian War start?

Answer 12

King William agreed to meet with the French Ambassador to discuss the Spanish succession and William originally agreed but the French made the mistake of asking for too much for the indefinite exclusion of the Hohenzollern family from the Spanish throne. Bismarck made it appear that the King had rejected the ambassador and France called for war in a telegram.

Question 13

What happen as a result of the Franco-Prussian War?

Answer 13

• The Southern German states quickly rallied towards Prussia for protection and later declared allegiance to Emperor William I after the war (2nd Reich).
• The French imperial government collapsed despite best efforts to hold out against the Germans.

Question 14

What is Kulterkampf?

Answer 14

Catholics showed loyalty to both the Pope and the State when Bismarck only wanted the people to show loyalty to the State. Kulturkampf was made to create more public schools to prevent children from being educated under catholic schools. It was meant to limit the Catholic influence in politics.

Question 15

What are May Laws?

Answer 15

The laws made the clergy give up their faith for the church and gave responsibility for the training and appointment of clergy to the state.

Question 16

What are Disability and Old Age Insurance?

Answer 16

Bismark convinced the state to provide Social Security, disability and old age plans, to win workers over and prevent them becoming socialist.

Question 17

Who is Giuseppe Mazzini?

Answer 17

*Considered the father of Italian nationalism best known for bringing nationalist ideals to the Italian people. He spent a lot of time distributing nationalist propaganda around the country.
*Believed that Italian unification could only come from the people themselves by using education and revolution.
*He founded a society called Young Italy, which encouraged young Italians to work towards the unification of Italy through democratic means.

Question 18

What were the flaws of Giuseppe Mazzini?

Answer 18

• His desires for unification were impractical and his extreme views alienated himself from the middle class.

Question 19

Who is Victor Emmanuel II?

Answer 19

The King of Piedmont during Italian Unification. He declared war on Austria in 1859 with Napoleon III also declaring war in support known as the First War of Italian Unification. The war resulted in the removal of Austrian influence from Northern Italy that helped the goal of Italian unification.

Question 20

Who is Camillo di Cavour?

Answer 20

• The Prime Minister of Sardinia in 1852. He was not a nationalist and believed that Northern and Southern Italy had little in common but still promoted economic expansion, the construction of modern transportation infrastructure, reformation of the currency, and raising Piedmont-Sardinia’s profile in international relations.
• He made an alliance with France, one of Austria’s enemies, and in 1858, agreed to cooperate in driving the Austrians from Italy if Piedmont would cede Savoy and Nice to France. The result of the war was that Piedmont-Sardinia had grown twice its original size.

Question 21

What were the flaws of Camillo di Cavour?

Answer 21

He failed to address the economic and social inequalities in the country and the regional differences in the country.

Question 22

Who is Giuseppe Garibaldi?

Answer 22

• A brilliant military tactician who was a member of Young Italy in 1831. In 1860, a revolt broke out in Sicily against the conservative King Francis II. He marched with 1,089 young, middle class volunteers wearing red shirts and armed with 1,000 rifles and no ammunition and declared himself the “Champion of Victor Emmanuel and Italy”.
• He succeeded in winning over the peasants with promises of lowering taxes and land redistribution. Garibaldi took control of Sicily and Naples and gave them to Victor Emmanuel II (First king of Italy) but left Rome alone to avoid conflict.

Question 23

Who was Tsar Alexander II?

Answer 23

• Came to power during the Crimean War focused on changing the Russian system. One of the problems he wanted to solve was serfdom in the country.

Question 24

What is serfdom?

Answer 24

The institution of forced agricultural labour for a lord (a landowner). It was used during Medieval Europe but was eventually fazed out in Western Europe.

Question 25

What were the downside of serfdom?

Answer 25

• This system limited innovation and efficiency in agriculture while also restricting the flow of surplus goods into markets, contributing to a stagnant economy compared to regions where free labor systems emerged.
• The serfs were uneducated and were unable to deal with more complex machinery and weapons of war and local revolts were common.

Question 26

What was Royal Proclamation of 1861?

Answer 26

• The peasants were allowed to own their own property, marry whoever they liked, and bring suits in the law courts.
• Even with their emancipation, their benefits were limited. The landowners would often keep their best land to themselves while giving the peasants the bad parts of their land that they could not use to support themselves in, especially with the increase of population.
• The state gave compensation to the landowners for the land given to the peasants but the peasants were still expected to repay the state in long term installments and were subjected to the power of the mir, a village commune that was responsible for the land payments to the government. It made it clear that the peasants didn’t own their land.

Question 27

What was the Crimean War?

Answer 27

• A 3 year war between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1853. The Ottoman empire was slowly dying as many parts of the empire such as Greece and Serbia gained their autonomy over them and their authority over outlying territory also became weaker.
• Russia wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to become more powerful. France and Britain were both concerned about the power imbalance Russia would cause if the country prevailed in the war and supported the Empire as a result.

Question 28

What were the outcomes of the Crimean War?

Answer 28

*Austria, an assumed ally of the Russians, remained neutral and Russia fought alone. The countries later became enemies because of Austria’s inaction leaving the country without any friendships among the great powers.
*Made Russia realize that the country was behind industrially and technologically. After the humiliating defeat, they withdrew from European affairs for two decades to fix their problems.