France, Germany, &

Italy in the Late 19th Century

France

Napoleon III• Became emperor after the

Revolution of 1848• Started out as a tyrant, but

slowly eased restrictions on the legislature and reduced censorship and eventually issued a new democratic constitution

• Expanded industrialization, built railroads, created jobs; domestic policies were generally successful

Napoleon III’s Foreign Disasters• Tried to bring Mexico into the

French Empire, but Mexicans resisted and the United States protested European interference in the Americas

• Helped Italian nationalists defeat Austria, only to see Italy become a rival of France

• Lost war against Prussia in 1870, and was captured in battle, ending his reign

The Third Republic• In 1871, the French

National Assembly accepted a peace treaty with Germany– France surrendered two

provinces + cash to Germany

– The peace treaty was very unpopular with many French, leading to a brief civil war in France

The Third Republic• New French government had a

two-house legislature and was headed by a premier– Separated church and state

• Catholic Church ceased being the official church of France

• State-run schools were created to replace Catholic schools

– Passed laws to protect workers• set wages and hours• increased worker safety

• Unfortunately, political, racial, and sexual scandals plagued the Republic in its early decades, damaging the government’s credibility

Germany

To Unite or Not?• Remember, “Germany”

was still broken into dozens of small states + Prussia and Austria in the early 1800s

• In 1848, the delegates at the Frankfurt Assembly offered the throne of a united Germany to the King of Prussia, but he rejected their authority to make such an offer

Otto von Bismarck• In 1862, Otto von

Bismarck was appointed Chancellor of Prussia by King Wilhelm

• Bismarck immediately began developing a plan to unite Germany under Prussian leadership

Bismarck’s Plan• Strengthened the military

to fight three wars:– Built an alliance between

Prussia and Austria in 1864 and went to war with Denmark, seizing two German states

– In 1866, attacked Austria and seized more German territory

– In 1870, went to war with France and won easily

The Second Reich• After the victory over France

in 1871, the many German princes persuaded King Wilhelm I to take the title “Kaiser” (or emperor) of Germany

• This began the “Second Reich” (The old Holy Roman Empire was the First Reich and Germany under Adolph Hitler would be the Third Reich)

German Government• Constitution established

a two-house legislature:– The Bundesrat (upper

house) was appointed by the princes

– The Reichstag (lower house) was elected by male voters

– The Bundesrat could veto the decisions of the Reichstag

Germany’s Strengths• Plenty of iron and coal

resources• Lots of industry, large

corporations• Many miles of railroads• Second largest merchant

fleet in Europe• Many universities = an

educated workforce, many scientists

The Iron Chancellor• Otto von Bismarck, now

Chancellor of Germany, came to be known as “The Iron Chancellor” for his uncompromising desire to remove any obstacles to a truly united German state

• To completely unify Germany, however, meant destroying any competing loyalties

Kulturkampf• Bismarck targeted

Catholics, whom he felt were more loyal to the Pope than to Germany– had laws passed which

would allow the state to appoint priests and to sanction marriages

– when these moves backfired and increased loyalty to the Church, Bismarck backed down

Anti-Socialism• Bismarck also campaigned

against Socialist groups– feared that the working class

would revolt against the state– banned Socialist groups, shut

down Socialist newspapers– when these moves failed, he

resorted to passing laws that helped improve working conditions to win over the working class• created health insurance• created disability pay• created retirement pensions

Bismarck’s Fall• In 1888, Wilhelm I’s grandson

Wilhelm II became Kaiser• Wilhelm took a much more

aggressive interest in ruling Germany and in 1890 he fired the aging and conservative Bismarck

• Wilhelm began a massive military buildup, with an eye on building a global German empire, thereby upsetting the fragile European balance of power

Italy

Obstacles to Italian Unity• Italy had not been

united since the fall of the Roman Empire

• In mid-1800s, parts of Italy were ruled by Austria & France, other parts were independent states, and the pope had direct control of part of central Italy

Reasons to Unite• Geographically distinct

peninsula• Common language• Shared history of

Roman Empire• 99% Catholic• Made good economic

sense (ease of trade)

The Struggle for Italy• The King of Sardinia, Victor

Emmanuel, sought to unite Italy under his authority

• By 1859, Sardinia had defeated Austria and seized most of northern Italy

• He then allied himself with Giuseppe Garibaldi, a rebel leader in southern Italy who quickly conquered the entire southern half of the peninsula

• In 1861, Victor Emmanuel was named King of Italy, (although some regions would remain independent until 1870)

The Red Cross• Created after the war

between Sardinia and Austria left many innocent civilian casualties

• Originally organized to help the victims of war, today provides aid to the victims of all kinds of disasters

• Today made up of Red Cross (Christian), Red Crescent (Muslim), and Red Diamond (Non-denominational)

Italy’s Challenges• Italy had been divided for so

long, that most people maintained regional loyalties over any national loyalty

• Northern Italy was wealthy, more urban; southern Italy was poor and rural

• The pope wasn’t happy that he no longer directly controlled much of Italy and urged Catholics not to cooperate with new government

• Political unrest due to socialist and anarchist groups