The age of nationalism

and nation-building
HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin
HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin
Otto von Bismarck
1815-1898
Prussian aristocrat
Entered civil service, became a diplomat
Working to strengthen Prussia
Austria emerged as a main obstacle to his plans
1862 became chief minister (until 1890)
Riding the wave of Prussian nationalism and
militarism
In perpetual conflict with liberal parliament
“Might is right”

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 Bismarck’s legacy
Oversaw the unification of Germany
1866: Austro-Prussian War
1867: Chancellor of the North German
Confederation

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

22 kingdoms, Grand duchies,
duchies, principalities, and
Free Hanseatic cities

Red colour:
North German
Confederation
(mainly
Protestant states)

Yellow colour:
Allied, Catholic
Southern states

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 For comparison:
Germany 2010

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 Bismarck’s legacy (cont’d)
Liberal vs. illiberal
Reaching out to the people but ignoring
parliamentary institutions
1867: customs union with the Southern states
1870: Franco-Prussian War
Authoritarianism
Nationalism
New conservatism

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin
 1859: conflict with Austria in the North
Short-lived alliance with Napoleon III
Rise of nationalism in urban centres
Anti-foreign sentiment (with France and
Austria controlling large areas of today’s
Italian state)

Growing support for King Victor Emmanuel

as nominal head of state
1860: central Italy in a merger with the
kingdom of Sardinia
HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin
 Giuseppe Garibaldi
1807-1882
Participated in South America’s
anti-colonial struggle
Returned to Italy in 1848
Joined anti-Austrian forces in 1859

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 Giuseppe Garibaldi

Unification of Italy:
1860, with King’s support, union of north
and south; Venice joined 1866; Rome 1870
Parliamentary monarchy

A persistent North-South divide

(until today)

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

 Italian
unification

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

Post-1848, Hungarian kingdom treated as a defeated party
This changed with the Austro-Prussian War of 1866
Austria’s position weakened  looking for
a compromise solution:

The Austro-Hungarian Compromise

of 1867
A dual monarchy with a shared Emperor
(Franz Joseph – Emperor of Austria, King of
Hungary, King of Bohemia), military, and foreign policy

 The Hungarian Kingdom’s Slavic and other minorities

exposed to growing Magyarization pressures; non-
Magyar secondary schools closed down

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin

HIST 3150 Shehzad Martin