To what extent was Nationalism the cause of….?

Italy:
1. Nationalistic desire to unify and govern themselves
- Had been held back economically and politically by their fragmentation
- Shared ethnic heritage
- Mazzini and his “Young Italy”/“Young Europe” → calling for all oppressed
nationalities to work together to overthrow the old Empires
- Fragmentation of Italy perpetuated the rule of monarchs and aristocracies;
unitary democratic republic would express the sovereign will of the nation
- Resorgimento: new independence movement led by the Carbonari who agitated for
political change
- “Red shirts” movement/rebellion: overthrow Italian regional governments, starting
from the Two Sicilies
2. Another reason for unification: Power politics
- Strategic move to separate from Austria: Cavour’s decision to participate in the
conspiracy with France → Solferino
- Garibaldi realised that Italians were so divided regionally and politically that they
could not rely on nationalism alone as a force to unify Italy → needed a strong state,
i.e. Piedmont, to became a rallying state that could unite all of the states.
- Using each other to get what they want → opportunism of each other’s actions e.g.
Garibaldi purposely starting unification of Southern Italy and going closer to Rome
because he knew that Cavour would intervene in this due to the fear of France
invading them → hence forcing Cavour to take on Southern Italy in the end while
Cavour got the unification of Southern Italy through Garibaldi’s actions

Germany:
1. Post-1815: Nationalistic energies exported by the French Revolution
- Coupled with liberalism, the people advocated for popular sovereignty
- Fichte’s Addresses to a German Nation → called for “Ein Volk”, a people sharing
ethnic ties, history, language, culture, etc.
- Repression of seditious expression → underground (student/soldier) societies
spreading revolutionary/nationalistic sentiments
- Frankfurt Assembly 1848-49: German liberals declare a unified Germany
2. Other reasons: economic - ​Zollverein
- Zollverein by Prussia in 1834 had caused all German states to be unified under a
larger economic sphere under Prussia → hence German states already very strongly
united economically → formed a strong basis for a further unification of Germany, as
Prussia now seen to be the dominant/rallying power that could bring about complete
German reunification.
​ - Kleindeutsch became a legitimate (?) solution to the German Question
3. Other reasons: political - opportunistic actions by Prussia
- Bismarck aiming for a Germany to be united under Prussia → hence used wars
opportunistically to unite Germany; furthermore, he made all these wars look like it
was not for the increase of Prussian territory but for the unification of Germany,
hence causing the Germans to continue to rally together and support Prussian wars.
→ made Prussia look like the champion of German interests
 - Denmark War in 1864, War with Austria in 1866 to eliminate them as a power, and
Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to allow no more opposition to a unified Germany

Fall of Austria:
1. Unification of Italy and Germany (see above) → undermining Austrian influence in Europe
(no more Grossdeutsch option)
2. Multi-ethnic and multi-national identity → intrinsic fragility and instability
3. Hungarian fight for independence
- Demanded recognition of Magyar as an official language → strengthened claims for
national autonomy and even independence
- Kossuth demanded autonomy and parliamentary government in Budapest
- Dual-Monarchy in 1867 → Austro-Hungary Empire
4. Balkan nationalism
- Serbian independence and growth → want to gain Bosnia into their territory based on
the existence of Serbs in the area
- Refused by Austria; did not want to set a precedent for all minorities to follow
- Assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip
(wanted a Yugoslavia for their peoples) → terrorist act that could be said to have
triggered the Great War

Changes in Europe due to nationalism:

1. Changed borders in Europe; the map of Europe
- Changed the definition of legitimacy → now borders in Europe not defined only by
territorial gains but by the people → i.e. people believed that they should be
governed by principles of a nation (being culturally united etc.),
- French idea of nationalism; how borders in Europe should be defined solely by the
ethnic groups etc.

2. Revolutions of 1848
- A cause for the revolutions of 1848: when ideals of nationalism led many ethnic
groups like Serbians, Germans started to fight and demand for independence

3. Destabilizing force in Europe: Destroyed the BOP, Led to war, threatened the existence of
states
- Upset the balance of power in Europe
- Nationalism brought about the unification of a very powerful Germany which now
threatened the existence of other states like France; led to tensions in the region
- Fall of Austria (see above)
- Balkan nationalism (see above) → cause of war

4. Good: Brought about the birth of nation-states.

- Italy and Germany were very fragmented before idea of nationalism started to
became popular, but nationalism brought about their unification, people in Italy and
Germany now not held back economically and politically by fragmentation anymore
but can progress as a nation, as they achieve their goal of gaining a state governed
by their own people
Evaluate the effect that the Congress of Vienna/Concert of Europe had on Europe.
Effective in…
1. Providing some superficial means to balance the Great Powers
- At least some norms of cooperation that the Great powers adhered to for the sake of
preventing war → Effective at least in preventing all-out great war for 40 years
2. Bringing about the re-imposition and re-definition of legitimacy → tried to bring about a
political reconstruction of the social order that could bring about a period of peace; gave a
strong foundation on how a government was to be decided on in a country

Was not effective due to…

1. Trying to ignore effect that the FR had imposed on Europe, which was the principles of
equality and the new force of public opinion
- Did not give them a say in the reconstruction of Europe and people angered by the
re-imposition of the ancien regime, whom they knew would only continue to suppress
them and saw violent revolutions to be the only way out
- Unleashed profound forces not given attention
2. Twin currents of nationalism and liberalism
- Undermine the old order and any attempts of reactionary sentiments
3. Different ideas about how a balance of power should look like
- Tenuous agreement built on a common denominator of fear of Revolution (more than
fear of each other)
- Ideological differences
4. Vulnerability of legitimacy
- Austrian destabilisation by nationalism + Prussia strength (including economic
strength)
5. French revisionism after the Crimean War
- Challenged legitimacy as defined in the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna
- French strength displayed in the Crimean War changed the target of Europe’s
“probation” to Russia

What did The Eastern Question mean for Europe as a whole?

1. Threat to the balance of powers
- Weakening and the near collapse of the Ottoman empire → caused the Eastern
question to come into prominence because the Great power who takes over Ottoman
would possess too much power
2. Crimean War
- Undermined the Concert of Europe based on the interaction between horizontal and
vertical orders
- French revisionism towards the Final Act at Vienna (see above)
3. Increased nationalism
- Minority groups claiming their right to independence under the weak Ottoman
4. One of the causes of war as it complicated the situation; a certain unease about the
political uncertainty of Europe esp. After it collapsed and left a huge power vacuum
Causes of The Great War
1. Balkan nationalism and tension - trigger
2. Alliances and War Plans - escalation
- German’s rigid Schlieffen Plan
- Manic search for diplomatic and military security in overlapping set of alliances only
raised more tensions in Europe.
3. Threat of German Power
- Destabilising to balance of power in Europe
4. British involvement - reaction to escalation, which escalated it further

Russian Revolutions - why did they take so long and why did it happen eventually?
Why did it take so long?
1. Agricultural society - mostly peasants
- Effects of Enlightenment and IR not that apparent in Russia → caused the exporting
of ideals of revolution to be very slow
- Closed avenues to mass organisation (lack of legal framework → lack of legislative
assembly, censorship, illiteracy, etc.)
2. Naive paternalism:
- Belief in Divine Right of Kings
- Peasants very supportive and loyal of the autocracy and the tsar → when the
Narodniks tried to get the support of the uneducated to overthrow the autocracy, the
peasants very unwilling

Why did it eventually happen?

1. Worsening of economic conditions in the country due to effects of industrialization in the
1890s → despotic conditions workers were living in; increasingly dissatisfied
2. Loss of “naive paternalism”
- Russia defeat to Japan in 1905 → national humiliation and revealed how backward
Russia had became + the divine right of the king questioned
- Lack of good governance to solve the pressing issues of economics
- Cossacks attack - use of military violence against civilians
BUT revolution in 1905 was limited
- Lack of leadership
- Situation not chaotic enough for radicals to spread their influence
Revolution in 1917:
- Disillusionment in the Great War → wanted out
- February Revolution: new government could not deal with the problems of war
- December: Bolsheviks claim to power through opportunity + rousing of the workers
who were dissatisfied with the government
- Corruption in the government + rebellion of Russian troops against the Tsar to join
protests; Tsar no more power and forced to abdicate
What were the causes of French Revolution and what was its aftermath?
Causes:
1. Enlightenment ideas; Third Estate influenced by Montesquieu’s Spirit of Laws,
rejected absolute monarchy and wanted constitutional monarchy; During the Reign of
Terror, radicals influenced by Rousseau call for popular sovereignty
2. Failures of the absolute monarchy → Petticoat government, corruption, failure to
resolve economic issues such as hyperinflation, Taille → Inefficient and unfair
collection of taxes, continued participation in wars causing taxes to x3
3. Industrial revolution → cause relocation of workers to the city, which caused the
congregation of peoples in salons and coffee shops which served as avenues of
dissemination of revolutionary ideas
4. Tennis Court Oath → asking people not to pay tax → started to ignite feelings of
anger in the people
5. Protest against bread prices → bringing of troops to Paris (18,000) - escalation of
tensions → Louis XVI seen as a tyrannical king, people think he is using military
force against the people

Immediate aftermath:
1. Napoleonic rule
- Threats to ancien regimes: fear of revolutionary sentiments in own states
- Multiple coalitions against France in a bid to contain the Revolution
- Cheapening of human life (ironic, given the claim for the Rights of Man)
- Code Napoleon, reorganising bureaucracy and economy, equal rights given to
everyone, establishing honour by merit and not by birth (change of French society)
2. Monarchy could never be fully restored in France even after several attempts to do so
esp. Due to the force of equality and force of public opinion that emerged
- Leaders now saw that for them to properly govern France, they would have to base
their legitimacy on support from the people

Impact on Europe in the LR:

1. Unleashing of profound forces/energies of the FR by French armies and ideas →
emergence of ideas of nationalism and liberalism (see above)
- Destabilising the old order
2. Great powers seeing the need to cooperate and work together → to try to construct a
Europe that was post-Napoleon and eradicating effects by the FR
- Analysis: unsuccessful in the long run
3. Louis Bonaparte
- Modernized France with Hausmann - improved health, sanitation, consumerism,
widened roads, etc.
- Liberalized France → removed censorship on the press by allying with them,
universal male suffrage