Chapter 25:

The Age of Nationalism, 1850-1914

 

1)Napoleon III in France

a)Early nationalism liberal, democratic, and radical, posed threat to conservatives, yet could also flourish in a dictatorial state

b)The Second Republic and Louis Napoleon

i)Louis Napoleon elected b/c of name, middle-class and peasants feared working class and wanted tough protective ruler, positive plans laid out in Napoleonic Ideas and The Elimination of Poverty (wanted influence and territory for Fr)

ii)LP believed govt should represent ppl and help them economically, not thru special interest political parties but thru a strong authoritarian

iii)December 2, 1851 dismissed National Assembly in coup d’ etat b/c would not allow Napoleon to run for 2nd term, army crushed resistance- received vote of ppl

c)Napoleon III’s Second Empire

i)Greatest success was economy- encouraged investment banks and railroad construction, public works, rebuild Paris, unemployment declined

(1)Until mi-1860’s support from French urban workers due to housing, credit unions, and granting of right to form unions and strikes

ii)Napoleon held nearly all power and won electoral victories w/ universal male suffrage, but gradually success disintegrated during 1860s

(1)Problems in Italy and rising power of Prussia led to criticism from his Catholic and nationalist supporters, MC liberals who always wanted less authoritarian regime continued to denounce rule

(2)Listened to public opinion, liberalized empire, gave assembly greater powers, 1870 new constitution which combined emperor and parliament

2)Nation Building in Italy and Germany

a)Italy to 1850

i)Italy never been united prior to 1850, reorganized 1815 @ Congress of Vienna- Lombardy, Venetia given to Metternich’s Austria, Tuscany independent, Central Italy + Rome ruled by papacy, Naples + Sicily by Bourbons

ii)Btwn 1815 and 1848 goal of unified Italy held by many Italians

(1)Guiseppe Mazzini preached centralized democratic republic w/ universal male suffrage, Vincenzo Gioberti federation of existing states under pope, third group wanted autocratic kingdom ruled by Sardinia-Piedmont

iii)Sardinia’s monarch Victor Emmanuel had liberal constitution from revolts in 1848 w/ some fair amt civil liberties and parliament; many saw it as liberal, progressive state ideally suited to achieve national unification. Democratic republic seemed quixotic and too radical

iv)Pius IX withdrew support after driven from Rome in 1848, 1865 Syllabus of Errors denounced rationalism, socialism, religious liberty

b)Cavour and Garibaldi in Italy

i)Sardinia led by brilliant Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, worked to consolidate Sardinia as a liberal constitutional state capable of leading a unified N. Italy

(1)Program of highways + railroads, civil liberties, opposed clerical privilege

ii)Secret alliance with Napoleon III against Austria, when Austria attacked in July 1858 forces joined. Napoleon III criticized in France by Catholics for supporting enemy of pope, later joined with Austrian forces against Sardinia

(1)Peace of Villafranca gave Sardinia only Lombardy, rest unchanged

iii)Middle-class nationalists supported fusion with Sardinia of central and northern Italian states, Cavour ceded Nice and Savoy to gain French support

(1)Ppl voted in plebiscite to join kingdom, unified N. Italian state created

iv)Guiseppe Garibaldi- romantic, revolutionary nationalist who wanted full unification + republicanism of Mazzini and 1848

(1)May 1860 led guerrillas called Red Shirts to capture the kingdom of the Two Sicilies

(2)Conquered many southern Italian states, did not attack Papal states for fear of French reprisal, plebiscites held and ppl of south voted to join Sardinia

(3)Cavour succeeded in controlling Garibaldi and turned popular nationalism in a conservative direction------ Italy unified in 1859

v)Kingdom of Italy parliamentary monarchy under Victor Emmanuel, only small minority could vote, progressive industrial north with stagnant, agrarian south

(1)Venice added 1866, Rome in 1870----- total Italian unification

c)Germany Before Bismarck

i)After 1848 and failure of Frederick William to unify Germany, tension btwn Austria and Prussia. @ same time modern industry growing within Zollverein (German customs union) which excluded Austria, Austro-Prussian tension 

ii)New Germany w/o Austria becoming economic reality, Prussia’s leading role in Zollverein gave it a valuable advantage against Austria in German affairs

iii)William I of Prussia saw war on horizon, wanted to double size of army

(1)Parliament led by MC denied budget b/c wanted state to be less militaristic and wanted control, King William called on Bismarck to defy Parliament

d)Bismarck and the Austro-Prussian War, 1866

i)Count Otto von Bismarck came from Junker descent, after becoming minister in 1862 declared govt would rule w/o parliament, MC and voters of Prussia showed disapproval by voting liberal majorities to parliament, parl was ignored

ii)Opposition at home led for search for success abroad. 1864 Austria + Prussia joined to attack Denmark, who was trying to consolidate German provinces

(1)Prussia wanted to control all of northern, Protestant German Confederation

iii)Austro-Prussian War of 1866 (7 Weeks War)- Prussia defeated Austria at Battle of Sadowa. Austria offered lenient terms and only ceded Venetia to Italy, German Confederation dissolved, N. states joined in new North German Confederation led by Prussia, southern Catholic states independent but allied

e)The Taming of the Parliament

i)Bismarck believed nationalism not hostile to conservative authoritarian rule, after victory against Austria created federal constitution for N. German Confed

(1)Each state kept local govt, but king of Prussia became president of confederation + controlled army + foreign affairs,

(2)Legislature with upper house appointees, lower house elected by universal male suffrage--- but power ultimately in hands of Prussia’s king and army

ii)Many liberals and members of the MC, including Hermann Baumgarten, bowed to Bismarck, values of aristocratic army officer replaced those of MC liberal

f)The Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871

i)Bismarck believed patriotic war with France would drive south German states into his arms, pretext was dispute over next king of Spain

ii)French leaders of Second Empire goaded into declaring war in 1870, French defeated in 1870, new govt formed but final surrender in January 1871

(1)Harsh peace settlement imposed, indemnity of 5 billion francs, ceded Alsace-Lorraine, much hostility btwn nations after 1871

iii)War released enormous surge of patriotic feeling in Germany, semi-authoritarian nationalism with “new conservatism” w/ support of propertied classes and which sought support of working classes had triumphed

3)The Responsive National State, 1871-1914

a)Ordinary ppl felt increasing loyalty to govt, most had universal male suffrage- “part of the system”, govts passed laws to alleviate societal problems

b)Some govts manipulated support after 1871 to divert attention away from underlying class conflict, militaristic policies to manage domestic conflicts at expense of increasing international tensions--- leads to WWI in 1914

c)The German Empire

i)Strong central govt with Prussia at head, popularly elected lower house called Reichstag, National Liberals supported Bismarck’s unification legislation

(1)Kulturkampf- response to papal declaration of infallibility, Bismarck’s attack on Catholic church, feared loyalty to church as opposed to state

(2)1873 financial crash led farmers to support tariffs on cheap imported grain, Bismarck gains support of Catholic and Conservative party as well as found new way to raise taxes—protectionism won loyalty

ii)Bismarck tried to stop growth of socialism b/c feared revolutionary language and allegiance to movement transcending nation-state

(1)To win over support of working-class passed social security laws, insurance, pensions—social security system

iii)1890 new emperor William II opposed Bismarck’s attempts to outlaw Social Democratic Party and wanted to win support of working class

iv)Forced Bismarck to resign, after “dropping of the pilot” bad foreign policy

v)Social Democrats won majority, becoming less radical, identified increasingly with German state, concentrated on gradual social and political reform

d)Republican France

i)Patriotic republicans who proclaimed Third Republic in Paris after defeat at Sedan finally defeated January 1871, disappointment in national elections + ceding Alsace-Lorraine led to Paris Commune in March 1871, quick defeat

ii)After this tragedy new national unity-- Adolphe Thiers firm measures showed provinces and MC that Third Republic might be moderate and socially conservative, skill and determination of moderate republican leaders such as Leon Gambetta resulted in majority and supremacy of parliament

(1)To win over next generation- trade unions, colonies, compulsory elementary schooling, public tax supported schools- nation building tool

(2)Free education became secular + republican, challenged traditional parochial schools of the Cath. church hostile to republics and secularism

(3)Wanted teachers to be married women, increase population, contrast nuns- political change supported by changes in underlying culture

iii)Dreyfus Affair- Jewish army captain accused of treason on fabricated evidence by Catholics and anti-Semites, exonerated thru support of civil libertarians and radical republicans. State cut ties to Catholic church and Catholic schools

e)Great Britain and Ireland

i)Right to vote granted to middle class males 183

ii) On Liberty by John Stuart Mill, Benthamite, probed how to protect rights of individuals and minorities in age of mass electoral participation

iii)1867 Benjamin Disraeli and Conservatives extended right to vote to all middle class males and the best-paid workers to broaden support, Third Reform Bill of 1884 finally gave vote to almost every adult male

iv)House of Lords conservative, vetoed People’s Budget to increase social welfare services, but was ultimately passed

v)1906-1914 Liberals led by David Lloyd George raised taxes on rich as part of People’s Budget- national health insurance, unemployment benefits, pensions

vi)Irish famine fueled independence movement, England slowly granted concessions- abolition of Anglican church privileges, peasant rights

(1)S. Cath majority wanted independence, Protestants in N opposed

(2) Under Liberal PM William Gladstone (“mission to pacify Ireland”) home rule bills failed, then finally passed

(3)Ulsterites raised army in opposition to bills, 1914 compromise home rule bill introduced- home rule did not apply to Ulsterites in northern Ireland- but was rejected

f)The Austro-Hungarian Empire

i)1849 Magyar nationalism drove Hung. patriots to declare independent Hungarian republic, crushed by Austrian and Russian Armies

ii)Wake of defeat by Prussia in 1866, weakened Austria forced to establish dual monarchy, empire divided in two- only shared monarch and some ministers

iii)Austria- Germans only 1/3 of population, fighting btwn minorities over lang

iv)Hungary- Magyar nobility 1867 restored constitution of 1848, used it to dominate peasantry and minority populations until 1914

(1)Laws passed promoting use of Hungarian language in schools and govt

(2)Nationalism weakened state, not strengthen it like other countries

g)Jewish Emancipation and Modern Anti-Semitism

i)Beginning in France 1791 Jews gained civil rights, continued after Jews played major role in Vienna, Berlin revolutions, Frankfurt Assembly endorsed full rights for Jews

ii)Gains survived conservative rxn, liberals in Austria, Italy, Prussia granted equal rights, but some exclusion from govt employment and discrimination remained

iii)Emancipation presented challenge to Jews b/c traditional jobs in competition in free market, but also great opportunity- Jews excelled and many entered middle classes

iv)Vicious anti-Semitism appeared after stock market crash of 1873, built on rxn against liberalism and its economic and social policies

(1)Some said Jews posed biological threat, most views held b extremist nationalists, and ppl who felt threatened by Jewish competition

(2)Formed political parties to attack and degrade Jews- Karl Lueger and his “Christian socialists” led Theodor Herzl to advocate Zionism

v)Before 1914 fiercest in Eastern Eur where Jews suffered from poverty, Russia used a-S to deflect popular discontent away from govt and onto Jewish minority. Violent pogroms followed 1881-1882

4)Marxism and the Socialist Movement

a)Before 1914 conflict btwn revolutionary socialism and alliance of conservative aristocracy and prosperous middle class on the other

b)The Socialist International

i) Socialism appealed to large numbers of workers, growth of German Social Democratic part enormous- by 1912 had millions of members and largest party in Reichstag

ii)Russian exiles in Switzerland founded Russian Social Democratic Party, French parties unified 1905 as French Section of the Workers International

iii)Marxian socialist parties were eventually linked together in an international organization, Marx concluded in 1867 Capital that revolution follows economic crisis

(1)Marx played key role in founding First International of socialists- the International Working Men’s Association in 1864

(2)Collapsed after support for Paris Commune scared moderate British

iv)1889 as individual parties grew strong Second International formed

(1)Federation of national socialist parties, May Day declared one-day strike

c)Unions and Revisionism

i)As socialist parties grew and attracted large numbers of members they looked more toward gradual change and improvement and less toward revolution

ii)Workers less inclined to radical programs and revolution b/c workers had gained right to vote and real, tangible benefits, responded to nationalism, standing of living rose after 1850,

iii)Labor unions outlawed during early stages of industrialization, first legalized in 1825 and 1825 in England

(1)Limited to highly skilled workers, avoided radical politics and costly strikes

(2)Concentrated on better wages and hours thru collective bargaining

(3)Approach led to acceptance in Britain and right to strike w/o penalty 1870s

iv)After repeal of antisocialist laws in 1890 membership soared union focus changed to bread-and-butter issues such as wages, hours, conditions, rather than pure socialist doctrine

(1)Collective bargaining recognized by German Trade Union Congress as desirable in 1899

(2)Gradual improvement was primary goal of German trade-union movement

v)Revisionism- effort by various socialists to update Marxian doctrines to reflect the realities of the time

(1)Evolutionary Socialism 1899 by Edward Bernstein argued Marx’s predictions of ever-greater poverty proved false, therefore socialism should reform doctrine and tactics—gradual evolutionary changes

(2)Rejected by German Social Democrats and Second International, but moderation found followers elsewhere- >French socialist Jean Jaures

vi)Socialist parties had clear-cut national characteristics before 1914

(1)Russian and Austro-Hungarians most radical

(2)German party talked revolution but practiced reformism

(3)French talked revolution and tried to practice it

(4)England socialist but non-Marxian Labor party formally committed to gradual reform