AP EUROPEAN HISTORY: THE SHAPING OF MODERN EUROPE

- Even before Napoleon was defeated, many European leaders met in Vienna - to plan terms for peace - The Congress of Vienna lasted until June 1815 - Prince Metternich of Austria wanted the nations to be like before the revolution - Lord Castlereagh of GB wanted GB to increase trade peacefully with others - Czar Alexander I of Russia and Prince Talleyrand of France wanted the same - all from different nations, all wanted the same thing - return of the monarch system - these leaders also believed France must pay compensation - for what Napoleon did to other countries - most of it to be paid in land - Prussia & Russia gained new land as a result - GB got some colonies in other parts of the world - the Congress leaders formed an alliance–The Quadruple Alliance - Austria, Prussia, Russia, GB - to make sure peace terms were obeyed - but soon they had to deal with revolutions in Italy and Spain during 1820's - the peace settlement began to fall apart by 1830 - remember revolution in France against Charles X - tried to take away some of the people’s freedoms -Louis Phillipe became king and the constitution was changed - this revolution led to others all over Europe - only a few were successful - Belgium won its independence - in 1829 Greece won its independence from the Turkish Empire - during early 1830's GB almost had one too - people unhappy cause only small # of wealthy landowners could vote - many middle class and workers were demanding suffrage - to vote for members of Parliament - riots began to break out - to stop them Parliament passed the Reform Bill of 1832 -middle class now had right to vote - 1867, 1884 city and farm workers given suffrage -also remember that France had another revolution in 1848 - others followed shortly thereafter - In Austrian Empire revolution forced Emperor to promise more freedom - and give Hungary independence - other parts of AE began to demand independence - the government put down these revolts - and took away freedom won earlier - but one important freedom remained - all serfs in AE were given their freedom - in 1848 there were revolutions in Germany - as result, most German rulers promised to give people more freedom - but the people also wanted to unite all different parts of Germany into one - German leaders met in the Frankfort Assembly to talk about it - they wanted to elect the Prussian monarch to be ruler of all Germany - but the monarch refused, so the meeting ended in failure - and afterwards, most German rulers did not keep their promises - about giving the people more freedom - at the same time in Italy, there were revolutions going on there - a Republic was set up in Rome - other Italian states declared their independence from the AE - AE was preoccupied with their own revolutions WORLD HISTORY NOTES 43 UNITING GERMANY INTO ONE NATION -during French Revolution, Germany divided into more than 300 independent states - Austria and Prussia the two most important - starting in 1792 both fought several wars against France - but both were defeated by Napoleon - forced to become allies with France - Napoleon then took all German states b/t Austria, France & Prussia - uniting these states and calling them the Confederation of the Rhine - many changes in these states under control of France - the Code Napoleon became the law of the land - German nobles lost much of their power - German serfs were set free - these changes helped German people enjoy better lives - rulers of Prussia and other German states realized they must do the same - improve conditions for the people to avoid revolts - Prussia freed its serfs and gave people more freedom - these improvements gave German people proud of being German - leaders at Congress of Vienna tried to make Germany stronger - divided it into 39 states and united them into the German Confederation - purpose was to make them & Europe strong enough to resist France - leaders also made Prussia stronger - gave it some territory west of the Rhine(was controlled by France) - Prussia became the strongest state in Confederation - Austria was second strongest - but Germany d/n become more united after 1815 - most rulers wished to rule states as they had been before French Revolution - tried to keep German people from gaining more freedom - in Prussia, the promised and long awaited constitution was never created - German students began talking about uniting Germany into one nation - the Confederation passed the Carlsbad Decrees - forbade teachers/students to speak/write ideas about freedom - in the revolutions of 1848, Germany almost became united under an Emperor - but remember the Prussian ruler refused to become the German Emperor - however by 1862 Prussia had a new constitution - and a parliament headed by Otto von Bismarck as chancellor (aka PM) - his greatest wish was a unified Germany - his plan was to go to war with other countries - this “blood and iron” policy gave him his nickname - the Iron Chancellor - he built up a powerful army to defeat Austria - believed Austria m/b defeated to have a united Germany - by 1866 Prussia at war with Austria and other German states - remember the Prussian army was well prepared for war - defeated Austria within 7 weeks - took over N. German states that supported Austria - the German Confederation was now a thing of the past - in 1867 replaced by the North German Confederation - with Prussia as the leader - this united most of German states - but the southern ones still independent - it took another war to unite them with the rest - in 1870 war between Prussia and France - the southern states joined Prussia against France and together they won - victory made them so proud they now wished to be united - 1871 the confederation became the German Empire - with Bismarck as Emperor - it became the strongest nation of Europe - but it was not a democracy - the Emperor controlled the army, navy, foreign affairs - the PM & other leading officials now chosen by Emperor not elected - Parliament still elected, but had little power - but the bottom line was, Germany now united - When these were over, the AE ended the revolutions in N. Italy &N Rome WORLD HISTORY NOTES 44 UNITING ITALY INTO ONE NATION - Remember Italy was once the center of the Roman Empire - after that ended it was divided into many states or parts - that was its status in 1789 when French Revolution began - by 1793 France was at war with most of Europe - and by 1801 Napoleon had conquered most of Italy - so all of it was either owned or controlled by France - under Napoleon the serfs became free - the nobles and church lost some of their powers - the Code Napoleon was became the official laws - when Napoleon was defeated in 1815 the Congress of Vienna divided it again - S. Italy was ruled by the Bourbon family - the dynasty that was ruling France at the time - Central Italy was given back to the Pope at Rome - who again ruled the Papal States - N. Italy was ruled again by Austria - the only Italian state with its own ruler was the Kingdom of Sardinia - some land in Italy and the island itself - b/t 1815-1848 Italian rulers tried to govern their states like before the French Rev. - but many Italians d/n want to lose freedoms gained under Napoleon - soon many would revolt against their leaders - some led by secret group called the Carbonari - others were led by Joseph Mazzini - leader of the group Young Italy - both groups wanted to overthrow foreign rule in Italy - and set up strong, united Italian nation - in 1848 revolutions by these new groups broke out all over Italy - forcing Sardinia, the Pope, and the Bourbons to give the people what they wanted - new constitution, more freedoms, new plans for government - then all N. Italian states declared their independence from Austria - and joined the Kingdom of Sardinia - w/in a few months Austria defeated Sardinia and re-won all territories lost - Austria and the Pope ended the new constitutions - but King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia kept the constitution of 1848 - many Italians thought Sardinia was only state strong enough to lead to unification - under Sardinia’s PM Count Cavour farming & trade improved greatly - making Sardinia a prosperous state - Cavour also strengthened the gov’t by cutting power of Sardinian nobles - and the power of the church - but before unification could happen, Austria had to be ousted from N. Italy - Cavour asked other nations for help against Austria - 1858 Napoleon III agreed to help if Sardinia attacked by Austria - which happened the next year - France kept its promise, defeating Austria that year - now all of N.Italy taken over by Sardinia - except for Venetia - Meanwhile S.Italy wanted the Bourbons out - that revolution was led by Giuseppe Garibaldi - bold, brave, brash - had fought in revolutions of 1830's and 1848 - his army of 1000 conquered Sicily and the mainland of S. Italy - he then presented these lands to the King of Sardinia - in 1861 Victor Emmanuel became ruler of new Kingdom of Italy - ruling all but Venetia and the region around Rome - in 1866 Venetia joined the kingdom - but Italy still did not have Rome - which was controlled by the Pope - protected by army of French soldiers - remember in 1870 France was at war against Prussia - the French soldiers returned to France leaving Rome unguarded - the Italian army able to take it over that year, Rome became the capital of a united Italy WORLD HISTORY NOTES 45 WESTERN EUROPE FROM 1848 TO 1914 - while Italy and Germany were become nations, other countries were quite busy - GREAT BRITAIN - between 1848 and 1914 GB had a peaceful period - but it fought one important war - the Crimean War (1854-1856) because fought in the Crimea - peninsula in N. Black Sea - GB & France fought Russia - Russians wanted to take lands from Turkish Empire - GB & France won, but heavy casualties on both sides - from 1837 to 1901 GB ruled by the very popular Queen Victoria - but the real ruler was Parliament - led by PM who headed the main political party in the House of Commons - which passed all the laws of the country - the House of Lords was part of the Parliament too - but they had few powers except for the power of veto - which they used to prevent higher tax laws to be passed - the 2 greatest PM’s of this time were Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone -under them, Parliament passed many important laws - some gave more British people suffrage - some set up a public school system - by early 1900's Parliament passed several social welfare laws - aka “social security laws” - these provided health and unemployment insurance - and old-age pensions for all British workers - the money was to come from higher taxes - but House of Lords were against this and tried to veto it - to preclude this, Commons passed new law that took away Lord’s power of veto - so House of Lords remained in Parliament, but now had no real power - FRANCE - In France, Napoleon III was fighting the Crimean war - then 1870 fought Prussia - Franco-Prussian War - this was one of the wars that helped Germany unite - powerful Prussian army crushed weaker French army - and Napoleon III captured - at this time 2nd French Empire ended - and 3rd Republic set up - in 1875, France drew up a new constitution - government was now bicameral - all citizens voted for lower house - House of Deputies - similar to House of Commons - the legislature elected a President - but he had little power - real leader in gov’t was the Premier - or PM - elected by the people - during 3rd Republic factory workers demanded improved working conditions - gov’t passed new laws - cut down on working hours - provided medical care - set up old-age pensions - GERMANY - remember that Germany had a constitution and elected legislature - but real power held by German Chancellor (PM) and Emperor - after unification in 1871 Chancellor Otto von Bismarck built up the industries - was so successful that by 1914 almost as developed as GB’s - factory workers also demanded changes - better working conditions, social welfare laws - to gain their support Bismarck agreed - had social welfare laws passed in late 1800's enforced - these laws worked so well that GB and France copied them 20 years later - however Emperor William II was against these laws - he forced Bismarck to leave his government position - but the laws were so popular, they continued WORLD HISTORY NOTES 46 THE OLD EMPIRES OF EUROPE - It is said “Old soldiers never die, they just fade away.” - so it was with the old empires of Europe, - Austria-Hungary, Russia, and the Turkish Empire - all grew weak and began to fade away from 1848 to 1914 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY - 1848 Empire ruled by Emperor Franz Joseph of the Hapsburg dynasty - the empire had many nationalities or national groups - each wanted to form own nation - wanted the empire to be divided to form separate nation for each nationality - in 1867 the emperor agreed, but only into two parts - it became known as Austria-Hungary - but all the nationalities were still ruled by just these two nationalities - and the emperor was still ruler of all - pressure to divide further did not stop - ultimately Austria-Hungary would only last until 1918 because of a fatal weakness - many nationalities d/n like being ruled by Austrians and Hungarians - Croats, Poles, Serbs, Czechs, Slovaks, and others - they continued to want their own nations - so they d/n support Austria Hungary RUSSIA - by mid 1800's Russia still ruled as in 1700's - Czar was leader of gov’t and the Russian church - Russian nobles held all important gov’t positions - serfs had no freedom - in 1853 Czar Nicholas I sent army into Turkish territory - GB & France feared a take over of the Dardanelles - passage b/t Black Sea and Mediterranean - GB & France supported Turkish Empire - and declared war on Russia in 1854 (the Crimean War) - as you remember, Russia lost that war - army poorly trained - badly equipped - new Czar Alexander II realized changes necessary in Russia - if it was to become a powerful nation - he knew Russia was “backward” - slow in developing the potential of its people - 1861 passed law freeing the serfs - they no longer had to work for their lords - gov’t gave land to each mir (village) - the mirs would sell land to the freed serfs - however land prices too high for most serfs - some forced to become farm workers on other’s lands - at low pay - others forced to move to the cities to work - Alexander II also improved the court system - allowed the people to have more control over local gov’ts - opened new schools - however when Poland rebelled in 1863, he changed his mind - no longer gave more freedom to Russian people - more trouble soon followed - Alexander II killed in 1881 by a bomb - Czar Alexander III thought father’s policies of more freedom was mistake - so he and his son Nicholas II tried something else - tried to Russify all nationalities and religious groups in Russia - force Poles, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, Finns and Jews - to accept Russian ways - to speak Russian - to join the Russian Orthodox Church - most refused, and continued to want independence - 1904-1905 Russia at war with Japan and was defeated - afterwards a revolution broke out in Russia in 1905 - forced the govt. to promise a new constitution and more democracy - a legislature called the Duma was set up - but new Czar Nicholas II took most of its power away - by 1914 Russians had very little freedom - conditions were ripe for a revolution by its citizens TURKISH EMPIRE - b/t 1800 & early 1900 Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, Albania, Rumania won independence from Turkish Empire - while Europe took over other parts - the Turkish people were ready to revolt - 1908 new leaders called the Young Turks took over the govt. -and made important changes to help Turkey become a stronger nation