Chapter 22 - An Age of Nationalism and Realism, 1850-1871
In 1850 France had a new set of leaders, and one of them was Napoleon III. He taught his contemporaries how authoritarian governments could use liberal and nationalistic forces to bolster their own power.
Even after Louis Napoleon’s election people dismissed him because they thought his success was only due to his name. But he proved this wrong. He was patient and used troops to seize control of the government. Very soon he assumed the title of Napoleon the 3rd.
The first 5 years of Napoleon II’s reign were a spectacular success, as he reaped the benefits of worldwide economic prosperity and some of his own economic politics.
In the 1860s, as opposed to some of the emperor’s policies began to mount, Napoleon III liberalized his regime.
He reached out to the working class by legalizing trade unions and granting them the right to strike. He also began to liberalize the political process and had another short victory with the new constitution.
War erupted between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1853 when the Russians demanded the right to protect Christian shrines in Palestine, a privilege that had already been extended to the French.
When the Ottomans refused, the Russians occupied Moldavia and Wallachia.
The failure to resolve the dispute by negotiations led the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Russia on October 4, 1853.
The next year, on March 28, Great Britain and France declared war on Russia. This war was poorly planned and poorly fought, the Crimean War is perhaps best remembered for the suicidal charge of the British Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava.
The breakdown of the concert of Europe made way for the Germans and Italians to establish national powers. Their success transformed the power structure of Europe.
In 1850 Austria was the dominant power in the Italian peninsula, and after the failed revolution attempt numbers for advocates of Italian unification forces were growing. Their state didn’t have the needed leadership until the new king Victor Emmanuel II named Count Camillo Di Cavour as prime minister in 1852.
Meanwhile, in southern Italy, a new leader of Italian unification had come to the fore.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, a dedicated Italian patriot who had supported Mazzini and the republican cause of Young Italy, raised an army of a thousand Red Shirts. Although his forces were greatly outnumbered, Garibaldi’s daring tactics won the day.
By the end of July 1860, most of Sicily had been pacified under Garibaldi’s control.
Worn out by his efforts, Cavour died three months later
After the failure of german unification in 1848 german nationalists went to Austria and Prussia since they were powerful. Austria had long controlled the existing Germanic Confederation, but Prussian power had grown, strongly reinforced by economic expansion in the 1850s.
With the Austrians isolated, Bismarck used the joint occupation of Schleswig-Holstein to goad the Austrians into a war on June 14, 1866.
Many Europeans, including Napoleon III, expected a quick Austrian victory, but they overlooked the effectiveness of the Prussian military reforms of the 1860s.
The Prussian breech-loading needle gun had a much faster rate of fire than the Austrian muzzleloader, and a superior network of railroads enabled the Prussians to mass troops quickly. The Austrian war was a turning point in Prussian domestic affairs.
After the war, Bismarck asked the Prussian parliament to pass a bill of indemnity, retroactively legalizing the taxes he had collected illegally since 1862. Even most of the liberals voted in favor of the bill because they had been won over by Bismarck’s successful use of military power.
As Europe was going through change many other states were also undergoing transformations.
Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War at the hands of the British and French revealed the blatant deficiencies behind the facade of absolute power and made it clear even to staunch conservatives that Russia was falling hopelessly behind the western European powers. Russian landlords were economically pressed and unable to compete with foreign agriculture.
Like Russia, Britain was not troubled by revolutionary disturbances during 1848, although for quite different reasons.
The Reform Act of 1832 had opened the door to political representation for the industrial middle class, and in the 1860s, Britain’s liberal parliamentary system demonstrated once more its ability to make both social and political reforms that enabled the country to remain stable and prosperous. Britain had great economic growth and there was middle-class prosperity.
By the mid Nineteenth century, slavery had increased a lot in the Us, to the point where it threatened national unity. The north and south were divided on this matter.
The south used slaves to work the farms and the north was against slavery. This clash caused the Civil war, the one Abraham Lincoln led.
In the end, the North won and slavery was abolished.
Canada was making progress in its nation-building. By the treaty of Paris, most Canadians favored autonomy. Ontario was English speaking and Quebec was french. Canada ended up having two national languages.
Between 1850 and 1871, Continental industrialization came of age. The innovations of the British Industrial Revolution— mechanized factory production, the use of coal, the steam engine, and the transportation revolution—all became regular features of economic expansion. Although marred periodically by economic depression or recession, this was an age of considerable economic prosperity, particularly evident in the growth of domestic and foreign markets.
Between 1850 and 1870, two major intellectual developments are evident: the growth of scientific knowledge, with its rapidly increasing impact on the Western worldview, and the shift from Romanticism and its focus on the inner world of reality to Realism and its turning toward the outer, material world**.**
By the mid 19th century science was having a big impact on Europe. It led to a modern, rational approach. Due to the early advances in the industrial revolution advances were happening quicker.
One man important in scientific development is Charles Darvin. He studied geology and biology. He is famous for his work on the Beagle(ship). He was able to observe animals on islands virtually untouched by external influence and compare them with animals on the mainland.
As a result, Darwin came to discard the notion of special creation and to believe that animals evolved over time and in response to their environment.
When he returned to Britain, he eventually formulated an explanation for evolution in the principle of natural selection.
The appliance of natural science in medicine leads to revolutionary breakthroughs. Clinical observation, consisting of an active physical examination of patients, was combined with the knowledge gained from detailed autopsies to create new clinical medicine.
Due to this, there were many new health schools and new public health measures.
In 1850 France had a new set of leaders, and one of them was Napoleon III. He taught his contemporaries how authoritarian governments could use liberal and nationalistic forces to bolster their own power.
Even after Louis Napoleon’s election people dismissed him because they thought his success was only due to his name. But he proved this wrong. He was patient and used troops to seize control of the government. Very soon he assumed the title of Napoleon the 3rd.
The first 5 years of Napoleon II’s reign were a spectacular success, as he reaped the benefits of worldwide economic prosperity and some of his own economic politics.
In the 1860s, as opposed to some of the emperor’s policies began to mount, Napoleon III liberalized his regime.
He reached out to the working class by legalizing trade unions and granting them the right to strike. He also began to liberalize the political process and had another short victory with the new constitution.
War erupted between Russia and the Ottoman Empire in 1853 when the Russians demanded the right to protect Christian shrines in Palestine, a privilege that had already been extended to the French.
When the Ottomans refused, the Russians occupied Moldavia and Wallachia.
The failure to resolve the dispute by negotiations led the Ottoman Empire to declare war on Russia on October 4, 1853.
The next year, on March 28, Great Britain and France declared war on Russia. This war was poorly planned and poorly fought, the Crimean War is perhaps best remembered for the suicidal charge of the British Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaklava.
The breakdown of the concert of Europe made way for the Germans and Italians to establish national powers. Their success transformed the power structure of Europe.
In 1850 Austria was the dominant power in the Italian peninsula, and after the failed revolution attempt numbers for advocates of Italian unification forces were growing. Their state didn’t have the needed leadership until the new king Victor Emmanuel II named Count Camillo Di Cavour as prime minister in 1852.
Meanwhile, in southern Italy, a new leader of Italian unification had come to the fore.
Giuseppe Garibaldi, a dedicated Italian patriot who had supported Mazzini and the republican cause of Young Italy, raised an army of a thousand Red Shirts. Although his forces were greatly outnumbered, Garibaldi’s daring tactics won the day.
By the end of July 1860, most of Sicily had been pacified under Garibaldi’s control.
Worn out by his efforts, Cavour died three months later
After the failure of german unification in 1848 german nationalists went to Austria and Prussia since they were powerful. Austria had long controlled the existing Germanic Confederation, but Prussian power had grown, strongly reinforced by economic expansion in the 1850s.
With the Austrians isolated, Bismarck used the joint occupation of Schleswig-Holstein to goad the Austrians into a war on June 14, 1866.
Many Europeans, including Napoleon III, expected a quick Austrian victory, but they overlooked the effectiveness of the Prussian military reforms of the 1860s.
The Prussian breech-loading needle gun had a much faster rate of fire than the Austrian muzzleloader, and a superior network of railroads enabled the Prussians to mass troops quickly. The Austrian war was a turning point in Prussian domestic affairs.
After the war, Bismarck asked the Prussian parliament to pass a bill of indemnity, retroactively legalizing the taxes he had collected illegally since 1862. Even most of the liberals voted in favor of the bill because they had been won over by Bismarck’s successful use of military power.
As Europe was going through change many other states were also undergoing transformations.
Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War at the hands of the British and French revealed the blatant deficiencies behind the facade of absolute power and made it clear even to staunch conservatives that Russia was falling hopelessly behind the western European powers. Russian landlords were economically pressed and unable to compete with foreign agriculture.
Like Russia, Britain was not troubled by revolutionary disturbances during 1848, although for quite different reasons.
The Reform Act of 1832 had opened the door to political representation for the industrial middle class, and in the 1860s, Britain’s liberal parliamentary system demonstrated once more its ability to make both social and political reforms that enabled the country to remain stable and prosperous. Britain had great economic growth and there was middle-class prosperity.
By the mid Nineteenth century, slavery had increased a lot in the Us, to the point where it threatened national unity. The north and south were divided on this matter.
The south used slaves to work the farms and the north was against slavery. This clash caused the Civil war, the one Abraham Lincoln led.
In the end, the North won and slavery was abolished.
Canada was making progress in its nation-building. By the treaty of Paris, most Canadians favored autonomy. Ontario was English speaking and Quebec was french. Canada ended up having two national languages.
Between 1850 and 1871, Continental industrialization came of age. The innovations of the British Industrial Revolution— mechanized factory production, the use of coal, the steam engine, and the transportation revolution—all became regular features of economic expansion. Although marred periodically by economic depression or recession, this was an age of considerable economic prosperity, particularly evident in the growth of domestic and foreign markets.
Between 1850 and 1870, two major intellectual developments are evident: the growth of scientific knowledge, with its rapidly increasing impact on the Western worldview, and the shift from Romanticism and its focus on the inner world of reality to Realism and its turning toward the outer, material world**.**
By the mid 19th century science was having a big impact on Europe. It led to a modern, rational approach. Due to the early advances in the industrial revolution advances were happening quicker.
One man important in scientific development is Charles Darvin. He studied geology and biology. He is famous for his work on the Beagle(ship). He was able to observe animals on islands virtually untouched by external influence and compare them with animals on the mainland.
As a result, Darwin came to discard the notion of special creation and to believe that animals evolved over time and in response to their environment.
When he returned to Britain, he eventually formulated an explanation for evolution in the principle of natural selection.
The appliance of natural science in medicine leads to revolutionary breakthroughs. Clinical observation, consisting of an active physical examination of patients, was combined with the knowledge gained from detailed autopsies to create new clinical medicine.
Due to this, there were many new health schools and new public health measures.
