World History / Unit 8: Revolutions and Nationalism

8.6 Nationalism Unifies Italy and Germany

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Notes

Nationalism united some peoples into new nations and divided multinational empires.

Italy was divided into many states, some ruled by Austria.
Giuseppe Mazzini founded the nationalist group Young Italy. Count Camillo di Cavour, prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, used diplomacy and war against Austria to unite the north.
Giuseppe Garibaldi and his Red Shirts conquered southern Italy and handed it to King Victor Emmanuel II. The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861; Rome became the capital in 1870.
Germany: Prussia's prime minister Otto von Bismarck practiced realpolitik (practical politics based on power, not ideals).
In 1862 he said the great questions of the day would be decided "not through speeches and majority decisions... but by iron and blood."
Prussia won wars against Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1870 to 1871). The German Empire was proclaimed in January 1871 at Versailles, with Wilhelm I as kaiser.
Nationalism weakened multinational empires such as the Austrian (Austria-Hungary) and Ottoman empires, where many ethnic groups wanted independence.

Practice

Bismarck said great questions would be decided "not through speeches and majority decisions... but by iron and blood." He meant that Germany would be united through:

What role did Giuseppe Garibaldi play in Italian unification?

Why did nationalism threaten the Austrian and Ottoman empires?

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