Room 5

FROM A EUROPE OF STATES TO A EUROPE OF NATIONS

The separate interests of the individual states, especially of the Great Powers, had remained the foundation of political relations in Europe during the first half of the nineteenth century. After 1848, however, the issue of nationhood and the principle of organization on the basis of nation-states attracted increasing attention and growing support at the government level. The growing emphasis on national interests ultimately also broke the front represented by the conservative eastern powers Russia, Austria, and Prussia and led to momentous changes in international alliances. In Bismarck's mind, striving to realize the hope of forging a German nation under Prussian leadership, a desire that had continued to burn even after the Revolution of 1848, would inevitably mean conflict with Austria.

At the outbreak of the Crimean War, Austria sought to protect her interests in the Balkans with Prussian help. But Bismarck objected to the "Germanization" of the crisis and to Austria's intention of "rattling Prussian talers and German bayonets behind her diseased political structure." While blocking Austria's attempt to mobilize the Confederation against Russia, Bismarck exploited the political situation provided by the Crimean War to bolster Prussia's position within the German Confederation.

The reason for the Crimean War - in the final analysis a classic cabinet war was Russia's bid for power at the expense of the Ottoman Empire. The claim to the Black Sea and access to the eastern Mediterranean Sea served strategic and commercial interests. After Russian troops had marched into two Danubian principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia, Turkey declared war on the czarist empire in November 1853 with English and French military support. After many decades of relative stability in European foreign affairs, the course of the war generated keen public interest. The press covered the conflict in detail through correspondent reports. For the first time photographers like Roger Fenton and James Robertson were present to document and publicize the events of the war realistically

The main theater of war was the Crimean peninsula, with the bloody war of position around the Black Sea fortress of Sevastopol lasting over a year. The battles fought at the Alma River, Inkermann, Redan, and Balaklava resulted in extremely heavy casualties, not least for lack of even the most basic medical supplies to treat the wounded. According to official reports, 118,000 men died of cholera and the cold alone. To remedy the situation, the English government gave Florence Nightingale, a nurse educated by deaconesses in Kaiserswerth, the task of organizing care for the wounded in Crimea.

After the death of Czar Nicholas in spring 1855 and the fall of Sevastopol in the autumn, the new Czar, Alexander II, offered to negotiate peace. At the Congress of Paris (25 February - 30 March 1856), Russia was obliged to evacuate the territories she had occupied and to withdraw her fleet from the Black Sea, which was declared a neutral zone open only to merchant shipping.

The Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont was also represented at this peace conference. By committing 15,000 soldiers to the Crimean War, her prime minister, Camillo Cavour, had called the attention of the European public to the Italian question. Cavour was intent on delivering the northern areas of Italy from Austrian rule to further the cause of national unity. The newspaper he coedited, Il Risorgimento (resurrection), gave the movement for Italian unification its name. There was disagreement on how the great goal could be reached, however. Cavour was a liberal, seasoned diplomat. Another important figure was Guiseppe Mazzini, who had spent most of the time since 1848 living in exile and who stood for radical democracy and republican nationalism (Giovine Italia). There was also Guiseppe Garibaldi, a political adventurer, charismatic leader of a corps of volunteers, and folk hero whose spectacular military operations in Sicily and Lower Italy were major contributions to Italy's unification. Both Garibaldi and Cavour were members of the Società Nazionale Italiana founded in 1857 - the model for the German National Association. The slogan of this Italian organization was "Vittorio Emanuele, Re d'Italia," or VERDI, the name of the composer whose operas reflected the very essence of Risorgimento despite all attempts at censorship. Thus linked with the Piedmontese king, through whom Italians hoped to achieve unification, Verdi's name became the watchword of the patriots. The Viva Verdi graffiti on the walls of houses and the thunderous applause of opera audiences signified covert communication and political provocation alike.

Like Bismarck, Cavour showed himself to be a master of foreign policy. After secret negotiations at Plombieres, a spa in the Vosges, Cavour and Napoleon III concluded a military mutual assistance pact against Austria in 1858. Responding to Piedmont's subsequent arms build-up and provocations, Austria declared war on Sardinia, claiming " justified defense" against "wanton hostilities." Unlike the Crimean War, this conflict was a national war with European-wide repercussions. Prussia, who sought to exploit the war to further her own ambitions in Germany vis-a-vis Austria, delayed the commitment of military support by the German Confederation. However, German states, too, saw themselves menaced by Italy's fight for unity and independence because Napoleon III threatened to gain in power and influence as the ally of the Italians. As worried German patriots asked, did not the Rhine River have to be defended on the Po? Prussia wanted something in return for military support: parity in the Diet of the German Confederation, supreme command on the Rhine, and political and military primacy in northern Germany. The war was decided when Austria lost the Battle of Solferino (24 June 1859). To escape Prussia's influence, Emperor Francis Joseph quickly consented to the preliminary peace of Villafranca offered by Napoleon III (11 July 1859), which led to the treaty of Zürich (10 November 1859). Austria lost Lombardy to Napoleon III, but kept Venetia. Napoleon ceded Lombardy to his Italian allies, with Sardinia having to cede Savoy and Nice to Napoleon III as the price for his support.

Claiming 5,000 dead and 15,000 wounded, the Battle of Solferino caused the heaviest losses of all the Italian wars of unification. Many died from the sheer inadequacy of medical care. Moved by these impressions to follow the example of Florence Nightingale, a Geneva businessman, Henri Dunant, launched an initiative for the benefit of soldiers wounded in action. His memorial entitled A Memory of Solferino, published in 1862, led to the founding of the Red Cross and to his international recognition by the Geneva Convention in 1864. The protection of the wounded, prisoners of war, and the civilian population in war was henceforth provided for independently of the military and political interests of the belligerents.

In Italy the great disillusionment over the unsatisfactory outcome of the war led to Cavour's resignation (13 July 1859), and the demands for unihcation gained new impetus. Plebiscites in Tuscany and Emilia paved the way for their union with Piedmont. In a spectacular operation with volunteers "the Thousand" Garibaldi landed in Sicily to unite Italy from the south. He named himself dictator in the name of Victor Emmanuel and, though outnumbered, defeated the Bourbon army. Cavour, who had been resumed his post as prime minister of Sardinia at the beginning of the year, viewed Garibaldi's risky enterprise with great suspicion but ultimately had to cover for him. By contrast, the population made Garibaldi their hero and celebrated idol. Garibaldi refused all rewards, medals, honors, and political offices, finally withdrawing to his rocky island of Caprera off the coast of Sardinia. All Italian areas except Venetia and Latium effected their annexation to Piedmont in the autumn of 1860, and in February 1861 the first parliament of representatives from nearly all of Italy met in Turin and proclaimed Victor Emmanuel king of Italy.

In 1862 Garibaldi returned to southern Italy to conquer the rest of the Papal States but was forcibly turned back by royal Italian troops after the intervention of Napoleon III. Wounded and taken captive in Aspromonte, Calabria, his fame was proven throughout Europe when international protests succeeded in having him be allowed to go back to Caprera, where he remained, albeit under guard.

The key issue for the completion of Italian unification continued to be the future of Austrian Venetia and the Papal States, which were under French protection. In 1867 Garibaldi managed to leave his island again and move on Rome, once more without success. In the subsequent period the policies of the Prussian prime minister, Bismarck, had a major impact on the Italian question. At the beginning of April 1866, he concluded a three-month offensive alliance with Florence. The Third Italian War of Unification was decided in the Battle of Königgrätz, after which Austria was forced to agree to the cession of Venetia as well.

The completion of Italy's unification was also attained with Prussia's help. At the outset of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, in which Italy remained neutral, Napoleon III found it necessary to withdraw his garrisons from Rome. After he was captured in the Battle of Sedan, the Italian government annexed the Papal States.

Pope Pius IX sharply protested the occupation of 20 September 1870. In May 1871 he rejected the offer of "a free church in a free state" (Cavour's principle as embodied in the Law of Guarantees) because he refused to make papal sovereignty dependent on a worldly power. A plebiscite endorsed Latium's annexation as the remaining papal possession, thereby affirming the completion of Italian unification. In 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, succeeding Turin (which had been the capital until 1865) and Florence.

Marie-Louise von Plessen and Martin Roth