The challenge of political liberalization in the 1860s. Revolutions and uprisings, 1859-1871, State formation, the Italian and the German unification

1. Revolutions and State Formation
in Europe, 1789-1871
Dr Christos Aliprantis
American College of Thessaloniki – Anatolia College

2. The challenge of political liberalization in
the 1860s: Introduction
 1860s: political liberalization after the
“authoritarian” 1850s (Prussia, the
Habsburg Empire, France, Russia, the
Ottoman Empire, Greece)
 Constitutional representation, personal
rights, relaxation of censorship
 National unifications (Germany, Italy)
 Renewal of transnational radical
allegiances (First International
Workingmen’s Association, 1864)

3. 1. Prussia: The “New Era” and the rise
of Otto von Bismarck in power
 “regime change” in 1858 (“New Era”): new monarch, Wilhelm I;
elections and government change; liberal(-conservative) cabinet
 Constitutional crisis in spring 1862: question regarding the military
budget (provisional budget of military reform) & parliamentary
control vis-à-vis the monarch
 End of crisis: Wilhelm I appointed reactionary Otto von Bismarck
as minister-president of Prussia (fall 1862)
 The monarch and his minister-president prevailed over the
parliament in the constitutional conflict

4. 2. The wars of Italian unification: the war of
1859
 France under Napoleon III had agreed to back Piedmont in its
struggle against Austria in Italy (1858); France thus followed a
hegemonic policy in Europe based on the nationalities principle
 Battle of Solferino: decisive Franco-Sardinian victory (24 June)
 Italian unification: Piedmont annexed Lombardy, Tuscany, Parma,
Modena and parts of the Papal States (peace of Villafranca)
 After Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand (1860),
the Kingdom of Two Sicilies was dissolved and was also annexed
by the new Kingdom of Italy

5. 3. The wars of German unification:
a) the war against Denmark (1864)
 First Schleswig War (1848-52): conflict over the duchies
of Schleswig & Holstein (disputed territories between
Denmark and the German confederation)
 Second Schleswig War (1863-64): constitutional crisis in
Denmark; the German confederation declared war
 Prussian and Austrian troops invaded Denmark and
defeated the Danish army
 Austro-Prussian condominium over the duchies (1864-66);
short-lived equilibrium; collapsed after the 1866 war

6. 3.b) The Austro-Prussian war (1866)
 Final episode in the century-old Austro-Prussian rivalry
for mastery in Germany
 Orchestrated above all by Bismarck: G. Britain, France
and Russia remained neutral. Prussia allied with the
newly-founded Kingdom of Italy against Austria
 Superior Prussian army training (conscription) and
communications; more advanced economy and industry
 June-July 1866: battle at Königgrätz (3 July): Prussian
victory; Austrian victory against Italy in Lissa (20 July)
 Creation of the North German confederation (1867);
annexation of Venetia to the Italian kingdom

7. 3.c) The Franco-Prussian war (1870-71)
 France’s wish to restore its dominant position in Europe;
Prussia’s aim to unify Germany contrary to the French interests
 Prussia was supported by most German minor states
 German forces were superior in numbers, training, leadership
and made more effective use of modern technology
 German victory at Sedan (north-western France, 1-2 Sept. 1870)
 The German Empire was formed (Jan. 1871) to which Alsace
and Lorraine were annexed as imperial territories
 The French Second Empire collapsed and the Third Republic
was proclaimed; the workers in Paris rebelled (Paris Commune)

8. 4. The Habsburg Empire in the 1860s
 Fall of the Neoabsolutist regime after the 1859 defeat; attempt to
liberalize in the 1860s
 By 1859 Austria was almost bankrupt; powerful banking circles
demanded a constitution in order to provide the state with credit
 “October Diploma” (1860) & “February Patent” (1861): the latter
functioning as an imperial constitution establishing a parliament
 Discontent remained: the Hungarian elite (subordinated after 1848)
boycotted the constitution while the Germans were dissatisfied
 1867: Compromise with Hungary; Dual Monarchy (Cisleithania and
Transleithania under the Habsburg Crown); Austrian constitution

9. 5. France in the 1860s: a “liberal empire”?
 Comparable to the Habsburg Empire and Prussia
 Authoritarian 1850s: Napoleon III ruled virtually without restriction;
the parliament holds limited powers and its debates (as well as the
press) are being censored (assassination attempts against Napoleon III)
 Liberalization after 1860: amnesty and return of exiles in Aug. 1859;
in 1860 the elected assembly is given more powers and censorship is
relaxed despite political dissent
 By 1869 the opposition has gathered three million votes; the liberal
politician Emile Olivier forms a government and a new constitution is
publicly approved (1869)
 This “constitutional empire” lasts only shortly: after three months the
1870-71 war led to the collapse of this regime

10. 6. The formation of the Kingdom of
Italy in the 1860s
 The 1860s revealed the need for administrative integration
in the new Italian kingdom:
 (i) the civil administration was homogenized based on the
Napoleonic model (after all, all pre-unitary states carried the
same state building traditions after the Napoleonic era)
 (ii) military integration was proved difficult: the pre-unitary
states had varying recruitment and promotion processes
 (iii) in education Cavour appointed the competent Neapo-
litan educator Francesco De Sanctis as minister of education
 Banditry remained widespread esp. in the Italian South

11. 7. The Ottoman Empire after the
Crimean War
 Continuing Tanzimat reforms in the Ottoman Empire after the
Crimean war: imperial reform edict of 1856, which promised
equality in education, government appointments and admini-
stration of justice to all Ottoman subjects regardless of religion
 New practices adopted under British and French pressure
 Promise to hold “Provincial Councils” and “Communal Councils”
 Recognition of the minorities institution (religious millets) and of
other state languages besides Ottoman Turkish
 Patriarchates began to administer justice on a state level

12. 8. Greece and the regime change in the 1860s
 In 1862 King Otto was ousted from Greece after a popular
revolution in Athens and elsewhere
 A period of turmoil followed (1862-63) until the Great Powers
installed a new monarch: George I from Denmark.
 In the meantime a legislative assembly was gathered in Athens
and voted a new constitution in 1864. This constitution assured
popular sovereignty and constitutional monarchy, despite
recurrent political instability in the coming years
 The Ionian Islands were ceded to Greece by G. Britain (1864)
 State institutions remained weak and banditry remained an
endemic public safety problem esp. in the countryside

13. 9. Reforms in Russia after the Crimean war
 After its humiliating defeat in 1856, Russia had to recognize its
political and military weakness as well as its social backwardness
 The Black Sea ceased to be a “Russian lake” and was reopened to
international trade; the freedom of navigating the Danube was
assured as well
 The new tsar Alexander II enforced a series of reforms abolishing
serfdom (emancipation reform, 1861, 23 millions serfs) => reforms
until ca.1865: relaxation of censorship; judicial reform (e.g. public
hearings, jury trials); communal self-government (zemstvo); expan-
sion and reform of universities, primary and secondary schools, etc.
 Abolishment of many reforms after Alexander’s assassination (1881)

14. 10. International radical movements in the
1860s
 Liberalization across Europe in the 1860s: liberal/radical/socialist
movement emerged once again after 1848; conservative and
reactionary circles saw the new situation with hostility
 International Workingmen’s Association (First International, 1864-
1876): after the Polish uprising of 1864, British and French workers
were gathered in London to consider cooperation possibilities
 It included left-wing socialist, communist and anarchist groups and
trade unions based on the working class and on class struggle
 Marx, Bakunin, advocates of French socialists Proudhon and Blanqui
participated initially; division between Marxists and anarchists (1872)

15. 11. The international labour movement and
the Paris Commune (1871)
 International labour congresses: Geneva, 1866; Lausanne, 1867;
Brussels, 1868; Basel, 1869; Hague, 1872, in order to determine
the common agenda and strategy of the labour movement
 State authorities were alarmed by this international coordination
of labour that brought memories of 1848. The International’s
domestic split was perceived with relief by many governments
 Right after the proclamation of the Third Republic in France,
units of the National Guard alongside Paris workers proclaimed
a revolutionary, communist Republic in Paris (18 March 1871)
 The Paris Commune governed the city until 28 May 1871

16. .
 The Paris Commune has been called the first real “dictatorship
of the proletariat” and enforced an array of left-wing policies:
 Separation of Church and State; communal self-rule; remission
of rent during the siege; abolition of child labour; right of
employees to take over an enterprise deserted by its owner. Yet,
the Commune was too short-lived for its policies to last
 Feminist, socialist and anarchist currents played an important
role in the Commune
 The Commune was eventually suppressed by the national
French army in the “bloody week” (May 1871), when some
6,000-7,000 communards were killed
 Repression of socialism in France afterwards was severe

17. 12. Conservative resurgence after the Paris
Commune
 Much like the 1830 and 1848 revolutions, even if the Paris
Commune was suppressed, its even short-lived existence was
enough to alarm governments
 Communards remained unwelcome in France and wanted abroad
 Police authorities resumed cooperation bonds in order to
effectively coordinate their actions against the labour movement
(e.g. joint measures in the Vienna international exhibition, 1873)
 Resurrection of the Holy Alliance?: Three Emperors’ League
(Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia) as a conservative bulwark
against revolution much like after 1815 (1873-1878)

18. Conclusion: revolution and state formation
in Europe by 1871
 Challenge of liberalization across
Europe in the 1860s; return of the
“radical threat” for state authorities
 National unifications went frequently
hand in hand with liberal reforms
 Despite state attempts to prevent and
control opposition, yet more radical
ideologies emerged (anarchism) that
alarmed state elites once again and
made them turn again to repression