Italy and Germany 1815–71

Welcome to AS 1: Italy and Germany 1815–1871

Welcome to your study notes for CCEA History AS 1 (Option 4: Italy and Germany 1815–1871). In this unit, you will explore one of the most exciting transformations in European history: how a fragmented collection of rival kingdoms, duchies, and principalities turned into two unified nation-states by 1871.

Don't worry if the sheer number of treaties, wars, and political figures feels overwhelming at first! We will break down every stage step-by-step, contrast the roles of key leaders with underlying economic forces, and show you exactly what CCEA examiners look for in your Question 1 (Knowledge & Analysis) and Question 2 (Historical Interpretations) answers.

Unit Exam Snapshot:

• Paper Code: SHY11 (Assessment Unit AS 1)
• Duration & Weighting: 1 hour 30 minutes | 50% of AS Level (20% of full A Level)
• Question 1: Choice between 1(a) or 1(b) — a 10-mark short structured essay (assessing AO1).
• Question 2: Compulsory interpretation question evaluating two secondary extracts (assessing AO3).

PART 1: Italy (1815–1871)

1. Post-1815 Restoration: What Blocked Italian Unity?

Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the Congress of Vienna restored the old conservative ruling houses across the Italian peninsula. Austrian Chancellor Metternich famously dismissed Italy as merely a "geographical expression" — meaning it was a spot on the map, not a unified nation.

The main obstacles to Italian unity included:

• Austrian Dominance: Austria ruled Lombardy-Venetia directly and exerted indirect control over the central duchies (Parma, Modena, and Tuscany) through Habsburg family ties.
• Rival Dynasties: The restored Bourbon monarchy ruled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the south, while the Papal States were controlled directly by the Pope across the centre.
• Regional & Cultural Divides: Less than 2.5% to 10% of the population spoke standard Italian; the vast majority spoke distinct regional dialects.
• Economic Disparity: A massive economic gap separated the commercial, modernising North from the deeply impoverished, agrarian South (the Mezzogiorno).

2. Early Revolutions & Alternative Visions for Unity (1815–1848)

Early resistance against foreign rule was fragmented and secretive:

• Secret Societies: Groups such as the Carbonari staged revolts in Naples and Piedmont (1820–21) and across the central duchies and Papal States (1831). All were easily crushed by Austrian military intervention because they lacked mass support and coordination.
• Giuseppe Mazzini: Formed Giovine Italia (Young Italy) in 1831. Mazzini believed in a unitary, democratic, and republican Italy achieved through popular insurrection under the slogan "God and the People".
• Moderate & Federal Alternatives:
- Vincenzo Gioberti (Neo-Guelphism) argued for a confederation of Italian states presided over by the Pope.
- Cesare Balbo (in Delle speranze d'Italia) argued that unity should be a federation led by the military strength of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.

3. The 1848–1849 Revolutions and Their Failure

Revolution swept Italy in 1848, but unity remained elusive:

• The Statuto Albertino: King Charles Albert of Piedmont granted a liberal constitution (the Statuto Albertino) and declared war on Austria (the First Italian War of Independence).
• Defeat: Austrian forces under Marshal Radetzky defeated the Piedmontese army decisively at Custozza (1848) and Novara (1849). Charles Albert abdicated in favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel II.
• The Roman Republic (1849): Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi established a radical republic in Rome after the Pope fled. However, it was crushed by French troops sent by Louis Napoleon (later Napoleon III) under General Oudinot.

Quick Review: Why did the 1848 Revolutions fail in Italy?
The revolutionaries were deeply divided between republicans (Mazzini) and constitutional monarchists (Piedmont), while Austrian military power under Radetzky proved too formidable for fragmented local forces.

4. The Decade of Preparation (1850s) & Cavour

During the 1850s, Piedmont-Sardinia emerged as the natural engine of Italian unification:

• Preserving the Constitution: Victor Emmanuel II retained the Statuto Albertino, making Piedmont a haven for political exiles from across Italy.
• Count Camillo di Cavour: Appointed Prime Minister of Piedmont in 1852, Cavour modernised the state by building railways, negotiating free-trade treaties, and passing the Siccardi Laws to curtail the privileges of the Catholic Church.
• Internationalising the Italian Question: Cavour recognised that Piedmont could never defeat Austria alone. He entered the Crimean War (1854–1856) alongside Britain and France, securing a seat at the Congress of Paris (1856) to raise the issue of Austrian oppression.
• The Plombières Agreement (July 1858): Cavour held a secret meeting with Emperor Napoleon III of France. France agreed to join Piedmont in a war against Austria, provided Austria was provoked into attacking first, in exchange for Nice and Savoy.

5. Achieving Unification (1859–1870)

Unification happened through a mixture of Cavour's diplomacy and Garibaldi's military daring:

• The War of 1859: Franco-Piedmontese armies defeated Austria at Magenta and Solferino. Napoleon III signed the Truce of Villafranca with Austria, resulting in Lombardy being annexed to Piedmont.
• Central Plebiscites (1860): Popular votes in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany resulted in their merger with Piedmont.
• Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand (1860): Garibaldi and his volunteer "Redshirts" (I Mille) landed in Sicily, rapidly conquered the island, crossed to the mainland, and took Naples. To prevent Garibaldi from marching on Rome (which would trigger French intervention), Cavour sent Piedmontese troops south.
• The Handshake at Teano (October 1860): Garibaldi selflessly handed his southern conquests over to King Victor Emmanuel II, preventing civil war.
• Proclamation of the Kingdom: The Kingdom of Italy was officially proclaimed in March 1861 under Victor Emmanuel II.
• Completing the Map:
- Venetia (1866): Gained after Italy allied with Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War (Third Italian War of Independence).
- Rome (1870): Italian troops seized Rome after French garrison troops were withdrawn during the Franco-Prussian War (the Breach of Porta Pia, September 1870). Rome became the capital.

Italy Key Takeaway: Italian unification was a hybrid achievement — it required both "the diplomat" (Cavour), "the sword" (Garibaldi), "the pen/prophet" (Mazzini), alongside crucial foreign intervention (France and Prussia).

PART 2: Germany (1815–1871)

1. The German Confederation & Early Nationalism (1815–1848)

The Congress of Vienna (1815) created the German Confederation (Deutscher Bund), an association of 39 sovereign states headed by a permanent Federal Diet (Bundestag) in Frankfurt, presided over by Austria.

• Austrian Repression: Metternich used the Carlsbad Decrees (1819) to censor the press, disband nationalist student societies (Burschenschaften), and place universities under state supervision.
• Economic Integration — The Zollverein (1834): Prussia established and expanded a customs union known as the Zollverein. It eliminated internal trade barriers and brought most German states into an economic network led by Prussia. Crucially, Austria was excluded, giving Prussia economic hegemony over Germany long before political unity took place.

2. The 1848 Revolutions & The Frankfurt Parliament

In March 1848, liberal and nationalist uprisings broke out across German cities, including Berlin:

• The Frankfurt Parliament (Paulskirche): An elected assembly of middle-class professionals met to draft a constitution for a unified Germany.
• The Big Dilemma:
- Großdeutschland (Greater Germany): Included Austrian German territories, leaving leadership divided.
- Kleindeutschland (Lesser Germany): Excluded Austria entirely, leaving Prussia as the natural leader.
• Collapse: The assembly chose the Kleindeutschland solution and offered the imperial crown to King Frederick William IV of Prussia in April 1849. He rejected it, calling it a "crown from the gutter" because it came from the people rather than fellow monarchs.
• The Humiliation / Punctation of Olmütz (1850): Prussia attempted to form its own union but backed down when threatened by Austrian Chancellor Schwarzenberg, restoring Austrian dominance in the Deutscher Bund.

3. The Rise of Bismarck & Prussian Power (1862)

In the early 1860s, a fierce constitutional crisis erupted between the Prussian liberal parliament (Landtag) and King Wilhelm I over the funding of military reforms.

• Appointment of Bismarck (1862): Wilhelm I appointed Otto von Bismarck as Minister-President.
• "Blood and Iron" (Blut und Eisen): Bismarck declared to parliament that the great questions of the day would not be decided by speeches and majority votes, but by military strength and industrial might.
• The Gap Theory (Lückentheorie): Bismarck argued that if the crown and parliament disagreed, the constitution contained a "gap", allowing the King to collect taxes and fund the army without parliamentary consent.

4. The Three Wars of German Unification

Bismarck achieved unification through three short, calculated wars:

War 1: The Second Schleswig War (1864) vs Denmark

• Cause: Denmark attempted to incorporate the duchy of Schleswig.
• Outcome: Prussia and Austria allied together to defeat Denmark. The Treaty of Vienna (1864) and the Convention of Gastein (1865) split the administration: Prussia took Schleswig, while Austria took Holstein. This setup gave Bismarck the perfect pretext to pick a fight with Austria later.

War 2: The Austro-Prussian War / Seven Weeks' War (1866)

• Diplomatic Isolation: Bismarck secured French neutrality (at Biarritz in 1865) and signed an alliance with Italy (April 1866).
• Decisive Victory: Using rapid rail transport, the electric telegraph, and the breach-loading needle gun under General Helmuth von Moltke, Prussia crushed Austria at the Battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa) in July 1866.
• Treaty of Prague: Bismarck treated Austria leniently to avoid making a permanent enemy. The Deutscher Bund was dissolved, Austria was permanently excluded from German affairs, and Prussia established the North German Confederation (Norddeutscher Bund).

War 3: The Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)

• The Trigger: The Hohenzollern Candidature for the Spanish throne alarmed France. When French ambassador Benedetti met Wilhelm I at Bad Ems, Bismarck edited the transcript of the meeting (the Ems Telegram) to make both sides appear insulted.
• French Declaration: Outraged public opinion prompted France to declare war in July 1870, driving the southern German states into a military alliance with Prussia.
• The War: Prussian forces encircled and defeated the French army at the Battle of Sedan (September 1870), capturing Napoleon III.
• Proclamation of the Empire: On 18 January 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, with Wilhelm I as German Emperor (Kaiser).
• Treaty of Frankfurt (1871): France ceded the border territories of Alsace-Lorraine and paid a heavy indemnity.

Germany Key Takeaway: German unification was achieved "from above" through Prussian military power, Bismarck’s pragmatic diplomacy, and the solid economic foundation laid by the Zollverein.

PART 3: Mastering the AS 1 Exam (SHY11)

1. Tackling the Great Debate: "Great Men" vs "Structural Factors" (AO3)

In Question 2, you must evaluate two opposing historical interpretations. CCEA mark schemes specifically reward students who avoid a "monocausal" (single-cause) answer.

When analyzing historical viewpoints, weigh up these two sides:

• The "Intentionalist / Great Man" View: Attributes unification primarily to individuals like Bismarck, Cavour, and Garibaldi. It argues that their calculated diplomacy, timing, and political manipulation drove events forward.
• The "Structuralist / Socio-Economic" View: Attributes unification to underlying forces. For Germany, this highlights Prussian industrialisation, Ruhr coal and steel, railways, and the Zollverein. For Italy, it highlights Austrian financial exhaustion, international shifts (Napoleon III's ambitions, British sympathy), and wider social discontent.

2. Common Pitfalls to Avoid in the Exam Room

• Do not treat Question 2 extracts as primary sources: Interpretation A and Interpretation B are written by modern historians. Do not evaluate them for "bias", "reliability", or "eyewitness value". Instead, evaluate how convincing their historical argument is against your own factual contextual knowledge.
• Avoid chronological mix-ups: Do not confuse the 1859 Franco-Austrian War (where Piedmont won Lombardy) with the 1866 Austro-Prussian War (where Italy gained Venetia and Prussia defeated Austria).
• Don't assume Bismarck had a master plan: Most modern historians agree Bismarck was a brilliant opportunist (practising Realpolitik) who exploited mistakes made by Austria and France, rather than executing a rigid blueprint conceived in 1862.

3. Quick Comparative Summary Table

Basis of Comparison: Italy vs Germany (1815–1871)

• Dominant State:
- Italy: Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.
- Germany: Kingdom of Prussia.

• Key Political Leader:
- Italy: Count Camillo di Cavour.
- Germany: Otto von Bismarck.

• Economic Driver:
- Italy: Piedmontese modernisation and railway expansion during the 1850s.
- Germany: The Prussian-led Zollverein (1834) and heavy industrialisation in the Ruhr.

• Primary Foreign Adversary:
- Italy: Austrian Habsburg Empire.
- Germany: Austrian Habsburg Empire (1866) and the French Empire (1870–71).

• Crucial Turning Point Wars:
- Italy: 1859 (Magenta/Solferino), 1860 (Garibaldi's expedition), 1866 (Venetia), 1870 (Rome).
- Germany: 1864 (Danish War), 1866 (Königgrätz/Sadowa), 1870–71 (Sedan).

• Final Completion Year:
- Italy: 1870 (Capture of Rome; fully integrated 1870–71).
- Germany: 1871 (Proclamation at Versailles, 18 January 1871).