2. The Unification of Germany Impact of the Congress of Vienna –German Confederation Austria and Prussia the 2 most powerful states. Austria, controlling the presidency of the Confederation, dominated Germany. With Russian backing, Austria had blocked earlier Prussian attempts at unification.

3. Steps to Unification Prussian leadership, 1850s: 1. Economic –Industrial Revolution added to Prussian economic strength. Ruhr Valley in western Germany--largest coal deposits in Europe. –Prussian iron and steel industry and railroad network. –Zollverein (German customs union) that by 1853 included all German states except Austria.

4. Steps to Unification 2. Militaristic –Prussia = strong, powerful, with a large, well-disciplined army always ready for war. –Government and army controlled by king and Junkers.

5. Steps to Unification 3. Leadership –King William I inherited the throne in 1861. –Major army reforms defeated by parliament. –Appointed Count Otto von Bismarck prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.

6. Steps to Unification Bismarck (1815-98) –Appointed in defiance of parliament. –Junker. –No respect for representative government or liberals –“Blood and iron” –Realpolitik

7. Steps to Unification Bismarck’s Path to Unity Consolidate German nationalism with conservative, authoritarian government and isolate and expel Austria. Tool? 3 Wars. –Danish War of 1864. –Austro-Prussian or Seven Weeks’ War of 1866. –Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.

8. Steps to Unification Danish War. –Prussia & Austria seize Schleswig and Holstein, ruled by Denmark. Austria would administer Holstein. Prussia would administer Schleswig. Ultimately gave Bismarck an excuse for war vs Austria.

9. Steps to Unification Austro-Prussian or Seven Weeks’ War. –Bismarck provoked war vs Austria by marching troops into Holstein. –Seen as a “local” war and therefore no Austrian-led alliance against Prussia. –Austrians no match for Prussian military. –Schleswig and Holstein annexed by Prussia. –Austria forced out of the new German Confederation.

10. Steps to Unification Franco-Prussian War. –4 South German states in a dilemma. Different religious and political traditions than Prussia, but feared French aggression. S. German states allied with Prussia for protection against France. –Goaded by Prussia, France wanted to teach Prussia a lesson. –Prussians win easily over France.

11. Steps to Unification Franco-Prussian War (cont’d.) –New German empire united 25 German states into one federal union under Prussian leadership. William proclaimed Kaiser (emperor) of Germany. –Crowned at Versailles!! Bismarck named Chancellor (chief minister). –Germany had created a lasting enemy in France.

13. The German Empire A federal union of Prussia and 24 smaller states. Constitution –Contained a combination of liberal and conservative features. –Ultimate control remained in the hands of the Prussian conservatives.

14. The German Empire Constitution –The Parliament: Reichstag--lower house, elected by universal manhood suffrage. –Restricted budgetary authority. Bundesrat--upper house, appointed by princes. –Conservative. –Could block Reichstag bills. –Dominated by Prussia.

15. The German Empire Constitution –Power of the Emperor Chancellor and cabinet members responsible only to the emperor. Appointment and dismissal power. William I left running of the government to Bismarck.

16. The German Empire The Kulturkampf –Bismarck’s campaign against German Roman Catholics. Questioned split loyalties. Catholicism seemed to demand loyalty to church over loyalty to nation. 1872, Jesuits expelled. –May Laws of 1873 Education of Prussian clergy under state supervision. Veto power over clerical appointments. –Failure Catholics voted en masse for Catholic Center Party

17. The German Empire Bismarck’s Anti-Socialist Campaign –1875, socialist groups formed the Social Democratic Party (inspired by Marx). Advocated both socialism and republican government. –2 assassination attempts on William I by radicals (but not socialists). Seen as an opportunity to gut socialism by Bismarck who rammed the antisocialist laws through the Reichstag in 1878, banning socialist meetings, suppressing party newspapers, and restricting party fund-raising.

18. The German Empire Bismarck’s Anti-Socialist Campaign –Bismarck then coopted socialist legislation. Health and accident insurance. Old age and disability pensions. –Votes polled by Social Democrats continued to increase.

19. The German Empire The Reign of William II (1888-1918) –Wanted to rule in his own right. Dismissed Bismarck in 1890. –Economic and social reforms Comprehensive Factory Act of 1908 restricted the employment of women and children. Imperial Insurance Code of 1911 provided for further expansion of social insurance programs. –Social Democrats and other parties favoring democratic reforms held a majority of seats in the Reichstag.

20. The German Empire The Reign of William II (1888-1918) –Economic development Industrial and rail expansion. Fleet and foreign trade increased. Population of 41 million increased to 65 million between 1871 and 1914. 2nd only to GB in level of industrial production and foreign trade.

21. Modernization of Russia Russia in the 1800s: –Empire sprawled from Europe to the Pacific. –An enormous multinational state. Multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, and multi-religious. National self-determination seen as subversive. Issue was how to hold the existing state together. –Little economic/political change. Overwhelmingly agrarian, poor transportation and communication routes, dominated by a divine-right absolutist monarchy allied with a privileged aristocracy dedicated to preservation of the traditional order. No native middle class. –Forces of change at work in Russia however.

22. Modernization of Russia Russia in the 1800s (cont’d): Backbone of the economy was farming done by serfs. –40 million serfs (90% of the population) who could be sold along with the land, used as servants, forced to work in factories with wages confiscated. –Also could be “selected” into the army for 25 year terms. –System was inefficient. Serfs = reluctant workers. Poor, illiterate, superstitious. Most landowners = lousy managers who failed to introduce modern farming methods.

23. Modernization of Russia Russia in the 1800s (cont’d): –Russian empire was an autocracy. Czars held unlimited power. Head of both church and state. –Czars relied on a bureaucracy of thousands of aristocratic officials. –Little industrial development. –Missed out on the Renaissance, Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution.

24. Czar Alexander I (1801-25) Paid lip service to social reform, but abandoned as too far reaching. Expansionist: absorbed Finland in 1809.

25. Nicholas I (1825-1855) Decembrist Revolt (12/26/25). –Army officers, having fought against Napoleon, greatly influenced by Western European culture, demanded constitutional monarchy and abolition of serfdom, rioted on eve of ascendancy. –Revolt crushed, further set Russia’s course on autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Russification (nationalism).

27. Czar Nicholas I (1825-55) cont’d. Events hardened determination to strengthen the autocracy. –Secret police. –Targeted universities. –Demand for reform continued, however. Realization that serfdom was holding back industrialization.

28. Czar Nicholas I (1825-55) cont’d. Continued expansionist pressure on Ottoman Empire led to the Crimean War (1853-56) –GB & FR (with Sardinian help) confronted Russia to block further expansion of her power and especially to secure control of the Turkish Straits, blocking Russian access to the eastern Mediterranean. Defeat showed that Russia’s lack of industrialization put it behind the other powers of Europe.

29. Czar Alexander II (1855-81) Crimean War disaster inspired reforms needed to head off peasant revolution. Emancipation Edict freed the serfs (1861-63).

30. Czar Alexander II, cont.d Emancipation Edict (1861-63) –Personal freedom, but land problems. State compensated landowners for lost land. Peasants responsible for the loans the state used to repay the nobles. Land title was transferred not to individual peasants but to Mirs, village communes which distributed the land among their members and were responsible for the reimbursement. No incentive to change old methods, habits, and attitudes, but still the largest single radical social policy implemented in 19 th century Europe. Also took place without a revolution.

31. Czar Alexander II, cont’d. Further reforms: Relaxed press censorship. Created zemstvos: elected rural assemblies. –Authorized to levy local taxes and operate elementary schools, build & maintain roads, etc... –First Russian experiment in representative government. –Russian liberals hoped it would lead to an elected national parliament. –No such luck!

32. Czar Alexander II, cont’d. Further reforms, cont’d.: 1864, legal and judicial system reforms. –Equality before the law proclaimed. –Trial by jury and public trials. –What GB had achieved in 1688-89!! 1870, municipal dumas. –Elected city and town councils. 1874, army reform. –Universal liability for military service. –Term of service reduced from 25 to 6 years. Industrialization expanded Russian rail capacity and manufacturing output.

33. Czar Alexander II, cont’d. Abolished the worst of Russia’s secret police agencies and was considering a national parliamentary structure. However, reforms contributed to the spread of Marxist thought and emboldened the Russian revolutionary movement. –Revolutionaries turned to terrorism. People’s Will »Dedicated to assassination of the czar »Killed Alexander in 1881.

34. Czar Alexander III (1881-94) Political modernization frozen. Returned to repressive policies of Nicholas I. –Crushed People’s Will. –Reduced power of zemstvos. –Reinstituted censorship and the secret police. –Dropped any constitutional initiatives.

35. Czar Alexander III, cont’d. Instituted Russification: –An attempt to force all people in the empire to speak Russian and adopt Russian Orthodoxy. –Many ethnic groups in the empire (Ukrainians, Poles, Finns, and Jews). –Jews a special target--pogroms and emigration.

36. Czar Alexander III, cont’d. 0 In spite of repression, economic modernization continued. –Sergei Witte: Minister of Finance (1892-1903) Realized that Russia had to industrialize or revolution would occur either from above or below. Doubled rail network by 1900. –Trans-Siberian line connected Moscow with Vladivostok on the Pacific. Encouraged westerners to build factories in Russia. –Ukrainian steel and coal industry.

37. Czar Nicholas II (1894-1917) The last of the Romanovs. Weak, uncertain, so continued father’s policies. Rapidly accelerating industrialization led to increasing unrest. –Hundreds of thousands of new workers streamed into cities and factories, with inadequate facilities and little state regulation. Rural overpopulation continued.

38. Czar Nicholas II, cont’d. Russo-Japanese War (1904) 1903, Russia had expanded into Chinese Manchuria and had eyes on northern Korea. –Equally expansionist Japan’s objections were ignored. –Japan attacked the Russians and scored humiliating victories on land and at sea. –Political upheaval in Russia—trounced by “racial inferiors.”

39. Czar Nicholas II, cont’d. The Revolution of 1905. –War-induced domestic hardships led to illegal industrial strikes across Russia. –Landless peasants, suffering from poverty and overpopulation, rioted. –National minorities demanded self-rule and autonomy. Separatist Poles and Ukrainians. –Demands for constitutional government.

40. Czar Nicholas II, cont’d. The Revolution of 1905 (cont’d.) –Bloody Sunday (1/22/05). Troops fired on peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg. Waves of demonstrations, peasant uprisings, mutinies and strikes swept Russia. October general strike. –October Manifesto of 1905. Capitulation designed to end violence. Promised a constitution, guarantees of civil liberties, and establishment of the Duma (elected parliament).

42. Czar Nicholas II, cont’d. The Revolution of 1905 (cont’d.) –By spring 1906, revolutionary upheaval began to subside. –The government, having regained its confidence, issued the Fundamental Laws. Served as the Russian constitution. –Restricted the powers of the Duma. –Authority heavily slanted in favor of the tsar. –A step backward.

43. Czar Nicholas II, cont’d. The Revolution of 1905 (cont’d.) –However, political parties were now legal. Mensheviks, Bolsheviks, and Socialist Revolutionaries no longer clandestine. –Dumas proved hostile to Nicholas’s policies and were either dissolved or undermined. –On the eve of WWI, while trying to rebuild its military and expand its railroads, pressure for additional reform grew, but the tsar refused. Russia seethed with discontent. –And in spite of industrialization and modernization efforts, by 1914, only 18% of Russian population was classified as urban!