1. The Unification of Italy and Germany
In this lesson, students will be able to identify the actions of the following individuals as well as define the term “Blood and Iron”:
Count Cavor
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Otto Von Bismarck
“Blood and Iron”
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2. Nationalism is the belief that each ethnic group should have
its own national
state and
government.
For centuries, Italy
had consisted of
smaller states.
Italians wanted
unification.
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3. In 1852, Count Cavour became the Prime Minister of the
Kingdom of Piedmont
or Sardinia. With
French help, Cavour
drove the
Austrians out of
Northern Italy after
a war in 1859.
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4. Cavour then annexed most of the other
states of northern and central Italy.
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5. The nationalist leader, Giuseppe Garibaldi, overthrew the king of
Naples in the south. He then joined
Naples to Cavour’s enlarged Piedmont.
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6. By 1860, Italy had become a united
kingdom.
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7. National unification failed to end the cultural and economic divisions
that
separated
Italy’s north
and south.
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8. Like Italy, Germany consisted of many
smaller states. German liberals had
failed to unite their nation in the
revolutions of 1848.
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9. used skillful diplomacy
Prussia was one of the
largest German
states.
Its Prime Minister,
Otto von Bismarck,
used skillful diplomacy
and Prussian military
power to achieve
German unification.
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10. Otto von Bismarck followed a policy of “blood and iron”
to achieve his goals.
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11. “The greatest questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and
majority decisions but by iron and
blood.”
Otto von Bismarck
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12. Germany achieved unification in 1871.
The Prussian king became the Kaiser
(emperor) of all Germany.
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13. Although there was a national assembly,
it was controlled by conservative Prussian
landowners, not the working people.
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14. Questions for Reflection:
Define nationalism.
Who was Count Cavour and what did he do?
How did Giuseppe Garibaldi help Count Cavour?
Why did Otto von Bismarck believe in a policy of “blood and iron”?
Describe German unification.
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