Summary
When revolutions erupted throughout Europe in 1848, radicals from Prague to
Paris, Naples to Berlin were interested in overthrowing the conservative
establishment that had ruled Europe since the defeat of
Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815. Revolution was in
the name of change, but every revolt failed. By the
end of the year, a strong president was in charge of France, taking dictatorial
powers within three years. In Austria, the Austrian army suppressed each and
every urban revolt, reasserting the power and rule of the conservative monarchy.
However, where radical revolution failed, nationalism took hold and succeeded.
Italian unification, after centuries of disunity, was finally realized in 1861,
with the proclamation of Italy under the Sardinian king. By 1870, with the
annexation of Rome and its surrounding provinces from France and the Pope, the
entire boot of Italy became one united nation-state. Just to the north, the
wily political animal that was Otto von Bismarck used everything from war to
harsh diplomacy to finally unite the German provinces under the Prussian crown
in 1871. Central Europe, previously divided by more powerful interests to the
west and east, was finally consolidated into viable and strong states (Germany).
Meanwhile, Great Britain continued its pattern of gradual reform and experienced
firsthand an active debate over government intervention in the economy and
society. Russia, the most backward of all the European powers, frightened by
her defeat in the Crimean War, finally moved to some reforms in society and
government; however, these reforms were halfhearted and did not effect lasting
change. The period between 1848 and 1871, therefore, can be considered a
transition period when most nations focused on domestic matter and where those
leaders who understood the interconnection between domestic and foreign affairs
succeeded beyond their expectations.
