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Classical liberalism
The economic and political philosophy that opposed state intervention in economic affairs, supported free trade, competition, and individual initiative as the key to success; this philosophy was, above all, an attack on privilege, on the aristocrats, on the Anglican Church; liberals believed that talent alone should dictate a man's advancement in the world; supported in England by William Gladstone.
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Conservatism
A political and economic philosophy that supported state intervention in the economy on behalf of the disadvantaged; supported the maintenance of traditional institutions of privilege in the name of preservation of tradition and custom that worked in the past; supported in England by Benjamin Disraeli.
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Frankfurt Assembly
May 1848-June 1849. German national parliament that tried and failed to create a united German state during the 1848 revolutions. First meeting in May 1848, the convention was populated by middle class civil servants, lawyers, and intellectuals dedicated to liberal reform. However, after drawing the boundaries for a German state and offering the crown to Friedrich Wilhelm, the Kaiser refused in March 1849, dooming hopes for a united, liberal Germany, and the Frankfurt assembly dissolved soon after.
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Peace of Paris
1856; ended the Crimean War; Russia relinquished its claim as the protector of Christianity in the Ottoman Empire and the Black Sea was neutralized among all powers; solidified a complete defeat for Russia.
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Plebiscites
Popular votes on one question or issue on the ballot; Camillo di Cavour used these to legitimize Sardinia's role as the central nation in unification as he arranged these votes in every province to be annexed by Sardinia into the Italian state.
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Realpolitik
The notion that politics must be conducted in terms of the realistic assessment of power and the self-interest of individual nation-states, and the pursuit of those interests by any means, often ruthless and violent ones; used skillfully by Camillo di Cavour and Otto von Bismarck in their policies toward national unification.
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Risorgimento
Literally, "resurgence"; the name given to the movement for Italian unification because the movement hoped to bring Italy back to its former ancient glory through unification into one political entity; succeeded with proclamation of Italian state in 1861, finally completed with annexation of Rome in 1870.
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Serfdom
An institution in Russia and many eastern European states in which peasants were legally tied to the land that they farmed and could not leave that land without expressed permission from the baron or landowner; created an immobile peasantry and a form of slavery; ended with the Emancipation of 1861.
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American Civil War
1861-1865; conflict between the North and the Confederate South over states' rights, federalism, economic rights, and, to some extent, slavery. The Civil War was an example of the forcible unification of a union using realpolitik.
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Crimean War
1853-1856; war that pitted Russia against the alliance of Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Sardinia; Russia wanted warm water ports on Black Sea and thus hoped to take advantage of weakening Ottoman Empire; France and Britain feared an upset to the balance of power in Europe; emerged as an absolute military defeat for Russia.
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Emancipation of the serfs
1861; by the Emancipation Edict offered by Alexander II; ended the institution of serfdom in Russia after centuries of its use; most probably done because the government needed an effective pool of men from which it could conscript thousands into the army; after the defeat in the Crimean War, this was one of the efforts taken to strengthen the weak Russian military.
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Franco-Prussian War
July-September 1870; conflict between France and Prussia over a fabricated insult allegedly made by the French ambassador to the Prussia king; Prussia defeated France and her own territory and took Alsace-Lorraine from France and laid siege to Paris until the country gave in; overthrew the government and set up a parliamentary system in Paris.
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Great Reforms
Tsar Alexander II's changes that he directed from above; changes in education, the judiciary, the military, expression rights, etcetera all seemed to follow an enlightened, liberal perspective; however, upon careful review of these reforms, it is obvious that these were grudging reforms with little real change.
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Sevastopol
1854-1855; Russia's heavily fortified chief naval base in the Black Sea, lying on the Crimean peninsula; after just under one year of constant battle and being under siege by French an British, the Russian abandoned the fortress, blowing up their fortifications and sinking their own ships; one example of the harsh battles of the campaign.
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Seven Weeks' War
1866; war between Prussia and Austria, named for its very short duration; was a fabricated conflict over administration of Holstein; complete victory for Prussia; Prussia gained Holstein and put an end to all Austrian involvement in German affairs, clearing a major obstacle to German unification.
