topic for this week

Early Nationalism
and France’s Second Republic

· The early form of nationalism merged liberal ideologies with authoritative rule.

· Louis Napoleon won the French presidential election of 1848.

· Napoleon promoted a vison of national unity and social progress.

· Although Napoleon was to share power with the National Assembly, in 1851 he organized a coup d’etat and seized power.

A year after the French people made him hereditary emperor.

The French Second Empire

· In the early 1850s, Louis Napoleon’s government promoted new investments in public works, banking, and the railroad system.

These investments helped spark economic growth and the wages of workers soared above inflation.

· Napoleon also established universal male suffrage

· Although Napoleon wanted to spread his nationalist ideology and gain new territories for France, the political problems of Italy and the rising power of Prussia, led to dissent among the French middle-class liberals.

· Feeling the pressure from public opinion, Napoleon in 1870 gave the Assembly greater political power and established a new constitution where the government changed to a parliamentary system with a hereditary emperor as chief of state.

Italian Unification

· Since the Roman Empire, Italy had never been unified.

· The peninsula was divided into competing city-states.

· Three approaches to Italian unification was proposed:

1. Giuseppe Mazzini called for a centralized democratic republic based on universal male suffrage

2. Catholic priest, Vincenzo Gioberti proposed for a federation of existing states under the presidency of a progressive pope

3. Many Italians looked to the autocratic kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont for leadership

· With the assistance of Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, Victor Emmanuel II and French forces drove the Austrians to peace in 1859.

· The majority of the northern peninsula was transferred to Italy.

With the annexation of Rome in 1870, the new Kingdom of Italy was formed and the Italian peninsula was unified.

Political Trends After 1871

· The decades after 1870 brought changes to the structures and ideals of European politics.

· A growing sense of national pride took form

· Government leaders used antiliberal militarist and imperialist policies to unite the nation and calm social unrest caused by domestic issues.

· Protectionist reforms were implemented by the Germain Empire to protect the domestic economy and promote Germain goods.

The tariffs imposed by the German state led trade wars with other nations.

· In France, the Dreyfus Affair created animosity between the government and the Catholic Church. The French government severed all ties with the Catholic Church.

· In Great Britain, several social welfare measures were enacted including the reform bills that granted voting rights male citizens.

The unionization of laborers grew during the nineteenth century. Lead by Great Britain, unions received legal rights and protection.

Global Trade and Migration

· Advances in production and travel that originate with the Industrial Revolution, lead to increased global trade.

· Great Britain became a global trade power.

· Using advances in steam enginery the British extended their trade presence throughout the world.

· The British were able to establish trade in China after the result of the Opium Wars which granted European traders protection under Chinese law.

· The establishment of the Suez and Panama canals significantly lowered the travel time of trade ships.

· Increased migration occurred, as a mass movement of people from Europe migrated to the United States and other parts of the New World.

· Increased migration was partially due to economic reasons, migrants sought new opportunities.

· The New Imperialism

· With increased domestic issues concerning living conditions, wages, and political representation, plaguing many European nations, governments increased their desire for overseas territories.

· The increased desire from European nations to annex or control territories in Africa and parts of Asia, where geared as a means to draw attention from domestic issues and unite the nation under nationalist sentiment.

· By the early 1900s, 84% of the globe were controlled by the various European nations.

· Africa and Asia were the continents most impacted by European imperialism.

· Increased imperialism shifted attitudes of Westerners on Non-western societies

Orientalism was coined by Edward Said to describe the misunderstanding of Westerners on their colonial subjects and cultures.