The French Revolution transformed cultural institutions. The Royal Academy of Arts was replaced by the Popular and Republican Society of the Arts whose membership was open to all artists. All the books and other reading materials held in libraries throughout France was possessed by the state.
The government later sold books that dealt with subjects such as royalism to other foreign countries. Approximately five million books were either sold or got lost during the French revolution. The legislative assembly created a Commission of the Museums after the abolishment of the monarchy. The museum was to preserve France historical paintings and other valuables. The transformed cultural institutions eventually led to a new political culture.
The average common man in France believed that they are the highest political power in the state. The rich began to change their dress code; they opted for natural hair instead of powdered wigs, simple jacket instead of ruffled coat and long trousers instead of shorter breeches. The printers’ guild promoted the new political culture and was used by the revolutionaries to spread their propaganda. Finally, the government allowed press freedom to some extent after the revolution.
A legal code is an authoritative and comprehensive statement of the law of a particular country. Napoleon promulgated a new legal code, the civil code of 1804.The civil code maintained the ideas of the French revolution. The main ideas were right to property, equality before the law and freedom of religion. These laws affected several countries around the world. The German territories that were under the control of France used the civil code as a guide for their own codes.
The ‘agrarian revolution’ refers to radical changes that happened in the agricultural sector while the first industrial revolution refers to mechanization of factories. These two processes are interrelated since it occurred in the eighteen century. The radical changes in agricultural sector and mechanization of factories led to new methods of transportation and population growth. The most significant innovation being the railroad.
Crimea is located in Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea. From 1853 to 1856 the war of Crimea took place and it had an impact on domestic politics. The Russians reluctantly implemented liberal reforms that led to the emancipation of 50 million serfs in 1861.Russia, Turkey, Britain and France participated in the war. The Russians claimed that they were protecting Christians from Muslim Turkish oppressors and they were also promoting national unity of the Slavic people.
It was after this incursion that Turkey responded by declaring war on Russia. Later, Britain joined the war on the side of Turks to preserve the balance of power in Europe and to prevent Russia from invading India. Thereafter, the French joined the British to begin a siege on the port of Sebastopol on the Black Sea. At the end, Russia was defeated and Turkey, Britain and France prevailed. The wounded were the biggest casualties of these war.
By 1871 Italy was united. The process of unification was shaped by Italian leaders’ ideologies, domestic events and international process. This essay will describe each of the processes. Italian nationalist movement spearheaded the unification of Italy. The economic disparities between the rich north and poorer south is what prompted the nationalist movement to undertake unification of Italy. Also, the Italians hated the foreigners who controlled Italian territory and they were determined to revive the achievements of ancient Rome. These domestic events is what made unification of Italy more appealing project to the Italian nationalist movement.
Mazzini was a key figure in Italian unification. He believed that unification of Italy was a moral force capable of establishing a democratic republic that would undertake social reforms. To achieve unification he planned to use successive invasions and uprising. On the other hand, Cavour who was the Prime Minister rooted for Italian unification to be a federation of states. This is because he preferred the development of capitalist and industrialized economy.
Cavour strategy was to use diplomatic course of action. The different ideologies of the two leaders meant that there two possible approaches to unification. To avoid another defeat, the Italian nationalists had to choose between the two leaders who would provide effective leadership for the movement. They settled on Cavour since King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia Kingdom supported him and he was a liberal.
International support from France greatly contributed to unification of Italy. In 1859, French together with Piedmontese forces defeated the Austrians at Magenta and Solferino. They also drove them out of Lombardy. This resounding victory of the Italians with the help of France led to the Treaty of Turin in 1860. The Treaty was signed by Napoleon III and Cavour and it allowed “unification of all northern and central Italy except Venetia in the northeast and the Papal States in the center of the peninsula”
After the singing of the Treaty of Turin, Giuseppe Garibaldi emerged as the third leader in the quest for unification of Italy. His ideology was different from that of Mazzini and Cavour, he supported unification of Italy within the framework of monarchy and was determined to drive all foreigners out of Italy.
Garibaldi being a military leader used his skills and established a dictatorship in Sicilian city of Palermo on behalf of King Victor Emmanuel. It was his bold move that made Naples, Sicily and most of Papal States agree to form a union with Piedmont-Sardinia. So in March 1861 the king of Sardinia assumed a new title of King Victor Emmanuel of Italy.
In conclusion, complete unification was realized when Austria ceded Venetia to Italy in 1866 and later in 1870 when French troops withdrew from Rome. The success of Italian unification was greatly influenced by Cavour, Mazzini and Garibaldi ideologies and military support from France.
German unification goal was realized in 1871.The first attempt was in 1848 but it was not successful. This essay will describe the domestic events, international processes and ideologies that shaped the emergence of German nation.
The Prussian kingdom King was William 1. In 1862, the King appointed Count Otto Von Bismarck as his Prime minister. In addition, the kingdom had a strong army and most of them population spoke the German. It was this domestic reasons that made the kingdom of Prussia assume the leadership of Germany nationalist movement.
Bismarck was the leader of the nationalist movement that led to the successful unification of Germany. He was a lawyer by training and displayed conservative ideologies. His goal was to make the Prussian state “strong and powerful”. Bismarck strategy was to use military and political power.
He was not willing to use “speeches and majority decisions” but “iron and blood”. He also excluded Austria from his plans of national unification because he believed Austria was a threat to Prussian supremacy in united Germany. Overall, it was Bismarck conservative ideology that shaped Germany as a nation.
German unification was also shaped by international processes. The nationalist movement was involved in three different wars. The first war was in 1864 against Denmark. The second war was in 1866. The third war of 1870-1871 against France is where international processes played a key role. Bismarck used diplomacy tactics that saw Russia, Austria and Britain agree with him that they will not offer any military support to France. As a result, France was defeated in the war and a German Empire was proclaimed with William I of Prussia as Emperor. The proclamation of German Empire marked the end of German-Nation building.
Emergence of feminism in the late nineteen century widened women’s education and employment opportunities. In US, by 1880 women formed a third of students admitted in higher education institutions. Jobs for women widened as a result of exposure to education. Women legal rights improved especially of married women since they could own property, keep children and control their own income.
Campaigns for women’s educational opportunities thrusted women into the public sphere. Suffrage societies emerged to protect women. Feminism led to changes in the position of middle-class women, majority were employed as bankers, clerks and accountants. Working class families earned more since children left school at the age of eleven or twelve to begin to contribute to family income. This led to reduced number of children among married women.
The slow pace on both moral and legal fronts persuaded feminists that they needed the political national suffrage to achieve their goals. Majority of women believed that voting was the only way to guarantee women rights. Many men supported women’s suffrage
