This lecture is looking at the unification of Italy and Germany–two weak areas up til this point.
Italy was only a geographic expression during this time period. There was no such thing as a country named Italy. It was all divided up into sections. North Italy had a strong renaissance influence and trade but is separated from South Italy. North Italy isn't even together yet! Napoleon I had captured North Italy and united it. It ran well then, but went to pieces after he was ousted. In the Ancient World, Italy/Rome had pulled together and ran the world! Some people wanted to unite Italy to help industry. There was a group of growing nationalists who wanted the unification of Italy. This movement was called Risorgimento ("resurgence"). In 1854, Orsini (an Italian nationalist) tried to blow up Napoleon III. Why? To unite Italy and get attention. On his way to the gallows, he appealed to Napoleon III to unite North Italy. The major Risorgimento leader was Count Cavour. Cavour (1810-1861) was a local soldier, farmer, banker, and diplomat in Northern Italy who liked the idea of fighting Austria to unite North Italy. In 1847, he helped found the newspaper, Il Risorgimento. Cavour is the major architect of Italian unification. Cavour wanted to place Victor Emmanuel II as the king of North Italy (he was already king of a section of Northern Italy called Sardinia-Piedmont–he rules there from 1849-1861). North Italy hated Austria cuz it always had to fight them off. Austria kept capturing North Italy; therefore, Austria controls North Italy. Cavour wanted an English type of government for Italy, so the Italians need to drive the Austrians out. But he has no real military power. Cavour asks Napoleon III to help. Napoleon III wants to do this. Why? Who knows?? Napoleon III should want a weak Italy, but he wants to help unite Italy for some reason. Cavour and Napoleon III must have come up with a reason to start a war with Austria. Austria had begun to draft Italians into the Austrian army. These Italians begin to escape to Sardinia-Piedmont, so Austria declares war on Sardinia-Piedmont. France comes in to help Sardinia-Piedmont. Napoleon III is horrified by the battles, so France makes a quick peace and leaves. Austria has been sufficiently weakened by the earlier battles, so the Italians come in and beat Austria. Most of North Italy was united under Victor Emmanuel II (former king of Sardinia-Piedmont in Northern Italy) around 1859.
Guiseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) was a soldier in the service of the Risorgimento movement. He has extraordinary military smarts. He had gone to South America and put together an army (called the "Red Shirts"). He took them to Sicily and then South Italy. He turned South Italy over to Victor Emmanuel II and left. Now there is only one Italy (the vast majority of modern-day Italy)!! Victor Emmanuel II is proclaimed king of Italy in 1861. He rules Italy until 1878. Garibaldi is a true believer and his only allegiance is to adding land he believes Italy should have. At one point, he even fights against Victor Emmanuel II cuz he wanted to get Rome itself for Italy, but Victor Emmanuel II didn't want to tick off France (who was guarding Rome) by taking Rome at this point. Rome was finally annexed into Italy in 1870 (after the Franco-Prussian War). Garibaldi was eventually elected to the Italian parliament.
The pope fought the union of Italy all the way cuz it cut his power and he lost a lot of territory. North Italy had the culture; South Italy had the farmland. They had been separated so long, they had different dialects. The North treated the South badly, so Italy didn't pull together very well. Northerners thought the Southerners were lesser beings (like some New Yorkers look at Missourians!!). The North had the culture.
Prussia had done pretty well. They had rapid industrialization. Berlin was the big city. Some liberals wanted civil liberties which was opposed by the government. Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) is a very important Prussian statesman. Bismarck is the major architect of German unification. He will be the first Chancellor of Germany from 1871-1890. He and his king decided they needed more territory. Bismarck gets an army together. Schleswig-Holstein is controlled by Denmark. Denmark wants to incorporate it, but Schleswig-Holstein doesn't want to be incorporated. Bismarck maneuvers this into a short war so Austria can't take Schleswig-Holstein. This war was the Seven Weeks' War in 1866 between Austria and Prussia. Somebody in Prussia had studied the American fighting in the U.S. Civil War. The Prussians knew the importance of the railroad, telegraph, and new machinery. By using the telegraph, the Prussians could get their troops (via railroad) at the appropriate places much more quickly than the Austrians. Prussia had the needle gun (circa 1836), which used something similar to a modern-day shotgun shell. It didn't work terribly well, but the important thing was that it could be loaded from the back (called breech-loading) which was better cuz you could load it while lying down (instead of having to stand up to pack the gunpowder, etc. into the barrel–you make a really nice target while standing up to pack the barrel!). Prussia cut Austria up with the needle gun, railroad, and telegraph. Militarism is power. Bismarck made sure that he didn't tick the Austrians off too much. He made the terms pretty easy for them. The Prussians got Schleswig-Holstein and Hanover. This war shows that Prussia is more powerful than Austria. In 1867, Bismarck organizes the North German Confederation (Austria is excluded from it).
England had the colonies in India for trade still. India didn't like it, but England put down any revolts. China and Japan were "opened" (for trade) by the Western powers. England opened New Zealand after a ten-year-war. In the United States, we were having a Civil War of our own from 1861 to 1865. The South had hoped that England would join them cuz of the clothing industry, but the English workers equated themselves with the slaves and were for the North.
Russia drew inward after the Crimean War. It started expanding eastward. It sold Alaska to the United States. China lost its grip to Russia in the East. Alexander II was the new czar of Russia. He freed serfs cuz he feared revolution. The serfs were "allowed" to buy land from their lords on the installment plan. There were some judicial reforms.
The Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871) was the result of Napoleon III's foreign policy. Prussia is gaining power which makes Napoleon III of France nervous. Bismarck had convinced the prince of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, Leopold, to try for the throne of Spain. A possible Prussian-Spanish alliance scared France. France threatened war if Leopold's candidacy was not withdrawn. The candidacy of Leopold was withdrawn, but Bismarck used events surrounding this withdrawal to fan the flames in Prussian newspapers to get a war started against France to further unify Germany and weaken France. France declared war against Prussia in 1870. Bismarck of Prussia hoped the southern Germans would come in on his side (which they did, of course). England came in with France. Austria was with Prussia. The Prussians had the better army but France had a new secret weapon. France had an automatic machine gun with 37 holes. It was so secret that nobody told the French army how to use the gun and they shot over the enemies' heads. Prussia won, needless to say. Napoleon III was captured on the border and marched into Paris. After turning over his powers, Napoleon III retired to England until his death in 1873. Lots of German states join Prussia under the name of Germany. The king of Prussia (from 1861) became the Emperor of Germany, Wilhelm I (Wilhelm is German for William, so he is often called William I). He is emperor of Germany from 1871 to 1888. This unified Germany. Wilhelm I, against Bismarck's advice, was crowned in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles in France while his soldiers were pillaging Paris (really kicks the French while they are down–not smart–now the French want revenge). The Germans got Alsace and Lorraine from the French. The war successfully united Germany. Bismarck is an amazing strategist and the master practitioner of realpolitik. Bismarck's the man. The Germans only get into real trouble when Bismarck is out of the picture.
[Wilhelm I's son/successor, Frederick III, only lives three months upon taking the throne in 1888. Frederick III's son/successor, Wilhelm II, doesn't see eye-to-eye with Bismarck and doesn't follow his wise counsel. He dismisses Bismarck in 1890. Wilhelm II is Emperor of Germany from 1888 to 1918, though he lives until 1941. Wilhelm II is often referred to as Kaiser Wilhelm. Kaiser is the German for Caesar. His actions lead to World War I.]
During his reign (1852-1870), Napoleon III was pretty much a mess as far as foreign policy was concerned. His efforts in the Crimean War (1854-1856) were quite costly. In 1859, he went to war against Austria to try to help unite Italy, which wasn't terribly wise as it wound up giving him yet another power to contend with on the European continent. In 1863, Napoleon III decided it would be good for the archduke of Austria, Maximilian, to become emperor of Mexico. The United States was distracted by our Civil War at the time, but we did not take kindly to French intervention so close to home. We demanded the French leave Mexico (which most Frenchmen did in 1867), but Maximilian refused to go. Mexican Republicans under the leadership of Benito Juarez captured and shot Maximilian in 1867. In 1870, Napoleon III took Bismarck's bait and was led to declare war against Prussia in July. He was defeated and captured in September of 1870. He died in exile in England in 1873.