The Failure Of Nationalism In Germany And The Italian Unification

Nationalism can mean many different things ranging from patriotism and loyalty to one’s country to the desire for political independence. Throughout the 1800s nationalism had a hug impact on the German Unification in 1871 and the Italian Unification of 1815 to 1871. Italy and Germany were both faced with many obstacles that caused each nation’s unification many failures. However, in the end both nations successfully unified due to the efforts of spreading nationalism. Although nationalism can be spread and used in many different ways, the Germans and the Italians used similar tactics in order to use nationalism to unite their countries.

In the mid-1800s both Germany and Italy used nationalism in similar ways in order to unify their countries.3

To begin, the German nationalists were Otto Von Bismarck, Wilhelm 1, and Helmuth Von Moltke. Otto Von Bismarck was the chief minister of Prussia from 1815 to 1898, he despised democracy, and emphasized military and power in politics. Bismarck ruled by “blood and iron” to unite Germany. “In Germany, Otto von Bismarck, chief minister of Prussia, skillfully fought three wars to unify Germany into one single nation under Prussian leadership.”6 Wilhelm 1 was the King of Prussia and ruled from 1861 to 1888, he supported Bismarck’s policies. Helmuth von Moltke was the General and Chief of staff of Prussia from 1800 until 1891. Moltke was known for building a strong army and navy. These three men were key aids in spreading nationalism throughout Germany. In comparison to Italy, Germany’s unification was much shorter and easier because it was already partially unified. Throughout the 1800s, Napoleon had unintentionally but gradually developed unification by abolishing the Holy Roman Empire and reducing the amount of German states from 300 to 100. One of the effects that nationalism had during the German Unification was an upset of the balance of powers. In 1815 the five Great Powers were equal, however, by 1871 Britain and Germany were the most powerful nations.3 Another major effect of nationalism was that it set the

The Italian nationalists included Giuseppe Mazzini, Guiseppe Garibaldi, and Camillo Cavour. Giuseppe Mazzini was part of the democratic republic but fled in 1848 after revolutions that took place in Italy. Guiseppe Garibaldi was also part of the democratic republic. Finally, Camillo Cavour was liberal and supported a progressive constitutional government. He strengthened Italy by encouraging industrial development, building railroads, fostering education, and freeing peasants. Italy had a much longer and harder unification compared to Germany. There was no political cohesion before the unification process began and a lot of internal fighting took place throughout Italy. One of the major effects of nationalism throughout the Italian Unification was that it did not solve many of the social or economic problems Italy faced.4 Another effect was an unstable parliament due to the disorganized political parties. Other effects were that Italy entered the 20th century as a very poor country and there was a spread of many different dialects throughout the country. The last effect was that, “divisions still existed because the industrial North had little in common with the agrarian South whose population was booming, and whose illiterate peasants were still dominated by large landowners”.6 Among the similarities