Compare And Contrast Italy And German Unification

Similarities
- common culture and language
- many different states, some under foreign rule
- one leading nation that promotes unification (Kingdom of Sardinia in Italy, Kingdom of Prussia in Germany)
- oddily, this leading nations are both off the main cultural centres
- secret societies that promote unification
- succesful wars against foreign powers (Sardinia vs Austria, Prussia vsFrance and Austria)

Differencies
- in Italy, creation of a unitary state; in Germany, all the states are left in existence, keeping some sovereignity, but accept the king of Prussia as emperor - unitary state only in 1918
- Italian unification supported by France (in part) and Great Britain; German unification adversed by France and Great Britain

Introduction By 1871, Europe was remapped withthe rise of two newly united nations - the Kingdom of Italy and the German Empire. The unification movements of both countries took place at roughly the same time in the mid-19th century and were motivated by the same historical trends - that of liberalism and nationalism. The following discussion presents a comparison of the two unifications.

Pre-1815 Before the French Revolution andNapoleon Bonaparte, both Italy and Germany shared some similar features. Italy was divided into a number of separate states which were ruled by despotic kings. Yet the Italians shared a common language and a common history - the Roman Empire. Many still had memories of the ancient unity and glory.

Germany was actually more divided than Italy. She had more than three hundred petty independent states,and they had no form of common government. Nonetheless, the Germans bad a common language and shared some memories of unity in medieval times.

Both the French Revolution and Napoleon affected the two countries. Italy was particularly influenced by the career of Napoleon who first rose to fame with his Italian campaign (1796). At first, Napoleon and his invading armies were treated by Italians asliberators who taught them liberalism and nationalism. In fact, Napoleon instituted some reforms in Italy and even created a united Kingdom of Italy. These reinforced the impact of liberalism and nationalism. However, when Napoleon became more and more a dictator, he was opposed by Italians who rose into rebellion against Napoleonic dominance.

As for Germany, the French Revolution and Napoleongave the first impetus to nationalist and liberal forces; On the one hand, Napoleon reduced the number of German states from over three hundred to thirty nine and grouped them into a Confederation of the Rhine. On the other hand, both Austria and Prussia, major German states, were soundly defeated by Napoleon in- several battles. Their harsh treatment nursed strong patriotic feeling among theGermans. In particular, Prussia modernised her army and government in order to fight back Napoleon. This was successfully carried out in the Battle of Leipzig (1813) when Prussia led other German states to defeat Napoleon.

In short, liberal and nationalist sentiments in Italy and Germany were much aroused by the French Revolution and Napoleon.

Congress of Vienna When Napoleon was defeated andexiled, representatives of the European countries met at the Congress of Vienna to settle European affairs. They again divided the Italian peninsula into petty states with restored legitimate rulers. Italy was described to be merely a geographical expression and there was not even a loose confederation of states, to give a sense of political unity. Worse still, Austria, a foreign country, exertedstrong influence over all Italian states except Piedmont-Sardinia.

In Germany, absolute governments were restored in all the states by the Congress of Vienna. Unlike Italy, a loose German Confederation of the thirty-nine states was created to preserve a vague sense of German unity. However, the Confederation and its Diet were powerless and by no means resembled a central government. Austria,...