Unification of Germany & Italy

From Revolution to Realpolitik

The revolutions of 1848 promised liberal, constitutional unification of Germany and Italy through popular assemblies; they failed. The Frankfurt Parliament (May 1848–1849) drafted a German constitution and offered the imperial crown to Frederick William IV of Prussia in April 1849, who refused a crown 'from the gutter' offered by commoners. In Italy, the Roman Republic of 1849 and the Piedmontese defeat by Austria at Custoza (1848) and Novara (March 1849) ended the romantic, Mazzinian phase. The lesson absorbed by the next generation of leaders was decisive: unification would be achieved not by parliaments and idealism but by Realpolitik—diplomacy backed by military force and dynastic statecraft.

Italy: Cavour's Diplomacy and Garibaldi's Arms

Three strands drove the Italian Risorgimento. Giuseppe Mazzini supplied the ideological vision through 'Young Italy' (founded 1831), a unitary democratic republic. Count Camillo di Cavour, Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia from 1852, supplied the diplomacy: he modernised Piedmont, joined the Crimean War (1855) to win a seat at the Congress of Paris (1856), and secured French aid through the secret Plombières Agreement with Napoleon III (July 1858). The resulting war of 1859 expelled Austria from Lombardy (Battle of Solferino), though Villafranca left Venetia under Austria. Giuseppe Garibaldi supplied the popular arms: his 'Expedition of the Thousand' (the Red Shirts) sailed in May 1860, conquered Sicily and Naples, and then surrendered his conquests to King Victor Emmanuel II at Teano (October 1860).

The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed on 17 March 1861 with Victor Emmanuel II as king and Turin (later Florence) as capital. Two pieces remained: Venetia, acquired in 1866 by allying with Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War; and Rome, held by French troops protecting the Pope. When France withdrew during the Franco-Prussian War, Italian forces entered Rome in September 1870, completing unification. Rome became the capital in 1871, and the 'Roman Question' with the Papacy festered until the Lateran Treaty of 1929.

The Comparative Pattern

Both unifications were led by a peripheral but modernising state (Piedmont; Prussia), engineered by a conservative statesman wielding diplomacy and war (Cavour; Bismarck), and crowned by a dynasty (Savoy; Hohenzollern) rather than a republic. In both cases nationalism was harnessed from above by monarchy and bureaucracy, excluding the radical-democratic currents of 1848. This 'revolution from above' is the central interpretive frame UPSC expects candidates to deploy.

Bismarck and the Three Wars of German Unification

Otto von Bismarck, appointed Minister-President of Prussia by Wilhelm I in September 1862, declared that the great questions of the day would be settled 'not by speeches and majority votes—but by blood and iron.' He resolved Prussia's constitutional crisis over army funding by simply collecting taxes without parliamentary sanction, then exploited Prussian military reform (under Roon and Moltke) through three calculated wars.

The Danish War (1864). Prussia and Austria jointly defeated Denmark over Schleswig and Holstein. The Convention of Gastein (1865) divided administration—Prussia took Schleswig, Austria took Holstein—deliberately creating friction Bismarck could later exploit.

The Austro-Prussian (Seven Weeks') War (1866). Bismarck isolated Austria diplomatically (securing Italian alliance and French neutrality), then provoked war over Holstein. The decisive Prussian victory at Königgrätz/Sadowa (3 July 1866) ended Austria's role in German affairs. The lenient Treaty of Prague (1866) dissolved the German Confederation and created the North German Confederation (1867) under Prussian leadership, with Bismarck as Chancellor.

The Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). Bismarck manipulated the Ems Telegram (13 July 1870), editing Wilhelm I's dispatch to make Franco-Prussian relations appear insulting, provoking Napoleon III into declaring war. The Prussian-led German states crushed France at Sedan (1 September 1870), capturing Napoleon III. The German Empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles on 18 January 1871, with Wilhelm I as Kaiser. The Treaty of Frankfurt (May 1871) annexed Alsace-Lorraine and imposed a 5-billion-franc indemnity—sowing the revanchism that fed into the First World War.

why this matters for the exam

This topic serves UPSC Mains GS-1, under 'history of the world... the 18th century events such as the Industrial Revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries... their forms and effect on the society.' It is rarely asked as a standalone 'narrate the unification' question; UPSC prefers analytical and comparative framings. PYQ-style angles include: comparing the methods of Bismarck and Cavour; assessing nationalism as a 'unifying and disruptive' force in 19th-century Europe; and linking the Treaty of Frankfurt and Alsace-Lorraine to the origins of World War I. High-yield facts to retain: dates 1861 (Italy proclaimed), 1871 (German Empire), the three wars 1864/1866/1870, the Plombières and Gastein agreements, and the keystone concept of Realpolitik / 'blood and iron'. Examiners reward candidates who move beyond chronology to argue how conservative state-led nationalism displaced 1848 liberalism, and why the punitive Frankfurt settlement had long-run consequences.