Revolutions of 1848 and Russia

     3.     How was your country/region affected by the 1848 Revolutions?

a.     Explore the effects of Nationalism on your country/region and the people in your country.

Since there weren’t any Revolutions in Russia, Nationalism did not affect Russia in any kind of way. The ruler nor capital didn’t even changed until now.

b. Why was your country/region affected by the 1848 Revolutions?

• Although Russia wasn’t technically affected by the Revolutions of 1848, the countries, which were affected by the Revolutions, had a serious impact on it. Russia was forced to prepare an army and militarize itself, even though they did not have the money to fund themselves, for a couple of reasons. Russia's aims were to check the spread of revolutionary ideas from France, foster an alliance with the absolutist monarchies of Austria and Prussia and prevent the re-establishment of an independent Poland.

• The year 1848 did not bring revolution to Russia. However, it was a year in which Russia was to suffer from a bad harvest, a major cholera epidemic and an increase in the number of fires in provincial towns, which were caused by the unusually dry weather. The effect of these disasters on Russia's economy was serious, since the majority of the population was engaged in agriculture. As the result, there was a sharp fall in the export of grain, which had begun to increase after the repeal of the Corn Laws in Great Britain in 1846.

     4.     How did the Revolutions of 1848 contribute to the unification of Italy or Germany?

a.     Who were the key actors in the unification of your chosen country? Explain your choices.

The key actors in the Italian Unification were Giuseppe Mazzini, Cavour, Victor Emanuel II, and Giuseppe Garibaldi.

·      Giuseppe Mazzini was born in 1805, Genoa. Unlike his father, who was the professor of pathology at Genoa University, he found law and literature intriguing. In 1831, Mazzini formed a group called “Young Italy.” Young Italy became Italy’s first truly organized political party. Young Italy became a unified voice for revolution, Italian unification, democracy, and the ousting of Austrian dominance in Italian affairs.

·      Cavour was Turin, Piedmonet on August 10, 1810 and died in 1861. He served in the Sardinian army for 5 years as a Lieutenant. After being a participant of the Sardian Chamber of Deputies and him being a great politician, Cavour later became the prime minister in 1852. To get Austria out of Italy, Cavour made an alliance with Napoleon III against Austria and then he made Austria go to war with France and Sardinia expecting it lose and get out of Italy.

·      Given the title “King of Italy”, Victor Emanuel II was king of Sardinia from 1849 to March 17, 1861. Emanuel supported Garibaldi’s Expedition of Thousand. Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered Sicily and Naples, and Sardinia-Piedmont grew even larger. On 17 March 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was officially established and Victor Emanuel II became its king.

·      Giuseppe Garibaldi was one of the most important figures of the Italian unification. Garibaldi was an Italian Solider who fought for the Italian Unification Movement. He led a group called the Red Shirts through the Kingdom of Two Sicilies to bring together the kingdoms of Italy in 1860.

b.     How was the country unified and was there any opposition to it? Give detail.

 Rome and Venetia were still lacking and neither could occur to win over easily in any battle since they were under the defense of the Austrian and French soldiers. The Seven Weeks war gave Italy the chance to gain Rome and Venetia back, Prussia had agreed that if Italy joined them in the war they would give them Venetia back and if Prussia won they would hold there part of the deal. Austria did not want Italy to configure because it took a huge part of Austria.

c.     What might be the long-term consequences of this unification?

·   Italy would had never became an Italian Colony

·   Italy did not take part in World War I nor World War II.

                        .  Italy would have never gone to war with the Ottoman Empire and captured Libya as a colony.                                                 

King Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV:-

Louis XIV was the king of France in the 17th century. He was a self-centered greedy king that always wanted attention form everywhere. He even got into wars just so that he would show off his power and wealth to others. He ruled around 1643-1715. He ruled for 72 years, which quiet a long time. He was an absolute monarch. An absolute monarch is when a king has absolute control over a country. There are many evidences that prove that he was an absolute monarch.

Louis XIV ruled France for a very long time. He ruled it for 72 years, in which is quiet along time for a king to rule a country. If it were a democracy at the time, he would have been elected to govern France for only four years. The fact that he ruled for 72 years made him a dictator, which is evidence that he was an absolute monarch.

Louis XIV had absolute power. He had power to the point where he didn’t take the consent of others to make decisions that involved the country. “I request and order you to seal no orders except by my command, . . . I order you not to sign anything, not even a passport . . . without my command; to render account to me personally each day and to favor no one." Twenty three year old Louis XIV stated this quote the day after Cardinal Mazarin's death. He pointed out that he wants to have absolute power to the point where they have to take his permission even in the smallest most pathetic things.

Louis XIV did not like people around him having power. When he realized that Nicholas Fouquet started to gain and have more power, he instantly ordered his arrest and imprisoned him. " In fact he quoted “I had no intention of sharing my authority with them.” He pointed this quote out when Nicholas Fouquet and others started gaining more power and authority. He then instantly arrested and imprisoned him, which proves that he wasn’t ready to share his power with anyone.

Bureaucracy is a system that King Louis XIV constructed in which helped him in organizing the country. He divided the work out to his nobles but decisions were still under his authority. For example, he gave taxation to the nobles to be in control of but it was still under his authority. Louis XIV was really protective of his country.

Louis XIV had the power to make up laws that gave him more power and wealth. He had so much power that the parliament’s traditional power was weakened. It was weakened because the parliament was the one who had the power and authority to come up with laws, but when Louis XIV started making his own, the parliament now has no use. The fact the

To glorify the monarchy, Louis XIV built the palace of Versailles. He made it huge and beautiful so hat h would display his power to other kings. He liked showing off his power. One of the other main reasons he made it huge so that his nobles and ministers would stay with him and be there when he needed them. He also wanted to keep an eye on them so that they wouldn’t rebel or do something to hurt him. Louis XIV liked showing off and keeping an eye on his men.

King Louis XIV conquered many land. He fought over Europe and managed to conquer some land. He then battled with the Spanish Netherland and successfully gained land in Flanders. He later went and fought with the United Provinces of Netherland because he wanted his vengeance from the Dutch. Later on, that led to the fall of the Dutch’s economy. He didn’t conquer it because of his need. He was pretty much wealthy and powerful without even conquering other land. The only reason he conquered land was so that he would look powerful and wealthy in front of others.

Louis XIV had a dictating personality. He didn’t like being ordered around at all. He only wanted to do what he wants and not what others want. As he said, he wasn’t even used to being ordered around. This proves that he had absolute power to the point where people around him agreed with him on anything.

Louis XIV used to be a self-centered show off. He only cared about money and wealth and not his country or people. He was an absolute monarch that always wanted things under his authority, which made him powerful and wealthy because he made everything by himself and created laws. Louis XIV used to be a selfish braggart king.