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Chapter 22
The Age of Nationalism &
Realism
1850-1871
The France of Napoleon III
dismissed after his election as ineffectual, only successful because of
his name
– astute politician, understood popular forces of his day
– Bided time, gained the support of the people for 3 years
– Nat. Assembly rejected his wish to revise the constitution allowing reelection
used military to seize control Dec.1, 1851
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restored universal male suffrage
asked people to restructure the govt & make him pres. for 10 yrs
92% yes vote of 8,150,000
Nov 21, 1852 – asked to re-establish an empire, 97% voted “yes”
kept the appearance of a representative govt.
– Reps elected to the Legislative Corps to 6 year terms
Legislative Corps had no authority over legislation or budget
during his reign, reconstructed Paris to be more “modern”
– served a military purpose
– wider boulevards made it harder to create barricades & easier for military
to sweep in & put down revolts
Foreign Policy
Crimean War
Ottoman Empire had been in decline since 1699, but it had lost territory
on several instances since 1783
– the Crimea in 1783; Bessarabia to Russia, 1812
– Serbia to independence, 1817
– Greece to independence, 1830
The Russians proximity to Ottoman Empire & religious ties to Greek
Orthodox allowed them to increase influence in that region
Other European powers objected to Russian ambitions & they also had
their own agendas
– Austria wanted more land in Balkans, France & Britain interested in
commercial opportunities & naval bases in Med. & Black Seas
the war was poorly planned & poorly executed on both sides
Britain & France laid siege to the Crimean peninsula March 1854
Treaty of Paris signed March 1856, Russia lost Bessarabia & Black Sea
destroyed the Concert of Europe, 250,000 died (60% came from disease)
National Unification: Italy & Germany
Italy
revolutions failed 1848-49
unification pushes still came,
led by King Victor Emanuel II of
Piedmont & his PM Camillo di
Cavour
Cavour’s economic ventures let
to a flood of income used to
build a strong military in
Piedmont
Made small but important gains
in alliance w/ France
Giuseppe Garibaldi led
revolutionaries in south Italy,
joined Piedmont’s forces & in
1861, Kingdom of Italy formed
– Under the rule of throne of
Piedmont
1870 – Franco-Prussian war
caused French withdrawal from
Rome
Rome annexed & name capital
of the new Italian state
The Unification of Germany
the Frankfurt Assembly failed to achieve German unification in 1848-49
Austria had long dominated the Germanic Confederation, but Prussia was
growing much stronger
1834 – Prussia formed the Zollverein, a German customs union
– Eliminated tolls on rivers and roads among the river states
– by 1853, all German states but Austria joined the customs union
1848 – Prussia had framed a constitution w/ constitutional monarch &
bicameral legislature & universal male suffrage
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voting was divided into 3 classes based on paid taxes
more taxes paid, more seats in legislature
1859 – this led to the legislature becoming controlled by middle class
king’s exec. power strong, royal ministers answered directly to king
parliament had control of legislative & taxation powers it could build on
Frederick William IV died in 1861 & his brother William I took throne
William believed the army must be strong to remain a European power
– proposed to double the size of the army & push for compulsory military
service
– Parliament rejected the proposal, William named Otto von Bismarck PM
Bismarck was even considered by William I to be “too
conservative”
– would prove interesting w/ liberal-controlled Parliament
– dominated German & European politics for nearly 30 years
often assumed that Bismarck completely guided all events on the
course to German unification
– he was a consummate politician & opportunist
– not a gambler, only went to war if odds heavy in his favor & diplomatic
solutions were exhausted
– Never the less, known as a warmonger by many
1862 – resubmitted the army appropriations bill to Parliament
– when rejected, he collected the taxes anyway & reorganized the army
– 1862-66: largely ignored parliament, running the Prussia by himself
– eventually, he would ask Parliament to retroactively adopt the bill in
1866
unwilling to revolt, the legislature did nothing
opposition to his domestic policy led Bismarck to pursue active
foreign policy
– This led to the first of his “Three Wars” in 1864
Bismarck’s Three Wars
“Show me an objective worthy of war and I will go along with you.”
Bismarck’s plan was to unify all German states except Austria &
Switzerland under Prussian domination
Bismarck shared William’s views on army reconstruction & he also
embraced the policy of realpolitik
– realpolitik – right of the nation-state to pursue its advantage by any
means, including war & by breaking treaties
– had a strong dislike of anyone who opposed his views
The Danish War (1864)
before war was declared, Bismarck made sure he would only be fighting
one power & his opponent was diplomatically isolated
Denmark moved to bring Schleswig & Holstein under their control
– Both territories had large German populations
– Prussia quickly convinced Austria to side w/ them & divide
administrative duties over the two duchies
Denmark defeated very quickly
This war accomplished 2 things:
– Europe was now aware of the Prussian military
– Prussia now had a reason to go to war with Austria
The Austro-Prussian War (1866)
quickly worked to isolate Austria diplomatically
– got Russia’s agreement to remain neutral very easily
– France had to be persuaded w/ vague promise of territory in
Rhineland
– promised Venetia to Italy if Austria was defeated
Prussia defeated Austria in seven weeks
– Bismarck did not want to create more hostility by imposing a harsh
peace settlement
– In addition to gaining total control of Schleswig & Holstein, Prussia
annexed Hanover & Hesse-Cassel for supporting Austria
– Austria only lost Venetia, but was excluded from “German” affairs
The German states north of the Main River became part of the North
German Confederation
– Southern states remained independent, but signed military
agreements w/ Prussia
In the NGC, each state kept its local govt, but the Prussian king was
head of the confederation & the chancellor answered directly to king
– The army & foreign policy remained in the hands of the king &
chancellor
The Franco-Prussian War (1870-71)
France could not abide a strong German state, looked for a diplomatic
victory to offset domestic problems
The Bourbon ruler (Isabella II) was removed in revolt & William I’s cousin
asked to take throne
– France objected & demanded public apology from William I
– Bismarck intercepted William’s letter, changed it, making it more insulting
July 15, 1870 – Napoleon III declared war on Prussia
Sept. 2, 1870 – Napoleon III & an entire French army were captured
– Second empire collapsed in France, fighting continued for 4 months
Jan. 18, 1871 – southern states join NGC, William I named kaiser of
second German empire (HRE was 1st)
Jan. 28, 1871 – France forced to pay 5 bill. Francs ($1 bill.) & gave up
provinces of Alsace & Lorraine
This left France hungry for revenge
– we all know frightening & dangerous a mad Frenchman is….eeek!
German unification under Prussia was a victory for conservative values
over liberal beliefs
Prussia was now the strongest power on the European continent
Austria: Toward a Dual Monarchy
1851 – revolutionary constitutions abolished
– Hungary subjected to rule of military officers
– Economic troubles & war soon brought change
Emperor Francis Joseph tried to establish an imperial parliament
– suppose to provide representation for nationalities throughout empire
– Complicated formula for election process assured German speaking
majority
Ausgleich (Compromise) of 1867
Created dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary
– Each part had a constitution, bicameral legislature, political machinery, &
capital (Austria – Vienna, Buda & Pest united in Hungary)
The 2 states held together by a single monarch, common army,
foreign policy & system of finances
did NOT satisfy the other nationalities that made up the multinational
empire
– Simply allowed the German speaking Austrians & Hungarian Magyars to
dominate the other ethnic groups
– Nationalities persisted as a problem in this region until the end of WWI.
Imperial Russia
Russia’s defeat in Crimean War show that there were deficiencies in the
façade of absolute power
Serfdom biggest problem
– serf-based labor focused on antiquated forms of production
– uneducated & unable to deal w/ increasingly complex machines &
weapons of war
Tsar Alexander II abolished serfdom March 3, 1861 (almost 2 years
before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation)
– limited benefits for former serfs, did receive land from the state
– not completely freed, peasants now had to repay state for land
– land basically belonged to the commune no the individuals
1864 – instituted zemstvos – local governments, dominated by nobles
Reform movements like populism developed
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sought create a new society through revolutionary acts of the peasants
1878 - Vera Zasulich shot & wounded govt official, acquitted by jury
1881 – Alexander II assassinated by group called “People’s Will”
Alexander III took the throne, turned against reform & resorted to repression
Great Britain: The Victorian Age
Britain wasn’t troubled by revolutions of 1848 because they had not
resisted reform
Reform Act of 1832 opened the door for middle class representation
In 1860s, liberal parliament displayed ability to make social & political
reform to remain stable & prosperous
One reason for stability was economic growth
– Real wages for laborers increased 25% 1850-1870
– Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901) a symbol of the British nat’l pride, since
known as the Victorian Age
After PM Lord Palmerston died 1865, the Whigs (liberals) proposed
additional reform legislation, actually the Tories (conservatives) that
carried it through
– led by Benjamin Disraeli, Tories pushed the Reform Act of 1867 through
Parliament
– lowered monetary requirements for voting & enfranchised many urban males
– believed it would help Tories, led to huge Whig gains in elections of 1868
William Gladstone (Whig) introduced the secret ballot & tried to eliminate
abuses & enable people of talent to compete fairly
Education Act of 1870 – attempted to make elementary schools available
for all children
Marx and Marxism
B. 1818, D. 1883
probably most prominent voice of socialism,
but not the only voice
co-author of the Communist Manifesto w/
Friedrich Engels in 1848
– went largely unnoticed in 1848, but became
one of the most important political pieces in
modern European history
– history was a continuous series of classstruggles
– Govt. had become a tool of the bourgeoisie
(middle class) & oppressed working class
– the Proletariat (workers) would overthrow their
“masters” & establish a classless society
– classless society would lead to progress in
science, technology, & greater wealth for all
He failed to organize a workers movement
idea revived in 1889, the fate of socialism was
in the hands of national socialist parties
Science in the Age of Realism
Louis Pasteur formulated the germ theory of disease
1860’s Dmitri Mendeleyev developed a table classifying the elements
based on atomic weight
Michael Faraday – discovered electromagnetic induction, built a primitive
generator
Advances of science undermined the faith of many, led to increased
secularization & growth of materialism
– the belief that everything was simply the result of physical forces
– led to the belief of organic evolution
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
1859 – presented his idea of evolution based on natural selection in On
the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
– all plants & animals evolved over time from simpler life forms
– “only the strong survive”
– struggle to survive allows for adaptations to help survival chances
1871- applied his theories of natural selection to humans in The Descent
of Man
– argued that man was not the exception to the rule governing other species
– highly controversial at first, eventually accepted by scientists & intellectuals
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
not a doctor, a chemist that approached medical problems in scientific
fashion
1857 – studied the role of microorganisms in fermentation, laid the
foundations for bacteriology
1863 – developed process of heating a product to destroy bacteria that
led to spoilage – pasteurization
1885 – developed a preventive vaccination for rabies, led to vaccinations
for other health issues of the day
New Surgical Practices
post-operative infection was major problem in hospitals
Joseph Lister theorized that bacteria might enter a would causing
infection
– use of carbolic acid as a disinfectant reduced infections & related deaths in
surgery wards
Alcohol & opiates had been used to lessen pain of patients, but
procedures were still hurried
– Sulfuric ether first used in 1846, by 1847 chloroform rivaled ether as an
anesthetic
Chapter 23
The Mass Society in an
“Age of Progress”
1871-1894
Evolutionary Socialism
In the late 19th cent., a challenge to pure Marxist belief arose
– Eduard Bernstein, German socialist influenced by moderate British socialism
Bernstein proposed several anti-Marxist thoughts in Evolutionary
Socialism (1899)
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that capitalism was not collapsing as Marx said it inevitably would
middle class was not shrinking, it was growing
proletariat was not suffering more, qual. of life actually improving
disregarded Marx’s ideas of class struggle & revolution
promoted workers banding together in political parties to push for change
Nationalism also posed a problem for socialism
– Marx & Engels said “workers have no country”
– socialist parties varied for country to country & concerns were nationalistic
The Anarchist Alternative
– lack of revolutionary fervor drove some Marxists to into anarchism
– anarchy – absence of government, state of chaos, lack of social order
– Russian Michael Bakunin believed small well trained groups could
create enough terror the state & all its institutions would disintegrate
– Anarchists around the world assassinated: Russian tsar (1881), Pres.
of France (1894), Italian king (1900), & Pres. William McKinley (1901)
Population Growth
1850 to 1910 – pop of Europe grew from
270 million to 460 million
1850-80 cause was increasing birthrate
1880-1910 cause: decreased death rate
Emigration
many people moved within Europe to
industrial regions
booming economy in N.America & cheap
shipping fares led many from south &
eastern Europe to N.A.
between 1906-10, 1.3 million Europeans
left for North America
another factor for eastern European
migration was oppression in Austria &
Hungary of smaller minority groups
Jews severely persecuted across Europe
– 40% of Russian emigrants to US 1900-13
– 12% of all US immigrants 1900-05
Education & Leisure in Mass Society
being “educated” in the late 19th cent, meant attending secondary school
or possibly even a university
– both primarily for the elite: nobility, govt. officials’ families, wealthiest middle
class
– after 1850, most middle class families sought entry into elite scientific or
technical schools
In early 19th cent, most countries showed little interest in primary
education
– only Germany had a state-run system, France implemented a state-run school
system in 1833 for both boys & girls
– none of the schools required attendance
– rural areas - children expected to work in fields
– industrial areas - employers & parents both eager to continue child-labor
Mass Leisure
industrial work patterns allowed more people to have “free time”
music & dance halls popular, different halls for upper & lower classes
tourism also became popular w/ upper & middle classes
late 19th cent, team sports became popular
– Soccer & rugby in England in 1860s & 70s, baseball in the U.S. first organized
professionally in 1863, by 1900 dominated by Nat’l & American leagues
The National State
Reform in Britain
Reform Act of 1867 – right to vote further extended
Reform Act of 1884 – all men who paid regular rents or taxes (added
roughly 2 million voters)
– Women still excluded
William Gladstone tried to stem Irish discontent by enacting limited land
reform
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1879 the Irish Land League called on Parliament to at least make land reform
Charles Parnell called for “home rule”
“home rule” meant separate parliament but not complete independence
Irish peasants responded to British inaction w/ terrorist acts
British govt. responded w/ force, Gladstone tried to pass bills for home rule
but they all got voted down in Parliament
The Third Republic in France
France’s defeat by Prussia in 1870 led to the fall of Napoleon III’s empire
Bismarck forced the French to select a govt. by male suffrage
A new republic was established, in the 1880s people discontent w/ the
republic gathered behind General Georges Boulanger
Boulanger gathered power, but when people expected a coup d’etat
he fled the country a discredited man & strengthened republic support
Spain
drafted a new constitution in 1875 under King Alfonso XII
established parliamentary govt, dominated by 2 political groups
– Conservatives & Liberals
– both parties came form the same small group of wealthy landowners
allied w/ industrialists
– voting was limited to landed classes, so majority was left without voice
– parties alternated power often, but both followed same conservative
policies
Spain’s defeat in Span.-Amer. War (1898) increased discontent in
lower classes
– young radicals pushed for increased suffrage
– Liberals & Conservatives tried to increase voting rights to win support, helped
very little
– more industrialization led workers to be attracted to socialism & anarchism
Revolts break out in Barcelona in July 1909, brutally suppressed by
military (showed reform would not be easily accomplished)
Italy
united kingdom, but not united as people
Loyalties placed on family, town, or region before nation
Sectionalized – south: agricultural, poor; north: industrial, treated
southerners with contempt
Germany
Despite unification, many divisions still existed
– represented in bicameral legislature
upper house – Bundesrat
– Represented the 25 states
– States kept their king & standing army during peace time
lower house – Reichstag
– Elected based on universal male suffrage
– did not have ministerial responsibility
ministers of govt. not responsible to parliament, responsible to Emperor
– Emperor controlled armed forces, foreign policy & internal administration
– Despite parliament elected by universal male suffrage, democracy failed to
develop in Germany before WWI
Bismarck & army 2 major reasons why democracy didn’t develop
– Army saw its self as defender of the monarchy
– Bypassed the Reichstag by answering to a general staff responsible to the
emperor
– Bismarck centralized Germany to an extent during the Kulturkampf, joining w/
liberals by attacking Catholics in Protestant Germany
– Abandoned liberals in 1878, to gain Catholic support against threat of
socialism
– 1890: William II becomes emperor, has his own ideas & immediately has
conflicts w/ Bismarck. Bismarck resigns after 29 of running Prussia/Germany
Austria-Hungary
Austrian constitution of 1867 gave parliament ministerial responsibility
Francis Joseph ignored this & appointed his own ministers at will
ethnic Germans (1/3 of pop.) ruled Austria, but increasingly threatened by
smaller ethnic groups
– Would continue to be a problem leading up to WWI
Attempt to solve the ethnic problems in Hungary was to “Magyarize”
everyone
– Magyar lang. imposed on all schools & was only lang. used by govt & military
officials
Russia
after assassination of Alexander II, Alexander III convinced reform had
been a mistake
Instituted “exceptional measures”
– powers of secret police expanded
– revolutionary groups, advocates of constitutional monarchy & social reformers
persecuted
– if districts were suspected of treason, placed under martial law
pursued “Russification” – all nationalities must speak Russian
– only 40% of empire were actually Russian
– solidified opposition against the tsar
– his son, Nicholas II (1894-1917) weak & not able to resist changes
Chapter 24
Age of Modernity, Anxiety, and
Imperialism
1894-1914
Developments in the Sciences
1898 - French scientists Marie & Pierre Curie discover that radium
emitted radiation, apparently from within the atom itself
– led to belief that atoms were not simply hard material bodies
1900 - Max Planck developed the “quantum theory”
– rejected the theory that a heated body radiated energy in a steady
stream, instead releasing energy in irregular packets called “quanta”
1905 – Albert Einstein published “The Electro Dynamics of Moving
Bodies”
– contained his theory of relativity
– time & space not absolute; relative to observer
– if all material things disappear from the universe, time & space disappear
as well
Concluded that matter was nothing but another form of energy
– Led to the “Atomic Age”
– Many unable to comprehend his theories until a total eclipse of the sun in
1919
– the presence of mass and energy "curves" spacetime, and this curvature
affects the path of free particles (and even the path of light).
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
published The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900
father of psychoanalysis
behavior strongly determined by unconscious mind
reason some guiding forces in a person’s life are unconscious is
repression
painted a picture of the inner workings of the human mind as a battle
between ego, id, & superego
– Id – held all the lustful, crude impulses & appetites
– Ego – reason, coordinator of daily life
– Superego – inhibitions & morals society imposes on people
ego & superego restrain the id & keep it out of consciousness
according to Freud, sexual repressions were the most important
– developed theories of the Oedipus & Electra complexes
repression began in childhood
– Psychoanalysis works by making the conscious mind aware of the
unconscious & its repressed contents
– By coming to terms w/ these issues, the problems can be resolved
The New Imperialism
Causes
competitive nation-states after 1870; colonies would provide ports and
coaling stations for European powers’ navies
– G.B. often expanded to keep France, Germany or Russia from setting up
colonies that might threaten British interests
Source of international prestige; “We have more colonies than you!”
– failure to enter the imperialistic race was a sign of weakness
Media made the scramble to colonize made military service seem like
heroic a service for one’s country
Some saw colonization of Africa as a humanitarian crusade
– Rudyard Kipling’s “White Man’s Burden” p.704
– Some saw colonization as destructive & the humanitarian outlook of
Kipling’s poem hypocritical (see Morel’s “Black Man’s Burden” p.705)
Impact of Colonization on Africa
by 1914 Africa had been carved up by European powers
– Only Liberia & Ethiopia remained free
“Maji-Maji” Rebellion in Sudan representative of what would happen if
colonies tried to revolt
Imperialism in Asia
Great Britain
made Australia & New Zealand dominions in 1901 & 1907
1842 - obtained control of Hong Kong
1876 – Queen Victoria named Empress of India & direct rule
of India started after putting down a sepoy revolt (Indian
soldiers in employ of the British East India Company)
Russia
1637 - had reached the Pacific coast
after laying claim to Alaska in the 18th cent., sold it to the U.S.
in 1867
Began chipping away at the Ottoman Empire as early as 1830
1905 - Lost control of Korea after losing the Russo-Japanese
war
1907 – agreed w/ G.B. to make Afghanistan a buffer state
between Turkestan & India
American Imperialism
1853-1854: Japan avoided Western intrusion until U.S.
Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to give the
U.S. diplomatic and trading privileges
The Pacific islands were a source of great competition &
saw U.S. entry into the colonization race
– The Samoan Islands were the first U.S. colony
– Hawaii was next to be colonized
– Pearl Harbor became a naval base in 1887
– Hawaii annexed 1898
– After defeating Spain in the Spanish-American War,
U.S. acquired Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippine
Islands
1899 – John Hay (Sec of State) helped develop an “open
door” policy between the European powers and their
spheres of influence in Asia
Social Darwinism & Racism
In the late 19th cent. Many scientific theories wrongly applied to
achieve other ends (usually to achieve notoriety)
application of Darwin’s theories of organic evolution to the social order
became known as “Social Darwinism”
Herbert Spencer – argued that societies were organisms that evolved
through their struggle w/ environment
– The “fit” survived, the weak went into decline
Racism
nationalist groups began applying Darwinist thought to race
nations were locked in a “struggle for existence”
– International struggle meant war, in many cases radical nationalists
welcomed the thought
extreme nationalism & racism was most evident in Germany
Since early 19th cent, there was an underlying idea in Germany that
the German people were the only true descendants of the “Aryans”
– Under German leadership, the Aryan people would defend Western
civilization from Jews, Negroes, & Orientals among others
– increasingly, the Jewish people would be singled out as the racial enemy
of German volkish nationalism
Jews in the European Nation-State
As a result of the Enlightenment & F.R., Jewish people were granted
equality across Europe
– Emancipated & became full citizens of France by 1791
– After revolutions of 1848, emancipation became a fact of life across
western & central Europe
now allowed to leave the ghettoes & become assimilated into society
1880 – Jews made up 10% of population of Vienna
– 39% of medical students
– 23% of law students
– others also became successful bankers, scientists, scholars, journalists,
& performers
Anti-Semitism in Austrian Empire & Germany
Vienna may have been integrating, but Austria was also the home to a
German nationalism that blamed Jews for corrupting German culture
– this is where Hitler claims to have discovered his world view (1907-1913)
German right-wing anti-Semites won votes of lower-middle-class
groups that feared the changing economic forces of the time
Persecution of Jews in Eastern Europe
Worst treatment of the Jews came in the last 2 decades of 19th & 1st
decade of 20th cent. in Eastern Europe
– where 72% of the world’s Jewish population lived
Russian Jews admitted to secondary schools & universities on a quota
system
pogroms (organized massacres) widespread
23,000 Jews left Russia each year 1881-1899
Most went to U.S. & Canada, a small number went to Palestine
– Palestine became the focus for a Jewish nationalist movement called
Zionism
As the nationalist movement swept through Italy & Greece in the
1840s, the idea of a Jewish state became the focus of some
Theodor Herzl (1860-1904) key figure in the Zionist movement
– wrote The Jewish State 1896
– Financial support for Jewish settlements in Palestine came from wealthy
Jewish banking families
– Only problem was that Palestine was in the Ottoman Empire & authorities
opposed Jewish immigration
International Rivalry & the Coming of War
Before 1914, Europe had experienced 50 yrs of peace
– There were wars, but not involving the great powers
1873 – fearing French desire for revenge for Franco-Prussian war, led
Bismarck to forge alliances w/ Austria-Hungary & Russia
– Three Emperor’s league failed mainly due to rivalry between Russia &
Austria in the Balkans
Russian defeat of Ottoman Empire in 1876
– settled by Treaty of San Stefano 1878
– Bulgaria became an independent satellite of Russia
– caused European powers to call Congress of Berlin 1878
Congress dominated by Bismarck, effectively demolished the treaty
– size of Bulgaria greatly reduced & rest returned to Ottoman control
– Serbia, Montenegro, & Romania recognized as independent
– Bosnia & Herzegovina placed under Austrian “protection”
Angered by German actions at the Congress of Berlin, Russia
terminated the Three Emperor’s League
Bismarck then made an alliance w/ Austria-Hungary (1879) & Italy
(1882)
Triple Alliance of 1882 – Germany, Austria-Hungary, & Italy
– sought to support the existing political order
– provide a defensive alliance against France or “two or more great powers
not in the alliance”
Bismarck sought to stay on friendly terms w/ Russia, hoping to prevent
a French-Russian alliance that would threaten Germany w/ 2 front war
Bismarck was dismissed in 1890 & William II would set a new course
for German foreign policy
1907 – Great Britain, France, & Russia formed the Triple Entente to
counter the Triple Alliance
1908 – Austria annexes Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia prepares for
war w/ Russian support
– Germany stepped in forced Russia to accept the annexation
1912 & 13 – Balkan Wars
– Serbia sought to gain Albania so as to have a sea port, Austria opposed
any and all actions of the Serbians to unite the Slavs of the Balkans
– Russia saw that they could not afford to back down from Germany again
Sides were chosen & the line had been drawn, it was just a matter of
who would cross that line first
The “Age of Progress” was about to come to a bloody end
“Recommended” Reading
If you haven’t already…
Ch 23
Pp 660 – 666: Emergence of Mass Society
Ch 24
pp 687-691: Modernism
pp 697 – 701: state of European powers at this time
pp 708 – 710: Reaction to Imperialism