A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

660 Ch. 17 • The Era of National Unification

The Rise of Italian Nationalism

In a country wrought by political division, aggressive nationalism appeared

as one means of bringing Italians together. Crispi had favored a policy of

forceful colonialization, fearful that Italy would be left out while the other

powers snatched up territory (see Chapter 21). He prepared an invasion of

the East African state of Abyssinia (now Ethiopia) from the Italian colony of

Eritrea in 1896, circumventing parliamentary opposition and refusing to

heed the warning of generals that such a move might fail. When the Abyssin­

ian tribesmen Crispi had referred to as “barbarians” crushed the Italian army

at Adowa, he resigned. Italian nationalists then began to claim the territory

of Trentino in the Austrian Tyrol and the Adriatic port of Trieste as “Unre­

deemed Italy” (Italia Irredenta). In 1911, while Giolitti was premier, Italy

launched a war of conquest in Libya, establishing a colony there (see Chap­

ter 22). Giolitti’s social reforms had frightened employers and many other

conservatives, and the ranks of the anti-parliamentary right swelled. Nation­

alist candidates demanded further aggressive moves in the Mediterranean.

Although the war in Libya went reasonably well for Italian troops, the right

objected to the fact that it seemed mismanaged, and the left did not want

the invasion at all. Both left and right moved farther away from Giolitti’s

Liberal center. The Libyan war thus directly undid Giolitti’s political system.

With the Socialists divided by the Libyan war and unwilling to be “trans­

formed” into temporary political partners, Giolitti now had to turn to

Catholic leaders. Giolitti convinced Catholics to support his Liberal candi­

dates if the Liberals agreed to end the campaign against Church schools

and for legalized divorce. Angered by Giolitti’s promises to the Church, the

left tripled its vote, forcing him from office in March 1914. A nationalist

proclaimed that the role of his new party was to teach Italians to respect

“international struggle,” even if the result was war. The Italian liberal state

had survived many challenges, but even greater ones lay ahead.

The Unification of Germany

The unification of Germany would not come through liberal auspices. In

the German states, too, growing nationalist sentiment existed within the

middle class. Yet, as in the case of Italy, there were also formidable obsta­

cles to German unification. First, in the wake of the Revolution of 1848, the

upper classes were wary of any change that might threaten the status quo.

They particularly feared the strong nationalist feeling unleashed by revolu­

tion, the extension of which might lead to, they reasoned, the proclamation

of the equality of all citizens. Second, it was still not clear around which

power, Austria or Prussia, Germany could achieve national unification. Some

believed in the “small German” solution in which Prussia might effect Ger­

man unification and exclude Austria. Other German nationalists supported