Flashcards · 0470 · Topic 1

Core content: Option A – The nineteenth century: the development of modern nation states, 1848–1914 flashcards

33 cards on Topic 1, subtopics 1.1 to 1.6. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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1.1 Were the Revolutions of 1848 Important?

What caused the revolutions of 1848?: Nationalism, liberal demands for constitutions, economic hardship after poor harvests, and the example of the February revolution in France.
Why did the 1848 revolutions fail almost everywhere?: Revolutionaries were split between liberals and radicals, the middle classes withdrew once property seemed threatened, most peasants were uninvolved, and the conservative rulers kept control of their armies.
How did Austria and Russia restore conservative rule after 1848?: By force: Russian troops helped Austria crush the Hungarian revolt in 1849, and Austrian armies defeated Piedmont and helped suppress the Italian risings.
What happened in France as a result of 1848?: King Louis-Philippe was overthrown and the Second Republic declared. Louis Napoleon was elected president in December 1848 and made himself Emperor Napoleon III in 1852.
Were the 1848 revolutions important even though they failed?: Yes, in some ways: serfdom was abolished in the Austrian Empire, Piedmont kept its constitution, and nationalists learned that unification would come through force and great-power diplomacy rather than debate.

1.2 How Was Italy Unified?

What were the obstacles to Italian unification?: Austrian control of the north, the Papal States dividing the peninsula, strong regional loyalties and poor communications.
What was Cavour’s role in Italian unification?: As prime minister of Piedmont he modernised it and used diplomacy, winning a French alliance at Plombières (1858) that led to war with Austria in 1859 and the gain of Lombardy.
What was the Expedition of the Thousand (1860)?: Garibaldi’s volunteer army that conquered Sicily and Naples. He handed his conquests to Victor Emmanuel II rather than setting up a separate state.
What was Mazzini’s contribution to unification?: Nationalist inspiration: he founded Young Italy and spread the idea of a united, republican Italy, though his own risings failed.
How were Venetia and Rome added to Italy?: The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861. Venetia was gained in 1866 after Austria’s defeat by Prussia, and Rome in 1870 when French troops left during the Franco-Prussian War.

1.3 How Was Germany Unified?

What was Bismarck’s method for unifying Germany?: "Blood and iron": isolate each opponent diplomatically, fight a limited war for a defined objective, and stop once it is achieved rather than pursuing total victory.
What did the Danish War (1864) achieve for Prussia?: Prussia and Austria took joint control of Schleswig and Holstein, an arrangement Bismarck used to manufacture friction with Austria.
What were the results of the Austro-Prussian War (1866)?: Austria was excluded from German affairs and the North German Confederation was formed under Prussian leadership.
How did the Franco-Prussian War complete German unification?: The Ems Telegram provoked France into declaring war in 1870, the southern states joined Prussia against an aggressor, and the German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles in January 1871.
Apart from Bismarck, what helped Prussia lead German unification?: The Zollverein (1834), the Prussian-led customs union that excluded Austria, Prussia’s industrial and military strength, and growing German nationalism.

1.4 Why Was There a Civil War in the United States and What Were Its Results?

What were the main causes of the American Civil War?: Disagreement over the expansion of slavery into the western territories, economic differences between North and South, and the dispute over states’ rights against federal power.
Why did the election of Lincoln in 1860 lead to secession?: Lincoln’s Republican Party opposed the spread of slavery, so Southern states feared for its future. South Carolina seceded in December 1860 and others followed to form the Confederacy.
How did the Civil War begin?: Confederate forces fired on Fort Sumter, a Union fort in South Carolina, in April 1861.
Why did the North win the Civil War?: Greater population, industry and railways, control of the navy for a blockade, and leadership such as Lincoln’s and Grant’s. Gettysburg and Vicksburg (both July 1863) were turning points. Lee surrendered at Appomattox in April 1865.
What were the results of the Civil War for formerly enslaved people?: The 13th Amendment (1865) abolished slavery and the 14th and 15th gave citizenship and voting rights, but Black Codes, the Ku Klux Klan and the end of Reconstruction in 1877 limited real freedom in the South.

1.5 Why, and With What Effects, Did Nations Gain and Expand Their Overseas Empires in the Nineteenth Century?

Why did European nations expand their empires in the nineteenth century?: Economic motives (raw materials, markets, investment), strategic and political motives (prestige, rivalry, naval bases), and ideas of a "civilising mission" and racial superiority. Better weapons and medicine made it possible.
What was the Scramble for Africa?: The rapid division of Africa by European powers from the 1880s. The Berlin Conference (1884-85) set rules for claims; by 1914 only Ethiopia and Liberia were independent.
What changed in British India after the rebellion of 1857?: Rule passed from the East India Company to the British Crown in 1858.
How were China and Japan affected by Western expansion?: China was forced to open up after the Opium Wars, losing Hong Kong to Britain in 1842. Japan was opened by the USA in 1853-54, then modernised rapidly after the Meiji Restoration (1868) and became an imperial power itself.
What were the effects of empire on colonised peoples?: Loss of land and independence, forced labour and violence (as in Leopold II’s Congo), economies reshaped to export raw materials, and resistance, alongside some new railways, schools and medicine.
How did imperial rivalry raise tension between the powers?: Through crises such as Fashoda (1898) between Britain and France and the Moroccan crises of 1905 and 1911 between France and Germany.

1.6 What Caused the First World War?

Triple Alliance vs Triple Entente: who were the members?: Triple Alliance (1882): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy. Triple Entente (1907): Britain, France, Russia.
Why did Britain abandon "splendid isolation"?: German naval expansion under Tirpitz threatened British naval supremacy, so Britain settled colonial disputes with France (Entente Cordiale, 1904) and Russia (Anglo-Russian agreement, 1907).
What does MANIA stand for in the causes of the First World War?: Militarism, Alliances, Nationalism, Imperialism, Assassination.
Why did the Balkans become the flashpoint of 1914?: Austria-Hungary’s annexation of Bosnia (1908) angered Serbia and Russia, and the Balkan Wars (1912-13) left Serbia enlarged and confident and Austria-Hungary alarmed at Slav nationalism.
What were the steps of the July Crisis of 1914?: Franz Ferdinand assassinated at Sarajevo (28 June) → Austrian ultimatum to Serbia, backed by Germany’s "blank cheque" → Austria declares war → Russia mobilises → Germany mobilises and invades Belgium → Britain enters under the 1839 Treaty of London.
Why did the Schlieffen Plan make the crisis escalate so fast?: It required Germany to defeat France quickly through Belgium before Russia was ready, so Russian mobilisation forced immediate German action and left almost no time for diplomacy.
Was the assassination the main cause of the First World War?: Best answer: it was the spark, not the cause. It triggered the July Crisis, but the long-term tensions had already made a general war possible. Weigh the factors and reach an explicit judgement.