SS- 1st test

SS

Aim: What caused the French Revolution to break out?

1. Political-
a. Louis XVI- preceded by absolute monarch Lois XIV.
b. Estates General- divided into social class system. Estates General was an unfair government because the 3rd Estate was
always outvoted 2-1 and they didn’t have a political voice- Ancien regime.
2. Economic-
a. 3rd Estate overtaxed- had to perform community services if they couldn’t pay
taxes. Had to pay taxes on everything. Government tried to make life hard for
them. ex. hunting.
b. France is in deep debt- raised taxes
c. Bad harvest- no wheat- no bread- peasants were starving.
3. Social-
a. Resentment
b. Lack privileges, power and prestige.
4. Enlightenment- brilliant philosophers came up with reasons why people shouldn’t
Have to live under such conditions and told the masses to revolt.

“ What is the 3rd Estate? Everything. What has it been until now? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something.” - Sieves.

Aim: How did the Enlightenment influence the 3rd Estate?

The Scientific Revolution led to the Enlightenment- relationship between government and society.

The Enlightenment had 3 names:
1. Enlightenment
2. Age of Reason
3. Intellectual Revolution- change in how people think.

Now philosophers were introducing ideas:
1. John Locke (England)- in the time of the Glorious Revolution, which amazed Locke, he wrote a book “ 2 Treatises of Government”. It said government rules by the consent of the governed and if the people don’t like the government, they can overthrow it. This idea was far reaching and rocked the world.
2. Baron de Montesquieu (France)- was from a noble family, but was pro-democracy. Wrote “Spirit of the Law”. He believed power should be split in order to limit it, aka separation of powers.
3. Voltaire (France)- didn’t care to speak against the government. Was against the absolute monarchy and introduced freedom of speech. Was fond of saying “I don’t agree with a word you say…” He also believed in freedom of religion.
4. Rousseau (France)- wrote “ Social Contract” which described what Rousseau believed should be the relationship between the people and government. He believed the less laws the better. “Man is born free but everywhere is in chains.” Believed people should have general will- have a say in the government.
5. Diderot- Wrote “Encyclopedia” which had many ideas about democracy and against absolute monarchs.
6. Thomas Hobbes- believed absolute monarchs are positive and only form of government. Felt people without laws will tear everyone apart. He said life would be “nasty, brutish, and short”. He wrote “Leviathan”- felt society will swallow itself alive.

Aim: The Revolution begins

In 1789, Louis XVI calls a meeting with the Estates General. Why?
1. France needed money
2. Riots in countryside/ cities.

Louis wanted to raise taxes. Representatives from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Estate came to the meeting. The bourgeoisie came to represent the 3rd estate (they were educated) and they demanded change. The king said no so they set up their own government called the National Assembly. They wrote their own constitution, but Louis ignored it. The bourgeoisie left the meeting and met at the tennis court. This meeting was called the Tennis Court Oath. They said, “Never separate until we have established a just institution”. This meeting became very popular.

On July 14, a group of frustrated peasants stormed the Bastille. Many people joined the mob including the king’s soldiers who were guarding the Bastille. The mob freed the prisoners. This was the beginning of the revolution. Louis was shocked and didn’t know how to deal with the situation.

The bourgeoisie continued to write their new constitution for their government. They wrote the motto for the French Revolution “ Libertei, egalite, fraternite”.

Aim: The French Revolution: 2 sides

By September of 1789, the National Assembly had written the introduction to the new constitution of France known as the Declaration of Rights of Man. It outlined the goals of what they wanted the new government to be like.

At approximately the same time, a group of furious peasant woman marched to the palace in Versailles with their cooking tools. The people said they wanted to see the king and queen. The king and queen were told of this, and sent a message to the people that they’re with them. The king even put on a red white and blue cloak- the revolution colors- to show he was with them. The people wanted the king and queen to come with them. The royal family went, and the peasants shouted, “We have the baker, the baker’s wife and the baker’s boy. Now we’ll get bread”. The king and queen lived in Paris for the next several years.

At this time, the king and queen wanted to escape and so did the 1st and 2nd Estates. Upper class people left to England. They became known as émigrés.

Other leaders of other countries became scared their countries would revolt too. Nations like Austria and Prussia attacked France. Why?
1. Because they don’t want a situation like this in their country.
2. If France is weak, why not take advantage and attack?

In 1791 the members of the National Assembly completed the constitution, which had:
1. Limited monarchy- power limited. Will have to work with the legislative assembly.
2. Feudalism would be officially abolished- no longer have serfs.

2 groups were formed:
1. National Assembly- moderates- wanted small change.
2. Revolting populace- radicals- want blood and revenge.


Aim: The Radicals seize control of the Revolution

The Radicals had 3 names:
1. Radicals
2. Jacobins- Why? During the years while the revolution was breaking out, they were planning to revolt. This had to be kept quite so they wouldn’t be caught, and as another measure of protection, they all called each other Jack so is would be hard to single one person out.
3. Sans Culottes- the aristocrats wore culottes. Wanted to show they were proud not to be like the aristocrats.

In 1793, the Jacobins took over the revolution and the Moderates had to run away. They took over the Legislative Assembly and established a new form of government for France called the National Convention. The National Convention:
1. Abolished the monarchy
2. Made a republic- leader elected by the people, suffrage for everyone even non-property owners.
3. Abolished all titles of nobility- everyone became citizen or citizeness.

The people killed the king and the queen with the guillotine, which was invented by Robespierre. Robespierre said, “Criminals must lose their heads”.

At this time, the Radicals had many challenges:
1. Peasants were still starving- food shortage.
2. Had enemies- Moderates, 1st and 2nd Estates, Royalists
3. Riots/ chaos
4. European nations were warring with France.

The Committee of Public Safety was established. They killed all people who were against the Radicals. They killed over 40,000 people with the guillotine from 1793-1794. During this time, France was under the Reign of Terror. This was the worst year of the revolution. Aristocrats who were to be killed were put in the prison of Le Force. The aristocrats did there what they knew what to do best. They partied, debated and played cards.

The Committee of Public Safety had to raise an army. They composed “Le Marseilles”, which they sang on the way to battle.

The Radicals had a strong feeling of nationalism- fighting for their country.

Aim: The Revolution goes Radical- Moderate- Napoleon

The Radicals began to fight amongst themselves. Robespierre would kill people he felt where a threat to his becoming the leader of France. Some Radicals were scared for their lives, so they had Robespierre arrested and he was killed by the guillotine. Robespierre’s death resulted in the weakening of the National Convention.

Moderates returned and set up The Directory as a government. The Directory had 5 leaders and a legislature. The Directory wasn’t a good government; it didn’t last too long because there were many problems:
1. France was still fighting wars with Austria and Britain.
2. Many leaders of The Directory were corrupt- they pocketed tax money.
3. High bread prices- shortages.
4. Royalists are strengthened.
It looked like revolution was going to break out again. The Directory wanted to save themselves from downfall, so they brought in the war hero Napoleon as a new leader. Napoleon overthrew The Directory in coup detat, and announced the government no longer exists. The year was 1799, and Napoleon appointed himself to be the 1st consul. The people accepted him because he gave France order and stability. In the French Revolution, Napoleon fought for the Jacobins because “It is better to eat than be eaten”. Napoleon wasn’t happy enough as 1st consul and after 2 years he became emperor. Napoleon organized a lavish ceremony when he was crowned emperor. Napoleon invited the pope to crown him as was the custom, but Napoleon crowned himself. This showed he was higher than the church.

Napoleon’s reforms:
1. Called himself “son of the revolution”.
2. Kept the motto “liberty, equality, fraternity”.
3. Set up public schools- very democratic.
4. Set up merit system- give people jobs if they deserve them
5. Worked to gain the favor of:
a. Émigrés- welcomes them back to France
b. Peasants- lets them keep their land
c. Workers- made them jobs
d. Economy- controlled prices to keep the bourgeoisie happy.
6. Napoleonic Code- system of laws Napoleon made by himself
a. All men are =.
b. Religious tolerance.
c. Brought in ideas from the Enlightenment

How different is France from 10 years ago? France still has the equivalent of an absolute monarch, but the bourgeoisie have more of a say in government, and many reforms were made. The most major impact of the French Revolution was that the 3rd Estate gained political power.

Napoleon and the Jews of France:

Napoleon considered himself to be enlightened. He brought some of the ideas from the Enlightenment into his government, such as religious tolerance. Napoleon therefore allowed Jews to become citizens. During the Ancien Regime, the Jews were not part of the 1st or 2nd class, but were not part of the 3rd class either. As a result, many French Jews left France and went to Poland. During the time of Napoleon, Jews got politically emancipated- freed politically. They got:
1. The right to vote.
2. Weren’t 2nd class anymore.
3. Could build shuls.
4. Could speak Hebrew.

The political emancipation led to spiritual destruction. As long as the French Jews were in the ghetto, they kept to themselves. Now that Jews could hold places in the government and go to university, the French Jews began to assimilate, which meant the end of continuity for the French Jews.

Napoleon worked to assimilate the Jews. He let them into society because he felt they had economic contributions, therefore he wanted to make life easier for them. Napoleon established the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was a group of “rabbis”. Napoleon made this Sanhedrin because he felt that the Jews would accept the opinion of these “rabbis”, and he would be able to lure them into doing the wrong thing. Napoleon told a group of 70 “rabbis” to tell the French Jews that assimilation was OK. This was a tragedy because while many people didn’t listen to the “rabbis”, many people listened to them.

Eventually, Napoleon stopped pushing the Sanhedrin and went on to build his empire.

Aim: Napoleon builds an Empire

Napoleon’s true goal was to conquer territory. Napoleon was known to have said, “A man such as I cares little for the lives of a million men”.

Napoleon began by capturing the areas right around France. Then he moved on to Britain. Britain is hard to conquer because it’s surrounded by water. France came up with the Continental System- European nations are ordered to boycott Britain, and when they would become weak, France would take them over.

Russia defied the Continental System. Why?
1. Didn’t want to be bossed around.
2. They knew they were next.
In 1812, Napoleon planned a massive invasion of Russia. He prepared ½ million soldiers and 50,000 horses for the 50,000 generals. The French army started marching in June. When they got to Russia they saw what was known as the scorched earth policy- Russia burnt all its land so it would be hard to invade. They ruined all the crops and killed all the animals. The French soldiers were hungry, and by the time they got to Moscow in September, the army was too weak to fight. That year the snow began to fall in October, and the French army had to march back to France. On the way back, people were dying left and right.

If the army was in such a weakened state, people may have attacked France, and people would start looking at Napoleon really badly.


“General Famine rather than Russian bullets have defeated the French army”
A general

Aim: Napoleon’s defeat and France post Napoleon

Napoleon messed himself up by invading Russia. When he returned to France with his glorious army in shambles, Napoleon is seen as a loser. The people in France had revered Napoleon because he had patched France together when it was in need of help.

Now the European countries Napoleon controlled would break apart. Austria, Russia, Prussia and Britain combined their armies to defeat Napoleon. The Europeans nations won France; Napoleon was exiled to Elba- a small island in the Mediterranean.

What happened to France? Louis XVIII, who was the brother of Louis XVI, claimed the throne. Why was this weird? France just had a whole revolution to get rid of the monarch. Louis XVIII promised he wouldn’t be an absolute monarch and that he would follow the Napoleonic Code.

Many of the French wanted Napoleon back, so Louis XVIII was asked to step down from the throne, and secretly some Frenchmen went to Elba and brought Napoleon back as emperor. Napoleon only ruled France for 100 days. Why? Other countries didn’t want Napoleon as emperor, so they got together and fought the Battle of Waterloo and they won. Napoleon was again exiled to an island, though St. Helena was further out in the Atlantic Ocean. Napoleon stayed there for a few years until he died of a fever.

Aim: How did Napoleon’s conquest and defeat affect Europe?

The spread of nationalism affected European countries. What’s nationalism? Love and pride of one’s country and also unity and independence. Why did nationalism spread?
1. Nationalism is the reaction to conquest.
2. French’s nationalism was contagious.

The European nations wanted to be independent of French power, so the European nations broke away from France’s control.

Europe needed to be re-divided- the map needed to be re-drawn. Why? Because a balance of powers was needed so no country would do what France did. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna was called. Russia sent Alexander I, Britain sent Lord Castleriegh and Austria, who was hosting the congress, sent Metternich. Most of the European leaders that attended the congress weren’t involved in day-to-day border issues. Austria was turned into a party city of circuses, balls, princes and princesses, while Alexander I, Lord Castleriegh and Metternich mainly dealt with the issues at hand.

Aim: Actions of the Congress of Vienna

1. Redrew the map of Europe, while keeping a balance of powers.
a. Italy and Germany were divided so they would be less powerful.
b. Netherlands united with Belgium and Luxemburg- more powerful.
c. Austria, Russia, and Britain got more land.
2. Appointed leaders of newly divided nations- the Congress of Vienna were concerned that the new nations should be a certain type. They wanted powerful rulers. Why? To prevent revolution from breaking out again.

Most of the European nations were conservative besides for Britain (liberalism) For example, Alex I of Russia, Fredric of Prussia, and Francis of Austria all had 1 thing in common- absolute monarchy, didn’t want change.

Why were they afraid of liberalism? Liberalism meant people would have a say in the government, and would get rid of the absolute monarchy. (Britain and France were the only countries with out an absolute monarchy at that time. Britain had a limited monarchy- had parliament; France had Louis XVIII- limited monarchy.)

There were 2 groups in Europe at this time: Conservatives- want to turn back the clock, and pretend that the French Revolution never happened. European leaders were trying to find a way to get rid of the FR.

Powerful leaders were appointed to prevent revolution. Francis, Fredric, and Alex I formed the Holy Alliance, which made sure that absolute monarchs would still exist in as many empires as possible.

Many European leaders joined the Concert of Europe, which kept peace- really didn’t want revolution. How successful was the Concert of Europe? Very. The next major war was not until WWI about 100 years later.

Aim: Congress of Vienna- positive/ negative impact

Positive:
1. Redrew the map of Europe
2. Balance of power, though it wasn’t perfect. It was tolerable as there were no wars for about 100 years.
3. Restored stability in many European countries by establishing a monarch.

Negative:
1. Ignored nationalism- Italy and Germany will fight to unite.
2. Ignored force of liberalism- can’t turn clock back; the ideas are already out there- can’t get rid of them. In the 1830s- 1840s there were revolutions in European countries of liberals trying to gain rights.

Aim: American and French Revolutions inspire Latin American nations to revolt

At this time, the world was becoming more connected, and events that happened in one part of the world affected other parts of the world.

In the early 1800s, the Latin American nations would revolt against their European rulers for independence. What inspired this? The American and French Revolutions.

What force inspires people to fight for independence? Nationalism- wanting their country to be free and independent.

Ever since the 1500s, these Latin American countries had been controlled by Spain. Spain got its wealth through mercantilism. Spain was an imperial power- mother country- owned a colony. Spain took raw materials from the colony, and sold finished products back to the colonists. Why couldn’t the Latin Americans just make the finished products themselves? They weren’t allowed to. Spain was getting constant wealth, while the Southern Americans lived in a seriously underprivileged state.
In Latin America, there was a social class system:
1. Peninsulars- were from the Iberian Peninsula. They were privileged because they were from Spain. In order for the Spanish government to get people to go to the new colony, they had to bribe the Spaniards with plantations.
2. Creoles- peninsular’s children. They were the most privileged after the peninsulars, and when the peninsulars died, they became the most privileged people. They also owned plantations, and led a luxurious life of hunting and partying.
3. Meztizos- they were ½ European and ½ Indian. They weren’t as low as someone who was only Indian, but they didn’t usually own land.
4. Mulatties- ½ European and ½ African
5. Africans and Native Americans- were very low. Had no freedom. They worked as slaves. Africans were brought over to be slaves because Europeans couldn’t do work, and the Indians needed to run wild.


These 5 classes all had one thing in common- they didn’t want to be under Spanish rule anymore. The creoles basically led the revolution because the lower classes couldn’t do it. The Creoles learnt the ideas of the Enlightenment and were inspired by these ideas. However, they needed to wait for the moment because Spain was very powerful. When Napoleon took over Spain, Spain was weak. It was the perfect chance for a revolution.

Aim: South America wins independence

A colony needs 2 things to revolt:
1. Nationalistic freedom
2. Nationalistic leader- need someone to pull everything together.

The first country to revolt was a French colony- Hispaniola (present day Haiti). Hispaniola revolted in 1791. At this time Hispaniola was run by a few whites, but was mostly black. Their leader was Toussaint L’overture. He was black but wasn’t a slave- he could read and had freedom. L’overture read the ideas of Enlightenment, and was inspired. He decided that he would not only rid Hispaniola of its mother country, he would also get freedom for the slaves. Even though France was in middle of a revolution, they still sent troops over to Hispaniola, who were joined by Spanish and English troops. Why did these countries join? To show their colonies what would happen if they would revolt. It took a few years, but Hispaniola became free. L’overture was caught and was sent to France, where he died of coldness. Now that Hispaniola was free, it was an encouragement to other countries.

In 1812, Mexico sought revolution from Spain. Mexico was ruled by Father Miguel Hidalgo. Hidalgo was the priest of a church, which was mainly attended by poor people. One day, as people were coming into church, Father Hidalgo rang the church bells and shouted “Grito de Delores”- we’ll be free. Hidalgo formed an army of peasants and promised them rights and land when they would succeed. Some creoles went and killed Father Hidalgo. The next leader who took over was also killed. Mexico went through many leaders, and in 1824, Mexico was freed. However the peasants got no rights. Mexico was ruled by a military caudillos- dictator. The creoles said the military caudillo could keep his position if he enforced slavery.

Simone Bolivar became known as “the great dictator”. He freed Latin American nations from Spain. Bolivar said, “I swear… never to rest… until I have broken the chains that bind us to Spain”. Bolivar then went south and met Jose de San Martin and together they got independence for Argentina and Chile. By the 1820s Simone Bolivar and Jose de San Martin got most of these regions independence. They wanted to unite the regions and make Gran Columbia (Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia, etc.). These countries were separated by mountains and the people were so different. Fighting broke out, and Gran Columbia fell apart. Bolivar was very disappointed. He said, “We have gained independence at the cost of everything else”. Bolivar saw his countries be taken over by military dictators.

Don Pedro was the prince of Brazil. He was told by his father, the king of Portugal, that if people ask for independence, ask for it yourself- you can’t fight them, join them. That’s exactly what he did. Brazil became separate from Portugal.

In the colonies, conservatism took over.

Aim: After the Congress of Vienna- Challenging Conservatism

Wanted that the rule should remain in the hands of the strong people to keep out liberal ideas. However, once the forces of liberalism, nationalism and democracy were out, they had spread all over Europe, and people wanted change. For the most part young university students and peasants were the ones who rioted.

In the 1830s- 1840s, revolutions popped up all over Europe:
1. France- Louis XVIII realized that he couldn’t rule as an absolute monarch. He therefore ruled as a constitutional monarch. He had a legislature and allowed freedom of the press. The people complained- the royalists wanted a real king, and the liberals said there aren’t enough rights. They wanted the right to vote, were concerned about the bread shortages, felt not enough people were represented, and so on. Louis XVIII then died, and his brother Charles X took over.
Charles X was an absolute monarch, and got rid of the legislature, constitution and freedom of the press. Now France has another revolution. There were riots in the streets. As a result of the rioting, Charles X abdicated, and ran away to England.
The legislature appointed a new king Louis Philippe, who was called citizen king. Louis Philippe wore regular clothing (no crown) and mingled with the people. There was one problem- serious economic trouble. At this time, there were riots with people blaming the king. Louis Philippe abdicated.
Once again, there was no government in France. The wealthy and bourgeoisie took over the government. The lowest class in France was represented and rioted and said “Bread or lead”.
Louis Napoleon took over. He let every French male vote regardless of his social status. Once Louis Napoleon had the people’s support, he made himself emperor. French philosopher Tocqueville said, “We are sleeping on a volcano”- we’re in an era of revolution because the forces are out there. Metternich said, “When France sneezes, Europe catches cold”.
2. Poland- tries to gain independence, but fails.
3. Austria- had lots of rioting. In the 1840s the people want reform. The rioting became so extreme that Metternich had to leave Austria for fear of his life. The emperor said Metternich’s gone- need to give the people a constitution or something. The emperor promises reform. The Austrian army got help from the Russian army, and the revolt was crushed easily.
4. Belgium- wanted independence and a liberal government. They were actually successful, and got a liberal government with a constitution.

Germany and Italy wanted a liberal government and nationalism. The Germans have always taken nationalism to the extreme- they feel their country is superior and that other countries shouldn’t survive.

Aim: German Unification

Even though Germany was divided into about 30 states, the German states felt connected by their language, music… At this time, Germany was the most in country. Japan formed its modernization around Germany, and rich Americans attended university in Germany. Germany was very civilized.

The Congress of Vienna had divided Germany, which was a major barrier to unification. Why was this done? The leaders of the Congress of Vienna felt that a unified Germany would be too strong.

The largest of the German states was Prussia. Prussia wanted to be the state to unite the other German states. Reasons why Germany couldn’t unite:
1. Many German states were owned by foreign nations such as Austria, Denmark…
2. Germany’s neighbors didn’t want a united Germany- would be too strong.
3. The princes of the German states didn’t want to relinquish their power.
In 1862, the king of Prussia, William I, appointed a new Prime Minister Otto Von Bismarck. He was a noble, and an opinionated, loud politician. He said, “By blood and iron (wars) we’re going to unite the German states”. He was very conservative- he didn’t want to give any freedoms. He was a real politic- a politician who will do anything to achieve a goal. Von Bismarck fought many wars:
1. Against Denmark which controlled Schleswig and Holstein. In order to win Schleswig and Holstein, Bismarck teamed up with Austria, the deal being that they’ll split the territory. Austria and Prussia won the war.
2. Immediately after the first war, Germany fought Austria to get these territories. They got them and also got other German territory that was owned by Austria.
3. Prussia went to war against France because France was a big obstacle- France was ½ Catholic and ½ Protestant. France didn’t want the German Catholic states to become Protestant when taken over by Prussia because then the majority of Europe would be Protestant. This was known as the Franco-Prussian war. Here, nationalism won over religion. Prussia got $50 billion and Alsace Lorain.
By 1871, Germany was united. William I became Kaiser, and Von Bismarck got a nice raise-became chancellor. Called it the 2nd Reich. Germany wasn’t a democracy. It had strong leadership, and realized that with a conservative government, they can be much stronger. Germany began to build up their army. Once the army would be built up, there would no longer be a balance of power.

Aim: Unification of Italy

Italians had strong feelings of nationalism, even though they were separated for about 1400 years.

Barriers to unification:
1. Italy is naturally divided
2. Many Italian states were owned by Austria and France

There was strong motivation which was more ideal than real. The Italians felt a unity way back from the Roman Empire days. There was also a common culture between all the N and S Italians such as food, music, religion and language, even though the N and S were so different. The N was rich while the S was poor. The Italians thought unity would be better for business.

There are 2 components to achieve unification:
1. Nationalism
2. Nationalistic leadership-
a. Mazzini- In the 1830s, he introduced a group called Young Italy, which tried to achieve unification. Young Italy fought France, and was defeated. Mazzini said, “Ideas grow quickly when watered by the blood of martyrs”. Young Italy tried to spread the force of nationalism. People had the urge for unity. How would they get unity? Sardinia was the most powerful state in Italy, ruled by King Victor Emanuel II. Victor Emanuel had a prime minister named Cavour.
b. Cavour- was a real politic. He decided to fight with Austria and get the N stated. He got help form Britain and France. Cavour did get the N Italian states and other N Italian states joined that were owned by other countries. Now N and central Italy was united. Cavour got 70% of the job done.
c. Garibaldi- organized an army called “Red Shirts”. They got Sicily and Naples. Other S Italian stated joined and now the whole Italy was united. Garibaldi gave over the S states to Victor Emanuel II. In 1861, all of Italy was united with the exception of Rome and Venice. By 1870, Italy got these two states, too.

Italy after unification- people wanted unity, but couldn’t actually feel unity. Victor Emanuel’s government was largely corrupt- few people had the right to vote, and the government took much of the money that was for the people. The church lost its papal states, so Italy gave them the Vatican. In the late1800s and early 1900s, many Italians came to the US, especially from S Italy. Victor Emanuel decided to take over Ethiopia to get people to want to stay. The Italians lost, making a bad situation worse.

Aim: Nationalism/ Liberalism threatens old empires in Europe

There were 2 large empires in Europe. An empire is a nation that controls other nations. Both controlled nations in Europe. They were:
1. Austrian- Hungarian Empire- controlled part of Poland, Ukraine, and Serbia. These nations wanted to break away from the AH Empire, but didn’t gain independence until WWI.
2. Ottoman Empire- controlled Bulgaria, Romania, and Palestine. They wanted to break away and gain independence. The Ottomans were an old empire and were losing their strength. Romania and Bulgaria broke away. The Ottoman Empire was aka the sick man of Europe. Bosnia was also under Ottoman rule and broke away.

The AH Empire said if the Ottoman Empire is weak, the can take over some of its territories and took Bosnia. AH and Bosnia were very different. The Bosnians were furious. They became nationalistic and wanted their independence. The Balkan region where Bosnia was became known as the Balkan powder keg.

Where did ideas of independence come from? The French Revolution

Russia was an exception. Why? The Russian Empire was enormous, and was kept separate then the rest of the world by their strong leaders. In the 1200s-1500s, the Mongols ruled Russia. This kept Russia cut off from everyone else. They were in a dark age. In the 1500s came the czars- mostly from the Romonav family. (Peter the Great, Katherine) Russia ruled over 40 types of people. Russia wasn’t up to par with the rest of the world economically. Socially, they still had feudalism. The Russians did get some ideas from W Europe, but they didn’t want the ideas of nationalism to come in. It was the czars and nobles against the peasants and serfs.

Aim: Czars of Russia

The czars were autocrats- absolute rulers. There were 2 types of czars:
1. Reformers- were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. They thought about or introduced reforms to Russia.
2. Reactionists- crushed reforms if people got out of hand.

Czars:
1. Alexander I- ruled in 1801. He was both a Reformer and Reactionist. He first considered himself pro reform because he talked about freeing serfs. Then the French Revolution occurred, and he said no freeing serfs. He cracked down on them more, and spoke out against democracy, representation, constitution…
2. Nicholas I- ruled in the 1830s. He was the most anti-reform of all the czars. He was the cruelest czar of all of Russia. He introduced censorship and the secret police. Punishment was either being sent to Siberia or an insane asylum. The Jewish connection- Nicholas I was a raved anti- Semite. He introduced the Cantonist System- took Jewish boys as soldiers for the Russian army and converted them.
3. Alexander II- He was the most serious of all the Reformers. He was a czar in the time of the Crimean War, which Russia lost, proving they weren’t so strong. This showed Alexander II that he needed to catch up. He built the trans-Siberian railroad and freed serfs. He saw the people wanted more such as democracy and representation, so he gave them some self government- Zemstvos, which wasn’t real representation. The people wanted real representation. Then Alexander was assassinated.
4. Alexander III- was a Reactionist. He followed the path of his grandfather Nicholas I. He had censorship, secret police and he introduced russification- everyone has to speak Russian and everyone must join the Greek Orthodox Church. This was done to unite everyone, crushing individuality.

Aim: Nicholas II- Changes in Russia

Nicholas II took over in the 1890s. Nicholas II encouraged the persecution of Jews so as to distract the Russian population because ideas of liberalism were leaking into Russia. At this time, the czar wasn’t so popular because the people realized that they were missing out on freedom. The serfs were discontent because they didn’t have anywhere to go or anything else to do when they were freed. Nicholas II said that the people have his permission to kill Jews. In some areas, the Jews and Gentiles were on good terms or the Jews bribed people to protect them. In other areas however there were pogroms. The barbarity of the pogroms was unbearable. Before the Kishnev Pogrom, there were 70 shuls in Kishnev, while after the pogrom, there were none. Many Jews began to emigrate.

The discontent of the Russian people began to increase because Russia got involved in a war in 1905- the Russo-Japanese War. Russia and Japan were fighting over Manchuria and Japan won. Many people said that this was a sign that the czar isn’t good.

Now, liberals began to speak out very openly against the czar. In 1905 there was a huge demonstration of liberal in St. Petersburg (where the czar lived). It was a respectable demonstration- the people asked respectably for change. The czar told his soldiers to open fire on the crowd. This day is known in Russia as Bloody Sunday. This occurrence was bad for the czar because people who felt loyalty to czars felt animosity towards him.
Nicholas II set up Duma, a representative government. It was unfair.

Russia was beginning the Industrial Revolution. At this time everyone was miserable besides for the czar.

Aim: Differences between Russia and Britain

Russia Britain
1. more conservative 1. liberal
2. no representation 2. legislature with House of
Commons and House of Lords
3. czar wanted the people to be dumb so they can’t go against him- 90%+ were illiterate 3. had public schools
4. had torture 4. death penalty only for serious
crimes

Aim: 2 Nationalistic Movements

1. Irish Nationalism- Ireland was missing independence because in 1100 the English took over Ireland. The situation was like this for hundreds of years. The Irish were resentful, but didn’t take act until the 1800s because the saw other revolutions and the struggle for independence. In 1845, there was a potato famine. The potato crop got a disease and the potatoes failed to grow. Now the Irish didn’t have food or money. To make the situation worse, the English landowners came to collect rent and when the people said they couldn’t pay the English said, “no rent, no roof” and removed all the roofs of those that didn’t pay. The nationalistic movement intensified into acts of violence. In the 1920s, N Ireland got independence.
2. Zionism- Jews wanted love of their country, but the question is what’s their country? Those that joined the Zionistic movement were intellectual Jews who joined conservative and reform movements. These Jews saw anti-Semitism was still strong. They thought it wouldn’t affect them because they didn’t look like religious Jews, but they were wrong, so they went to find a country for themselves. Herzel was the leader of this movement and suggested the Jews take Uganda as their country, but the other leaders opposed this idea. They said Jews have their own country even if Jews haven’t lived there since the Dispersal. They didn’t want religious Jews living there. The Zionists wanted to prove that they could build up a country and be productive. At this time the Ottomans were living in Palestine. It would be hard for the Zionists to say that they were worthy of living there.

Aim: The Dreyfus Affair

The Jewish needed a Jewish country for safety because anti-Semitism was so great. In W Europe there was anti-Semitism, which was interesting because W Europe was where the Enlightenment started. In E Europe the anti-Semitism was bloody; there was lots of butchering. W Europe dealt with anti-Semitism with white gloves. The Dreyfus Affair showed that anti-Semitism was still strong.

Alfred Dreyfus was a French secular Jew. He became an officer in the French army. No other Jew had held such a high position before (it looked as if France was finally accepting the Jews), which led to anti-Semitism. Dreyfus became a target. In the 1890s someone said that Dreyfus is a German spy, and told the Germans the secrets of the French army. Dreyfus was convicted of treason without a shred of evidence being shown. Dreyfus was exiled to Devil’s Island- very hot and hard to survive.

People were torn. Is Dreyfus innocent or guilty? The conservatives said that he’s guilty, while the liberals said that he’s innocent. Emil Zola wrote an article called J’ Accuse. He said that Dreyfus is innocent and that he knows who’s guilty- a rich noble. He said anyone that has proof that Dreyfus is guilty should bring it forward. No one did. 10 years later, Dreyfus was re-tried and proven innocent. The Dreyfus Affair was disturbing for secular Jews because they wanted to blend into society, and now they saw that they couldn’t. This led many secular Jews to become interested in Zionism.