Getting Started
The second half of the 19th century marked a dramatic shift in European politics and global power dynamics. The cooperative framework established after the Napoleonic Wars began to crumble under the pressure of new, powerful ideologies. This period witnessed the forceful creation of new nations and the rapid expansion of European empires, fundamentally reshaping the map of Europe and the world.
What You Should Be able to Do
Explain the causes for the breakdown of the 19th-century international order.
Explain how nationalist movements led to the unifications of Italy and Germany.
Explain the various motives and methods that drove the intensification of European imperialism.
Analyze the connections between industrial technology, new political developments, and global stability.
Describe how 19th-century European culture reflected a tension between objectivity and subjectivity.
Key Developments & Analysis
This section explores the causes and effects of the major political and cultural shifts of the late 19th century, focusing on how new forces disrupted old systems and created a more competitive and unstable international environment.
Causes of Shifting European Power & Stability
A confluence of ideological, political, and technological factors caused the breakdown of the old European order and fueled a new era of expansion.
Breakdown of the Concert of Europe: The Concert of Europe was a system established by the great powers after 1815 to maintain international stability and the balance of power. This system struggled to manage the powerful forces of nationalism and liberalism, and conflicts like the Crimean War (1853-1856) shattered the cooperation between major states, creating a power vacuum.
Rise of Nationalism:Nationalism is the belief that a group of people with a shared language, culture, and history—a "nation"—should have its own independent state. This idea challenged the legitimacy of large, multi-ethnic empires (like Austria and the Ottoman Empire) and inspired movements to unite fragmented peoples, most notably in the Italian and German states.
Industrial and Technological Developments: The Second Industrial Revolution provided European states with unprecedented technological and military advantages. Innovations like the steamship, the telegraph, the railroad, and advanced weaponry (e.g., the machine gun) made it possible to project power, administer vast territories, and conquer non-industrialized societies with greater ease.
Motives for Imperialism: A variety of motives drove the intensification of European global control, a process often called New Imperialism. These included economic desires for raw materials and new markets, political competition and the pursuit of national prestige, and cultural justifications rooted in a perceived sense of European superiority.
Effects on European and Global Stability
The collapse of the old order and the rise of new powers had profound and destabilizing consequences both within Europe and across the globe.
Immediate Effects
Unification of Italy and Germany: Nationalist ambitions, combined with strategic diplomacy and warfare, led to the creation of two major new nation-states. The unification of Italy (completed 1870) and Germany (1871) fundamentally altered the European balance of power. The emergence of a powerful, industrialized, and militaristic German Empire in the heart of Europe was particularly disruptive.
Intensification of Global Control: Armed with new technologies and driven by competitive motives, European powers engaged in a "scramble" for overseas territories, especially in Africa and Asia. This led to the rapid colonization of vast parts of the world and the imposition of European political and economic dominance.
Long-Term Impacts
Increased International Rivalry: The breakdown of the Concert of Europe and the rise of a unified Germany led to a more tense and competitive international climate. A complex system of rival alliances emerged, as nations sought to protect their interests against the shifting balance of power.
Global Instability: The competition for colonies exported European rivalries to a global stage. This imperial expansion created new international flashpoints and often resulted in violent conflict and the exploitation of colonized peoples, undermining global stability.
Cultural Tensions: European culture reflected the era's dramatic changes and contradictions. A strong emphasis on objectivity, science, and materialism gave rise to Scientific Realism, an artistic and literary movement that sought to depict life as it truly was. At the same time, this coexisted with movements that emphasized subjectivity, emotion, and individual expression, revealing underlying anxieties about the modern world's direction.
Data & Organization Tools
This timeline highlights the key political events that dismantled the old European order and established a new, more competitive era.
| Year(s) | Event | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| 1853–1856 | Crimean War | Weakened Russia and Austria; shattered the great power cooperation of the Concert of Europe. |
| 1859–1870 | Unification of Italy | A new, unified nation-state was created on the Italian peninsula, altering the map of southern Europe. |
| 1864–1871 | Wars of German Unification | Prussia led a series of successful wars that resulted in the proclamation of the German Empire. |
| 1871 | Proclamation of the German Empire | The creation of a powerful, industrialized state in Central Europe fundamentally altered the balance of power. |
| 1884–1885 | Berlin Conference | European powers met to formalize the "rules" for the colonization of Africa, intensifying the "Scramble for Africa." |
Evidence Bank
Concert of Europe: The diplomatic system established after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It aimed to maintain a balance of power and suppress revolutionary movements, but it unraveled by the 1850s due to conflicting national interests.
Nationalism: The powerful 19th-century ideology that a nation should form the basis of a political state. It was a primary driver of the unifications of Italy and Germany and a destabilizing force in multi-ethnic empires.
Unification of Germany: The political and administrative joining of dozens of independent German states into a single nation-state, the German Empire. The process was led by Prussia under the leadership of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and was completed in 1871.
Unification of Italy: The 19th-century political and social movement, known as the Risorgimento, that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into the single state of the Kingdom of Italy.
New Imperialism: The period of intense colonial expansion by European powers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was characterized by a frantic "scramble" for territory and was facilitated by new technologies and economic motives.
Industrial Technology: Key inventions of the Second Industrial Revolution, such as the steamship, railroad, telegraph, and machine gun. These technologies were crucial in enabling European states to conquer and administer vast overseas empires.
Scientific Realism: A cultural movement in art and literature that emerged in the mid-19th century. It rejected the emotionalism of Romanticism and instead sought to portray the world and society with objective, scientific accuracy.
Skill Snapshots
Causation:
The rise of nationalism caused the unification movements in Italy and Germany.
Industrial and technological developments caused the intensification of European global control.
The breakdown of the Concert of Europe caused an increase in international instability and rivalry.
Comparison:
German unification was driven by the industrial and military might of Prussia, whereas Italian unification relied more heavily on foreign assistance and popular nationalism.
Early 19th-century imperialism often involved coastal trading posts, whereas "New Imperialism" involved direct political and economic control over vast inland territories.
Scientific Realism sought to depict the world with objective detachment, in contrast to Romanticism's focus on subjective emotion and individual experience.
Continuity and Change Over Time:
Baseline: In 1815, the Concert of Europe maintained a stable balance of power among a few great empires.
Change: By 1871, the creation of powerful new nation-states like Germany and Italy had completely reconfigured that balance.
Change: European global control shifted from limited coastal influence to direct rule over immense colonial empires.
Continuity: Rivalry and competition among the great powers of Europe remained a constant feature of international relations.
Common Misconceptions & Clarifications
Misconception: Nationalism was always a liberal, democratic force.
- Clarification: While some nationalists were liberals, conservative leaders like Otto von Bismarck effectively used nationalist sentiment to build a powerful, authoritarian German state.
Misconception: The Concert of Europe ended on a specific date.
- Clarification: The system did not end abruptly but rather eroded over several decades. The Crimean War is often seen as the fatal blow, as it pitted great powers against each other, but the decline was gradual.
Misconception: Imperialism was driven solely by a desire for economic profit.
- Clarification: Motives were complex and varied. National prestige, strategic advantage, missionary zeal, and a belief in cultural superiority were equally powerful drivers of imperial expansion.
Misconception: European culture was monolithic.
- Clarification: The late 19th century was marked by deep cultural tensions. The dominant trend of scientific realism and objectivity was constantly challenged by counter-currents emphasizing subjectivity, emotion, and the irrational.
One-Paragraph Summary
The second half of the 19th century was a period of profound transformation, where the forces of nationalism and industrialism shattered the old European order. The breakdown of the Concert of Europe created a political vacuum that was filled by the newly unified states of Italy and Germany, whose formations radically altered the continental balance of power. Fueled by industrial technology and a mix of economic, political, and cultural motives, this new competitive environment spurred an unprecedented wave of imperialism that extended European rivalries across the globe. This era of immense change and confidence was mirrored in its culture, which expressed a deep tension between a faith in scientific objectivity and a persistent focus on subjective human experience, setting the stage for the conflicts of the 20th century.