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1HIST 125 - Introduction to World History: Lecture 6

I. Wars of unification
II. King Cotton
III. “Mexico will poison us”
IV. Civil War in America
V. A modern war
VI. “We must make Italians”
VII. Bismarck’s Germany

Film clips, illustrations, etc

1. Napoleon III & Bismarck, Battle of Sedan

2. Canada – Dominion map, 1867
3. Canada expansion map
4. Two Civil War soldiers
5. Louisiana Purchase map
6. Constitutional Convention painting
7. Revolutionary War map
8. Nathanael Greene
9. Catherine Greene
10. Eli Whitney
11. Cotton Gin
12. Spread of cotton map
13. Spread of slavery map
14. American Indian photo
15. Trail of Tears map
16. Wounded Knee
17. Mexico, 1821-36 map
18. Santa Anna portrait
19. Manifest Destiny/Mexican War map
20. Lincoln photo
21. Civil War Secession map
22. Jemison photo
23. Winchester battle painting
24. Andersonville photo
25. Gettysburg dead photo
26. Slaves & slave cabin photo
27. Civil War battles map
28. Slave photo
29. Black soldiers
30. Black soldiers (close-up)
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31. Sherman & Grant photos
32. Appomattox Courthouse painting

33. Lincoln’s last photo

34. Grant Reconstruction cartoon
35. KKK photo
36. Anti-Jim Crow demonstration

37. German unification map

38. Italian unification map
40. Count Cavour
41. Giuseppe Garibaldi
42. Victor Emmanuel II
43. Henri Dunant
44. Italian unification map
45. Pope Pius IX

46. German unification map

47. Otto von Bismarck
48. Napoleon III
49. Napoleon III & Bismarck at Sedan
50. Wilhelm I proclaimed Kaiser at Versailles
51. German unification map
52. Bismarck at the Congress of Berlin
53. Wilhelm II portrait
54. “Dropping the Pilot” cartoon
55. Wilhelm II photo
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Napoleon III & Bismarck, Battle of Sedan

I. Wars of unification

IN THE MIDDLE 1800s THREE NATIONS WAGED WHAT SOME HISTORIANS

LUMP TOGETHER AS “WARS OF UNIFICATION

BY THE END OF THESE WARS, ITALY WAS A SINGLE NATION FOR THE FIRST

TIME SINCE THE ROMAN EMPIRE

A HODGE-PODGE OF KINGDOMS & PRINCIPALITIES & OTHER STATES AT THE

HEART OF EUROPE WERE NOW PART OF A SINGLE GERMAN EMPIRE

AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FOUGHT THEIR OWN VICIOUS WAR OVER

THE ISSUE OF SLAVERY

Canada – Dominion map, 1867

THE IS ONE OTHER MAJOR NATION THAT WAS UNITED AT THIS TIME –

ALTHOUGH IT IS ALMOST NEVER MENTIONED – CANADA

MAYBE THAT’S BECAUSE THE NATION WAS CREATED PEACEABLY … THERE

WAS NO WAR OF UNIFICATION IN THIS CASE

WHICH IS STRANGE BECAUSE – IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT p 587 OF YOUR

BOOK, YOU’LL SEE THERE WAS – IN FACT, THERE CONTINUES TO BE

FRICTION - BETWEEN FRENCH-SPEAKING CANADIANS, LIVING

MAINLY IN THE PROVINCE OF QUEBEC … & THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING

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MAJORITY LIVING ELSWHERE

Canada expansion map

NEVERTHELESS, LIKE THE UNITED STATES, THROUGHOUT THE 19TH CENTURY

CANADIANS CONTINUED TO EXPAND INTO THE WEST UNTIL THEIR

COUNTRY ALSO EVENTUALLY BECAME A CONTINENTAL POWER

ONE OTHER MISTAKE THAT’S OFTEN MADE WHEN TALKING ABOUT THESE

WARS OF UNIFICATION IS THAT WE TEND TO LOOK AT THEM IN ISOLATION

Two Civil War soldiers

IN FACT THESE WARS, LIKE MOST CONFLICTS, AFFECTED PEOPLE FAR BEYOND

THOSE WHO TOOK PART IN THEM - OR, EVEN, THE COUNTRIES THEMSELVES

TO SHOW WHAT I MEAN, LET ME TURN, FIRST, TO THE AMERICAN CIVIL

WAR – A CONFLICT THAT IS MUCH IN THE NEWS TODAY, IF ONLY BECAUSE

OF THE CONTROVERSY OVER CONFEDERATE STATUES

AGAIN, AMERICANS THINK OF THEIR CIVIL WAR AS BEING SOLELY ABOUT

THIS COUNTRY, AN INTERNAL CONFLICT

THAT’S NOT HOW IT WAS SEEN AT TIME … AS ONE AMERICAN PUT IT, THE

“INVOLVED THE DESTINIES OF MANKIND” – IT DIVIDED PEOPLE FROM

EUROPE TO CHINA {Quote, Geo Bancroft, in Doyle Cause of al Nations, 1}

Louisiana Purchase map

A SESSION OR TWO BACK, I TALKED ABOUT THE LOUISIAN PURCHASE – THE

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DOUBLING OF THE UNITED STATES IN 1803 THAT TOOK THE UNITED STATES

FAR INTO THE WEST

FROM THE START THERE WAS A QUESTION ABOUT THESE NEW LANDS

NAMELY – WOULD THEY ENTER THE UNION AS FREE STATES OR WOULD

THEY BECOME SLAVE STATES

Constitutional Convention painting

IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY

AT THE TIME THE AMERICAN CONSTUTION WAS DRAFTED, IT WAS

BELIEVED THAT SLAVERY WAS DYING OUT IN THE COUNTRY …

ONE AFTER ANOTHER, IT WAS BEING ABOLISHED IN THE NORTHERN

STATES &, IT WAS ASSUMED, THE SAME THING WOULD HAPPEN IN THE

SOUTH … THE REASON THAT IT DIDN’T CAN BE SUMMED UP IN ONE WORD –

COTTON
Revolutionary War map

AND THAT REQUIRES ME TO TAKE A FURTHER STEP BACK

YOU WILL RECALL, I HOPE, THAT IN THE LAST YEARS OF THE AMERICAN

REVOLUTION, THE BRITISH TRIED TO SEPARATE THE SOUTHERN

STATES FROM THE REST OF THE COUNTRY WITH THE AIM OF HOLDING

ONTO THEM AS COLONIES … THAT WOULD HAVE MEANT LOSING

GEORGIA, BOTH OF THE CAROLINAS & MAYBE, EVEN, VIRGINIA

Nathanael Greene
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THE BRITISH FAILED THANKS TO THIS MAN – AN AMERICAN GENERAL

FROM RHODE ISLAND, A YANKEE, NAMED NATHANAEL GREENE

GREENE’S AMERICAN FORCES SAVED THESE SOUTHERN STATES

AT THE END OF THE WAR, TO SHOW THEIR GRATITUDE, THE PEOPLE OF

GEORGIA LITERALLY GAVE GREENE A PLANTATION … HE ACCEPTED THE

OFFER & BROUGHT HIS FAMILY DOWN SOUTH TO JOIN HIM …

Catherine Greene

HIS WIFE CATHERINE – THIS IS A PORTRAIT OF HER IN HER LATER

YEARS - & THEIR 5 CHILDREN ... GREENE, HOWEVER, DIDN’T LIVE VERY

LONG TO ENJOY HIS NEW WEALTH - HE DIED IN 1786 AT THE AGE OF 44

THOUGH GREENE WAS DEAD, HIS WIDOW HAD DECIDED TO STAY AT THE

FAMILY PLANTATION ... & IN 1793 SHE HIRED A YOUNG COLLEGE GRADUATE

FROM YALE NAMED - ELI WHITNEY - TO TUTOR HER CHILDREN

Eli Whitney

AT THIS TIME A LITTLE BIT OF COTTON WAS GROWN ON SOUTHERN

PLANTATIONS ... BUT - THERE WAS A BARRIER TO ITS LARGE-SCALE

PRODUCTION ... AFTER THE COTTON WAS PICKED, IT COULD NOT BE SOLD

UNTIL THE SEEDS WERE REMOVED WHICH WAS A LONG, TEDIOUS

PROCESS ... IT TOOK AN ENTIRE DAY FOR 1 PERSON TO HAND-CLEAN

1 POUND OF COTTON

WHITNEY - SEEING ALL OF THIS WHILE HE WAS LIVING ON THE GREENE'S

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PLANTATION - PUT HIS MIND TO THE PROBLEM- &, IT SEEMS, IN

COLLABORATION WITH CATHERINE GREENE - WHITNEY BUILT A

MACHINE THAT SEPARATED THE COTTON FROM THE SEEDS
Cotton Gin photo

THIS WAS THE COTTON ENGINE - OR COTTON GIN FOR SHORT - A SIMPLE,

HAND-CRANKED MACHINE. WITH THE COTTON GIN, A PERSON - TYPICALLY

A SLAVE - COULD EASILY CLEAN 50 POUNDS OF COTTON PER DAY

Spread of cotton map

WITH THAT - COTTON PRODUCTION SKYROCKETED - AS COTTON

PLANTATIONS SPREAD ACROSS THE SOUTH ... THIS COTTON WAS

EXPORTED - 1ST TO TEXTILE MILLS IN BRITAIN ... BRITAIN BEING THE 1ST

COUNTRY TO GO THROUGH THEINDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION - &, SOON,

THIS COTTON WAS BEING SENT TO TEXTILE MILLS IN THE NORTHERN

STATES OF THIS COUNTRY & TO GREAT BRITAIN

1 DIRECT CONSEQUENCE OF THIS DEVELOPMENT STILL AFFECTS

YOU TODAY ... BEFORE THE MASS PRODUCTION OF COTTON MOST PEOPLE
DID NOT BOTHER WITH UNDERWEAR

IF YOU WERE WEALTHY & COULD AFFORD THE MATERIAL - YOU HAD A FEW

PAIR OF SILK UNDERWEAR ... OTHER HAD A FEW PAIRS MADE OF LINEN

SOME PEOPLE EVEN WORE WOOLEN UNDERWEAR

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BUT - WHAT WAS EVEN MORE COMMON WAS THAT MOST PEOPLE DIDN’T

WEAR UNDERWEAR AT ALL

THAT CHANGED WITH THE INVENTION OF THE COTTON GIN - WHICH - OF

COURSE HAS ALL KINDS OF ADVANTAGES WHEN IT COMES TO

CLEANLINESS & HYGIENE

Spread of slavery map

OF COURSE - THERE WAS A PRICE TO BE PAID FOR THIS ADVANCE & IT

WAS PAID BY BLACK SLAVES ... COTTON PRODUCTION SPREAD THROUGH

GEORGIA & SOUTH CAROLINA - & AS THE COUNTRY DEVELOPED ACROSS

WHAT WE CALL THE DEEP SOUTH - ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI & UP INTO

TENNESSEE ... & SLAVERY WENT WITH IT AS YOU CAN SEE BY COMPARING

THESE TWO MAPS

American Indian photo

AND SLAVES WEREN’T THE ONLY LOSERS IN THIS STORY ... EVEN WITHOUT

THE SPREAD OF COTTON, THE DISPOSSESSION OF AMERICA’S INDIANS

WOULD HAVE OCCURRED AS SETTLERS MOVED WEST

BUT, IN THIS CASE, THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT MOUNTED A POLICY

OF FORCED REMOVALS OF TRIBES IN THE AMERICAN SOUTH, TO MAKE

WAY FOR COTTON PLANTATIONS

Trail of Tears map

THE RESULT WAS THE INFAMOUS TRAIL OF TEARS – WHEN INDIANS

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LIVING AS FAR EAST AS GEORGIA & NORTH CAROLINA WERE FORCED TO

LEAVE THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS &, IN MANY CASES HAD TO WALK TO WHAT

WAS THEN CALLED INDIAN TERRITORY – WHAT IS TODAY OKLAHOMA

BY THE END OF THIS FORCED MARCH - WHICH TOOK PLACE IN THE MIDDLE

OF WINTER - AS MANY AS 1-QUARTER OR 1/4TH OF THE CHEROKEE

TRIBE, FOR INSTANCE - HAD DIED - VICTIMS OF COLD - HUNGER, &

DISEASE

WHAT IS IRONIC IS THAT SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THESE TRIBES WERE

THEMSELVES SLAVE-OWNERS & TOOK THESE SLAVES WITH THEM

AT ANY RATE, ONCE SETTLED IN THIS NEW LAND - THIS "INDIAN

TERRITORY" - THE SURVIVORS WERE TOLD THEY WOULD HAVE THIS LAND

“AS LONG AS THE GROWS & THE WATERS FLOW”- & THEY DID …

UNTIL WHITE SETTLERS DISCOVERED THE LAND WAS GOOD FOR FARMING

SO - A LARGE PORTION WAS TAKEN IN 1889 TO FORM STATE OF

OKLAHOMA ... MORE INDIANLANDS WERE TAKEN IN THE 1920s WHEN

OIL WAS DISCOVERED ON WHAT WAS LEFT OF THEIR RESERVATIONS

OVER THESE SAME DECADES, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF SO-CALLED

INDIAN WARS – WHICH HAD NEVER STOPPED, REALLY, SINCE THE

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE ENGLISH COLONIES IN THE 1600s

Wounded Knee, 1890

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LIKE THE LAST OF THESE, THE 1890 MASSACRE OF INDIAN MEN, WOMEN, &

CHILDREN AT WOUNDED KNEE IN SOUTH DAKOTA THESE TRIBES

STOOD NO CHANCE AGAINST THE FIREPOWER OF THE US ARMY

Mexico, 1821-36 map

III. “Mexico will poison us”

YOU MAY RECALL THAT ONE OF THE NATIONS TO GAIN ITS INDEPENDENCE

FROM SPAIN BY THE EARLY 1820s WAS MEXICO

THIS IS WHAT MEXICO LOOKED LIKE WHEN ITS PEOPLE FREED THEMSELVES

&, AS YOU CAN SEE, IT WAS AN ENORMOUS NATION

UNFORTUNATELY, IT WAS ALSO AN UNSTABLE ONE &, SOON, POOR ONE TOO

FROM 1833 TO 1855, FOR INSTANCE, MEXICO’S PRESIDENCY CHANGED

HANDS NO FEWER THAN 36 TIMES … 11 OF THOSE TIMES, THE PRESIDENT

WAS THIS MAN – ANTONIO LOPEZ DE SANTA ANNA … THIS IS HIM

AS A YOUNG MAN
Santa Anna portrait

THIS REPEATED CIVIL STRIFE CAUSED MASSIVE DESTRUCTION THROUGHOUT

THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING – UNBELIEVABLY – THE FLOODING OF MANY

OF ITS SILVER MINES – WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A MAJOR SOURCE OF

NATIONAL WEALTH

AND THEN THERE WERE THE AMERICANS …

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THE AMERICAN EXPANSION INTO THE WEST WAS BOUND TO COLLIDE WITH

THEIR NEIGHBOR TO THE SOUTH, THOUGH – IRONICALLY – THE MEXICANS

INITIALLY INVITED SETTLERS INTO ONE OF THEIR TERRITORIES – TEXAS

TO ACT AS A BUFFER AGAINST REPEATED ATTACKS FROM THE

COMMANCHE – AN INDIAN TRIBE PARTICULARLY SKILLED AT WAR

THESE AMERICANS – NOW TEXANS – BROUGHT WITH THEM THEIR

COTTON PLANTATIONS - & THEIR SLAVES

WHEN, IN 1835, MEXICO ABOLISHED SLAVERY, THE TEXANS REBELLED

SANTA ANNA LED AN ARMY TO DEFEAT THE TEXANS ONLY TO BE DEFEATED

IN BATTLE AFTER WHICH HE WAS FORCED TO AGREE TO TERMS DECLARING

THAT TEXAS WAS AN INDEPENDENT COUNTRY IN 1836

THAT’S WHERE MATTERS STOOD FOR ABOUT A DECADE … BY THE MID-1840s

SOME AMERICANS WERE ESPOUSING MANIFEST DESTINY … THE IDEA

THAT CAN BE TRACED BACK TO THE PURITANS’ “CITY UPON A HILL”

AS I SAID IN A PREVIOIUS SESSION, MANIFEST DESTINY WAS THE

BELIEF THAT GOD HAD CREATED THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT

FOR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO “OVERSPREAD & POSSESS” - & WITH

THIS LAND, THEY WOULD CREATE EMPIRE OF LIBERTY

Manifest Destiny/Mexican War map

IN 1846 – TO PUT IT BLUNTLY – THE UNITED STATES PROVOKED A WAR WITH

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MEXICO … AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS MAP, SOME EXPONENTS OF MANIFEST

DESTINY WANTED TO TAKE ALL OF MEXICO … THE AMERICAN PRESIDNET

AT THE TIME – JAMES K POLK – WANTED TO GO PART OF THE WAY SOUTH

OF THE RIO GRANDE … IN THE END, THE AMERICANS SETTLED FOR TAKING

ROUGHLY ONE-HALF OF MEXICO ONCE YOU INCLUDE TEXAS

EVEN AT THE TIME, THE MEXICAN WAR WAS CONTROVERSIAL

ONE YOUNG AMERICAN ARMY OFFICER CALLED IT THE “ONE OF THE MOST

UNJUST EVER WAGED BY A STRONGER AGAINST A WEAKER NATON”

THAT YOUNG OFFICER WAS ULYSESS S GRANT

THE AMERICAN POET – RALPH WALDO EMERSON – WAS EVEN MORE

BLUNT … “MEXICO”, HE SAID, “WILL POISON US”

WHAT EMERSON MEANT WAS THAT THE COUNTRY NOW CONFRONTED THE

FACT THAT, INSTEAD OF CREATING AN "EMPIRE OF LIBERTY" – AS

WAS PROMISED BY MANIFEST DESTINY - AMERICANS WERE CREATING –

INSTEAD - AN "EMPIRE FOR SLAVERY"

THE SOUTH’S LEADERS HAD EVERY INTENTION OF TAKING SLAVERY ALL

THE WAY TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN … THIS DISPUTE FESTERED FOR THE

NEXT DECADE BUT, BY 1860, THE ATTEMPT TO TAKE SLAVERY INTO

THE WEST SET AMERICANS ON A COURSE LEADING TO CIVIL WAR

Lincoln photo

IV. Civil War in America

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THE TRIGGER FOR THE CIVIL WAR WAS THE ELECTION OF AMERICA’S 1ST

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT - ABRAHAM LINCOLN … EVEN THOUGH HE

PERSONALLY HATED SLAVERY, TO KEEP THE COUNTRY UNITED, HE SAID HE

WOULD SLAVERY ALONE WHERE IT ALREADY EXISTED … BUT HE ALSO

PLEDGED TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF SLAVERY INTO THE WEST

Civil War secession map

IN DECEMBER 1860 - EVEN BEFORE LINCOLN ENTERED THE WHITE HOUSE

THE 1ST SOUTHERN STATE - SOUTH CAROLINA - ANNOUNCED THAT IT

WAS LEAVING - OR SECEDING FROM - THE AMERICAN UNION ... THE

BY THE SPRING OF 1861 - A TOTAL OF 11 STATES HAD SECEDED BRINGING

ON THE BLOODIEST WAR IN AMERICAN HISTORY

MORE THAN 3 MILLION AMERICANS FOUGHT IN THE CIVIL WAR

MOST OF THEM WERE YOUNG MEN & BOYS

NO ONE KNOWS FOR SURE HOW MANY AMERICANS HAD DIED BY THE TIME

THIS 4-YEAR WAR HAD FINISHED ... ONE RECENT ESTIMATE PUTS THE

NUMBER AT 752,000 {White, Republic for Which it Stands, 28}

Jemison photo

HERE’S ONE OF THEM - PRIVATE EDWIN JEMISON ... WHO WAS JUST

16 YEARS OLD WHEN HE WAS KILLED HERE IN VIRGINIA

THAT FIGURE OF 752,000 DEAD REPRESENTED JUST UNDER 2 ½ % OF A

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POPULATION THAT WAS JUST OVER 31 MILLION PEOPLE WHEN THE WAR

BEGAN

TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHAT THAT WOULD MEAN IF A CIVIL WAR WAS

FOUGHT IN THIS COUNTRY TODAY ... ACCORDING TO THE US CENSUS, THIS

NATION’S POPULATION TODAY IS AROUND 326 MILLION

SO, IF THE CIVIL WAS FOUGHT TODAY - & THIS COUNTRY LOST JUST UNDER 2

½ % OF ITS POPULATION, THAT LOSS WOULD AMOUNT TO

7 MILLION 889 THOUSAND PEOPLE

MORE THAN THAT, THE WAR FOUGHT BETWEEN 1861 & 1865 WAS EXACTLY

WHAT THE NAME MEANS - IT WAS A CIVIL WAR ... WHICH IS THE

WORST POSSIBLE KIND OF WAR

WHEN WE THINK OF THE CIVIL WAR, WE TEND TO THINK OF LARGE ARMIES

OF MEN IN BLUE & GRAY & CANNONS BOOMING, & FLAGS FLYING, &

CAVALRY CHARGING & ALL THAT ... WE THINK OF BATTLES LIKE

GETTYSBURG & VICKSBURG - & THE WAR WAS THAT -AS HERE AT

WINCHESTER - NOT SO FAR FROM HERE IN VIRGINIA

Winchester battle painting

BUT THE CIVIL WAR ALSO WAS A COUNTLESS - INDEED AN UNCOUNTABLE

NUMBER OF SMALL SKIRMISHES BETWEEN MEN WHO WORE LITTLE IF

ANYTHING THAT COULD BE CALLED A UNIFORM ... & IN THESE SMALL

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BATTLES, THESE BRIEF, BITTER SKIRMISHES, THE MEN FIGHTING ON

OPPOSITE SIDES OFTEN KNEW ONE OTHER

THEY WERE FRIENDS,

THEY WERE BROTHERS,

THEY WERE FATHERS AND SONS

THEY HAD WORKED TOGETHER

THEY HAD GONE TO SCHOOL TOGETHER

THEY HAD - MANY TIMES - WORSHIPED GOD TOGETHER

AND IN TOO MANY CASES, WHAT THEY DID TO EACH OTHER & TO THEIR

FAMILIES AMOUNTED TO WHOLESALE BUTCHERY

Andersonville photo

THIS IS A UNION SOLDIER, CAPTURED BY CONFEDERATES & SENT TO A

SOUTHERN POW CAMP CALLED ANDERSONVILLE

AMERICANS DID THIS TO OTHER AMERICANS

THE CIVIL WAR MEANT RAPE, IT MEANT PILLAGING, IT MEANT MURDER

NOW -THOSE THINGS HAPPEN IN ALL WARS

THEY ALWAYS HAVE & UNFORTUNATELY - THEY PROBABLY ALWAYS WILL

BUT - WHEN YOUR HOME IS DESTROYED & YOUR FAMILY IS

BRUTALIZED ... & THE MEN WHO HAVE DONE THOSE THINGS WERE YOUR

FRIENDS & YOUR NEIGHBORS … THAT CREATES A BITTERNESS IN

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PEOPLE THAT LASTS FOR GENERATIONS

Gettysburg dead photo

WHILE GOING THROUGH THIS TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE, AMERICANS ALSO

UNDERWENT A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN THE WAY THEY VIEWED

THEMSELVES & THEIR COUNTRY ... SUPPOSE THE PROVERBIAL MAN

FROM MARS CAME DOWN TO EARTH & ASKED WHAT THIS COUNTRY HAS

BEEN DOING IN AFGHANISTAN - YOU WOULD SAY

THE UNITED STATES IS AT WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

YOU WOULDN'T SAY

THESE UNITED STATES ARE AT WAR IN AFGHANISTAN

SEE THE DIFFERENCE? ...

IN 1st INSTANCE, THE COUNTRY IS SPOKEN OF IN THE SINGULAR, THE U.S.

IS ONE COUNTRY ... IN THE 2nd INSTANCE, THE U.S. IS SPOKEN OF IN THE

PLURAL - THAT IS, AS A COLLECTION OF STATES ... BEFORE 1865 -

BEFORE THE CIVIL WAR - AMERICANS WERE A COLLECTION OF STATES

AFTER 1865, AFTER THE CIVIL WAR AMERICANS BECAME ONE PEOPLE

Slaves & slave cabin photo

TO DO THAT, AMERICANS HAD TO SETTLE THE QUESTION OF SLAVERY

BUT, HERE, TOO, THERE'S MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE ... WHEN ABRAHAM

LINCOLN SAID THE COUNTRY COULD NOT SURVIVE "HALF FREE & HALF
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SLAVE" HE WASN'T JUST TALKING ABOUT FREE STATES v SLAVE STATES

HE MEANT THAT IF YOU COULD ENSLAVE BLACKS UNDER THE AMERICAN

SYSTEM -- BECAUSE THE ARE BLACK - THEN, LOGICALLY - THERE WAS

NO REASON WHY THIS SAME SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT SHOULD STOP

YOU FROM ENSLAVING IRISH, OR GERMANS, OR CATHOLICS ...

OR LATINOS, OR ASIANS - OR ANY OTHER GROUP OF PEOPLE

SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHO THEY ARE

SOUTHERNERS TOOK A VERY DIFFERENT VIEW ... THEY ARGUED THAT

SLAVERY WAS BUILT INTO THE AMERICAN SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT - &

THEY WERE RIGHT ... IN THE VERY 1ST ARTICLE OF THE US

CONSTITUTION, SLAVES WERE COUNTED AS 3/5ths OF A PERSON

Civil War battles map

V. A modern war

THERE’S NO TIME, HERE, TO GO THROUGH ALL OF THE BATTLES OF THE

CIVIL WAR … IT’S ENOUGH TO SAY THAT WHILE THE SOUTH, ALSO KNOWN

AS THE CONFEDERACY, WAGED A MAINLY DEFENSIVE WAR

THE NORTH, OR THE UNION, WAGED AN OFFENSIVE WAR

THAT’S BECAUSE, IN ORDER TO WIN THIS CONFLICT, TO RESTORE THE

SOUTHERN STATES TO THE UNION, THE NORTH HAD TO PHYISCALLY

TAKE BACK CONTROL OF THESE STATES … THAT’S WHY MOST OF THE

BATTLES OF THE CIVIL WAR TOOK PLACE IN THE SOUTH

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Slave photo

OF ALL THE TURNING POINTS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR - NONE WAS

MORE IMPORTANT THAN LINCOLN’S DECISION TO FREE - OR EMANCIPATE

THE SLAVES IN THE SOUTH - THE CONFEDERACY

AGAIN, BECAUSE THIS TOPIC HAS BEEN IN THE NEW RECENTLY, IT BEARS A

WORD HERE … LINCOLN’S EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION WAS MADE AS

A WARTIME MEASURE … IT DID NOT ABOLISH IN THE ENTIRE

COUNTRY … LINCOLN DID NOT HAVE THAT POWER, EVEN AS PRESIDENT

THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION ONLY APPLIED TO THE STATES

THAT HAD JOINED THE CONFEDERACY … IT DIDN’T’ APPLY TO SLAVES IN

THE BORDER STATES – THESE STATES – DELAWARE, MARYLAND,

KENTUCKY, & MISSOURI – WERE SLAVE STATES … BUT THEY HADN’T

JOINED THE CONFEDERACY

MOREOVER, BECAUSE THIS WAS A WARTIME MEASURE – IT WASN’T EVEN A

LAW PASSED BY CONGRESS … & EVEN WITH THE PROCLAMATION, SLAVES

WERE ONLY FREED IN ANY LARGE NUMBERS WHEN THEY WERE LIBERATED

BY UNION SOLDIERS … THEY WERE NOT IN THE POSITION TO LIBERATE

THEMSELVES

ABOLISHING SLAVERY ONCE & FOR ALL - & FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY
COULD ONLY BE ACCOMPLISHED BY AMENDING THE US CONSTITUTION

THAT’S WHY IT WAS ONLY WITH THE RATIFICATION OF THE 13TH

AMENDMENT IN DECEMBER 1865 THAT YOU CAN TRULY SAY THAT

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LEGAL SLAVERY ENDED IN THE UNITED STATE

Black soldiers

ALTHOUGH THERE WAS OPPOSITION - LINCOLN ALSO ORDER THAT THE

US MILITARY RECRUIT BLACK AMERICANS ... DESPITE THE FACT THAT

THEY SERVED IN SEGREGATED UNITS, WERE NOT ALLOWED TO BECOME

OFFICERS - & RECEIVED LESS PAY THAN WHITE UNION SOLDIERS, AT

LEAST 180,000 MEN & BOYS - MANY OF THEM FORMER SLAVES -

SERVED IN THE UNION ARMY & NAVY

THE IMPACT OF THESE SOLDIERS & SAILORS IS SOMETHING WE TEND TO

FORGET ... IT WAS CERTAINLY UNDERSTOOD BY THE SOUTH’S

LEADERS AT THE TIME

ONE CONFEDERATE LEADER – HOWELL COBB - PUT IT THIS WAY

“YOU CANNOT MAKE SOLDIERS OF SLAVES” – HE SAID - “NOR SLAVES

OF SOLDIERS ... IF SLAVES WILL MAKE GOOD SOLDIERS, OUR

WHOLE THEORY OF SLAVERY IS WRONG”

Black soldiers (close-up)

NOTHING DID MORE TO CUT THE LEGS OUT FROM UNDER THE SOUTH’S

PHILOSOPHY OF SLAVERY THAN THE FACT OF THESE BLACK AMERICAN

SOLDIERS & SAILORS ... WHICH LIKELY EXPLAINS THEIR TREATMENT IF

CAPTURED ... BECAUSE IF THEY WERE CAPTURED -THEY WERE

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NOT TREATED AS PRISONERS OF WAR ... IF TAKEN PRISONER BY THE

CONFEDERATES - BLACKS SOLDIERS WERE FORCED TO WORK AS

SLAVES, OR, THEY WERE MURDERED

IN MANY WAYS, THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR THE IT THE WORLD’S 1ST

"MODERN WAR" … WHAT I MEAN IS THAT THE WAR WAS ABOUT MORE

THAN DEFEATING THE OTHER SIDE’S MILITARY FORCES … TO WIN YOU

IT WAS ALSO NECESSARY TO WAGE WAR ON THE OTHER’S SIDE SOCIETY

YOUR OBJECTIVE IS TO DESTROY THE ENEMY'S WILL TO RESIST

Sherman & Grant photos

TWO UNION GENERALS UNDERSTOOD THIS WAS THE FUTURE OF

WARFARE … THE MAN ON THE LEFT - WILLIAM TECUMSEH

SHERMAN - & THE MAN ON THE RIGHT ULYSSES S. GRANT

THE SAME ULYSESS S GRANT WHO HAD OPPOSED THE WAR AGAINST MEXICO

WHILE SHERMAN TOOK THE WAR INTO THE SOUTH – THROUGH GEORGIA &

INTO THE CAROLINAS - GRANT WAGED WAR HERE IN VIRGINIA SO THAT,

FINALLY, BY THE SPRING OF 1865 CONFEDERATE ARMIES BEGAN TO

SURRENDER, STARTING WITH ROBERT E LEE’S ARMY, AGAIN, HERE IN

VIRIGINA … THE SOUTH HAD, INDEED, LOST ITS WILL TO RESIST

Appomattox Courthouse painting

LESS THAN A WEEK AFTER LEE’S SURRENDER, ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS

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ASSASSINATED … THE FIRST OF 4 AMERICAN PRESIDENTS TO BE MURDERED

IN OFFICE
Lincoln’s last photo

WE’LL NEVER KNOW HOW HE WOULD HAVE HANDLED WHAT BECAME

KNOWN AS RECONSTRUCTION - A DECADE-LONG EFFORT TO

REUNITE THE COUNTRY & TO ENSURE EQUAL RIGHTS FOR THE

FORMER SLAVES OF THE SOUTH

RECONSTRUCTION WAS LONG CONSIDERED A FAILURE - NOT LEAST

BECAUSE IT IS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PRESIDENCY OF ULYSSES S GRANT

Grant Reconstruction cartoon

AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THIS CARTOON

WHILE GRANT HIMSELF WAS HONEST DOWN TO HIS BONES - HIS

ADMINISTRATION WAS ONE THE MOST CORRUPT IN HISTORY

IN FACT, GRANT TRIED TO MAKE RECONSTRUCTION WORK DESPITE

THE IMPLACABLE & OFTEN VIOLENT OPPOSITION OF EX-CONFEDERATES

WHOSE SECRET SOCIETIES AIMED TO TERRORIZE - & IF TERRORISM DIDN’T

WORK, MURDER - ANYONE WHO SUPPORTED RECONSTRUCTION, MOST

ESPECIALLY, EX-SLAVES - OR FREEDMEN, AS THEY WERE NOW KNOWN

KKK photo

THESE SECRET SOCIETIES WENT BY A NUMBER OF NAMES ... BUT THE MOST
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FAMOUS OF THEM WAS THE KU KLUX KLAN ... THIS IS ONE OF THE

EARLIEST KNOWN PHOTOS OF KLANSMEN ... GRANT CRUSHED THE KU

KLUX KLAN - SO SOUNDLY THAT IT DID NOT RE-APPEAR UNTIL 1915

Anti-Jim Crow demonstration

UNFORTUNATELY, AFTER GRANT LEFT OFFICE HIS SUCCESSORS TURNED

THEIR BACKS ON RECONSTRUCTION ALLOWING SOUTHERNERS TO

CREATE A SYSTEM OF INSTITUTIONALIZED DISCRIMINATION &

SEGREGATION – KNOWN AS JIM CROW - THAT LASTED WELL INTO THE

20TH CENTURY

German unification map

VI. “We must make Italians”

AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WERE BATTLING

OVER THE FUTURE OF THE UNITED STATES - SEPARATE STRUGGLES

FOR NATIONAL UNIFICATION WERE TAKING PLACE IN EUROPE ...

SPECIFICALLY WARS OF UNIFICATION THAT LED TO THE CREATION

OF 2 NEW EUROPEAN STATES - ITALY & GERMANY

THIS PROCESS OF UNIFICATION BEGAN WITH THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848

IN BOTH CASES, LIBERALS HAD TRIED TO CREATE NATIONAL

GOVERNMENTS - & IN BOTH CASES THEY FAILED ... THIS FAILURE IN 1848

SHOWED THAT IDEAS - NO MATTER HOW GOOD THEY WERE - COULD

NOT BE REALIZED WITHOUT THE MEANS TO ACHIEVE THEM

23

FOR THIS REASON - AFTER 1848 - A NEW ATTITUDE APPEARED ON THE

EUROPEAN POLITICAL SCENE ... A NEW TOUGHNESS OF MIND CALLED

REALPOLITIK - WHICH SIMPLY MEANS THE "POLITICS OF REALITY"

AS YOUR BOOK DEFINES IT ON p 565

IN PRACTICE, THIS MEANS THAT GOVERNMENT'S SHOULD LOOK OUT ONLY

FOR THEIR OWN PRACTICAL INTERESTS ... THEY SHOULD HAVE NO

REGARD FOR SCRUPLE OR FOR MORALITY ... THEY SHOULD -INSTEAD

USE WHATEVER MEANS ARE NECESSARY TO GAIN THEIR OBJECTIVES ...

THIS ATTITUDE IS FAMOUSLY SUMMED UP BY THE PHRASE THE

ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS

NOWHERE DID THIS LESSON SEEM TO BE MORE TRUE THAN IN THE

UNIFICATION OF THE ITALIAN & GERMAN PEOPLES

IT’S PERHAPS HARD FOR US TO REALIZE, TODAY, BUT WHEN PEOPLE SPOKE

ITALY & GERMANY FOR MOST OF EUROPE’S HISTORY ... THEY WERE

TALKING - IN EACH CASE - ABOUT A PLACE - NOT - A COUNTRY

YOU CAN GET A VISUAL SENSE OF THIS FROM THIS FIRST MAP OF GERMANY

&, AS A MATTER OF FACT, IT DOESN'T TELL THE WHOLE STORY

FROM THIS MAP, IT'S EASY TO GET THE IDEA THAT GERMANY WAS – AT

MOST DIVIDED INTO 6, MAYBE 7 SEPARATE STATES … BUT - IF YOU LOOK AT

24
THE BLUE REGION OF GERMANY, YOU'LL SEE THAT THERE ARE AT LEAST 3

STATES IN THAT REGION, ALONE - BADEN - WURTTEMBURG - & BAVARIA

THE SAME WAS TRUE IN ITALY WHICH, LIKE GERMANY, WAS SERIOUSLY

FRAGMENTED & DIVIDED INTO A NUMBER OE SMALL, OFTEN QUARRELING

STATES
Italian unification map

THE RISORGIMENTO (RE-SHURG-E-MENTO ) - OR RESURGENCE

OF ITALY WAS THE WORK OF 2 MEN - THE SARDINIAN STATESMAN -

CAMILLO CAVOUR - A PRACTITIONER OF REALPOLITIK IF EVER

THERE WAS ONE ...
Cavour portrait
AND HIS ANTITHESIS - GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI - THE
INSPIRATIONAL FIGURE OF THIS STRUGGLE ... WHO - LIKE HIS SOLDIERS

FAMOUSLY WORE A RED SHIRT INTO BATTLE

Garibaldi portrait

WHICH, I MUST SAY, STRIKES ME AS INSANE - BUT NEVER MIND

ORIGINALLY - GARIBADI WAS A - SMALL “R” - REPUBLICAN ... THAT IS, HE

WANTED TO CREATE AN ITALIAN REPUBLIC ... I’LL ADD THAT GARIBALDI

IN 1861 GARIBALDI WAS THE MOST FAMOUS MAN IN EUROPE - SO MUCH SO

THAT AS THE UNITED STATES DRIFTED TOWARD CIVIL WAR THERE WAS A

SERIOUS MOVE TO INVITE GARIBALDI TO LEAD UNION ARMIES

25
AGAINST THE CONFEDERACY ... HOW THAT WOULD HAVE TURNED OUT

IS ONE OF THOSE “WHAT IF’S” OF HISTORY

Victor Emmanuel photo

ANYWAY, DURING THE STRUGGLE FOR ITALIAN UNIFICATION, GARIBALDI

BECAME CONVINCED THAT ITALY COULD ONLY BE UNITED UNDER A

MONARCH - NAMELY, THE KING OF PIEDMONT-SARDINIA - THIS

HANDSOME DEVIL, VICTOR EMMANUEL - & THIS BROUGHT

GARIBALDI INTO AN ALLIANCE WITH CAVOUR

YOUR BOOK ONLY BRIEFLY SUMMARIZES ITALY’S WARS OF UNIFICATION

IN CHAPTER 19 - & FAILS TO MENTION ONE OF ITS MOSTI IMPORTANT

GLOBAL LEGACIES

IF YOU GO BACK TO THE MAP OF ITALY, YOU’LL SEE THE CROSSED SWORDS

TO MARK THE BATTLE OF SOLFERINO JUST SOUTH OF MILAN

Henri Dunant

THE BATLE WAS WITNESSED BY A SWISS CITIZEN - HENRI DUNANT - WHO

WAS SO HORRIFIED BY WHAT HE SAW THAT HE CAMPAIGNED FOR WHAT

BECAME THE 1ST GENEVA CONVENTION

THIS CONVENTION ESTABLISHED RULES FOR THE TREATMENT OF

PRISONERS OF WAR & THE WOUNDED … IT ALSO LED TO THE

CREATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL RED CROSS & RED CRESCENT

SOCIETIES - WHICH, AS I HOPE YOU KNOW, ALSO ARE ON THE FRONT

26

LINES TO HELP COMMUNITIES HIT BE NATURAL DISASTERS &

OTHER SUCH CALAMITIES

ITALY WAS NOT COMPLETELY UNITED UNTIL WHAT WERE CALLED THE

PAPAL STATES WERE TAKEN IN 1870 & ITALY’S NATIONAL ARMY MARCHED

INTO ROME
Pius IX portrait

THESE PAPAL STATES WERE HELD BY THE HEAD OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC

CHURCH – IN THIS CASE POPE PIUS IX - &, AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, HE

WAS NONE TO HAPPY ABOUT LOSING THESE LANDS … IN RESPONSE, HE

DECLARED HIMSELF A “PRISONER OF THE VATICAN” IN ROME

{Sperber, Europe, 1850-1914, 170}

THIS WAS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE THE PAPACY’S REFUSAL TO ACCEPT

ITALY’S UNIFICATION & - MORE BROADLY, LIBERALISM - INDEED IT’S

REFUSAL TO ACCEPT THE MODERN WORLD - DID NOT END WITH ITALY’S

WARS OF UNIFICATION

HISTORIANS HAVE POINTED TO ITALY’S UNIFICATION TO EXPLAIN WHY -

IN SUBSEQUENT DECADES - THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH ALLIED

ITSELF WITH THE MOST CONSERVATIVE & REACTIONARY ELEMENTS

OF EUROPEAN POLITICS & SOCIETY ... THE CHURCH’S OPPOSITION TO

LIBERALISM REALLY WOULDN’T CHANGE UNTIL THE

2ND VATICAN COUNCIL - OR VATICAN II - IN THE 1960s

27
1 YOUR BOOK DISCUSSES THE 2ND VATICAN COUNCIL ON p 855 - YOU

OUGHT TO TAKE A LOOK AT THAT

AS FOR ITALY THE NATION - THE NEW STATE WAS A CONSTITUTIONAL

MONARCHY ... BUT EVEN THOUGH THE NATION HAD A PARLIAMENT - IT

WAS IN FACT A CONSERVATIVE STATE ... THE FRANCHISE - THE

RIGHT TO VOTE, FOR EXAMPLE, WAS STRICTLY LIMITED

MOREOVER - ALTHOUGH UNITED POLITICALLY - ITALY WAS FAR FROM

UNITED SOCIALLY - & - PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANT, ECONOMICALLY -

A FACT RECOGNIZED BY ONE OF CAVOUR’S SUCCESSORS - WHO SAID OF THE

NATIONAL MOVEMENT ... “WE HAVE MADE ITALY; NOW WE MUST MAKE

ITALIANS” {Attributed to Massimo d’Azeglio in Sperber, Europe, 1850-1914, 96}

LIKE THE UNITED STATES AT THIS TIME - ITALY WAS DIVIDED BETWEEN

THE NORTH -ITS INDUSTRIAL & BANKING CENTER ...

& THE SOUTH - WHICH WAS MAINLY RURAL & POOR ... &, IF ANYTHING,

THIS GAP ACTUALLY WIDENED AFTER UNIFICATION &

CONTINUES TO THIS DAY ... BY 1914 - THE EVE OF WORLD WAR I -

ITALY WAS THE LEAST OF THE GREAT POWERS OF EUROPE

German unification map

VII. Bismarck’s Germany

LIKE THE STORY OF ITALY’S UNIFICATION - THAT OF GERMANY’S IS

28
VERY MUCH ROOTED IN THE FAILURE OF THE REVOLUTIONS OF 1848

FOR MOST GERMAN NATIONALISTS, THE LIBERALS' FAILURE TO BRING

ABOUT A SINGLE GERMAN STATE PROVED THAT THEIR DREAM COULD

NOT BE REALIZED WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF PRUSSIA & ITS RULING

FAMILY, THE HOHENZOLLERNS

BUT - THIS INEVITABLY RAISED A DILEMMA ... BECAUSE, OF COURSE,

THERE WAS A COMPETITOR FOR THIS ROLE AS THE DOMINANT POWER

IN UNITED GERMANY ... AUSTRIA & ITS RULING FAMILY THE

HAPSBURGS
Bismarck photo - with helmet

BUT THE MAN WHO UNITED GERMANY WAS NOT PRUSSIA’S KING ...

IT WAS, INSTEAD, THE KING’S - PRIME MINISTER - OTTO VON BISMARCK

YOU MAY NOT RECOGNIZE HIM FROM THIS PHOTO OF HIM AS A YOUNGER

MAN - HE’S BETTER KNOWN FOR PORTRAITS LIKE THIS, OF HIM WEARING

ONE OF THE FAMOUS PRUSSIAN SPIKED HELMETS

FROM 1860 BISMARCK DOMINATED NOT ONLY GERMANY BUT ALL OF

EUROPE FOR THE NEXT 3 DECADES

BISMARCK CAME FROM THE PRUSSIAN ARISTOCRACY ... THE JUNKERS

(PRONOUNCED ... U-NKERS) ... & EVEN AFTER 1871 - HIS PRIMARY

ALLEGIANCE WAS NOT TO GERMANY BUT TO PRUSSIA & TO THE

29
PRUSSIAN KING ... HE ONLY UNITED GERMANY TO PROTECT PRUSSIAN

INTERESTS ... AS BISMARCK MIGHT HAVE PUT IT - WHAT WAS GOOD FOR

PRUSSIA WAS GOOD FOR GERMANY

BEYOND THAT - BISMARCK WAS A FIRM BELIEVER IN MILITARISM & IN

AUTOCRATIC GOVERNMENT ... HE HAD NO TIME FOR NOTIONS LIKE

LIKE DEMOCRACY & HE DETESTED LIBERALISM ... HE WAS THE

MOST FAMOUS PRACTITIONER OF REALPOLITIK

BISMARCK’S DISDAIN FOR PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY WERE SUMMED

UP IN WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS HIS “BLOOD & IRON SPEECH” ... “THE

GREAT QUESTIONS OF THE DAY WILL NOT BE DECIDED BY SPEECHES &

RESOLUTIONS”- HE DECLARED - “BUT BY BLOOD & IRON”

IN OTHER WORDS – BY WAR

BETWEEN 1864 & 1871 BISMARCK LED PRUSSIA INTO 3 SEPARATE WARS

AT THE END OF WHICH HE HAD CREATED A UNIFIED GERMAN STATE

FOR HIS ADMIRERS, BISMARCK ACHIEVED WITH THE PRUSSIAN ARMY

WHAT THE REVOLUTIONARIES OF 1848 HAD FAILED TO ACHIEVE

WITH WORDS

THE 3 WARS FOUGHT BY BISMARCK WERE WITH - DENMARK IN 1864 -

AUSTRIA IN 1866 - &, FINALLY, FRANCE IN 1870-71

IN ALL 3 CASES - & AGAINST ALL EXPECTATIONS, THE PRUSSIAN ARMY

SCORED STUNNING VICTORIES

30
Napoleon III portrait

IN BOTH OF THE 1ST TWO WARS - BISMARCK WAS CAREFUL NOT TO

HUMILIATE THE DANES & THE AUSTRIANS ... NOT SO, WHEN IT

CAME THE FRENCH - WHO WERE LED BY THIS MAN, NAPOLEON III ...

THE NEPHEW OF - YES - NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

NAPOLEON III ROSE TO POWER IN THE WAKE OF THE REVOLUTIONS OF

1848 & CONVINCED HIMSELF THAT HE WAS EVERY BIT AS MUCH A GREAT

LEADER AS WAS HIS FAMOUS UNCLE ... HE WAS NOT

TO COMPLETE GERMAN UNIFICATION, BISMARCK PROVOKED A WAR &

IN THE PROCESS, MANAGED TO MAKE NAPOLEON III LOOK LIKE THE

AGGRESSOR

Bismarck & Napoleon III at Sedan

IF THAT WERE NOT ENOUGH, AT THE 1 ST
MAJOR OF WHAT IS CALLED THE

FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR - THE BATTLE OF SEDAN IN 1870 - NOT ONLY

WAS THE FRENCH ARMY DEFEATED ... NAPOLEON WAS CAPTURED

HERE’S A RATHER STYLIZED PAINTING SHOWING A THE DEJECTED

FRENCH EMPEROR WITH BISMARCK

THE DEFEAT AT SEDAN BROUGHT NAPOLEON’S 2ND EMPIRE TO A CRASHING

END - BUT FRANCE’S WAR WITH THE PRUSSIANS & THE OTHER GERMAN

STATES DIDN’T FINALLY END IN MAY 1871

MEANTIME, BISMARCK - WHO HAD AN EYE FOR THE DRAMATIC - TOOK

31

ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT THAT ALL OF GERMAN PRINCES WERE IN

FRANCE &, IN THE FLUSH OF VICTORY OVER THE FRENCH - USED THE

SITUATION TO INCORPORATE 4 REMAINING GERMAN STATES INTO HIS

NEW GERMAN EMPIRE, OR REICH

Wilhelm I proclaimed Kaiser

THE PRUSSIAN KING - WILHELM I - WAS PROCLAIMED GERMAN EMPEROR

- OR TO USE THE GERMAN WORD KAISER - IN OF ALL PLACES - THE HALL

OF MIRRORS AT THE PALACE OF VERSAILLES ... THE VERY SYMBOL

OF FRANCE’S GRANDEUR & POWER SINCE THE TIME OF LOUIS XIV

AN EVENT PORTRAYED IN THIS PAINTING

BISMARCK’S DECISION TO HAVE WILHELM I PROCLAIMED KAISER AT

VERSAILLES WAS MORE THAN SYMBOLIC ... HE WAS TELLING EUROPE,

INDEED BISMARCK WAS TELLING THE WORLD - THAT GERMANY HAD

REPLACED FRANCE AS THE DOMINANT POWER ON THE

CONTINENT

THAT WAS JUST THE BEGINNING OF FRANCE'S HUMILIATION ... UNLIKE

HIS GENEROUS PEACE TREATY WIT AUSTRIA - BISMARCK IMPOSED VERY

HARSH TERMS ON THE FRENCH

32
NOT ONLY WAS THE COUNTRY FORCED TO PAY HUGE REPARATIONS TO

THE NEW EMPIRE - THE GERMANS IMPOSED AN ARMY OF OCCUPATION

UNTIL THE BILL WAS PAID

WORST OF ALL - FRANCE WAS FORCED TO CEDE 2 PROVINCES -

ALSACE & LORRAINE - TO GERMANY

German unification map

THE LOSS OF THESE PROVINCES FATALLY POISONED RELATIONS

BETWEEN FRANCE & THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE ... FOR MOST FRENCH MEN

& WOMEN THE LOSS OF ALSACE-LORRAINE WAS A CRIME - A CRIME THAT

MUST BE AVENGED ... & THIS DETERMINATION LED DIRECTLY TO

THE TRENCHES OF WORLD WAR I

THAT WAS JUST 1 OF THE SIGNIFICANT OUTCOMES OF GERMAN

UNIFICATION

AUSTRIA'S EXPULSION FROM GERMAN AFFAIRS MEANT THAT IT

INCREASINGLY TURNED ITS ATTENTION TO THE BALKANS ...

AUSTRIA'S EXPANSION INTO THE BALKANS WAS YET ANOTHER FACTOR

THAT BROUGHT ON WORLD WAR I - &, WHILE THIS IS GETTING A BIT

AHEAD ... THIS EXPANSION ALSO CREATED THE CONDITIONS FOR THE

ETHNIC CONFLICT IN THE BALKANS WAGED IN PLACES LIKE

33
BOSNIA & KOSOVO IN THE 1990s

FINALLY - & MOST IMPORTANTLY - GERMAN UNIFICATION LED TO

WHAT SOME HISTORIANS CALL THE GERMAN QUESTION ... THERE WAS

NOW - AT THE HEART OF EUROPE – A MAJOR POWER - & NOT JUST A

MILITARY POWER … BUT, ALSO AN INDUSTRIAL POWER THAT WAS

SOON OUTPACING ALL OF ITS EUROPEAN COMPETITORS

THIS POINT WAS DRIVEN HOME BY GERMANY’S UNOFFICIAL - NATIONAL -

ANTHEM ... Deutschland über Alles - WHOSE LITERAL MEANING -

GERMANY OVER ALL - OFTEN WAS MISUNDERSTOOD ... WHILE THE

SONG IS MEANT TO CONVEY SIMPLE PRIDE IN & LOVE FOR GERMANY ... TO

NON-GERMANS, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO LIVED NEARBY - IT SEEMED

TO MEAN THAT GERMANS MEANT TO DOMINATE ALL OF EUROPE

AND - IT MUST BE SAID - IN THE DECADES AFTER UNIFICATION - IT IS EASY

TO UNDERSTAND WHY OTHER EUROPEANS FELT THOSE FEARS WERE

JUSTIFIED ... IF GERMANY HAD BEEN UNIFIED IN 1848 - IT’S MIGHT HAVE

DEVELOPED AS A LIBERAL, DEMOCRATIC STATE ... INSTEAD, IT WAS

UNIFIED UNDER VERY DIFFERENT CONDITIONS ...

Bismarck at the Congress of Berlin, 1878

IN A VERY REAL SENSE – BISMARCK’S VICTORY WAS WON AT THE EXPENSE

34
OF GERMAN LIBERALISM ... THIS TRAGEDY - & IT WAS A TRAGEDY -

NOT JUST FOR GERMANY ALONE - WAS THAT BY FOLLOWING THE

PRUSSIAN, MILITARY MODEL OF DEVELOPMENT

THE END OF THIS ROAD - FOR BOTH GERMANY & EUROPE IN GENERAL

WOULD TO BE 2 WORLD WARS

OSTENSIBLY - THE NEW GERMAN STATE WAS A CONSTITUTIONAL

MONARCHY ... THE GERMAN PARLIAMENT HAD 2 HOUSES ... AN

UPPER HOUSE - THE BUNDESRAT - & A 2ND HOUSE - THE REICHSTAG

ALL GERMAN MALES OVER THE AGE OF 25 HAD THE RIGHT TO VOTE

FOR MEMBERS IN THE REICHSTAG - {See Hayes on Germany & France}

THE GOVERNMENT HAD AN EXECUTIVE -HEADED BY A CHANCELLOR - A

PRIME MINISTER - WITH A CABINET ... BUT REAL POWER WAS IN THE

HANDS OF THE KAISER, THE GERMAN ARISTOCRACY - THE JUNKERS &,

NOT LEAST, THE ARMY

FOR A TIME, ANYWAY, BISMARCK WAS SUCCESSFUL IN MAINTAINING THE

DOMINANCE OF THESE OLD ELITES

TO HEAD OFF HIS LIBERAL OPPONENTS - MAINLY THE SOCIALISTS

BISMARCK INSTITUTED THE WEST'S 1ST SOCIAL WELFARE STATE -

AS WAS TRUE OF VIRTUALLY ALL THE INDUSTRIALIZED COUNTRIES

AT THIS TIME - WORKING CONDITIONS IN GERMAN FACTORIES WERE

APPALLING ... TO AVOID A REVOLUTION FROM THE LEFT, BISMARCK

35
DECIDED TO WIN OVER THE DISAFFECTED BY EMBARKING ON WHAT

CALLED THE WHITE REVOLUTION ... THIS TERM HAD NOTHING TO

DO WITH RACE ... INSTEAD, THE POLITICAL LEFT IN EUROPE HAD

ADOPTED THE COLOR RED & THE POLITICAL RIGHT ADOPTED THE

COLOR WHITE AS ITS SYMBOL

IN EFFECT, HE PERSUADED THE GERMAN PARLIAMENT TO PASS A SERIES

OF LAWS GIVING WORKERS BENEFITS IN CASE OF ILLNESS OR INJURY

HE ALSO ESTABLISHED THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD'S 1st STATE-SUPPORTED

OLD-AGE PENSIONS SYSTEM -WHAT YOU & I CALL SOCIAL

SECURITY ... & HE ESTABLISHED THE RETIREMENT AGE AT 65

WHEN IT CAME TO GERMANY’S RELATIONS WITH THE REST OF THE WORLD

BISMARCK WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR CREATING A SERIES OF

MILITARY ALLIANCES - ALL DESIGNED TO PREVENT A SITUATION IN

WHICH GERMANY WOULD BE SURROUNDED BY ITS ENEMIES

IN HIS OWN TIME - BISMARCK’S POLICIES WERE LARGELY SUCCESSFUL

BUT - IN 1888 - WILHELM I DIED ... HIS SON & HEIR, THE LIBERAL
MINDED FREDERICK WILHELM III - HOWEVER - HAD CANCER &

FOLLOWED HIS FATHER TO HIS REWARD A MERE 99 DAYS LATER

THAT MEANT THAT THE NEW KAISER WOULD BE THE 29-YEAR-OLD

WILHELM II
Wilhelm II portrait
36
TO SAY THAT WILHELM II WAS HEADSTRONG WOULD BE PUTTING IT

MILDLY ... & IT WAS ALMOST FOREORDAINED THAT HE & BISMARCK

WOULD CLASH ... HERE IS A GOOD EXAMPLE OF HOW POLITICIANS FAIL TO

PLAN FOR THE UNEXPECTED ... FOR ALL HIS SKILLS, IT NEVER SEEMS TO

HAVE OCCURRED TO BISMARCK THAT A GERMAN KAISER COULD BE AS

ERRATIC AS WILHELM

SO, IRONICALLY - THE VERY SYSTEM OF BISMARCK’S OWN MAKING - IN

WHICH THE KAISER WOULD DISMISS HIS CHANCELLOR WITHOUT ANY

ONE TO STOP HIM PROVED TO BE BISMARCK’S UNDOING

Dropping the Pilot cartoon

LESS THAN 2 YEARS AFTER TAKING THE CROWN, WILHELM DISMISSED

THE IRON CHANCELLOR - AS BISMARCK HAD BECOME KNOWN ... A

DISMISSAL FAMOUSLY ILLUSTRATED BY THIS CARTOON THAT APPEARED

IN THE BRITISH MAGAZINE – PUNCH

Wilhelm close-up photo

FREED OF HIS CHANCELLOR - WILHELM EMBARKED ON A SERIES OF FOREIGN

POLICY ADVENTURES THAT - 1ST PERPLEXED & THEN THREATENED THE

OTHER MAJOR EUROPEAN POWERS

WILHELM II’S AMBITIONS FOR HIS GERMAN EMPIRE WENT FAR BEYOND

ANYTHING BISMARCK ENVISIONED ... WITH THIS NEW DEPARTURE, CALLED

37
WELTPOLITIK - OR WORLD POLICY - WILHELM EMBRACED THE

IDEA THAT GERMANY MUST BE A WORLD POWER - WITH A COLONIAL

EMPIRE - & A NAVY - TO ACCOMPANY IT’S ALREADY HUGE ARMY

THE UPSHOT WAS THAT BY 1914 - WILHELM’S POLICIES HAD ALIENATED

NEARLY ALL THE OTHER GREAT EUROPEAN POWERS - EXCEPT FOR THE

WEAKEST OF THE GROUP - AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

IN GERMANY ITSELF - THE OLD ELITES ... THE MONARCHY - THE

ARISTOCRACY - THE ARMY - WERE BEING CHALLENGED FROM TWO

DIRECTIONS ...

1ST - THEY FACED A CHALLENGE FROM NEWER INDUSTRIAL &

COMMERCIAL GROUPS - & ...

2ND - WHAT WAS EVEN MORE THREATENING TO THESE OLD ELITES - WAS
THE CHALLENGE FROM AN INCREASINGLY LARGE WORKERS’ MOVEMENT

LED BY THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY - THE SPD

THE SPD DEMANDED RADICAL CHANGES TO GERMAN SOCIETY

DEMANDS THAT WERE APPEALING TO MANY GERMAN WORKING-CLASS

VOTERS

IN OTHER WORDS - BY 1914 - BOTH AT HOME & ABROAD - THE GERMANY

THAT BISMARCK HAD CREATED WAS VERY MUCH A NATION IN CRISIS

38
BEYOND EUROPE, ITSELF, ITALY, AS WELL AS GERMANY HAD BECOME

IMPERIAL POWERS

LIKE THE BRITISH, THE FRENCH, & OTHER EUOROPEAN POWERS - & LIKE

THE AMERICANS, & THE JAPANESE - THE GERMANS & THE ITALIANS

SET THEIR SIGHTS ON LANDS IN AFRICA & ASIA

WHAT IS KNOWN AS THE AGE OF IMPERIALISM IS A STORY WITH

MANY LAYERS – IT IS ONE THAT IS STILL AFFECTING ALL OF US TO THIS

DAY - & IT IS THE ONE I WANT TO TURN TO NEXT