The Unification of Italy and Germany: Nationalism and State Formation

Posted on Oct 17, 2025 in History

Common Aspects of 19th Century Unification

In both Italy and Germany, the nationalist movement quickly aligned with liberal and democratic currents, drawing support primarily from the middle classes and the *intellectual class*. The widespread influence of Romanticism allowed for the restoration of an ideology that served both contemporary obsessions: Liberal Democracy and Nationalism.

Various states within Italy and Germany participated in the revolutionary waves of the 1820s, 1830s, and 1848. The unification of both nations was ultimately made possible by the presence of two specific factors:

  • The extent of **industrialization**.
  • The political hegemony of the strongest monarchies located at the head of the unification processes: **Piedmont** in Italy and **Prussia** in Germany.

The Unification of Italy (Risorgimento)

The new monarch, Victor Emmanuel II (proclaimed in 1849), and his Prime Minister, Count Cavour, launched a policy focused on the modernization of Piedmont and a nationalistic approach aimed at sectors throughout Italy.

Key Steps in Italian Unification:

  1. The annexation of Lombardy (1859).
  2. In the following months, various duchies joined Piedmont through popular revolutions.
  3. The annexation of Southern Italy came through the initiative of the democratic sector, led by **Giuseppe Garibaldi**.

Garibaldi projected the invasion of Sicily with a trained volunteer force of a few thousand men. The expedition received major popular support, and soon Garibaldian forces occupied the whole island and the Kingdom of Naples (1860). Garibaldi then ceded these annexed territories to King Victor Emmanuel II. This process led to the birth of the Kingdom of Italy (1861), which was completed with the annexation of the Veneto (1866) and Rome (1870).

Significant Contradictions:

  • The stark difference in industrialization between the North and the South.
  • The divorce between the secular and liberal state and the Church.
  • The marginalization of democratic sectors.

The Unification of Germany (The Second Reich)

The definitive push for unity came from Prussia, spurred by King William I and his Prime Minister, **Otto von Bismarck**, who ruled from 1862. Bismarck led with an “iron hand” policy aimed at modernizing Prussia, integrating the other member states of the *Zollverein* (Customs Union), and achieving political unification.

Bismarck believed that most German princes and states would accept Prussian political leadership if they were forced to collaborate in wars against common enemies. Thus, through several foreign wars, Bismarck attained the unity of Germany under Prussian hegemony.

In 1871, after defeating the French army, the Prussian King, William I, was proclaimed Emperor of Germany (*Kaiser*) and recognized as such by all German states and princes. This marked the birth of the **Second Reich**, or German Empire.

Characteristics of the New German State:

  • Although the empire was organized federally, allowing each territory to retain some key elements of its own legislation, Prussian rule over the whole country was obvious.
  • Germany was born as a state founded on a conservative ideology and characterized by a conspicuously heavy weight of **militarism**.
  • The hegemonic majority of the Lutheran North created strong resentment among the southern states, which held a Catholic majority.
  • The German workers’ movement also felt marginalized by the new state.