Italy and Germany: the Congress of Vienna and the Road to 1848 (History HL)

The big idea: After Napoleon's defeat, the great powers met at the Congress of Vienna (1814–1815) to redraw the map of Europe. For Italy and Germany, the result was the same: fragmentation, conservative rule, and Austrian dominance.

The man who enforced this order for the next three decades was Austria's foreign minister, Prince Metternich. He saw nationalism as a virus that would destroy empires — and he was determined to stop it.

Before 1815, Napoleon had simplified the map dramatically. He merged hundreds of German mini-states into larger units and gave Italians a taste of unified law codes and administration. Then the Congress of Vienna swept much of that away — but it could not erase the ideas Napoleon had spread.

Metternich's system: Metternich used three tools to hold down nationalist and liberal movements:

1. The Concert of Europe — regular congresses (Aix-la-Chapelle 1818, Troppau 1820, Laibach 1821, Verona 1822) where the great powers agreed to intervene to crush revolutions.

2. The Carlsbad Decrees (1819) — issued through the German Confederation, these suppressed liberal newspapers, closed student associations (Burschenschaften) and set up a commission to spy on universities.

3. Military intervention — Austria crushed the Neapolitan revolution of 1820–21 and the Piedmontese revolt of 1821 directly.

Paper 3 angle: how this is tested: Paper 3 essays often ask why the 1815 settlement made nationalism so explosive in Italy and Germany. The key argument is that Vienna created artificial boundaries that cut across where people actually lived, spoke and identified — and then tried to suppress the ideas that challenged those boundaries. That contradiction is the engine of everything that follows up to 1871 and 1871.

Two ideas the old order feared: Nationalism and liberalism were the twin threats to the 1815 settlement.

In Italy, both ideas were spread by secret societies and radical thinkers. In Germany, they grew especially among students and the educated middle class in what historians call the Vormärz period.

In Italy, the main channel for radical ideas in the 1820s and 1830s was the Carbonari — a secret society whose members swore oaths, used coded language and organised uprisings. They were poorly coordinated, but they kept the flame of revolution alive through two waves of revolt: in Naples and Piedmont in 1820–21, and in the Papal States and the central duchies in 1831–32. Both were crushed by Austria.

After those failures, thinkers began to ask: what kind of Italy should there be, and how should it be built? Two very different answers emerged.

Mazzini vs Gioberti — the key contrast: Mazzini wanted a democratic republic built by the people rising up — no kings, no pope, no foreign powers.

Gioberti wanted a federal monarchy led by the Pope — conservative, Catholic, and working within existing structures.

Both failed to achieve unification — but their debate set the terms of Italian politics for a generation.

Why did the early revolts all fail?: The pattern is consistent: a small group of educated liberals or secret-society members raised a revolt, the masses did not join, and Austria sent in the army.

Three reasons for failure: 1. No mass support — peasants cared about land and food, not constitutions or national unity 2. Austrian military superiority — the Habsburgs could move troops quickly across the peninsula 3. The conspirators were divided — republicans vs federalists, liberals vs radicals, and none coordinated across the peninsula

1848 — the 'Springtime of Nations': In early 1848, revolution swept across Europe like a wave. Within weeks, every major Italian state had an uprising, and in Germany the Frankfurt Parliament assembled to write a liberal constitution for a united Germany.

By 1849, every single one of these revolutions had been defeated. The immediate goals — constitutions, unity, liberal governments — were all lost. But the defeats had lasting lessons that shaped the next generation of political leaders.

The causes of 1848 were a potent mix of long-term pressure and short-term crisis. Understanding both levels is essential for Paper 3 essays.

Nature of the revolutions

Why did the revolutions fail?: In Italy: - No unified command — the Italian states fought Austria separately and fell one by one - The papacy withdrew — Pius IX refused to fight a Catholic power (Austria) and fled Rome, wrecking Gioberti's federal dream - France intervened against the Roman Republic to restore the Pope - Piedmont's army was simply defeated in the field

In Germany: - The Frankfurt Parliament had no army — it had to beg Prussia and Austria to act for it - The liberals were too cautious and too divided (Grossdeutsch vs Kleindeutsch) - The working-class radicals were alienated when the Parliament showed it cared more about property rights than social reform - Frederick William IV refused the crown — he would not accept kingship from the people, only from princes

Consequences of defeat — the lessons that shaped 1860 and 1870: The defeats of 1848–49 taught the next generation of leaders crucial lessons:

In Italy: Cavour drew the conclusion that unification could not come through popular revolution — it needed a strong army (Piedmont's), diplomatic skill, and a great power ally (France). Garibaldi remained a revolutionary, but even he eventually accepted Piedmont's leadership.

In Germany: Bismarck watched the liberals fail and concluded that German unity would come through 'iron and blood' — Prussian military power, not parliamentary debate. The failure of the Frankfurt Parliament discredited liberal constitutionalism and shifted momentum to the Prussian state.

So 1848 failed immediately — but it set the agenda for everything that came after.