French Revolution, Napoleon, and Unification of Italy & Germany

French Revolution

The most prominent group was the Girondins. The monarchy was abolished, and the Republic was proclaimed in 1792. Louis XVI was guillotined. Popular discontent before the war was exploited by radical Jacobins to access power. Their leader, Robespierre, proclaimed a more democratic constitution in 1793, which established universal male suffrage. He used terror and the guillotine against those who opposed the system. After Robespierre's demise via the guillotine, power shifted to members of the center, who crafted the Constitution of 1795.

The Consulate

Composition

Executive power was to be held by a directory of five members. Napoleon Bonaparte carried out several military campaigns in Italy and Egypt. He staged a coup in 1799 and replaced the directory with a consulate consisting of three consuls. Napoleon managed to be named first consul.

The Battle of Trafalgar

In 1805, Great Britain defeated the Franco-Spanish fleet and withstood the economic blockade, or prohibition of trade, with the British.

Defeat of Napoleon

After the failure against Russia and defeat in Spain, in 1814, a coalition of European powers, comprising the United Kingdom, Austria, Prussia, and Russia, signed in Paris. Napoleon was banished to Elba Island, and the monarchy was restored in France, in the person of Louis XVIII. The following year, Napoleon managed to escape the island and regain power for a hundred days. He was defeated by the allies at Waterloo in 1815 and exiled on the island of St. Helena, where he died in 1821.

Congress of Vienna (1814-1815)

The Congress was convened by the powers that defeated Napoleon (United Kingdom, Austria, Prussia, and Russia) with the objective to restore absolutism and reconstruct the map of Europe. The Holy Alliance (1815) undertook to assist its members in case of a revolutionary threat. The Quadruple Alliance (1815) aimed to defend the established order and deal with national issues through Congress.

Italian Unification (1859-1870)

Italy was divided into seven states and was under some foreign influence, as was the case with the Kingdom of Lombardy and Veneto. The unification was directed by the Kingdom of Sardinia under King Victor Emmanuel II and his prime minister Count Cavour, who counted on the help of revolutionary Garibaldi. The territories joined Piedmont. Garibaldi's army conquered territories. In 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed.

The Unification of Germany (1864-1871)

Germany was the so-called Germanic Confederation, composed of 39 states, including Austria. The unification was led by the Kingdom of Prussia (William I) and Otto von Bismarck. It was granted in two stages. In 1866, Prussia faced Austria. Prussia's defeat in Sadowa allowed the unification of the German states of the north. Afterward, France struggled to achieve the unification of German states in the south. The loss of Alsace and Lorraine led to the creation of the Second Reich, or the German Empire. Germany established universal male suffrage and a federal political system.