Socialism, Italian and German Unification: 19th Century
Utopian and Scientific Socialism in the 19th Century
Utopian socialism emerged in early 19th-century France. It was used to designate doctrines opposed to capitalism, defending equality and solidarity in a new society. A number of thinkers from the middle class and even the nobility, concerned about social contradictions resulting from industrialization, developed theories that proposed different solutions and models of society. Among these figures were Saint-Simon, Fourier, Blanc, and Blanqui. They all agreed on the criticism of the capitalist system and defended social evolution against revolution. They preferred to use peaceful means rather than violent action to achieve their goals and appealed to the goodness and consistency of the human condition.
Scientific socialism‘s main ideologue was Karl Marx, and his collaborator Engels. They founded the first two organizations based on the principles of scientific socialism and disseminated their ideas in illegal publications, such as the *Rhenish Gazette*, directed by Marx. During his life in exile, Marx initially moved in liberal circles but concluded that liberalism was unable to resolve capitalist contradictions. In 1848, he composed the *Communist Manifesto* and was the founder of the First International. One of his basic theses concerning the economic view of history is that the economy is the determinant factor in history. Economic changes trigger all social and cultural movements that influence the religious phenomenon, the state, science, and even the mentality of people. In the *Communist Manifesto*, Marx defines history as a struggle between oppressors and oppressed. In this class struggle, Engels differentiates between economic struggle, politics, and ideology. The thesis of the dictatorship of the proletariat is the most controversial. The proletariat’s objective is to seize political power to transform the capitalist system into a socialist model. All these ideas gave rise to the creation of socialist parties.
Italian Unification
Initial Situation: A Mosaic of States
The Italian peninsula had been divided into several states by the 19th century. Parts of Italy were even under foreign rule. The existence of a common language was the basis of requests for unity. In revolutions of the first half of the 19th century, nationalist revolts occurred but were unsuccessful. Finally, the unification initiative came from the Kingdom of Piedmont. Its Prime Minister, Cavour, achieved that the French Emperor Napoleon III supported the Italian demands.
Unification Process
In 1859, the Franco-Piedmontese army defeated the Austrians at Magenta and Solferino. After achieving peace in the north, the Republican Garibaldi, leading a volunteer army, conquered the southern states. Then, Piedmontese troops occupied central Italy to prevent Garibaldi from entering Rome. In 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, whose first king was Victor Emmanuel II, King of Piedmont. Only Venice and the Papal States remained outside the kingdom, joining in 1866 and 1870, respectively.
German Unification
In 1815, the German territory was divided into 39 states. The Congress of Vienna grouped them under the so-called German Confederation, presided over by Austria. The most powerful state was Prussia, the focus of unification. In 1834, Prussia organized a customs union that excluded Austria. Nationalism advanced, becoming evident in the revolution of 1848 when a parliament met in Frankfurt and offered the crown of a unified Germany to the King of Prussia, but he refused.
The Birth of a Great Power
As of 1862, the Prussian King Wilhelm I and Chancellor Bismarck accelerated the unification process via military means. In 1866, after the victory over Austria in the Battle of Sadowa, Prussia created the Confederation of Northern Germany. In 1870, after the victory over France at the Battle of Sedan, the southern German states joined the confederation. In 1871, the German Empire, the Second Reich, was born, with Wilhelm I as its emperor. Germany became a great power.