Napoleon's first major mistake was made in March of 1808, when Napoleon intervened in a dispute between the present king of Spain and the king's son. He placed them both in prison and put his own brother on the throne. The people of Spain did not take too kindly to this act and so began a bloody war that was not defined by major battles, but by guerrilla warfare that kept a large number of French troops occupied to keep control of the country. French troops would end up executing hundreds of Spaniards who were thought to be resisting French power. Britain saw an opportunity to weaken Napoleon's empire by landing 13,000 troops on the coast of Portugal, where they made their way up along Spain's coastline.
Revolutions between 1820-1821, 1831-1832 and 1948-1949 were all ultimately overthrown to some extent by Austrian force. Prince Clement Metternich, the Austrian chancellor, was a passionate opponent of Italian Nationalism. A main catalyst for this was the issue of Austrian pride. The Liberals, Radicals and Nationalists ideas within Italy (that the people has a right to some say in government, fairer distribution of wealth and greater independence) would completely undermine Austrian control over Italy. In the interest of Austria’s security, Metternich was keen to suppress liberal and nationalists movements, and was determined to maintain dominance so that Austria would not appear weak.
Italy wanted to become a country instead of individual states. This would make them more powerful against the other big countries across Europe. They had tried to do this previously with revolutions in the 1820’s and 30’s but failed. They hoped they would be more successful in 1848 with the appointment of Pope Pius X1. The main reasons I will be looking at for why the revolutions failed are The Pope’s Allocution, they didn’t have a common goal, France, lack of foreign support and also the power of Austria.
Homework Past Question Explain how the Nazis increased their control over Germany from 1933-4. Hitler had become Chancellor of the Weimar Republic on 30th January 1933 but this was still a weak position and was under threat from the Reichstag, President Hindenburg and the army. All of them could prevent his rise to power. Each of these would have to be dealt with in turn if he was to set up a successful dictatorship. He was also under threat from other groups especially the Communist Party.
Empire & Spanish-American War After the Spanish-American war, the US government understood that the Spanish could not sail through easily. The war left a large destruction especially on the Spanish side. The initial situation affected the economy of the America following lack of market for their produce. The root reforms to the war remain Economic, Geopolitical and Cultural. The Americans had the strong desire of resolving the surplus problem.
‘To what extent do you agree that the nationalist movement was the greatest threat facing the liberal government by 1914?’ By 1914, there were a number of threats to the liberal government. Examples of these are from the PSI (the socialist party), nationalists and the Catholic Church. The reasons why these groups were a threat to the liberal government was in part because of the weaknesses of the liberal government itself, and the poor state of the economy under the liberals. The economy especially led to a lack of Italian identity, with very high levels of emigration (mainly to the USA). These factors led to a fragile liberal government, with the main threat in my opinion being posed not by the nationalists but the socialists.
“It is more accurate to talk of a potential revolution which ran away into the sand than the genuine article” Before we can assess whether a ‘genuine’ revolution took place in 1918, or if held many promises and yet failed to deliver, we must look at the term ‘Revolution’. This often refers to a substantial change in power/structure that takes place within a short time span. Germany was in a vulnerable position, susceptible to change as the defeat in the war had shaken people’s faith in the government. There was undoubtedly political changes undergone in Germany but whether they fundamentally shook the German foundations of society can be seriously questioned. It can be argued that the ’Weimar Republic’ , the outcome of the revolution was a facade of the old authoritarian regime, carrying out change under false pretences of a democratic institution, with the Right Wing Conservatives still in control.
This provided an opportunity for the revolutionary nationalist movements that offered action-based means to rebuilding nations. This essay will address the Fascist ideology in comparison to the other popular political movements of the time. Focusing on Italy and Germany, it will identify and discuss the post-war crisis events that led European societies away from democracy and towards the one-party state. Fascism was a “response to the problems of national development and individual identity that appeared in the wake of military defeat, political frustration, demobilization, class struggle and economic depression”. The Fascist ideology, as first outlined by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, varied greatly from one Fascist party to another.
This patronage was important because of the threat from political extremists; the government needed a strong army of support that could withstand the persuasions of the extreme left and right winged groups, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) and the British Union of Fascists (BUF). In European counties such as Russia and Germany they had succumbed to fascism and communism. It could be argued that this takeover of political extremism in both countries was due to the weaknesses in foreign government. After Russia’s 1916 revolution they were left in a vulnerable position without a government meaning they were more susceptible to influences of a communist party who took advantage of the country’s instability therefore the country became communist. Similarly in Germany the economic depression and the downfall of the Weimar Republic left their country in a state of vulnerability that was taken advantage of by the fascist party.
France thought the war would not only help by stopping Germany’s increase in power. It would also help Napoleon III to regain his popularity after some of his failures after the commencement of his dictatorship, such as the Mexican adventure of 1867. I will now go onto the short term reasons. Firstly, Spain needed a king and Bismarck saw his chance to send Prince Leopold to become king there. France protested because they thought that having German influence on both sides would be too much if conflict would have occured.