Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/337

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EUROPE. 291 EUROPE. Italy, Sardinia was strengthened ; but Austria held a dominant position in the north. The Papal States were reestablished, and Naples and Sicily were restored to their Bourbon ruler. (See Map: Europe After the Congress of Vienna.) Reaction and Revolution (1815-52). The pur- pose of the Congress of Vienna was to reestablish legitimate monarchic authority. To maintain this authority and to resist all revolutionary movements, an alliance was formed by the Em- perors of Russia and Austria and the King of Prussia. (See Holy Alliance.) Of this alli- ance and of the reactionary policy followed by the majority of the European governments till 1848 Metternich (q.v.), the Austrian Minister, was the directing spirit. Among the peoples of Europe, however, there was a natural desire for some share in government; and in Germany and Italy there was a strong desire for national unity. The attitude of the princes made it ap- pear impossible that unity could be attained except through popular sovereignty. For this reason the nationalists in Germany and Italy became revolutionists and, to a large extent, republicans. Revolutionary agitation was main- tained by secret associations. (See Burschen- schaft; Mazzini; Young Italy.) The first popular outbreaks occurred in 1820 in Spain and in Naples. In each of these kingdoms the mon- arch was forced to grant a liberal constitution. Acting under the authorization of European con- gresses, Austria forcibly intervened in Naples and France in Spain; the objectionable constitu- tions were withdrawn, and absolute royal govern- ment was reestablished. The next purely political outbreak occurred in 1830 in France. Louis XVIII. had granted his people a constitution, and bail reigned in peace. Charles X. attempted to subvert the constitution, and was deposed. (See July Revolution.) Louis Philippe, of the House of Orleans, was made King, and a more liberal constitution was adopted. The French example stirred the Liberals to action in other parts of Europe. In Germany a few of the smaller king- doms and principalities had already received representative constitutions; in 1830, in con- sequence of popular demonstrations, nearly all the other minor States were constitutionalized. The governments of Prussia and of Austria, how- ever, made no such concessions. In Belgium and in Poland insurrections occurred, which were national rather than political. The Belgians re- volted against the Dutch rule and elected Leopold of Saxe-Coburg as their King; and France and England forced Holland to recognize Belgian in- dependence (1831). Poland rebelled against its King, the Russian Czar; but this rebellion was crushed and Poland became a Russian province. In 1848 France was again in revolution. (See February Revolution.) Louis Philippe had resisted the demand for a wider suffrage and was deposed. A republic was established; a struggle followed between the socialistic and conservative elements: a socialistic rising in Paris was put down with much slaughter; Louis Napoleon was elected President. Three years later the Presi- dent overthrew the Constitution, and in 1852 he assumed the title of Emperor. (See Napoleon III.) Both of these changes were approved by vote nf the French people. In 1848, as in 1830. tlie dis- turbances at Paris were followed by disturbances throughout central Europe. Popular uprisings at Berlin and Vienna forced the Prussian and Austrian rulers to grant constitutions. Here and everywhere else in Germany the revolutionary leaders also demanded national unity. All the German kings and princes bowed to the storm, and a parliament was assembled at Frankfort to draw up a constitution for a united Germany. Simultaneously the people of Schleswig EtolsteiH took arms against Denmark and demanded that these duchies should lie incorporated in the new Germany; while the Bohemian, Hungarian, and Italian subjects of Austria rose against German rule. The Austrian* were driven out of Lom- bardy and Venice, and throughout the rest of Italy the people either expelled their princes or forced them to send troops to the aid of the insurgent Venetians and Lombards. The united Italian forces were placed under the command of the King of Sardinia. All these movements came to nothing. The Austrian Army restored order in Bohemia and at Vienna, and defeated the Italians. With the aid of Russia, the Hun- garian insurrection also was crushed. All the Italian princes recovered their thrones; the Pope, who had been expelled from Rome, was reinstated by Napoleon. The Frankfort Parliament, after long deliberation, determined to organize all- Germany except Austria as a federal empire, and offered the King of Prussia the Imperial crown. He declined the offer and the German Parliament dispersed. A belated attempt of the King of Prussia to organize the 'narrower ( fer- many' on more conservative lines than those proposed at Frankfort also failed. The old con- federation was reestablished, and the people of Schleswig-Holstein were again made subject to the King of Denmark. Eastern Affairs (1815-50). In 1821 a rising against the Turks in Wallachia gave the signal for insurrection in Greece. After several years of conflict, Russia, England, and France intervened. The allies destroyed the Turkish-Egyptian fleet at Navarino ( 1827 ) . and Russia declared war on Turkey ( 1828 ) . The peace of Adrianople ( 1 829 ) guaranteed to Servia, Wallachia, and Moldavia the management of their own affairs under Chris- tian governors, and made Greece independent. Greece was organized as a kingdom under Otto of Bavaria (1832-62). In 1831 war broke out between the Viceroy of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, and his suzerain, the Sultan, and the Turkish forces were worsted. Russia intervened and brought about peace, taking pay for its services in a. treaty of alliance ( Unkiar-Skelessi, 1833) which practically gave it a protectorate over the Turk- ish Empire. In 1853. after attempting to arrange with England a partition of the Turkish Empire, Russia occupied the Danubian Principalities. Austria and Prussia assumed an attitude of un- friendly neutrality; England and France came to the aid of Turkey, and carried the war into Rus- sian territory. ( See Crimean War. ) The Peace of Paris, 1856, pushed Russia back from the mouth of the Danube (Bessarabia, previously Russian, being ceded to Moldavia), neutralized the Black Sea. and placed Turkey under the pro- tection of Europe. In return Turkey promised reforms. National Organization of Italy and Ger- many (1850-71). The unification of Italy and Germany, which the popular revolutions of 1848 had failed to achieve, was accomplished by revo- lution from above. In Italy the movement was initiated and directed by the Sardinian Premier.