Editing History of Europe (section)

==From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914)==
{{See also|Age of Revolution|International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)}}
[[File:Europe 1815 map en.png|thumb|upright=1.3|The boundaries set by the Congress of Vienna, 1815]]

The "[[Long nineteenth century|long 19th century]]", from 1789 to 1914 saw the drastic social, political and economic changes initiated by the [[Industrial Revolution]], the [[French Revolution]] and the [[Napoleonic Wars]]. Following the reorganisation of the political map of Europe at the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815, Europe experienced the rise of Nationalism, the rise of the [[Russian Empire]] and the peak of the British Empire, as well as the [[decline of the Ottoman Empire]]. Finally, the rise of the [[German Empire]] and the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] initiated the course of events that culminated in the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

===Industrial Revolution===
{{Main|Industrial Revolution}}
[[File:Dore London.jpg|thumb|London's chimney sky in 1870, by [[Gustave Doré]]]]
The Industrial Revolution saw major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, and transport impacted Britain and subsequently spread to the United States and Western Europe. Technological advancements, most notably the utilization of the steam engine, were major catalysts in the industrialisation process. It started in England and Scotland in the mid-18th century with the mechanisation of the textile industries, the development of iron-making techniques and the increased use of coal as the main fuel. Trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of [[canal]]s, improved roads and railways. The introduction of [[steam engine|steam power]] (fuelled primarily by coal) and powered machinery (mainly in [[textile manufacturing]]) underpinned the dramatic increases in production capacity.<ref>Business and Economics. ''Leading Issues in Economic Development'', Oxford University Press US. {{ISBN|0-19-511589-9}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=CX9kBaVx4JkC&pg=PA98 Google Books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230331130624/https://books.google.com/books?id=CX9kBaVx4JkC&pg=PA98 |date=31 March 2023 }}</ref> The development of all-metal [[machine tool]]s in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries. The effects spread throughout Western Europe and North America during the 19th century, eventually affecting most of the world.<ref>Robert C. Allen, "Why the industrial revolution was British: commerce, induced invention, and the scientific revolution" ''Economic History Review'' 64.2 (2011): 357–384 [http://www.unsa.edu.ar/histocat/haeconomica07/lecturas/2011allen.pdf online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805000557/http://www.unsa.edu.ar/histocat/haeconomica07/lecturas/2011allen.pdf |date=5 August 2021 }}.</ref>

===Era of the French Revolution===
{{main|Atlantic Revolutions|American Revolution|French Revolution|French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars}}
Historians [[R.R. Palmer]] and [[Joel Colton]] argue:
:In 1789 France fell into revolution, and the world has never since been the same. The French Revolution was by far the most momentous upheaval of the whole revolutionary age. It replaced the "old regime" with "modern society," and at its extreme phase became very radical, so much so that all later revolutionary movements have looked back to it as a predecessor to themselves.... From the 1760s to 1848, the role of France was decisive.<ref>R.R. Palmer and Joel Colton, A History of the Modern World (5th ed. 1978), p. 341</ref>

The era of the French Revolution and the subsequent Napoleonic wars was a difficult time for monarchs. Tsar [[Paul I of Russia]] was assassinated; King [[Louis XVI]] of France was executed, as was his queen [[Marie Antoinette]]. Furthermore, kings [[Charles IV of Spain]], [[Ferdinand VII of Spain]] and [[Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden]] were deposed as were ultimately the Emperor Napoleon and all of the relatives he had installed on various European thrones. King [[Frederick William III of Prussia]] and Emperor [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis II of Austria]] barely clung to their thrones. King [[George III]] of Great Britain lost the better part of the First British Empire.<ref>Steven Englund, ''Napoleon: A Political Life'' (2004) p. 388</ref>

The [[American Revolution]] (1775–1783) was the first successful revolt of a colony against a European power. It rejected aristocracy and established a [[Republicanism|republican form of government]] that attracted worldwide attention.<ref>Gordon S. Wood, ''The radicalism of the American Revolution'' (2011).</ref> The French Revolution (1789–1804) was a product of the same democratic forces in the [[Atlantic World]] and had an even greater impact.<ref>R.R. Palmer, ''The Age of the Democratic Revolution: A Political History of Europe and America, 1760–1800: The Challenge'' (1959) pp. 4–5</ref> [[François Victor Alphonse Aulard|French historian François Aulard]] says:
:From the social point of view, the Revolution consisted in the suppression of what was called the feudal system, in the emancipation of the individual, in greater division of landed property, the abolition of the privileges of noble birth, the establishment of equality, the simplification of life.... The French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity."<ref>{{cite book|editor=A. Aulard in Arthur Tilley|title=Modern France. A Companion to French Studies|url=https://archive.org/details/modernfrancecomp00tilluoft|year=1922|publisher=Cambridge UP|page=[https://archive.org/details/modernfrancecomp00tilluoft/page/115 115]}}</ref>

[[File:Prise de la Bastille.jpg|thumb|right|The storming of the [[Bastille]] in the French Revolution of 1789]]

French intervention in the [[American Revolutionary War]] had nearly bankrupted the state. After repeated failed attempts at financial reform, King Louis XVI had to convene the [[Estates-General of 1789|Estates-General]], a representative body of the country made up of three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and the commoners. The third estate, joined by members of the other two, declared itself to be a [[National Assembly (French Revolution)|National Assembly]] and created, in July, the [[National Constituent Assembly (France)|National Constituent Assembly]]. At the same time the people of Paris revolted, famously [[Storming of the Bastille|storming the Bastille prison on 14 July 1789]].

At the time the assembly wanted to create a [[constitutional monarchy]], and over the following two years passed various laws including the [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]], the [[Abolition of feudalism in France|abolition of feudalism]], and a [[Civil Constitution of the Clergy|fundamental change]] in the relationship between France and Rome. At first the king agreed with these changes and enjoyed reasonable popularity with the people. As [[anti-royalism]] increased along with threat of foreign invasion, the king tried to flee and join France's enemies. He was captured and on 21 January 1793, having been convicted of treason, he was guillotined.

On 20 September 1792 the [[National Convention]] abolished the monarchy and declared France a republic. Due to the emergency of [[French Revolutionary Wars|war]], the National Convention created the [[Committee of Public Safety]] to act as the country's executive. Under [[Maximilien de Robespierre]], the committee initiated the [[Reign of Terror]], during which up to 40,000 people were executed in Paris, mainly nobles and those convicted by the [[Revolutionary Tribunal]], often on the flimsiest of evidence. Internal tensions at Paris drove the Committee towards increasing assertions of radicalism and increasing suspicions. A few months into this phase, more and more prominent revolutionaries were being sent to the guillotine by Robespierre and his faction, for example [[Madame Roland]] and [[Georges Danton]]. Elsewhere in the country, counter-revolutionary [[war in the Vendée|insurrections]] were brutally suppressed. The regime was overthrown in the [[Thermidorian Reaction|coup of 9 Thermidor]] (27 July 1794) and Robespierre was executed. The regime which followed ended the Terror and relaxed Robespierre's more extreme policies.

===Napoleon===
{{Main|Napoleon}}

[[Napoleon]] Bonaparte was France's most successful general in the Revolutionary wars. In 1799 on [[18 Brumaire]] (9 November) he overthrew the government, replacing it with the [[French Consulate|Consulate]], which he dominated. He gained popularity in France by restoring the Church, keeping taxes low, centralizing power in Paris, and winning glory on the battlefield. In 1804 he crowned himself [[First French Empire|Emperor]]. In 1805, Napoleon planned to invade Britain, but a renewed British alliance with Russia and Austria ([[Third Coalition]]), forced him to turn his attention towards the continent, while at the same time the French fleet was demolished by the British at the [[Battle of Trafalgar]], ending any plan to invade Britain. On 2 December 1805, Napoleon defeated a numerically superior Austro-Russian army at [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]], forcing Austria's withdrawal from the coalition (see [[Treaty of Pressburg (1805)|Treaty of Pressburg]]) and dissolving the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. In 1806, a [[Fourth Coalition]] was set up. On 14 October Napoleon defeated the Prussians at the [[Battle of Jena-Auerstedt]], marched through Germany and defeated the Russians on 14 June 1807 at [[Battle of Friedland|Friedland]]. The [[Treaties of Tilsit]] divided Europe between France and Russia and created the [[Duchy of Warsaw]].

[[File:Berezyna.jpg|thumb|Napoleon's army at the retreat from Russia at the [[Berezina]] river]]
<!--[[File:Battle of Waterloo 1815.PNG|left|thumb|''[[The Battle of Waterloo (painting)|The Battle of Waterloo]]'', where [[Napoleon]] was defeated by the Seventh Coalition in 1815]]-->
On 12 June 1812 Napoleon [[French invasion of Russia|invaded Russia]] with a [[Grande Armée]] of nearly 700,000 troops. After the measured victories at [[Battle of Smolensk (1812)|Smolensk]] and [[Battle of Borodino|Borodino]] Napoleon occupied Moscow, only to find it burned by the retreating Russian army. He was forced to withdraw. On the march back his army was harassed by [[Cossacks]], and suffered disease and starvation. Only 20,000 of his men survived the campaign. By 1813 the tide had begun to turn from Napoleon. Having been defeated by a [[Sixth Coalition|seven nation army]] at the [[Battle of Leipzig]] in October 1813, he was forced to abdicate after the [[Six Days' Campaign]] and the occupation of Paris. Under the Treaty of Fontainebleau he was exiled to the island of [[Elba]]. He returned to France on 1 March 1815 (see [[Hundred Days]]), raised an army, but was finally defeated by a British and Prussian force at the [[Battle of Waterloo]] on 18 June 1815 and exiled to the small British island of [[Saint Helena]].

====Impact of the French Revolution====
{{main|Influence of the French Revolution}}
[[Andrew Roberts, Baron Roberts of Belgravia|Andrew Roberts]], an English popular historian, finds that the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, from 1793 to 1815, caused 4 million deaths (of whom 1&nbsp;million were civilians); 1.4&nbsp;million were French.<ref>Andrew Roberts, "Why Napoleon merits the title 'the Great,'" ''BBC History Magazine''  (1 November 2014)</ref>

Outside France the Revolution had a major impact. Its ideas became widespread. Roberts argues that Napoleon was responsible for key ideas of the modern world, so that, "meritocracy, [[equality before the law]], [[Right to property|property rights]], [[Religious tolerance|religious toleration]], [[Secular education|modern secular education]], sound finances, and so on-were protected, consolidated, codified, and geographically extended by Napoleon during his 16 years of power."<ref>Roberts, "Why Napoleon merits the title 'the Great," ''BBC History Magazine''  (1 November 2014)</ref>

Furthermore, the French armies in the 1790s and 1800s directly overthrew feudal remains in much of western Europe. They liberalised [[property law]]s, ended [[Manorialism|seigneurial dues]], abolished the [[guild]] of merchants and craftsmen to facilitate [[entrepreneurship]], legalised divorce, closed the [[Ghetto|Jewish ghettos]] and [[Jewish emancipation|made Jews equal to everyone else]]. The [[Spanish Inquisition|Inquisition]] ended as did the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. The power of church courts and religious authority was sharply reduced and [[Equality before the law|equality under the law]] was proclaimed for all men.<ref>Robert R. Palmer and Joel Colton,  ''A History of the Modern World'' (New York: McGraw Hill, 1995), pp. 428–29.</ref>

France conquered Belgium and turned it into another province of France. It conquered the Netherlands, and made it a [[Sister republic|client state]]. It took control of the German areas on the left bank of the [[Rhine|Rhine River]] and set up a puppet [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. It conquered Switzerland and most of Italy, setting up a series of puppet states. The result was glory and an infusion of much needed money from the conquered lands. However the enemies of France, led by Britain, formed a [[War of the Second Coalition|Second Coalition]] in 1799 (with Britain joined by Russia, the Ottoman Empire and Austria). It scored a series of victories that rolled back French successes, and trapped the French Army in Egypt. Napoleon slipped through the British blockade in October 1799, returning to Paris, where he overthrew the government and made himself the ruler.<ref>William Doyle, ''The Oxford History of the French Revolution'' (1989) pp. 341–68</ref><ref>Steven T. Ross, ''European Diplomatic History, 1789–1815: France Against Europe'' (1969)</ref>

Napoleon conquered most of Italy in the name of the French Revolution in 1797–99. He split up Austria's holdings and set up a series of new republics, complete with new codes of law and abolition of feudal privileges. Napoleon's [[Cisalpine Republic]] was centered on Milan; Genoa became a republic; the Roman Republic was formed as well as the small [[Ligurian Republic]] around Genoa. The [[Parthenopean Republic|Neapolitan Republic]] was formed around Naples, but it lasted only five months. He later formed the [[Kingdom of Italy]], with his brother as King. In addition, France turned the Netherlands into the [[Batavian Republic]], and Switzerland into the [[Helvetic Republic]]. All these new countries were satellites of France, and had to pay large subsidies to Paris, as well as provide military support for Napoleon's wars. Their political and administrative systems were modernized, the metric system introduced, and trade barriers reduced. Jewish ghettos were abolished. Belgium and Piedmont became integral parts of France.<ref>Alexander Grab, ''Napoleon and the Transformation of Europe'' (2003) pp. 62–65, 78–79, 88–96, 115–17, 154–59</ref>

[[File:Colonial empires in 1800.svg|thumb|upright=1.1|The cumulative crises and disruptions of Napoleon's [[Peninsular War|invasion of Spain]] led to the [[Spanish American wars of independence|independence]] of most of [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spain's American colonies]] (yellow) and the [[independence of Brazil]] (green).]]

Most of the new nations were abolished and returned to prewar owners in 1814. However, Artz emphasizes the benefits the Italians gained from the French Revolution:
:For nearly two decades the Italians had excellent codes of law, a fair system of taxation, a better economic situation, and more religious and intellectual toleration than they had known for centuries.... Everywhere old physical, economic, and intellectual barriers had been thrown down and the Italians had begun to be aware of a common nationality.<ref>Frederick B. Artz, ''Reaction and Revolution: 1814–1832 '' (1934) pp. 142–43</ref>

Likewise in [[History of Switzerland|Switzerland]] the long-term impact of the French Revolution has been assessed by Martin:
:It proclaimed the equality of citizens before the law, equality of languages, freedom of thought and faith; it created a [[Swiss citizenship]], basis of our modern nationality, and the separation of powers, of which the old regime had no conception; it suppressed internal tariffs and other economic restraints; it unified weights and measures, reformed civil and penal law, authorized mixed marriages (between Catholics and Protestants), suppressed torture and improved justice; it developed education and public works.<ref>William Martin, ''Histoire de la Suisse'' (Paris, 1926), pp. 187–88, quoted in Crane Brinson, ''A Decade of Revolution: 1789–1799'' (1934) p. 235</ref>

The greatest impact came in France itself. In addition to effects similar to those in Italy and Switzerland, France saw the introduction of the principle of legal equality, and the downgrading of the once powerful and rich [[Catholic Church in France|Catholic Church]]. Power became centralized in Paris, with its strong bureaucracy and an army supplied by conscripting all young men. French politics were permanently polarized – new names were given, "left" and "right" for the supporters and opponents of the principles of the Revolution.

===Religion===
{{main|Christianity in the 19th century}}
By the 19th century, governments increasingly took over traditional religious roles, paying much more attention to efficiency and uniformity than to religiosity. Secular bodies took control of education away from the churches, abolished taxes and tithes for the support of [[State religion|established religions]], and excluded bishops from the upper houses. Secular laws increasingly regulated marriage and divorce, and maintaining birth and death registers became the duty of local officials. Although the numerous [[Religion in the United States|religious denominations in the United States]] founded many colleges and universities, that was almost exclusively a state function across Europe. Imperial powers protected [[Christian mission]]aries in African and Asian colonies.<ref>[[James Harvey Robinson]] and [[Charles A. Beard]], ‘'The Development of Modern Europe Volume II The Merging of European into World History'’ (1930) v. 2 pp 88–89. [https://archive.org/details/developmentofmod007381mbp online]</ref> In France and other largely Catholic nations, [[Anti-clericalism|anti-clerical]] political movements tried to reduce the role of the Catholic Church. Likewise briefly in Germany in the 1870s there was a fierce [[Kulturkampf]] (culture war) against [[Catholic Church in Germany|Catholics]], but the Catholics successfully fought back. The Catholic Church concentrated more power in the papacy and fought against [[secularism]] and [[socialism]]. It sponsored devotional reforms that gained wide support among the churchgoers.<ref>Kenneth Scott Latourette, ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, Volume I: The Nineteenth Century in Europe:  Background and the Roman Catholic Phase''  (1958) pp. 321–23, 370, 458–59, 464–66.</ref>

===Nations rising===
{{Main|International relations of the Great Powers (1814–1919)|Serbian Revolution|Italian unification||Revolutions of 1848|Greek War of Independence|Nation state}}
{{further|Rise of nationalism in Europe}}

[[File:Maerz1848 berlin.jpg|thumb|right|Cheering the [[Revolutions of 1848]] in [[Berlin]]]]


The political development of nationalism and the push for [[popular sovereignty]] culminated with the ethnic/national revolutions of Europe. During the 19th century nationalism became one of the most significant political and social forces in history; it is typically listed among the top causes of [[World War I]].<ref>{{cite book|author=John Horne|title=A Companion to World War I|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EjZHLXRKjtEC&pg=PA21|year=2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=21–22|isbn=978-1-119-96870-2|access-date=23 November 2016|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427155357/https://books.google.com/books?id=EjZHLXRKjtEC&pg=PA21|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>Aaron Gillette,  "Why Did They Fight the Great War? A Multi-Level Class Analysis of the Causes of the First World War." ''The History Teacher'' 40.1 (2006): 45–58.</ref> Most European states had become [[constitutional monarchy|constitutional]] monarchies by 1871, and Germany and Italy merged many small city-states to become united nation-states. Germany in particular increasingly dominated the continent in economics and political power. Meanwhile, on a global scale, Great Britain, with its far-flung [[British Empire]], unmatched Royal Navy, and powerful bankers, became the world's first global power. The sun never set on its territories, while an informal empire operated through British financiers, entrepreneurs, traders and engineers who established operations in many countries, and largely dominated Latin America. The British were especially famous for financing and constructing railways around the world.<ref>Andrew Porter and William Roger Louis, eds. ''The Oxford History of the British Empire: Volume 3, The Nineteenth Century'' (1999).</ref>

Napoleon's conquests of the German and Italian states around 1800–1806 played a major role in stimulating nationalism and demand for national unity.<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=1875877|title=Napoleon and the Age of Nationalism|journal=The Journal of Modern History|volume=22|issue=1|pages=21–37|last1=Kohn|first1=Hans|year=1950|doi=10.1086/237315|s2cid=3270766}}</ref>

==== Germany ====
{{Main|Unification of Germany}}
In the German states east of Prussia Napoleon abolished many of the old or medieval relics, such as [[Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire|dissolving the Holy Roman Empire]] in 1806.<ref>Alan Forrest and Peter H. Wilson, eds. ''The Bee and the Eagle: Napoleonic France and the End of the Holy Roman Empire'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).</ref> He imposed rational legal systems and his organization of the [[Confederation of the Rhine]] in 1806 promoted a feeling of [[German nationalism]]. In the 1860s it was Prussian chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] who achieved German unification in 1870 after the many smaller states followed Prussia's leadership in wars against Denmark, Austria and France.<ref>Hagen Schulze, ''The Course of German Nationalism: From Frederick the Great to Bismarck 1763–1867'' (Cambridge UP, 1991).</ref>

==== Italy ====
{{Main|Unification of Italy}}
[[Italian nationalism]] emerged in the 19th century and was the driving force for [[Italian unification]] or the "Risorgimento". It was the political and intellectual movement that consolidated different states of the [[Italian Peninsula]] into the single state of the [[Kingdom of Italy]] in 1860. The memory of the Risorgimento is central to both Italian nationalism and Italian historiography.<ref>Silvana Patriarca and Lucy Riall, eds., ''The Risorgimento Revisited: Nationalism and Culture in Nineteenth-century Italy'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).</ref>

[[File:Missolonghi.jpg|thumb|Beginning in 1821, the [[Greek War of Independence]] began as a rebellion by Greek revolutionaries against the ruling Ottoman Empire.]]

==== Serbia ====
{{main|History of Serbia|Dissolution of Austria-Hungary|Creation of Yugoslavia}}
[[File:Breakup of Yugoslavia-TRY2.gif|thumb|250px|Breakup of Yugoslavia]]

For centuries the [[Serbian Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christian]] [[Ottoman Serbs|Serbs]] were ruled by the [[Islam in the Ottoman Empire|Muslim]]-controlled [[Ottoman Empire]]. The success of the [[Serbian revolution]] (1804–1817) against [[History of Ottoman Serbia|Ottoman rule]] in 1817 marked the foundation of modern [[Principality of Serbia]]. It achieved ''de facto'' independence in 1867 and finally gained recognition in the [[Berlin Congress]] of 1878. The Serbs developed a larger vision for nationalism in [[Pan-Slavism]] and with Russian support sought to pull the other Slavs out of the [[Austria-Hungary|Austro-Hungarian Empire]].<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor=2142012|title=Pan-Slavism and European Politics|journal=Political Science Quarterly|volume=29|issue=4|pages=664–686|last1=Levine|first1=Louis|year=1914|doi=10.2307/2142012}}</ref><ref>Charles Jelavich, ''Tsarist Russia and Balkan nationalism: Russian influence in the internal affairs of Bulgaria and Serbia, 1879–1886'' (1958).</ref> Austria, with German backing, tried to crush Serbia in 1914 but Russia intervened, thus igniting the [[First World War]] in which Austria dissolved into nation states.<ref>Christopher Clark, ''The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914'' (2012)</ref>

In 1918, the region of [[Vojvodina]] proclaimed its [[Banat, Bačka and Baranja|secession]] from Austria-Hungary to unite with the pan-Slavic [[State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs]]; the Kingdom of Serbia joined the union on 1 December 1918, and the country was named [[Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes]]. It was renamed [[Yugoslavia]], which was never able to tame the multiple nationalities and religions and it flew apart in [[Yugoslav Wars|civil war]] in the 1990s.

==== Greece ====
{{main|Greek War of Independence}}
The Greek drive for independence from the Ottoman Empire inspired supporters across Christian Europe, especially in Britain. France, Russia and Britain intervened to make this nationalist dream become reality with the [[Greek War of Independence]] (1821-1829/1830).<ref>{{cite book|author=Alister E. McGrath|title=Christian History: An Introduction|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIFfXCyAYmoC&pg=PT270|year=2012|isbn=978-1-118-33783-7|page=270|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|access-date=23 November 2016|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427155355/https://books.google.com/books?id=gIFfXCyAYmoC&pg=PT270|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Bulgaria ====
{{main|Bulgarian National Revival|National awakening of Bulgaria}}
[[Bulgarians|Bulgarian]] modern nationalism emerged under [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman rule]] in the late 18th and early 19th century. An autonomous [[Bulgarian Exarchate]] was established in 1870/1872 for the diocese of Bulgaria as well as for those, wherein at least two-thirds of [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox Christians]] were willing to join it. The [[April Uprising of 1876|April Uprising]] in 1876 indirectly resulted in the [[Liberation of Bulgaria|re-establishment of Bulgaria in 1878]].

==== Poland ====
{{main|History of Poland}}
In the 1790s, Germany, Russia and Austria [[Partitions of Poland|partitioned Poland]]. Napoleon set up the [[Duchy of Warsaw]], igniting a spirit of [[Polish nationalism]]. Russia took it over in 1815 as [[Congress Poland]] with the tsar as King of Poland. Large-scale nationalist revolts erupted [[November Uprising|in 1830]] and [[January Uprising|1863–64]] but were harshly crushed by Russia, which tried to [[Russification of Poles during the Partitions|Russify]] the [[Polish language]], [[Culture of Poland|culture]] and [[Religion in Poland|religion]]. The collapse of the Russian Empire in the First World War enabled the major powers to reestablish an independent [[Second Polish Republic]], which survived until 1939. Meanwhile, Poles in areas controlled by Germany moved into heavy industry but their religion came under attack by Bismarck in the Kulturkampf of the 1870s. The Poles joined German Catholics in a well-organized new [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]], and defeated Bismarck politically. He responded by stopping the harassment and cooperating with the Centre Party.<ref>Richard Blanke, ''Prussian Poland in the German Empire (1871–1900)'' (1981)</ref><ref>Norman Davies, ''God's Playground: A History of Poland, Vol. 2: 1795 to the Present'' (2005).</ref>

==== Spain ====
[[File:Mapa_político_de_España,_1850.jpg|thumb|School map of Spain from 1850. On it, the state is shown divided into four parts:- "Fully constitutional Spain", which includes Castile and Andalusia, but also the Galician-speaking territories. – "Annexed or assimilated Spain": the territories of the Crown of Aragon, the larger part of which, with the exception of Aragon proper, are Catalan-speaking-, "Foral Spain", which includes Basque-speaking territories-, and "Colonial Spain", with the last overseas colonial territories.]]
After the [[War of the Spanish Succession]], the assimilation of the [[Crown of Aragon]] by the [[Crown of Castile|Castilian Crown]] through the [[Nueva Planta decrees|Decrees of Nova planta]] was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation state, through the imposition of the political and cultural characteristics of the dominant ethnic group, in this case the Castilians, over those of other ethnic groups, who became [[Minority group|national minorities]] to be assimilated.<ref>{{cite book|last=Sales Vives|first=Pere|title=L'Espanyolització de Mallorca: 1808–1932|date=22 September 2020|publisher=El Gall editor|isbn=9788416416707|pages=422|language=ca}}</ref><ref>Antoni Simon, [http://roderic.uv.es/handle/10550/34591 Els orígens històrics de l'anticatalanisme] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220605094401/https://roderic.uv.es/handle/10550/34591 |date=5 June 2022 }}, páginas 45–46, L'Espill, nº 24, Universitat de València</ref> Since the political unification of 1714, Spanish assimilation policies towards Catalan-speaking territories ([[Catalonia]], [[Valencian Community|Valencia]], the [[Balearic Islands]], part of [[Aragon]]) and other national minorities have been a historical constant.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mayans Balcells|first=Pere|title=Cròniques Negres del Català A L'Escola|year=2019|isbn=978-84-947201-4-7|edition=del 1979|pages=230|publisher=Edicions del 1979|language=ca}}</ref><ref name="Recopilació d'accions genocides con">{{cite book|last=Lluís|first=García Sevilla|title=Recopilació d'accions genocides contra la nació catalana|publisher=Base|year=2021|isbn=9788418434983|pages=300|language=ca}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{cite book|last=Bea Seguí|first=Ignaci|title=En cristiano! Policia i Guàrdia Civil contra la llengua catalana|publisher=Cossetània|year=2013|isbn=9788490341339|pages=216|language=ca}}</ref> The nationalization process accelerated in the 19th century, in parallel to the origin of [[Spanish nationalism]], the social, political and ideological movement that tried to shape a Spanish national identity based on the Castilian model, in conflict with the other historical nations of the State. These nationalist policies, sometimes very aggressive,<ref>{{cite book|last=Sobrequés Callicó|first=Jaume|title=Repressió borbònica i resistència identitària a la Catalunya del segle XVIII|date=29 January 2021|publisher=Departament de Justícia de la Generalitat de Catalunya|isbn=978-84-18601-20-0|page=410|language=ca}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ferrer Gironès|first=Francesc|title=La persecució política de la llengua catalana|year=1985|isbn=978-8429723632|edition=62|page=320|publisher=Edicions 62|language=ca}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite book|last=Benet|first=Josep|title=L'intent franquista de genocidi cultural contra Catalunya|date=1995|publisher=Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat|isbn=84-7826-620-8|language=ca}}</ref><ref name=":0222">{{cite book|last=Llaudó Avila|first=Eduard|title=Racisme i supremacisme polítics a l'Espanya contemporània|date=2021|publisher=Parcir|isbn=9788418849107|edition=7th|location=Manresa}}</ref> and still in force,<ref name=":3">{{cite web|title=Novetats legislatives en matèria lingüística aprovades el 2018 que afecten els territoris de parla catalana|url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/novetats_legislatives_en_materia_linguistic02_1571310685.pdf|publisher=Plataforma per la llengua|access-date=8 October 2022|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020181407/https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/novetats_legislatives_en_materia_linguistic02_1571310685.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{cite web|title=Novetats legislatives en matèria lingüística aprovades el 2019 que afecten els territoris de parla catalana|url=https://plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/arxius/ambits-treball/Drets%20Ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstics/Novetats_legislatives_en_mat%C3%A8ria_ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstic-2019-ok.pdf|publisher=Plataforma per la llengua|access-date=8 October 2022|archive-date=27 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220327162711/https://plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/arxius/ambits-treball/Drets%20Ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstics/Novetats_legislatives_en_mat%C3%A8ria_ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstic-2019-ok.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite web|date=2019|title=Comportament lingüístic davant dels cossos policials espanyols|url=https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/linguisticcossospolicials_1576579756.pdf|publisher=Plataforma per la llengua|access-date=8 October 2022|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020181419/https://www.plataforma-llengua.cat/media/upload/pdf/linguisticcossospolicials_1576579756.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite conference|last=Moreno Cabrera|first=Juan Carlos|title=L'espanyolisme lingüístic i la llengua comuna|url=https://www.cicac.cat/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Espanyolisme_ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstic_Juan-Carlos-Moreno.pdf|language=ca|publisher=Ponència del Consell de l'advocacia de Catalunya|book-title=VIII Jornada sobre l'Ús del Català a la Justícia|access-date=8 October 2022|archive-date=5 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221105081404/https://www.cicac.cat/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Espanyolisme_ling%C3%BC%C3%ADstic_Juan-Carlos-Moreno.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> are the seed of repeated territorial conflicts within the State.

====Education====
An important component of nationalism was the study of the nation's heritage, emphasizing the [[national language]] and literary culture. This stimulated, and was in turn strongly supported by, the emergence of [[State school|national educational systems]]. [[Latin]] gave way to the national language, and [[compulsory education]], with strong support from modernizers and the media, became standard in Germany and eventually other West European nations. Voting reforms extended the franchise. Every country developed a sense of national origins – the historical accuracy was less important than the motivation toward patriotism. [[Universal access to education|Universal compulsory education]] was extended to girls at the elementary level. By the 1890s, strong movements emerged in some countries, including France, Germany and the United States, to extend compulsory education to the secondary level.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ellwood Patterson Cubberley|title=The History of Education: Educational Practice and Progress Considered as a Phase of the Development and Spread of Western Civilization|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|url=https://archive.org/details/historyeducatio02cubbgoog|year=1920|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyeducatio02cubbgoog/page/n742 711]–23}}</ref><ref>James Bowen, ''A history of western education: The modern west'' (1981) [https://archive.org/details/historyofwestern0000bowe_h0l6/page/n5/mode/2up online]</ref>

====Ideological coalitions====
[[File:Bakunin speaking.png|thumb|upright=0.85|[[Mikhail Bakunin]] speaking to members of the [[International Workingmen's Association]] at the [[Basel Congress (1869)|Basel Congress]] in 1869]]
After the defeat of revolutionary France, the great powers tried to restore the situation which existed before 1789. The 1815 [[Congress of Vienna]] produced a peaceful [[balance of power in international relations|balance of power]] among the European empires, known as the [[Metternich]] system. The powerbase of their support was the aristocracy.<ref>Henry Kissinger, ''A world restored: Metternich, Castlereagh, and the problems of peace, 1812–22'' (1957)</ref> However, their reactionary efforts were unable to stop the spread of revolutionary movements: the middle classes had been deeply influenced by the ideals of the French revolution, and the Industrial Revolution brought important economical and social changes.<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter Viereck|title=Conservative Thinkers: From John Adams to Winston Churchill|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXxHHXwJT28C&pg=PA71|year=1978|pages=71–77|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-2026-4|access-date=28 September 2018|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427155348/https://books.google.com/books?id=qXxHHXwJT28C&pg=PA71|url-status=live}}</ref>

Radical intellectuals looked to the [[working class]]es for a base for socialist, communist and [[anarchism|anarchistic]] ideas. Widely influential was the 1848 ''[[Communist Manifesto]]'' by [[Karl Marx]] and [[Friedrich Engels]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Jonathan Sperber|title=The European Revolutions, 1848—1851|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hRuHT71EZDwC&pg=PA86|year=2005|pages=86–88|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-83907-5|access-date=28 September 2018|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427155427/https://books.google.com/books?id=hRuHT71EZDwC&pg=PA86|url-status=live}}</ref>

The middle classes and businessmen promoted liberalism, free trade and capitalism. Aristocratic elements concentrated in government service, the military and the established churches. Nationalist movements (in Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, and elsewhere) sought national unification and/or liberation from foreign rule. As a result, the period between 1815 and 1871 saw a large number of revolutionary attempts and independence wars. Greece successfully revolted against Ottoman rule in the 1820s.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pamela Pilbeam|title=The Middle Classes in Europe, 1789–1914: France, Germany, Italy, and Russia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkZdDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA240|year=1990|page=240|publisher=Macmillan Education UK|isbn=978-1-349-20606-3}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

====France under Napoleon III====
{{Main|Second French Empire}}
[[File:Barricade Voltaire Lenoir Commune Paris 1871.jpg|thumb|[[Paris Commune]], 1871]]
[[Napoleon III]], nephew of Napoleon I, parlayed his famous name and to widespread popularity across France. He returned from exile in 1848, promising to stabilize the chaotic political situation.<ref>[[Napoleon II]] (1811–1832) was the son of Napoleon I but he never actually ruled.</ref> He was elected president and maneuvered successfully to name himself Emperor, a move approved later by a large majority of the French electorate. The first part of his Imperial term brought many important reforms, facilitated by Napoleon's control of the lawmaking body, the government, and the [[French Armed Forces]]. Hundreds of old Republican leaders were arrested and deported. Napoleon controlled the media and censored the news. In compensation for the loss of freedom, Napoleon gave the people new hospitals and asylums, beautified and modernized Paris, and built a modern railroad and transportation system that dramatically improved commerce. The economy grew, but industrialization was not as rapid as Britain, and France depended largely on small family-oriented firms as opposed to the large companies that were emerging in the United States and Germany. France was on the winning side in the [[Crimean War]] (1854–56), but after 1858 Napoleon's foreign-policy was less and less successful. Foreign-policy blunders finally destroyed his reign in 1870–71. His empire collapsed after being defeated in the [[Franco-Prussian War]].<ref>Napoleon III." in Anne Commire, ed. ''Historic World Leaders'', (Gale, 1994) [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1616000030/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=828abdad online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229073725/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&u=wikipedia&id=GALE{{!}}K1616000030&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GPS&asid=828abdad |date=29 December 2022 }}.</ref><ref>J.P.T. Bury, ''Napoleon III and the Second Empire'' (1968).</ref>

France became a republic, but until the 1880s there was a strong popular demand for monarchy. [[Anti-Catholicism in France|Hostility to the Catholic Church]] became a major issue, as France battle between secular and religious forces well into the 20th century, with the secular elements usually more successful. The [[French Third Republic]] emerged in 1871.<ref>Denis Brogan, ''The French Nation: From Napoleon to Pétain, 1814–1940'' (1957).</ref>

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-R68588, Otto von Bismarck.jpg|thumb|right|upright|[[Otto von Bismarck]], Chancellor of Germany]]

====Bismarck's Germany====
{{Main|North German Confederation|German Empire}}
From his base in Prussia, [[Otto von Bismarck]] in the 1860s engineered a series of short, decisive wars, that [[Unification of Germany|unified most of the German states]] (excluding Austria) into a powerful [[German Empire]]. By 1871 he used [[balance of power (international relations)|balance of power]] diplomacy to preserve Germany's new role and keep Europe at peace. The new [[German Empire]] industrialized rapidly and challenged Britain for economic leadership. Bismarck was removed from office in 1890 by an aggressive young Kaiser [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Wilhelm II]], who pursued a disruptive foreign policy that polarized Europe into rival camps. These rival camps went to war with each other in 1914.<ref>Katherine Ann Lerman,  "Bismarck, Otto von." in '' Europe 1789–1914: Encyclopedia of the Age of Industry and Empire'', edited by John Merriman and Jay Winter, (Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006) vol 1, pp. 233–242. [https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3446900089/GPS?u=wikipedia&sid=GPS&xid=f59ca5de online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221229073716/https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?p=GPS&u=wikipedia&id=GALE{{!}}CX3446900089&v=2.1&it=r&sid=GPS&asid=f59ca5de |date=29 December 2022 }}.</ref><ref>Theodore S. Hamerow, ed., ''Otto von Bismarck and imperial Germany: a historical assessment'' (1994)</ref>

====Austrian and Russian empires====
{{Further|Austrian Empire|Austria-Hungary|Russian Empire}}
{{incomplete|Russia's impact on the Balkans and the Caucasus, including numerous Russo-Turkish wars and their impact on peoples of the Balkans and the Caucasus|date=October 2024}}
The power of nationalism to create new states was irresistible in the 19th century, and the process could lead to collapse in the absence of a strong nationalism. [[Austria-Hungary]] had the advantage of size and a large army, but multiple disadvantages: rivals on four sides, unstable finances, a fragmented population, a thin industrial base, and minimal naval resources. It did have the advantage of good diplomats, typified by [[Klemens von Metternich|Metternich]]. They employed a grand strategy for survival that balanced out different forces, set up buffer zones, and kept the [[Hapsburg empire]] going despite wars with the Ottomans, Frederick the Great, Napoleon and Bismarck, until the First World War. The Empire overnight disintegrated into multiple states based on ethnic nationalism and the principle of self-determination.<ref>{{cite book|author=A. Wess Mitchell|title=The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxtEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA307|year=2018|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=307|isbn=978-1-4008-8996-9|access-date=22 July 2018|archive-date=27 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230427155347/https://books.google.com/books?id=qxtEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA307|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Catherine the Great]]'s reforms caused the [[Russian Empire]] to develop into a major European power.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Massie|first=Robert K.|title=Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman|date=2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-5883-6044-1}}</ref> In the subsequent decades, Russia expanded in a variety of directions. Like the Austrian empire, the Russian empire brought together a multitude of languages and cultures, so that its military defeat in the First World War led to multiple splits that created independent Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland, and briefly independent Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.<ref>Dominic Lieven, ''Empire: The Russian Empire and Its Rivals'' (2000) pp. 226–30, 278–80.</ref>

===Emigration===
{{main|European emigration}}
[[File:William Allsworth - The emigrants - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Scottish Highland family migrating to [[New Zealand]]]]
There was mass European emigration to the [[Americas]], [[South Africa]], Australia and New Zealand in the 19th and 20th centuries, as a result of a dramatic [[demographic transition]] in 19th-century Europe, subsequent wars and political changes on the continent. From the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]] in 1815 to the end of [[World War I]] in 1918, millions of Europeans emigrated. Of these, 71% went to [[North America]], 21% to [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]] and 7% to Australia. About 11&nbsp;million of these people went to Latin America, of whom 38% were Italians, 28% were Spaniards and 11% were Portuguese.<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Marília D. Klaumann|last1=Cánovas|url=https://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs2/index.php/srh/article/view/11303/6417|title=A grande emigração européia para o Brasil e o imigrante espanhol no cenário da cafeicultura paulista: aspectos de uma (in)visibilidade|trans-title=The great European immigration to Brazil and immigrants within the Spanish scenario of the Paulista coffee plantations: one of the issues (in) visibility|language=pt|journal=Sæculum|volume=11|year=2004|pages=115–136}}</ref>

===Imperialism===
{{Main|Colonial Empires|History of colonialism|Habsburg Monarchy|Russian Empire|French colonial empire|British Empire|Dutch Empire|Italian colonial empire|German colonial empire}}
[[File:Afrikakonferenz.jpg|thumb|The [[Berlin Conference (1884)|1884 Berlin Conference]] headed by [[Otto von Bismarck]] that regulated European colonization in Africa during the [[New Imperialism]] period]]

[[Colonial empires]] were the product of the European [[Age of Discovery]] from the 15th century. The initial impulse behind these dispersed maritime empires and those that followed was trade. Both the [[Portuguese Empire]] and [[Spanish Empire]] quickly grew into the first global political and economic systems with territories spread around the world.

Subsequent major European colonial empires included the [[French colonial empire|French]], [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]], and [[British Empire|British]]. The latter, consolidated during the period of British maritime hegemony in the 19th century, became the largest empire in history because of the improved ocean transportation technologies of the time as well as electronic communication. At its height in 1920, the British Empire covered a quarter of the Earth's land area and comprised a quarter of its population. Other European countries, such as [[Belgian colonial empire|Belgium]], [[German colonial empire|Germany]], and [[Italian colonial empire|Italy]], pursued colonial empires as well (mostly in Africa), but they were smaller. Russia built its [[Russian Empire]] through conquest by land in Eastern Europe, and Asia.

By the mid-19th century, the [[Ottoman Empire]] had declined. This instigated the [[Crimean War]] in 1854 and began a tenser period of minor clashes among the globe-spanning empires of Europe. In the second half of the 19th century, the [[Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861)|Kingdom of Sardinia]] and the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] carried out a series of wars that resulted in the creation of Italy and Germany as nation-states, significantly changing the balance of power in Europe. From 1870, [[Otto von Bismarck]] engineered a German hegemony that put France in a critical situation. It slowly rebuilt its relationships, seeking alliances with Russia and Britain to control the growing power of Germany. In this way, two opposing sides – the [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance of 1882]] (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy) and the [[Triple Entente]] of 1907 (Britain, France and Russia) – formed in Europe, escalating military forces and alliances.
===Belle Époque (1871–1914)===
{{main|Belle Époque }}
[[File:1891 Peugeot Type 3 Vis à Vis photo 2.JPG|thumb|[[Peugeot Type 3]] built in France in 1891]]
The years between the [[Franco-Prussian War]] and [[World War I]] were characterised by unusual political stability in [[Western Europe|Western]] and [[Central Europe]]. Although [[French–German enmity|tensions between France and Germany]] persisted as a result of the French loss of [[Alsace-Lorraine]] to Germany in 1871, a series of diplomatic conferences managed to mediate disputes that threatened the general peace: the [[Congress of Berlin]] in 1878, the [[Berlin Conference|Berlin Congo Conference]] in 1884, and the [[Algeciras Conference]] in 1906. Indeed, for many Europeans during the Belle Époque, transnational, class-based affiliations were as important as national identities, particularly among aristocrats. An upper-class gentleman could travel through much of Western Europe without a [[passport]] and even reside abroad with minimal bureaucratic regulation.<ref>[[A. J. P. Taylor]], ''English History 1914–1945'', and ''The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848–1918''</ref>

The Belle Époque was an era of great scientific and technological advancement in Europe and the world in general. Inventions of the [[Second Industrial Revolution]] that became generally common in this era include the perfection of lightly sprung, noiseless [[carriage]]s in a multitude of new fashionable forms, which were superseded towards the end of the era by the [[automobile]], which was for its first decade a luxurious experiment for the well-heeled.<ref>The first [[Ford Model T]], a car for the masses, rolled off the [[assembly line]] in 1908.</ref> French automobile manufacturers such as [[Peugeot]] were already pioneers in carriage manufacturing. [[Édouard Michelin (born 1859)|Edouard Michelin]] invented removable [[pneumatic]] [[tires]] for bicycles and automobiles in the 1890s. The [[scooter (motorcycle)|scooter]] and [[moped]] are also Belle Époque inventions.