Title: Two Contrasting Wars
1Two Contrasting Wars
- Taylor, A.J.P..Two Contrasting Wars Crimea The
Diplomatic War, Italy the War of Liberation.
2Why is the Crimean War significant to the British?
- The Crimean War is significant to the British for
two reasons - The only war Britain was involved in between
Napoleon and WWI - Recognition of the common soldier
3How did it begin?
- Conflict over control of holy cites within
Jerusalem - Eastern Orthodox Christian monks (Russia) vs.
Roman Catholic monks (France). - Russia and France both pressured Turkey, France
sent a battleship to Constantinople and Turkey
sided with the Catholic monks. Russia sent an
army to the Turkish border and the Eastern monks
got some control back. - British and French fear Russian expansion in the
east, Russians fear British and French were
cutting off their trade routes through the
Dardanelles.
4Why did the settlement at Vienna not work?
- The five major European powers came to an
agreement at Vienna, but could not consult Turkey
because of poor communications. - 7 to 10 days to get a message through to
Constantinople. - Turks objected to settlement based on loss of
sovereignty.
5What made Turkey so aggressive?
- Turkey knew that the Alliance was split and that
Britain and France had to support them against
the Russians.
6What, according to Taylor, is special about the
Crimean War in history?
- According to Taylor, the Crimean was the first
war to be affected by journalism and public
opinion. Public opinion was led in London by The
Times which portrayed the conflict as a sign of
Russian aggression and tyranny.
7What were Englands goals and Frances goals in
going to war?
- England Defeat Russia and spark a reform
movement that would liberate Eastern Europe from
the Holy Alliance. - France Sought growing political influence for
Napoleon III
8Why was it difficult to get the war started after
it was declared?
- Fundamentally, Russia was a land based power and
Britain and France were naval powers. It would
take time to bring these forces together.
9Were British army goals military or political?
- After three months of military buildup, the
British and French armies marched on Sebastopol,
the main Russian naval base. This was not a
viable military target as there were few Russian
troops there but it was thought that this would
satisfy public opinion back in London. It took 18
months to take the port.
10Why was the Crimean War so important to European
history?
- The Crimean War eliminated Russia as a European
power. This meant that liberal republican
movements could take root in Eastern Europe
without fear of repression from the Holy Alliance.
11What did the Revolutions of 1848 do for Italy?
- Though not powerful enough to unite Italy or to
liberate Northern Italy, these revolutions were
put down harshly. This led to an estrangement
between Austrian rulers and Italian ruled.
12Why did France go to war with Italy against
Austria?
- France had two reasons
- To create a friendly client state that would
enable them to dominate the Mediterranean. - To equal the achievement of his uncle, Napoleon
wanted to set up a monarchy in Italy. - So the French agreed to get the Austrians out of
Northern Italy in exchange for Nice and Savoy.
13Why was the idea of Italian independence so
worrisome for Austria?
- Because the empire was a mixture of non
nationalities. Most imperial statesmen spoke
German thought they were not themselves German. - The idea of Italian nationalism would have been
acidic to Austria as it would incite further
rebellions.
14- Despite British efforts to broker a peace
settlement, and despite the French attempts to
back out of the deal ,Austria invaded Piedmont
and France went on to help.
15What was Garibaldis mission?
- Garibaldis original mission was to aid in the
peasant revolt in Sicily, he had wanted to free
Rome but Cavour prevented him because it would
have started an international crisis. - Against great odds, Garibaldis forces drove out
those of the King of Naples. - Garibaldi went on to threaten Rome but was
stopped by the Piedmontese army.
16 Why is Garibaldi the most admired man in
history?
- After conquering most of Southern Italy inspiring
his peasant army with land reform, Garibaldi
handed over the provinces to the king of Italy,
refused a Dukedom and asked for only a bag of
seed corn for his little farm in Caprera.
17January 1858
- Italian Nationalist Orsini attempts assassination
of Napoleon III on his way to the opera. - This made him aware and actually sympathetic to
the cause of Italian nationalism. - He called Camilo de Cavour to his vacation home
in Plombieres to discuss how Italian nationhood
could be achieved.
18- Napoleon guaranteed support for Italy as long as
they could provoke a war with Austria. - Out of the war, France would receive Nice and
Savoy. Nice was the birthplace of Garibaldi and
Savoy was the seat of the royal family.
19- The war almost did not happen as France and
Austria began peace negotiations. This worried
the Italians and Cavour. In response to several
published pamphlets in the Northern Italian
states, Austria issued an ultimatum for
disarmament to the Italians on April 19, 1859.
This provided the Italians with the excuse for
war they desperately wanted.
20- Spontaneous uprisings occurred all across
Northern Italy and combined with the lack of
unity and the poor leadership of the Austrians,
they were defeated at the battles of Magenta and
Solferino. However, France stopped short of
totally expelling Austria from Northern Italy and
began to sue for peace, this put the cause of
Italian Nationalism in jeopardy and Cavour
resigned in protest.
21- Parma, Modena, Tuscany, and Bologna all demanded
union with Italy, but the King could not allow it
due to opposition from Napoleon.