Western Civilization II / Unit 11 WC2 1035 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Sequencing the Unifications, 1852 to 1871
The idea
Put these in order and the two unifications reveal their shared engine. The Crimean War, eighteen fifty-four to fifty-six, wrecked the Vienna alliances and set Austria adrift. The war of eighteen fifty-nine gave Piedmont Lombardy with French help. Garibaldi's Thousand took the south in eighteen sixty, and the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in eighteen sixty-one. Prussia beat Austria in eighteen sixty-six, and Italy took Venetia as Prussia's ally. France fell at Sedan in eighteen seventy, Rome was annexed as the French garrison left, and the German Empire was proclaimed in January eighteen seventy-one. The pattern: each unifier needed a great-power war to free its hands, and each of Prussia's wars finished a piece of Italy. Practice by writing the seven dates on one line and marking which belong to Italy, which to Germany, and which to both.
In practice
Crimea, fifty-nine, sixty, sixty-one, sixty-six, seventy, seventy-one.
Where people slip
The order is anchor and witness; no battle name is required, and Magenta, Solferino and Königgrätz are disclosed, not taught.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
- 1004The Crimean War Breaks the Vienna System, 1854 to 1856
- 1005Cavour's Bargain With Napoleon III and the War of 1859
- 1007Cavour Heads Garibaldi Off: Italy in Six Months
- 1008Venetia 1866, Rome 1870
- 1012Prussia Against Austria, 1866: Why Bismarck Did Not March on Vienna
- 1013The Spanish Throne, the Leaked Memo, and War With France, 1870
- 1014Sedan, Versailles, and the German Empire, 1871
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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