19th Century War

Romane Monnet 2nde5

How far would you agree with the assertion that “ war was the most important factor “ in the changing map of Europe in the 19th century ?

During the 19th century, the map of Europe changed immensely. War was one of the reasons for these changes, with Napoleonic Wars, the Russo-Persian War and the Crimean War. However, war was not the only cause of territorial changes : differences in opinions, revolts, the Congress of Vienna and the end of the Holy Alliance were also causes of the changing map of Europe in the 19th century.

On the one hand, war was the most important factor in the changing map of Europe in the 19th century. Firstly, the Napoleonic Wars played a major part in the territorial changes.
At the time, most of the population had a different opinion on the organisation of government and society. There were conservatives, who wished to preserve absolute monarchy and believed the aristocracy should gain political power ; liberalists, who wanted political power to be shared between a monarch and the rest of the population ; and nationalists, who believed states should consists of people with a common language, culture and race. Conservatism, liberalism and nationalism were not compatible : these differences in opinions caused liberal-national revolutions to take place in Europe between 1820 and 1849. These occurred mainly in the German state, but also in the Austrian Empire, Greece, Italy, Belgium, France and many other countries. The liberal revolutions were mostly defeated, but did disturb European peace and would eventually cause territorial transformations. Furthermore, decisions concerning the changing map of Europe were taken at the Congress of Vienna, on the 1st of November 1814. The Great Powers met and redrew the map of Europe, to help ensure that conflicts such as the Napoleonic Wars did not take place again. After the Congress, Poland was under Russian influence, the Austrian Empire extended and Prussia was given land next to the Netherlands. In this way, the Congress of Vienna played a part in the changing map of Europe as borders where redrawn, mostly in favour of the Great Powers. The end of the Holy Alliance was also a cause of the changing map of Europe. The international agreement, which had united Austria, Russia and Prussia, had managed to prevent the success of revolutions. After its dissolution, the unification of two Great Powers took place. In Italy, between 1859 and 1861, the Italian state of Piedmont-Sardinia, led by Guiseppe Garibaldi and the nationalists, united most of the Italian peninsula. In