Crimean war:Russia vs Ottoman Empire, France and Britain vs Russia. Austria neutral (expected to help Russia, but didn’t)
Russia wanted to protect Christian shrines in Palestine, Ottoman refused. Russia occupied Moldavia and Wallachia. Ottomans declared war.
France and Britain in to protect balance of power.
Suicidal charge of British light brigade at the battle of Balaklava, French and British attack Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea, Russian Sevastopol fell in Sept 1855.
Treaty of Paris 1856, peace by Alexander II (after Nicholas I).
Florence Nightingale, nurse.
Broke up long standing European power relationships and destroyed the Concert of Europe.
Austria and Russia are enemies, Russia and Britain pull back from continental affairs, leaving Austria without powerful friends.
Realpolitik, fluid international situation =Italian and German Unifications.
Italian unification: Savoy- ruled Piedmont in N Italy = best hope for unification when lead by Count Camillo di Cavour prime minister to Victor Emmanuel II.
Cavour = liberal minded moderate who favored constitutional government, perused economic expansion which increased government revenues and enabled the equipment of a large army. Then allied with Napoleon III in France to drive the Austrians out of Italy.
Austria was provoked into invading Piedmont, France largely responsible for early victories, then Napoleon III declared peace with Austria abruptly in 1858 without telling Cavour. Why? Longer and costlier war than he anticipated, Prussian moving in.. Piedmont only got Lombardy, not Venetia.
Parma, Modena, Tuscany, and part of Papal States got taken over by nationalists who agreed to ally with Cavour.
Garibaldi= southern Italian leader of unification, raised army of Red Shirts, went to Sicily to help revolt vs Bourbon king. Won Sicily, marched up Italian Peninsula.
Cavour went down to Naples to intercept him and Garibaldi-- to avoid civil war—retired. 1861 Kingdom of Italy