AP® European History review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/euro/units/7/7-1)
Unit 7 · Topic 7.1
7.1 Contextualizing 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments
After the revolutions of 1848 failed, European politics turned practical. Leaders such as Napoleon III, Cavour and Bismarck harnessed nationalism to build state power instead of fighting it, and the Crimean War broke the cooperation among great powers that had kept the map frozen since 1815. That opened the way for the unification of Italy and Germany.
Key terms
- revolutions of 1848
- Concert of Europe
- Crimean War
- liberalism
- nationalism
Lessons of 1848
In 1848 liberal and nationalist idealists tried to win constitutions and national unity through speeches, parliaments and street barricades, and mostly failed (6.6). The generation that came next drew a hard lesson: nations would be built with armies, diplomacy and economic strength, not good intentions. This hard-headed approach is called Realpolitik, politics based on practical power rather than principle.
At the same time, conservatives learned that they could use nationalism and even a broader vote to strengthen their own rule. Napoleon III in France, who held plebiscites (yes-or-no votes) to approve his power, is the first big example. Nationalism, once a revolutionary idea, was becoming a tool of governments.
The Crimean War (1853–1856)
The war began as a dispute over Russian influence in the weakening Ottoman Empire, including who would protect Christians and holy sites in Ottoman lands. Russia occupied Ottoman provinces on the Danube; the Ottomans declared war; and Britain and France joined the Ottomans in 1854 to stop Russia from gaining control of the straits to the Mediterranean. Piedmont-Sardinia joined them in 1855. Most of the fighting took place on Russia's Crimean peninsula, especially the long siege of Sevastopol.
Russia lost. The Treaty of Paris (1856) neutralized the Black Sea, barring warships there, and confirmed that the Ottoman Empire would survive for now under great-power protection.
Why the war mattered so much
- It broke the Concert of Europe. Austria stayed neutral but threatened Russia, despite Russia's help crushing Hungary in 1849. Russia felt betrayed and stopped protecting Austria, which left Austria isolated when Piedmont and Prussia challenged it in 1859 and 1866.
- It exposed Russian backwardness, pushing Alexander II toward emancipating the serfs in 1861 (6.6).
- It gave Piedmont's prime minister, Cavour, a seat at the peace conference and an ally in Napoleon III (7.3).
- It was one of the first wars covered by newspaper correspondents and photographers, and news reached home faster than in earlier wars, helped by a telegraph line to the Crimea completed in 1855, so the public read about army blunders, such as the Charge of the Light Brigade, and terrible medical care. Florence Nightingale's nursing reforms at Scutari made her a national hero and helped professionalize nursing.
The big picture, 1850–1914
Keep these threads in mind for the rest of the unit:
| Thread | What happens | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| Nationalism | Shifts from liberal and romantic to conservative and aggressive | 7.2 |
| Unification | Italy (1861) and Germany (1871) built through war and diplomacy | 7.3 |
| Science and ideas | Darwin, positivism, then challenges to reason from Nietzsche and Freud | 7.4, 7.5 |
| Imperialism | Industrial power lets Europe conquer most of Africa and much of Asia | 7.6, 7.7 |
| Arts | Romanticism, then Realism, then modern art | 7.8 |
| Rivalry | Alliance blocs and Balkan crises lead toward World War I | 7.3, 7.9 |
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Writing a contextualization sentence
You are writing an essay on German unification. Write two or three sentences of context that set up the topic.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: Start before the topic: what happened just before unification that made it possible?
- Step 2: Use 1848: the Frankfurt Parliament's failure showed that idealism alone could not unify Germany.
- Step 3: Add the diplomatic opening: the Crimean War isolated Austria by breaking its partnership with Russia.
- Step 4: End by pointing toward your argument.
Answer: In 1848–1849 the Frankfurt Parliament tried to unite Germany through a liberal constitution, but it collapsed when Prussia's king refused its crown, showing that unity would need real power. The Crimean War (1853–1856) then broke the cooperation of the conservative powers and left Austria without Russian support. These shifts gave Prussia, led after 1862 by Otto von Bismarck, the chance to unify Germany through diplomacy and war.
Common mistakes
- Thinking the Crimean War was mainly about Crimea. It was about Russian expansion at the expense of the Ottoman Empire; Crimea was simply where most fighting happened.
- Forgetting Austria's role. Austria's ingratitude toward Russia is a key reason it later stood alone against Piedmont and Prussia.
- Defining Realpolitik as simply “bad” or “violent.” It means policy based on practical interests and power rather than ideology.
On the exam
- The contextualization point on essays rewards exactly this kind of set-up: describe the broader situation before or during your topic, in a few sentences, and connect it to the prompt.
- The Crimean War is a frequent link between the Concert of Europe and unification; use it to show change over time.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
4 questions on 7.1 Contextualizing 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments. Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
The Crimean War (1853–1856) helped make the unification of Italy and Germany possible mainly because it
"Forward, the Light Brigade!" / Was there a man dismay'd? / Not tho' the soldier knew / Some one had blunder'd: / Theirs not to make reply, / Theirs not to reason why, / Theirs but to do and die: / Into the valley of Death / Rode the six hundred.
Source: Alfred, Lord Tennyson, British poet laureate, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," published December 1854, weeks after a British cavalry charge at the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War.
The war in which this charge took place was fought mainly between
Tennyson's line that "Some one had blunder'd" reflects which feature of the Crimean War?
Austria's decision not to help Russia during the Crimean War most directly hurt Austria in later years because
0 of 4 answered