THE NATIONAL STATE & DEMOCRACY

Ch. 13.3

THE PLAN...

New political parties and labor unions challenged the governments of Europe

Competition Among Countries While democracy triumphed in Western Europe, authoritarianism prevailed in central and eastern Europe, and industrialization swept the United States.

International rivalries set the stage for war.

WESTERN EUROPE

In the late 1800s, political democracy was spreading in Western Europe, as universal male suffrage laws were passed, political parties formed, and ministerial responsibility became the dominant political entity.

Progress toward establishing constitutions, parliaments, and individual liberties in the Major European countries

THE LATE 19TH CENTURYGB...working 2 party parliament (Liberal and Conservative)

The Liberals voted for social reforms, such as unemployment benefits and pensions.

France...election of a PM, leads to the 3rd Republic

The new government was established with a president and a legislature made up of two houses.

Italy... United, but separate b/c poverty, widespread government corruption led to a weak, centralized political system.

Male Suffrage in 1912

THE OLD ORDER

In Germany, the government established by Otto von Bismarck set up a two-house legislature.

Although the Reichstag was elected by male voters, the emperor still maintained political power by controlling the military and foreign policy.

William II =Germany was the strongest military and industrial power in Europe. Conservative forces thwarted the rise of democracy in Germany.

Russia: slow to adopt industry

Nicholas II became the czar of Russia in 1894, and was committed to autocratic rule of the large nation.

Rapid Industrialization (1890)

“What factors are associated with industrialization?”

-factories

-social classes

-poor working conditions

*Socialist / Marxist Parties*

AUSTRIA HUNGARY

In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the emperor Francis Joseph largely ignored the Austrian parliament and governed by imperial decree. Ethnic problems threatened the stability of Austria.

In Hungary, the parliamentary system worked, although it was dominated by the nation’s landholding class.

Russia was becoming an industrialized nation, and the rising working class demanded more political power.

In 1905 the bloody breakup of a peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg left hundreds dead.

Czar Nicholas relented and permitted the establishment of the Duma, although he had limited the power of the legislative body by 1907.

RUSSIA

JANUARY 22, 1905

St. Petersburg

- present petition of grievances

*soldiers open fire (p.411)

BLOODY SUNDAY

-workers go on strike!

Duma = legislative assembly

CRISIS IN THE BALKANSBy 1878:

As the Ottoman Empire began to lose power, the provinces of Greece, Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro in the Balkans began to gain their freedom.

Austria and Russia vied for influence in the region.

Austria-Hungary

annex Bosnia & Herzegovenia (incorporating territory into an existing political unit)

- angered Serbia (wanted to establish a Slavic kingdom)

Nationalism = both Slavic speaking areas

STEPS TO WARRussia supports Serbia

By the beginning of 1914, the crisis in the Balkans threatened the security of Europe.

Serbia and its ally Russia prepared for War against Austria-Hungary

System of Alliances

Germany & Austria Hungary

Serbia & Russia

GERMANY

OVB. - Worked to keep Germany from becoming a democracy

Germany had become the strongest military and industrial nation

Wealthy industrialists wanted to expand abroad to increase profits and keep people from wanting democracy

In 1890 Emperor William II fired Bismarck and took control of Germany’s foreign policy. In 1894 William II ended the treaty Germany had with Russia.

INTERNATIONAL RIVALRIES

Triple Alliance (1882)

Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

Triple Entente (1907)

Great Britain, France, Russia

PICKING TEAMS

The two opposing alliances of the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente had become more divided and less willing to compromise at the beginning of the twentieth century.