5621–5631 AM · 1861 CE — 1871 CE · world history
The Unification of Italy and Germany
Two new great powers appear on the map of Europe.
Italy, divided for centuries, is assembled around Piedmont by Cavour's diplomacy and Garibaldi's expedition of the Thousand, with Rome added in 1870. Bismarck unites Germany differently—by iron and blood, through three victorious wars—and the empire is proclaimed at Versailles in 1871, upsetting Europe's balance.
Sources
Documents of the period
- documents and chronicles of the period — the proclamations of 1861 and 1871
Scholarship
- studies in European history — Cavour, Garibaldi, Bismarck
Basis: documents and evidence.