VIENNA SETTLEMENT-1815

PERIOD OF CHANGE AND CONTINUITY

Characteristic of the period 1815 onwards

The end of French Revolution and Napoleonic wars had great impact on post 1815 and this period
heralded a new era which demanded progress.It was a period that was influenced by ideas of freedom
and equality.Again .it was a period that challenged autocracy and absolute rule e.g Spain,France
against CharlesX’s ( new wine in an old bottle).Liberal and nationalist ideas began to spread and this
was demonstrated by most European states e.g Italian states,France in 1830 and German in 1848.The
period is also characterised by social and economic changes-period of industrialisation e.g in France
under Louis Phillipe(1830-1848)-growth of socialism-growth of middle class demanded capitalism at
the expense of poor people.Most gvts reacted to these changes that threatened the existing systems by
suppressing internal revolutions. The revolutions were put down throughout 1820s,and 1840s.The
problem was that the reaction was too harsh which forced people into extreme ideas e.g socialist
ideas grew in France and by 1848 Karl Marx and Engles had produced the Socialist Manifestos which
stipulated that, workers of the world have nothing to lose but their chains.---united we stand,divided
we fall’. This inspiriration intensified the revolutionary spirit among the common people in Euorpe
against all forms of exploitation.

Impact of Napoleonic Wars and French Revolution.

The French revolution and Napoleonic Wars had a great impact on post 1815 Europe.The end of
Napoleonic wars and the advent of Vienna settlement of 1815 heralded a new era that was influenced
by ideas of freedom and equality. The victors-Russia,Britain,Prussia and Austria were confronted with
a lot of complex challenges created by the French Revolution and Napoleonic wars from 1802-1814.
The French Revolution spread the forces of modernisation and change but Vienna was dominated by
members of the old regime and aristocracy.

Challenges created by Napoleonic Wars

-kings who had lost their thrones put forward their claims

-those states which were responsible for the defeat of Nap submitted their claims for compensation

-national boundaries which were disturbed by Nap had to be set right

-dilemma of punishing France and her allies for causing political upheaval in Europe

-challenge of putting Europe together in order to ensure permanent peace and stability for the sake
social,economic and political progress and continuity.
-dilemma on the destiny and future of France as well as handling Nap.

-growth of new forces of change-nationalism, liberalism,socialism-new Europe demanded the

implementation of these ideals especially all the oppressed small states in Europe-there was demand
for constitutional gvts against the continuity of autocratic gvts which were desired by Russia and
Austria.

French Revolution

-implementation of principles of French Revolution-was more of a challenge since some of the

members were conservative in nature in order to protect their position against the growth of new
forces of change-liberalism,socialism,nationalism while others wanted creation of constitutional
governments in smaller states

-issue of nationalism and liberalism of small states that became victims of major powers

AIMS AND TERMS OF VIENNA SETTLEMENT

Introduction

-The congress of Vienna was one of the most important international summits of European history-
why-it determined the future boundaries of Europe,boundaries that still impact Europe
today.Though,France was the loser,the framers of this settlement were remarkedly mild towards
France and stopped explosive issues from getting out of hand e.g the Poland issue.

-Peacemakers/architects of the Settlement

1.Britain-Castlereagh-bargained for liberal settlement for her economic consideration

2.Russis-Alexander 1-also wanted a liberal settlement to advance her interests of becoming more
powerful than any other state by taking greater part of Poland and bargained for the continuity of
existing gvts to ensure peace and order at the expense of smaller states.

3.Austria-Metternich-also bargained for the continuity of existing gvts

4.Prussia-Fedrick William 11

5.France-Talleyrand

In view of the above scenario,the settlement could be described as a network of bargains of

negotiated compromise among the great powers.From the onset,great powers revealed their individual
interests but at the same time needed to compromise in some areas in order to promote international
relations e.g the future of France and creation of buffer zones were against the willing of other people-
Austria was given some Italian states as compensation for losing Netherlands- concept of nationalism
and liberalism were compromised.

11. Preservation of political divisions in Germany and Italy.

The congress of Vienna remarked as one of the most important diplomatic gathering in the History of
Europe- why-it brought the element of concert of Europe in view of working together for the
betterment of all humanity. The focus of this settlement was to iron out all the differences among
nations for the sake of European progress which derailed by Napoleon for the past decade.The
settlement was guided by two principles in the redistribution of territories

1.legitimacy

-e.g the Bourbon Monarchy in the name of Louis XV111 was to be restored in France or rulers who
had lost their states because of Nap conquest should be restored.

2.Compensation

-those states which had been instrumental in bringing about the downfall of Nap 1 should rewarded
for their labour and territories should be distributed among the victors-determined to make most
gains.When their aims and interests conflicted, the loser was generally compensated-e.g Austria was
given some Italian states as well as Prussia was given Genoa and Rhineland but however, Russia
being ,the strongest power made extravagant claims in Europe.This demonstrate shameful example of
self –interests by individual states at the expense of smaller states.The Poland issue could have led to
war or further hostility but it was handled with extreme care by a group of very capable
diplomats.Vienna congress mediated many tensions and conflicting interests through peaceful
negotiations-thus the congress was a success of diplomacy.

AIMS

1.Restoration of balance of power

Great powers were driven by both common aims and divergent views.However, collectively,they
were prepared to see any one nation becoming powerful but but that is, in practice, this usually meant
in one region rather in Europe e.g Russia in Eastern Europe,Prussia in Germany and Austria in in
Northern Italy. Thus, the idea of balance of power among the great powers was central with regard to
their aims.What they did was to accept France into congress and again,the arrangement with France
and its neighbouring territories were meant to create a balance of power.Austria and Britain agreed
that France that France was not to be weakened. This would have been based on an exaggerated
estimate of France’s ability once more to disrupt the peace of Europe.After a generation of turmoil
threatening their own states, the framers were anxious to establish political stability between nations
and that peace was inevitably part of this arrangement.The way they redistribute the territories
demonstrates that they were guided by the idea of maintaining balance of power. It must be
remembered that the Balance of power was fundamental but certainly not the sole consideration of the
settlement.

2.Promotion of European peace

Collectively,the framers of this settlement wanted peace though they had divergent views about the
purpose of this peace. All of them stood for prevention of future French aggression for the purpose of
peace.It was issue of liberalism and nationalism that divided Britain and her allies over the position of
small states-Britain wanted smaller states to have constitutional gvts achieved through revolutions
while states like Russia and Austria wanted to suppress these revolutions in order to ensure continuity
of existing systems of autocracy as a way of promoting their domination in other states.e.g demands
for constitutions could be seen in the revolts of 1820s in Spain,Portugal and Italy.Their diverdent
views drove the big powers apart and created alliances which had divided Europe by 1825.

-was common interest of all powers whether strong or weak powers.This was not an shameful
example of self-interest but each of the victors as well as France wanted peace for their own benefit
.e.g Britain wanted peace in order promote prosperity of her overseas trade than anything else.This
demonstrates an element of shameful-example of self-interest.

3.Need to contain France

-there was need to create a barrier around France i.e the framers of the settlement aimed at
strengthening the territories on the borders of France to deter the French from future aggression-
creation of buffer zones.

-during the reign of Nap 1, France proved to be dangerous in Europe and because of this background,
the victors wanted to have some checks and balances to contain France within their orbit so as prevent
future aggression of the French in Europe. The common fear of Napoleon 1 had been a uniting factor
despite having conflicting aims and motives about the whole purpose of the settlement.This was done
through creation of buffer zones around the borders of France to check her future expansion.There
was evidence of fear of the unknown by these great powers.This was again good example of self-
interest by victors against the position of France for safety of their position in Europe.This was also
done at the expense of smaller states which were forced to join together to form strong buffer zones
around France.Their interest of nationalism and liberalism were not considered by great powers.

-However, the affected states were compensated e.g Austria which had lost Austrian-Netherlands was
given two Italian states-Lombardy and Venetia.Again, the interests of these smaller states were not
considered but reflecting elements of oppression of smaller states by the strong nations.
4.Territorial readjustments

-defeated France was forced to return to its 1790 boundaries.The diplomats believed that one way in
which peace could guaranteed would be through territorial re-adjustment by weaker states would be
given more territory to strengthen them and so that they could defend themselves in the event of
attack by any other state and no one could be too powereful or too weak thus demonstrating element
of balance of power.France was stripped off the conquests it had made during the times of Napoleon 1
but that was not out of cruelty-but rather –to prevent her from remaining powerful. Netherlands and
Italian kingdom of Piedmont were created because members were afraid of a strong France.

-e.g She lost Belgium and Holland-were merged together to create a bigger state which was supposed
to be capable of defending itself against France or any other state. Austria won back control of Italy
while Prussia got the Rhineland and 2/5 of Saxony

-France lost most of its overseas colonies to Britain and this admittedly to reward victorious Britain

-In the final analysis, France was clearly punished as a loser but the concept of balance of power
objectives were uppermost in the minds of diplomats.However, in any case, France was treated with
great leniency e.g Napoleon 1 was allowed to retain his title as Emperor and was given an island of
Elba and again France was accepted to the circle of great powers.

-the whole territorial rearrangements among the victors reflected the settlement was shameful-
example of self-interests at expense of smaller states.It ignored the forces of nationalism and
liberalism of small states-e.g the buffer zone creation,restoration of Bourbon Monarchy with the new
charter

-Austria sought a settlement that would guarantee the continuation of Hapsburg dynasty in Europe-
shameful example of self interest

-territories of Germany were shared to conform the interests of Prussia and Austria.

-France had to surrender Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine which she had held for than 20
yrs.France surrendered several colonial possessions

-Russia got Polland

-Prussia was given Genoa and Rhineland.

NB. Thus, France’s boundaries were reduced by great powers possibly due to fear of future French
aggression.
5. Preservation of Political divisions of Germany and Italy for the sake of order and peace and
maintainance of balance of power.

-Prussia dominant in Germany

-Austria dominant in Italy

-nationalism was basically the desire by people of the same language,culture and origins to rule
themselves while liberalism was the right to property,freedom of speech and expression,worship.The
Vienna settlement had suppressed these twi principles after 1815 but eventually gave birth to
unification programmes in Germany and Italy.

-Both countries Germany and Italy were kept divided for the sake of maintain balance of power.The
unifications of the these two states by 1870 through the work of Bismarck and Cavour really disturbed
the balance of power which was created in 1815 by the victors.The nationalism and liberalism of these
two states were violated.This was the bases of their unification programmes that started as early as
1815.

-Other cases where nationality and liberalism as twin principles being compromised by Vienna
settlement were:

1.incorporation of Belgium into Holland to prevent the former from being overrun by France.It can be
argued that this was not deliberately against nationalism as few Belgians were then very concerned
about it.

11.-the handing over of most Italian states to foreign rule except Piedmont and Papal states was clear
frustration of nationalism and liberalism.This laid the bases of future revolutions in Italy and disorder
hence the framers of this settlement could not offer realistic solutions to European problems. In other
words, they created European problems in order to safeguard their interests.

111.-the bringing of Poland under Russian influence was the congress’s greatest frustration of
liberalism and nationality.

6. Banning of Slave trade.

-was in favour of legitimate trade-Britain’s interests-shameful example

7.Restoration of legitimate gvts

-the victors restored the hated Bourbon Monarchy in France but with a charter as recognition of
revolutionary change.This was in response to Talleyrand who persuaded the Allies to apply the
principle to the restoration of Bourbons in France.This was also shameful example of self interests by
the Allies at this congress.Again, the Bourbon king in Spain was returned as well as the Pope to their
thrones.

Implementation of what was agreed at Vienna Settlement

After the congress of Vienna, the victors entered into periodic meetings in order to ensure the
implementation of their interests but the question remains-Whose interests were best served by these
series of congresses up to 1825---known as congress system.There was no systematic about these
congresses but were conducted in a hapzard way.They only reacted to events that is they were rather
reactive than proactive.This was one major weakness made these victors after 1815.The phrase is a
useful description of international relations during this period.The major meetings were congress of
Aixa-chapelle 1818,Troppau 1820,Laibach 1821,Verona 1822 and the abortive meeting at st
Petersburg 1825.These congresses were meant to serve the interests of individual states- a general
point is that all states benefitted because Europe avoided international war in this period
(peace).However, the suppression of revolutions in smaller states (national and liberal feelings)
benefitted particularly Austria under Metternich and Russia under Alexander who aimed to maintain
the status quo in Europe. e.g Metternich sought to preserve the authority of the Hapsburg against
disstructive forces of nationalism and liberalism. Britain did not benefit because she was at odds with
conservative autocracies like Russia and Austria. France benefited because she was readmitted to the
circle of major powers that directed European affairs.Though the congress system lasted not more
than 10 years,in the context of its time, international cooperation through periodic congresses was
created,condemnation of slave trade was effected and peace prevailed for 40 years-no major hostilities
occurred until the Crimean War of 1854.
ITALIAN UNIFICATION FROM 1815-870

Background

The destiny of Italy was decided by 1815 Vienna congress, so therefore its unification would be a
violation to this settlement and a change of balance of power.The framers of this settlement were not
prepared to see such kind of development. Metternich referred Italy ‘as a mere geographical
expression’. meaning to say that it was not a country worth mentioning.The framers of the Vienna did
not want to disturb the balance of power by advocating the united Italy.His description seemed
appropriate with the following attributes of the state:

1.communication between different areas was not easy because of physical barriers such mountains
and rivers which were not navigable-north,central and south.

2.Patriotism of the people was focused on their city

3.There were custom barriers which hampered trade-thus the differences between north and south
were deep and real.

4.The Pope in the central Italy had been opposed to territorial consolidation under a common ruler-
thus Italian situation has less national aspirations.

5.Adminstrative unity was shattered by the terms of Vienna congress in 1815 and once again Italian
states had been reduced to a mere geographical expression-thus its boundaries had been drawn by the
congress of the powers and its unification was an international question as it would entail the
overthrow of the 1815 settlement.

6.Italy became a rockpit of Europe where foreign powers contented for mastery e.g Napoleon invaded
Naples and later on,Austria was given Lombardy and Venetia as compensation for her loss of
Austrian-Netherlands.

7.Some Italian states such as Parma,Modena,Tuscany were handed over to the Austrian princes.

8.Pope was restored and controlled all the states in central Italy

9.The Spanish Bourbon monarchy gained the two Sicilies-Naples and Sicily in the south
10.The Italian ruler of Piedmont was restored and gained Sardinia,Nice and Savoy but the last two
states were inhabited by the French. Thus, in the final analysis, Italy was mere a divided state into
north,central and south.The three zones needed to be united as one state.

From the above observation, the road to unification required leaders who were
practical,diplomatic,tactful in nature in their approach. From the three architects of Italian unification
(Count Cavour,Mazzini and Garibaldi), Cavour proved to have best qualities in handling this delicate
situation though the contributions of the other could not be ruled out.Austria was their common
enemy, thus expulsion of Austria from its territory was absolutely essential for the liberation and
unification of the country since Austria was a foreign state and would have no part in Italian
unity.Austria was given the mandate by the congress of Vienna to control the Italian
Peninsula.Metternich was determined to destroy the idea of Italy as a political expression and there
was little opposition to his views from other powers.The whole process of Italian unification needed a
radical change in attitude for Italians,its rulers and as well as non-Italians.

Factors that hindered the process of unification

1.Most Italians were found to be lacking political awareness and did not have the will to forge unity.

2.Italy did not have leaders worth mentioning but was extremely backwards in all respects.

3.All early liberal opinions and uprising were put down by Austria e.g Charcoal burners staged a
revolt against king Ferdinard of Naples but the success was temporary since Metternich intervened
and suppressed the uprising.

3.The rule of Pope became unpopular and did not support the idea of unification-0pposed all forms of
reforms and he protected French garrison in 1849.

4.The earliest movement directed towards achieving freedom from foreign rule was confined to a
small section-secret societies-charcoal burbers-the Carbonaris but very few Italians as yet thought in
terms of national unification.They encouraged people to revolt but were not yet ready for the cause.

5.Austrian presence was a major obstacle to Italian unity.

6.Different approaches to Italian unity was a problem e.g Mazzini was for a republican government,
Cavour wanted a monachial government (kingships) whilst the Pope wanted a federal state under his
Presidency-so they lacked common approach.

7.Italy was marked by physical barriers-is a mountainous areas-aspect of physiography.

8.Numerous customs barriers-hindered trade relations amongst Italian states.

9.Italy had many sovereign states e.g The Papal states in central Italy,The Bourbon states in Southern
Italy and Northern states were under monarchist government.

Lessons gained from early revolts

-the early failures in 1820s,1830s and 1848-9 Revolutions were not without lessons for others e.g
Mazzini and Cavour learnt something from these revolts.They realised that they had to change the
way to go about the issue of unity and freedom.It was clear that the defeat of Austria would ensure
Italian freedom and unification.They was need to have backing from the masses hence need for
mobilisation of the masses because the Charcoal burners failed because they did not have the backing
of the masses, possibly people were not ready for the cause.The other lesson was that the Italia fara
dese does not work since all early uprising by the Italians were suppressed by Austria.

THE Role of Cavour: his contribution by 1861

By 1861, the situation in Italy had greatly changed i.e much of Italy had been annexed to Sardinia-
Piedmont e.g Lombardy was surrendered to Piedmont after the defeat of Austria in 1858.

-the kingdom of Italy was declared in 1861, with Victor Emmanual 11 as king of Italy

-rulers of smaller states in Central and Southern Italy had been swept away and these states were
annexed to Piedmont

-Austrians had been destroyed from Northern Italy through French help, although they still entrenched
in Venetia but Lombardy was acquired by Cavour.However, the French garrison remained in Rome.
All these were due to Cavour’s role in solving the problems of 1848. The complete unification was
achieved by 1870 with the role of Bismarck who was pursuing his own interests in Germany e.g
Autro-Prussian war in 1866 at the battle of Sadowa-here was defeated and Venetia was taken by
Piedmont.This marked the end of Austrian influence in Italy.The Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 by
Bismarck finally unified Italy by defeating France which had influence in Rome,Nice and
Savoy.Thus, Cavour’s idea of foreign assistance was fulfilled by Bismarck by 1870-71.Though much
credit can be attributed to Mazzini and Garibaldi, Cavour had the ability to manipute events as they
come to Piedmont’s advantage as the rallying point for Italian unification.Therefore, the unification of
Italy is attributed to so many players e.g Mazzini ,Cavour,Garibaldi,Victor Emmanuel 11 and
Bismarck who was pursuing his own interests in Germany. Again, the unification of Italy was subject
to both planning and chances which were exploited by Cavour.

Cavour’s Approch

Derek Beales comments that the unification of Italy happened very quickly,owed much to good
fortune and was largely an affair of war and diplomacy....’ It was a result of risorgimento-national
revival not the sudden and accidental upshot of war and diplomacy.Cavour was not a revolutionary
but was a realist and believer of freedom,economic, military and political progressiveness.He was
inspired by the status of Britain.

-Cavour favoured an expanded Piedmont that who lead to a stronger northern Italy.Victor Emmanuel
and Cavour who were the leaders of Piedmont, saw success being achieved through foreign aid
because Piedmont was too weak to fight alone with strong common enemy Austria and did not wish
to raise revolutionary forces elsewhere.Cavour supported a united Italy at a later date and had the
misgivings about the wisdom of including the South and Rome.

-Intervention in the Crimean War of 1854-1856 was a significant step which he took to gain foreign
aid against Austria in 1858-1859.Cavour favoured an expansionist policy that would lead a stronger
northern Italy against a powerful Austria.Thus, Cavour’s internal reforms were quite instrumental in
making Piedmont to stand a chance against a strong Austria which proved to be a stubbling block to
Italian unification e.g he signed commercial treaties with Britain,France,Belgium,Netherlands,German
zollverein and also lowered tarrifs duties with other Italian states as way of promoting trade.Railway
construction was greatly improved to promote communication with other Italian states,France and
German states.Scientific farming was encouraged and Commerce and Industry were promoted thus
Piedmont’s exports greatly increased by 50%.There was also military reorganisation in order to meet
European standards-the army was well equipped and trained.As a result, Piedmont-Sardinia had
become unchallenged leader of Italy,most liberal and progressive state in the peninsula. The whole
process of Italian unification needed a strong state and leadership to champion the process. This need
was done by Cavour himself after identifying the weakness of the 1848 revolution in Italy. Cavour
learnt something from his predecessors and had the ability to manipute to his advantage.

Crimean War 1854-1856

Cavour believed that Itala fara dase or Italy will do it alone was not practical as evidenced by the
failure of revolutiories like Mazzini and Garibaldi.He believed in blood and iron and diplomacy
through use of Foreign aid.This foreign was not easy to get from either Britain or France since the
destiny of Italy was the product of Vienna settlement. It clearly demonstrates that the expulsion of
Austria and possible unification of Italy would entail re-adjustment of the balance of power and would
become a concern for European states. Cavour waited for his chances to come and his finest hour
came when the Crimean war broke where he joined on the side of Britain and France against Russia
over Turkey. The defeat of Russia resulted in a Peace treaty of Paris in 1856 where Cavour presented
his issue to Britain and France.Cavour never thought of a united Italy comprising the whole entire
peninsula but was probably thinking of a defined kingdom of Northern Italy.This was a diplomatic
approach for Cavour to gain friends in order to oust out Austria.Thus, Cavour’s plan was successful
because she got military support from France and moral support from Britain.

Napoleon 111’s motives was to upgrade French glory abroad by having some territorial gains from
Italy-Nice and Savoy as compensation for helping Cavour.Napoleon 111 did not want to see a united
Italy since such kind of move would violate the 1815 arrangement.To Cavour, sought much of
freedom rather than Italian unification.Thus, a territorial expansion of Piedmont in Northern Italy was
planned with the inclusion of states which were under Austria. Cavour was seeking nothing but
territorial expansion.Cavour’s aim was to use the Italian movement and the friendship of Napoleon
111 for the advantage of Sardinia.The idea of Italian unity was hypothetical, remote from immediate
reality-setting Piedmont at the head of national movement.National unity may have been a remote
ideal but later was forced by circumstances of events that led him to think of a united Italy but under
the leadership of Piedmont.Cavour was clearly in closer touch and in close sympathy with national
movement in Italy. As a result, Piedmont, became focus of national aspirations e.g many liberals had
a slogan ‘Victor Emmanuel, king of Italy’. Unification was distant objective and the immediate task
was the liberation of Italy from the Austrian yoke and set up of North Italian kingdom.

The role of Mazzini

-Mazzini and Garibaldi were advocating for the unification of all Italian states-central,northern and
southern.Mazzini did not reconcile to Cavours’s Italy.Mazzini(idealist-not practical) was a republican
whose ideas embraced all of Italy.He believed that Italy could free itself through revolution-‘Italia
fara dase’ –meaning Italy will go alone.This was not a practical approach considering the military
strength of Austria and again the initial phase of the call, most Italians were not yet prepared for the
cause.He is credited for raising the national feelings among the young Italians through his creation of
the Young Italy and Young Europe.He laid the foundation for the forthcoming nationalist leaders and
these learnt a lot from his mistakes.He was just an idealist not a practical man-wanted unity of all
people thus he sow the idea hence the father of Italian unification. Mazzini, being a revolutionary
wanted to create a republican state.The 1848 revolution failed because they were too parochial and
uncoordinated,lacked popular support and lack of realism among the revolutionaries.These revolts
hardly have produced significant results.The failure of these revolts had shown Mazzini’s ideas to be
unrealistic and the shortcomings of his leadership had been exposed.The slogan that ‘Italia fara dase
i.e Italy will do it alone’ was an illusion.This clearly proved that freedom could not be achieved
without foreign aid.

The role of Garibaldi and Southern Italy-His Contribution

Harsh despotism of Bourbons led to revolts of 1860 in Naples and Sicily but Gribaldi did not have
much interest in Italian unity.However ,he assisted them against despotism.Cavour took this chance to
send Piedmontese army and papal troops were defeated so they marched southwards to link up with
Garibaldi.Garibaldi handed over his cinquest to Victor Emmunuel 11 and the retired to his home
island.The southern part of Italy’s success was due to Garibaldi’s efforts but Cavour only manipulated
to his advantage.

The central states demanded union with Piedmont and these events put Sardinia to its advantage and
Napoleon 111 supported this since Nice and Savoy wanted union with France.The Pope Pius 1X
refused to become president of an Italian confederation and angered many,hence turned against him.
Garibaldi also participated in Cavour’s wars with Austria though being a revolutionary.

RUSSIA-Role of Joseph Stalin 1824-1941

Introduction

The Communist regime in the Soviet Union’s aim was to to industrialise the economy.Lenin made
advances under his New Economic Policy (NEP) but surprisingly,Soviet Union remained behind the
rest of Europe.It was against this background that Joseph Stalin had to adopt his Five Year Plans to
break away from Lenin’s policy.The changes introduced by Joseph Stalin under his plans were to
transform the USSR from a backward, peasant country into modern,urban and industrial-based
society.

Reasons for introducing programmes in USSR

1.Fear of foreign invasion

-Russia was still backward despite Lenin’s efforts to introduce modern economy in USSR and again
Russia had abundant resources e.g coal and iron.Stalin believed that Russia should have strong
industrial base if she was to defend herself against capitalist states like France and Britain. The
capitalist world wanted to destroy communism ideology in Russia.Stalin said ‘ We are 50 to 100 years
behind the Advanced countries,We must make good this distance in 10 years, either we do it or we
shall be crushed’.Thus, Stalin’s cry for socialism in one country was to be achieved through
industrialisation.Hitler’s anti-communism statements provided a further incentive for the successful
implementation of the Five Year Plan as a strategy to introduce modern economy in USSR.

2.Economic reasons

-Under NEP of Lenin,industrial production although improving remained disappointing to many

Communists.Again, civil war and disruption of First World War of 1914-1918 damaged Russia’s
infrastructure.All these contributed to Russia’s backward in Europe.The Five Year Plan introduced by
him was strictly controlled by the gvt to ensure enough production and distribution of essential
materials.Thus, to Stalin economic control by the gvt would maximise use of USSR’s resources hence
fast-tracking the growth of its economy-command economy.

3.Political reasons.

To all Communists, industrialisation was seen as a necessary development in order to ensure the
survival of the revolution.Chances of survival of socialism in an non-industrial society was quite
slim.It was therefore, essential to undertake the programme of industrial development. Thus,
industrialisation process would create many more members of the proletariate who would be the
backbone of the revolution.The Five Year Plan would get rid of all private business people and traders
who had gained under NEP-made excessive profits at the expense of the majority.The capitalist
elements concerned with selfish gains needed to be wiped out and the Five Year Plan would achieve
this objective.

STALIN’ s Role in introducing a modern economy in Russia

Without Stalin,USSR would have perished, so they had been taught what lay ahead despite their
suffering.Initially, Stalin’s rule was appealing but later his rule reflected his tyrannical in order to
introduce a modern economy to the standards of other European powers. Stalin decided by starting
with agriculture in turning around the Russian economy where he believed that industrial
development would only be possible if it was supported by an increase in agricultural production i.e
need for food for the workers.Thus, mechanisation of agriculture would allow people to work in
industry –availability of labour.This policy of industrialisation could be achieved only if agriculture
was made more efficiently.That was Stalin’s assumption in his policy of introducing modern economy
in USSR.

This programme was introduced after a strong power struggle within the Communist Party which was
divided between the Right,Left and the Centre.The struggle for power was between Trostsky and
Stalin but this was not a mere struggle but involved serious differences over matters of policy where
Stalin wished to build socialism in one country while Trostsky regareded the need for a communist
world revolution as soon as possible.Stalin believed in building and a modernindustrial state first
before doing anything in order to improve the standards of living and to resist attacks from other
states.Stalin was accepted by Communist Party Congress against Trostsky.NEP of Lenin was
abandoned and introduced the push-towards industrialisation in 1928-industrialisation was state
controlled.

The Five Year Plans and collectivisation 1928-1933

In introducing modern economy, Stalin’s first focus was on agriculture before looking at the industrial
sector.Stalin thought that this was going to be an easy process.These Five Year Plans to be
successful,it required financial backing to kick off but Russian was still a poor country.However, the
question-Where could Stalin get the money? The possible alternative were to get it from western
states but Stalin feared that they would exploit her profits and again they had different
ideologies.Another possilibility was to wait for gradual improvement from his programmes but this
one was ruled out by him. Finally,Stalin was convinced that Russian would be hauled into a modern
world by sweat and blood of the Russian people while this needed proper planning i.e First Five Year
Plan 1928-1932 and Second Five Year Plan-1933-1937

The First Five Year Plan 1928-1932-Collectivisation of Agriculture

The focus was on food production for the workers in industry in order to consolidate the industrial
sector-so extra food was to be gained through his reform of agriculture.The aim of this programme
was to build up Russia’s heavy industry-coal,iron and steel and to collectivise agriculture.The rational
was to do away with individual farms of peasantry in the countryside and to base agriculture on large
farms run collectively under centralised director.Thus,collectivisation was a policy of creating larger
agricultural units where peasants would farm collectively rather than on individual basis on farms.The
purpose was to increase agricultural production through extensive use of machinery.Initially, the First
Year Plans was carried out at the expense of low living standards but this was a fundamental step
towards creating a modern industrial state.The plans converted Russia into a modern industrial state
and it provided the basis for resistance to Hitler in the second world war.

Effects of farm collectivisation

This aroused widespread resistance and produced a situation of near civil war in many farming areas
e.g heavy resistance came from richer peasants or kulaks who lost their properties and were heavily
taxed and evicted from their farms.Their products would be taken by the Stalin’s gvt at low price.The
response of these richer peasants to the state was quite heavy i.e they killed their livestocks and
burning of their crops as well as destroying their farm buildings.Stalin had to introduce forced
collectivisation if he had to promote socialism in one country to ensure surviva of the revolution and
create a modern economy as per his vision.It was a state of confusion and loss of production. e.g grain
production rapidly fell below the 1913 level thus Stalin in the 1930s was forced to introduce the
slower pace in collectivisation especially when it was found that over 60% of livestock was lost.Stalin
allowed many of the deported peasants to return from prison camps to the villages and he provided
incentive e.g given little private plots of land of their own .Despites this,by 1932, the gvt had achieved
its aims and the collective farm system had come to stay.There was a huge increase of tractor
production in the 1930s which led to a rise in agricultural production after 1932.Though,the use of
command economy had some shortcomings, Stalin was bit flexible in dealing the situation when
things turned against him-e.g resources were wasted,consumer industries suffered heavily while
coal,iron and steel production increased and managers tended to inflate figures, hence led to
corruption.

Second Five Year Plan 1933-1937-INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS

The Five Year Plans had increased industrial wealth and huge industrial centres e,g Stalingrad grew
up in these years.Moscow-Volga canal was built and a great hydro-electric dam was completed on the
Dnieper for the electrification of the countryside,towns of Ukraine and to spearhead rapid industrial
production.This was quite necessary in order to create a modern industrial state.Thus, creating a
modern state was seen by Stalin as a means of raising standards of living of the Russian people and a
means of resisting attacks from the capitalist world.Stalin though he created a harsh environment for
the people, he managed convert Russia from a backward country into a great modern industrial state
in Europe which his predecessors like Lenin failed to do so.By 1938, Russia produced more than 5
times the amount of coal produced in 1913 and 6 times the amount of steel. Though Stalin’s approach
in introducing Modern state economy in Russia,people had to go without many consumer goods and
thus life was hard and living standards remained low.There was shortage of housing and labour was
being exploited in industries.Resistance increased against Stalin but the police terror against suspected
persons-widespread party purges took place resulting in loss of human life.By 1939, both agriculture
and industry had been transformed at a cost of self-sacrifice by many people under harsh regime e.g
purges were introduced-to get rid of anyone Stalin did not trust e.g about 15 million people were
killed in his effort to create a modern industrial state in Europe. Thus, though Stalin achieved his
goals in introducing a modern state,the remaining part of his rule was marked by severe criticism from
workers,peasants and even everybody in Russia.Stalin claimed that he was doing it for the good of all
the Russians because Hitler hated communism.Thus,purges were an necessary evil for his success as
well as human suffering-Why? His plans eventually turned Russia into a industrial giant. However,
his critics eventually accepted the suffering because they believed that they were building a better
future for next generation.A good living example of Stalin’s contribution for the Russians even today
is that of defeating Hitler in 1941.So without the industrial strength that Stalin had given it,the
Russians could have been crushed.Stalin’s new steel works,power stations and factories saved Russia
but the people suffered a lot to build it.Thus, Stalin’s policies had bought about successful
modernisation of the country but achieved at enormous human cost.It should be noted Stalin’s
approach initially was quite appealing but later on Stalin had to use to make things happen since some
of his predecessor had failed to industrialise the country.He had created a good foundation for the
Russians which is being remembered by the new generation in the world especially their survival
from Hitler’s attack during the Second World war in 1941.
GERMANY HISTORY-1919-1945

Background-RISE OF ADOLF HITLER

Germany and her allies Austria,Turkey,Bulgaria were defeated in the First World War in 1914-
1918.This war had affected the country’s her previous position as a great power.The German reich
was lost since the victors(Britain,France,Italy) took some of her territories.This resulted in the singing
of Versailles Settlement which saw Germany on the losing side in all respects.It was against this
background that Adolf Hitler worked hard to rectify the situation after 1919.The defeat of Germany
saw the abdication of William 11 from power and the creation of a new democratic government
known as ‘Weimur Republic’.It is this government which was associated with the hated Versailles of
1919 by Germans including Hitler himself.

The Weimur Republic( An Experiement)

Germany’s defeat in 1918 brought to an end to German’ Reich.The abdication of William11 saw the
establishment of a new German Republic called the Weimur Republic.It adopted this title because it
was based at Weimur city in German.On paper, its constitution was truly democratic but on the
ground,it failed to promote its application right from the beginning.The problems faced by this
government right from the beginning was a good recipe for Hilter’s rise in 1933.The challenges faced
by this gvt were political ,social and economic in nature and these challenges were manipulated by
Hitler to his advantages but however, his abilities enabled him to grab power from this gvt by
1933.Therefore, Hitler’rise is attributed to both challenges faced by this gvt and his personal abilities
that appealed to many Germans.

Conditions that enabled Hitler and the Nazis to rise to power

The attainment of power by Hitler and the Nazis was largely a product of the weakness of the Weimur
republic and the general economic,social and political problems of the time.The weimur constitutional
with its proportional representation facilitated the rise of Hitler-i.e the constitution led to the setting
up of unstable gvts-failure of democracy caused a lot of problems-e,g political assassinations and
disturbances in form revolts against the gvts.

Political challenges of the Weimur Republic

The gvt was associated with the hated treaty-versallies which adversely affected the Germans
socially,politically and economically.This gvt never won confidence of the German speaking people-
had no faith in this gvt.This situation was largely created by the leadership who accepted and signed
the Versallies treaty.The treaty was labelled as a diktat by many Germans.The new rulers of this gvt
were accused as sell-out and were given all sorts of unpalatable names e.g the November criminals.

The democracy which the new rulers of German adopted on assuming power was alien to the
Germans who had been used to an authoritarian system of gvt.This was more of a challenge to this gvt
hence people lost faith in it.Its future of survival was now questionable from the start.This politica
environment provided a good opportunity for Hitler to grab power in Germany.Democracy was very
unpopular amongst many sections of the population who included the Business people,army officers
and the Prussian junkers who had never wished to see the survival of this type of gvt.Again, the
introduction of democracy also promoted the mushrooming of many political parties whose views and
interests were diverse as the parties themselves.eg no single party won a clear majority in the
parliament or Reichstag, thus signifying that the German speaking had different interests and views in
the country.This resulted in a series of shortlived and weak coalition gvts e.g chancellors came one
after the other in rapid succession rendering the republic ungovernable. Examples of parties created
were Nazi party under Hitler,Communist(Sparticist)Party,Social Democratic Party,Catholic Centre
Party,Bavarian Peoples’ Party.Thus, the introduction of democracy in German created more problems
for this gvt as evidenced by formation of many political parties in the country.This resulted in various
attempts to overthrow this gvt eg.the first attempt was of the Communist uprising(Spartist Purtsh)-its
a German word for an armed rising- in 1919-this took place in Berlin and it was inspired by the
Russian revolution in 1917 which had resulted in the creation of the Bolshevik gvt under
Lenin.However, this revolt was crushed by Nationalists who did not want to see the spread of
communism in their country from Russian.Another attempt was the Munich Putsch of 1923 where the
Nazi under Hitler attempted to seize power.They wanted to march from Munich to Berlin imitating
what Mussolini did in Italy when grabbed power in 1922 by marching into Rome.Hitler felt that the
time was right to overthrow the gvt since he had a lot of support in Munich.This attempt resulted in
Hitler being imprisoned where he wrote his book-‘The Mein kampf-My struggle’. It was a matter of
time before this gvt was removed.The importance of this attempt was that Hitler’s name was known
all over German and his became a sort of a Bible which expressed his ideas about the future of
Germany.Most Germans were tired of this type gvt because people were not benefitting from it since
the country had many social,political and economic problems created by the FWW but not gvt itself.

Social challenges

There was general social unrest in the country e.g political violences,demonstrations and strikes
amongst workers whose wages and savings were eroded by the hyper inflationary environment.These
became the order of the day.Dieseses also took a toll on the German populace e,g thousands of
children suffered from life threatening diseases such as TB,Stomach diseases.Large number of
German were left homeless and some were maimed by WW1.Many widows and orphans were created
by the war and there was widespread unemployment due to demobilisation of the army.From this
situation, most Germans resented this scenario and wanted gvt that would rescued them.The Weimur
republic seemed not show any sign of improving the situation and this created more chances for
Hitler’s campaign to win power in Germany.

Economic challenges

The grave unemployment worsened by demobilised soldiers added to the general poverty in the
country.Therefore, the general economic,social and political dislocation in Germany during the
Weimur republic’s rule aided the rise of Hitler and the Nazis to power.

The French-Belgium occupation of the Ruhr caused the collapse of the mark and appalling inflation in
1923.Germany faced one of the highest inflation ever record in history in the 20th century.The vaue
of Germany mark dropped soon after the end of the First world war.Notes were printed daily and
became meaningless and this did not help the situation.However, some people resorted to barter trade
and use of foreign currency when doing their transactions.Many workers were retrenched resulting in
more unemployment rate in the country.Huper inflation eroded workers’s wages and savings.Banks
and industries were closed resulting in the drop of Gross Economic growth.Again, this inflation
affected the propertied class e.g the middle class,who became potential supporters of the
Nazis.Payment of reparations was a thorny issue which resulted in heavy borrowing thus increasing
the country’s debts.However,the economic situation slightly improved when Gustav Stressman
became the German chancellor of this gvt but it was shortlived because of the effects of Great
Depression of 1929.Gustav saved the country from total collapse in 1924-1929 when he embarked on
several measures which brought hope e.g he introduced new currency and on the international
scene,he agreed to the Dawes Plan of 1924 and the Young Plan of 1929-the two schemes assisted the
gvt in the payment of reparations by installments hence by 1926, Germany was accepted in the league
of Nations.The effects of these measures were that trade with other countries greatly improved,the
Germans had more work and food.However, Germany’s hope was spoiled by the effects of World
Great depression which started in America.The effects of the Great Depression e.g the Wall Crash and
death of the able Stresemann worsened the Republic’s problems and increased support for the Nazis-
industrialists sytmpathised with Nazi hoping to have their properties protected.They sympathised with
the Nazi programme,especially the revision of the Versailles treaty.This slump hit Germany very hard
e.g unemployment figures rose sharply,many shops went out business and forced to close.Many banks
collapsed and producers stopped to produceThe majority felt that the Weimur republic had failed-
some turned to communism and some turned to Hitler.e.g the elections of 1930 and 1932 saw the
numbers of Nazis in the Reichstag rising from 12 to 230 seats- the party had more seats than any other
party.Hindenburg who was German President believed that it was Hitler who could stop communism
in Germany and in 1933 was made the chancellor of Germany. Hitler hated the Jews,Versailles
treaty,Weimur republic and communism and was lucky that most Germans had same feelings, hence
got much support from the people.It was at the height of this economic collapse that the Weimur
Republic collapsed, hence giving Hitler the chance to grap power in Germany by 1933.

Remarks

The rise of Hitler to power was based upon long term factors which include Germans resentment of
the terms of Versailles settlement which they saw as a diktat,the social,economic and political
problems created by the war and world depression as well as the the failure of democracy.The
weakeness of the Weimur republic system gvt was exploited by Hitler through his propaganda.The
term of office by Gustav Streseman from 1924 -1929 brought hope for most Germans such that Hitler
found it difficult to get support for his plans to overthrow the gvt by force.Most Germans became
contented with Gustav’s measures which saw country reviving from its economic,social and political
problems.The measures adopted by him had a bearing on the social lives of the Germans so
discontentment decreased- the measures brought economic prosperity and international recognition of
Germany.He was very lucky when Gustav died in 1929 and the beginning of world slump revived his
support from rich business people who did not want see the communist taking power in
Germany.Confidence in the gvt was affected by the Great Depression e.g loans from America
ceased.Government failed to deal with the crisis with the result that extreme politics returned with the
Nazis.Hitler capitalised and attacked the gvt.Fear of communism made it difficult for the Weimur to
deal with the Nazis challenges.There was a leadership crisis with the death of Stresemann, e.g Muller
resigned and Bruning and Von Schleicher did not help much. Thus, self interest of the political parties
led to bickering in the Reichstag and so Hindenburg had no option but to call Hitler.With his
appointment,republicanism had given way to dictatorship.He got financial backing from them for his
campaingns to stop communist from gaining power.In the final analysis, Hitler rose to power as a
result of long term bitterness and deep anger about the FWW and treaty of Versailles which created an
underlying bitterness which Hitler’s viciousness and expansionism appealed to so many Germans-so
the people of Germany gave him support. In fact,the weakness of the constitutions crippled the
Weimur republic and many Germans wanted to return to the authotarian type of gvt when the crisis
came in 1929.Noone was prepared to fight to stop Hitler but instead gave him moral and financial
support to run his propaganda and election campaingn.Thus, Nazi propaganda convinced many
Germans to believe that the Jews were to blame for all the misfortunes of the country-bloodsuckers of
their economy and should be removed through force-and were made to believe that he was their last
hope.Hitler promised everybody something so that they supported him.Hitler was a brilliant
speaker(orator) and his eyes had a peculiar power over the people.He was good organiser and
politician.He believed that he had been called by God to become a dictator in Germany and rule the
world.This kept him going when other people might have given up.This self-belief persuaded people
to believe in him.
Hitler used various measures to gain support from the Germans-used violence i,e Storm Troopers beat
all opponents in the streets and the Enabling Act of 1933 allowed Hitler to do whatever he likes and
Nazi rule of terror begun and all political parties were outlawed.He was more determined to gain –
power e.g in 1933,17 million voted for him and 20 million voted against him but this did not stop him
despite having strong opposition from communists. Thus, the terror of the Storm Troopers and the
brilliance of his Speeches attracted many Germans.

Summary

The question to ask is,was the rise of Hitler to power attributed to long term factors or to challenges
faced by the Weimur republic or was due to personal abilities? However, the position is that both
long term factors and his personal advantages assisted him to gain power in Germany.It is important
to note the weaknesses of the Weimur republic played a greater role for Hitler to grab power in
Germany.The weaknesses of this gvt was Hitler’s strengths in order to win support in Germany.This
evidenced during the time Gustav when most Germans got contented and was very difficult for Hitler
to gain support.However,he was bit lucky in 1929 when Gustav died and the occurrence of world
slump otherwise his future rise was now questionable.At the same time,his personal advantages
enabled him to win people and see him as their last hope in this crisis of the post-war period in
Germany.The Great depression was not the Weimur republic’s creation but was an world event that
affected German economy.The fault of the gvt was that it did not do anything to help the situation,
hence its weaknesses.The rapid succession of chancellors one after the other shows that this gvt had
riddled with a lot problems right from the onset.Thus, the Weimur republic was more of an
experiment that failed to last since the system of such gvt was a new thing to the Germans.