In the new edition of this popular book, Professor Grenville provides a lucid and sympathetic guide to the great political and international changes of the thirty years between 1848 and 1878. For this edition the author has included coverage of the experience of Britain within his discussion of continental Europe. During this period, Europe underwent a rapid succession of political and social changes. The revolutions of 1848 signaled a massive breakdown of social coherence and government, on a scale not witnessed before. The era that followed was one of authoritarian reform from above and the transformation of government, in all but Russia, from autocratic to constitutional rule. The period was dominated by the divisive force of nationalism whilst the map of Europe was redrawn by the unification of Italy and of Germany.
The author examines social conflicts in relation to the regions in which they occurred but also considers movements from a European as well as a local perspective. Yet these events were not merely the outcome of inevitable forces - personal ambitions also played an important role, and Professor Grenville provides readers with fascinating insights into the characters behind the events, including Napoleon III, Cavour, Garibaldi and the master-statesman Bismarck.
List of Maps. Preface to the second Edition.
Preface to the First Edition.
1. Foundations: Europe 1848-1878.
Part I: Revolutionary Europe 1848: .
2. France and Europe 1848.
3. The Hasburg Empire and the Revolutions of 1848.
4. German Unity and the Frankfurt Parliament.
5. Prussia and the Constitutional Cause of Germany in 1848.
6. Britain and Russia in 1848 and the Diplomacy of the Powers.
Part II: Authoritarian Europe: .
7. The Aftermath of the Revolution: France 1848-1851.
8. The Aftermath of Revolution: Austria, Prussia and 'Germany'.
9. The 1850s: The Authoritarian Decade in Austria and Prussia.
10. Napoleon III and the Authoritarian Decade of the Second Empire.
11. Great Britain: Cautious Reform in the Authoritarian Decade.
12. The Eastern Question Leads to War.
13. The Impact of the Crimean War on Europe.
Part III: Authoritarian Europe Transformed: .
14. The Unification of Italy.
15. Russia and the Reforms of Alexander II.
16. The Struggle for Supremacy in the German Confederation.
17. The Unification of Germany 1866-1871.
18. From The Authoritarian to the Liberal Empire in France 1860-1870.
19. 'Pax Britannia' at Home and Abroad.
20. The Franco-Prussian War.
21. The New Constellation of Power in Europe 1871-1878.
Further Reading.
Index.
