7.9 Causation in 19th Century Perspectives and Political Developments

This causation topic ties Unit 7 together by asking you to explain how nationalism and imperialism shaped European and global stability between 1815 and 1914. In AP European History, the big story is that national unification in Italy and Germany reshaped the balance of power, while imperial competition and shifting ideas pushed Europe toward the tensions that later exploded into World War I.

Why This Matters for the AP European History Exam

This is a causation-focused topic, so it rewards you for connecting events instead of just listing them. You will use these connections across the AP European History exam: linking the breakdown of the Concert of Europe to unification, tracing how unification changed the balance of power, and explaining how imperial rivalry strained alliances. Causation reasoning shows up in multiple-choice questions that ask "what caused" or "what resulted from," and it powers strong free-response answers where you need to explain cause and effect with specific evidence.

When you write about this period, aim to show chains of cause and effect (one development triggering another) rather than disconnected facts. That is exactly the kind of historical thinking this part of the course is built around.

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Key Takeaways

• The breakdown of the Concert of Europe opened the door for national unification in Italy and Germany and for liberal reforms elsewhere.
• The unification of Italy and Germany transformed the European balance of power and forced leaders to build a new diplomatic order.
• A mix of economic, political, and cultural motives, supported by second industrial revolution technology, drove European powers to expand their global empires.
• Imperial competition created diplomatic tensions that strained the alliance systems holding Europe together.
• After the revolutions of 1848, European thought shifted toward a realist and materialist worldview, which showed up in politics, science, and the arts.
• Continuity (national rivalry, claims of cultural superiority) and change (new nation-states, industrial-scale imperialism) both shaped stability across this period.

Struggle for Stability

The balance of power was the central concern of 19th-century European diplomacy. The idea of keeping no single state too strong had guided Europe since the end of the Napoleonic Wars, but nationalism and revolution kept disrupting that equilibrium.

Balance of Power and Its Pressures

Balance of power means spreading power among nations so no one country can control the others. Britain, France, Russia, Austria, and later a unified Germany all shaped this system. Several forces strained it:

• Nationalism: Nationalist movements grew strong enough to create new nation-states like Italy and Germany. These changes upset the existing order and sharpened competition between powers.
• Revolutionary movements: Ideals from the French Revolution kept spreading, fueling uprisings, especially in 1848. These pressures pushed some governments toward constitutional and liberal reforms.

Breakdown of the Concert of Europe

After 1815, the Concert of Europe tried to keep stability through diplomacy and collective action. It eventually broke down, and that breakdown is a key cause in this unit.

• The Crimean War exposed the weakness of the Ottoman Empire and helped unravel the Concert of Europe, creating conditions where Italy and Germany could finally unify after centuries of fragmentation.
• Growing nationalism and imperialism made the Great Powers more competitive, especially as they raced for colonies and influence.

Unification of Italy and Germany

• Italy: Cavour's diplomatic strategies, combined with Garibaldi's popular military campaigns, led to Italian unification. This shifted power away from Austria, which had long held influence on the peninsula.
• Germany: Bismarck used Realpolitik, relying on diplomacy, industrialized warfare, modern weaponry, and the manipulation of democratic mechanisms to unify Germany. The new German Empire reshaped the balance of power and made Germany a leading European force.

After 1871, Bismarck tried to keep the balance through a complex system of alliances aimed at isolating France. His dismissal in 1890 eventually led to mutually antagonistic alliances and rising international tensions, while nationalist tensions in the Balkans pulled the Great Powers into a series of crises heading toward World War I.

Industrialization and Global Empires

Industrial and technological developments, especially the second industrial revolution, made European control of global empires possible. New tools turned imperial ambition into reality.

• Military advantage: Advanced weaponry such as breech-loading rifles and machine guns gave Europeans a decisive edge over the societies they colonized.
• Communication and transportation: Steamships and the telegraph let European powers move, govern, and expand their empires faster.
• Medicine: Advances such as quinine and germ theory helped Europeans survive in regions of Africa and Asia they had not been able to control before.

European nations were driven by economic motives (raw materials and markets), political and strategic rivalry, and cultural justifications that claimed racial and cultural superiority. The competition for colonies, including the broader scramble in Africa, created diplomatic tensions that strained Europe's alliance systems. The Berlin Conference (1884 to 1885) is a useful example of how European powers negotiated colonial claims among themselves.

Cultural and Ideological Shifts

The Revolutions of 1848

The Revolutions of 1848 were a wave of uprisings demanding more representative government and national independence. Many were suppressed, but they still mattered:

• They pushed several states toward constitutional or more liberal political systems, including the establishment of the Second Republic in France.
• They strengthened national identity, especially in Italy and Germany, feeding the unification movements that followed.

From Idealism to Realism

After 1848, European thought turned toward a realist and materialist worldview, trading utopian hopes for a more practical, scientific outlook.

• Positivism emphasized that science alone provides knowledge, applying rational and scientific analysis to nature and human affairs.
• Realism in the arts showed up in painters and writers who depicted ordinary people and drew attention to social problems. Gustave Courbet and Honoré Daumier are commonly cited examples.
• Materialism shaped philosophy and political thought. Thinkers like Karl Marx argued that economic and class relations shaped society, ideas that fed later socialist movements (an application that connects forward to Unit 8).

By the later 19th century, a new relativism and a loss of confidence in objective knowledge pushed European culture toward modernism, including modern art that moved beyond realistic representation.

Continuities and Changes

Continuities

• National rivalry and imperial competition: Nationalism kept driving tension between European powers as they competed for global influence.
• Claims of cultural superiority: The belief in European superiority persisted and was used, through ideas like Social Darwinism, to justify imperial rule.

Changes

• New nation-states: Italian and German unification reshaped the balance of power and created major new players in European politics.
• Industrial-scale imperialism: Second industrial revolution technology gave European powers far greater reach over global territory, sharpening competition for resources and markets.
• Intellectual shifts: The move from idealism toward realism and materialism reflected how Europe was adjusting to modern life.

How to Use This on the AP European History Exam

Free Response

Frame your answers around cause and effect. A strong move is to connect the breakdown of the Concert of Europe to unification, then connect unification to the new alliance systems and rising tensions. Always back each link with specific evidence (Cavour and Garibaldi for Italy, Bismarck and Realpolitik for Germany, the second industrial revolution for imperialism).

MCQ

Watch for questions built on documents or quotes that ask what caused a development or what resulted from it. Use your timeline knowledge: the Crimean War and the breakdown of the Concert of Europe come before unification, and unification comes before the tangle of alliances after 1871.

Common Trap

Do not treat nationalism and imperialism as separate stories. The exam often rewards you for showing how they interacted, for example how imperial rivalry abroad strained alliances at home and added to instability in Europe.

Common Misconceptions

• "Unification made Europe more stable." Unification created strong new states, but it also transformed the balance of power and helped produce the antagonistic alliance systems that raised tensions before World War I.
• "The Concert of Europe collapsed all at once." It broke down gradually, with events like the Crimean War weakening it and opening space for unification movements.
• "Imperialism only affected colonized regions." It also reshaped European diplomacy, art, and debate, and it strained alliances among the Great Powers themselves.
• "Social Darwinism was Darwin's actual scientific theory." Darwin gave a scientific account of biological change. Social Darwinism was a later misapplication used to justify racial hierarchy and imperialism.
• "Realism and materialism were just art styles." They reflected a broader shift in worldview after 1848 that influenced philosophy, science, politics, and the arts together.

Related AP European History Guides

• Unit 7 Overview: 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments
• 7.6 New Imperialism: Motivations and Methods
• 7.2 Nationalism
• 7.1 Context of 19th Century Politics
• 7.7 Imperialism’s Global Effects
• 7.3 National Unification and Diplomatic Tensions