Digital Modules

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Digital Modules produced during Multicultural Interdisciplinary Handbook
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1848-’49 in Italy: a war of people, a war of armies
(Università Ca’ Foscari – Venezia, 2011) Crivellari, Cinzia
Of the three revolutionary cycles, echoing through the U.S.A. and Europe following the Congress of Vienna, the last one definitely revealed the typical features of the Italian movement. These were a democratic demand for a Constitution, a yearning for national independence in order to free Italian territories from the “foreign” presence and build a new independent State, in which way was yet to be defined. These two feelings have often blurred and blended: in some episodes the demands for equality are overwhelming, while in other cases the will and need to establish as soon as possible a State based on “freedom and independence” appears to prevail. A number of thinkers, artists scholars, poets and musicians encouraged this wide movement in different ways: on one side, by fighting as volunteers in irregular armies. Others, in parallel, were indirectly helping the struggle by secretly canvassing and supporting the organisation from abroad. The most important and active was with no doubt Giuseppe Mazzini. Victim of persecution in his own country, while living in different cities like Geneva, Marseille and London, he had restlessly plotted and attempted coups on absolute monarchies' kings. Ultimately, the goal he was to pursue so hard was the ideal of Italy as a Republic, united from north to south free from any kind of foreign domination. During the 1848/49 biennium, some temporary governments were instituted in many Italian cities, as a consequence of revolutionary uprising. They didn’t just limit their action to a military defence, but they even passed real constitution, in order to ensure public order and enforce laws. As popular uprisings were taking place in some cities against despotic rulers and foreign domination, the Savoy Kingdom of Sardinia took military action: it declared war on the Austrian Empire and moved its armies towards Lombardy and the Veneto. Thus began what would become in the official history of Italy the First War of Independence, in which the monarchist armies of Savoy, Giuseppe Garibaldi’s volunteers, the Pontifical troops of Pius IX and those of Leopold of Tuscany would fight together against the common enemy, Austria, until diplomatic reasons and political opportunism would lead the Pope to withdraw his forces unexpectedly and the King of Sardinia to sign an unexpected, disappointing armistice with the Austro – Hungarian empire.
European migrations to the United States
(UPEC - University of East Paris Créteil - IUFM, 2011) Mesnard, Eric
Between 1850 and 1930, the US greeted millions of migrants and its population increased from 23 to 130 million inhabitants. Most of those migrants were European. Thanks to these men and women who dreamt of a “promised land”, the “new country” grew.
Migration from Germany to the United States in the 19th century
(Siegen University, 2011) Klotz, Anna-Lena; Kuhn, Bärbel; Guse, Klaus-Michael; Homrighausen, Sahra; Fenske, Uta; Heck, Volker
At the end of the 19th century Germany became an immigration destination country. Until that time people rather emigrated from it – mainly because of socio-economic reasons. In times of crisis, more and more people emigrated. During the 19th century there were three waves of emigration: a) the years after the 1848 revolution, b) 1865-1874/75 and c) in the 1880s: 1880-1894. The United States was the country most of the migrants wanted to go to.
Political migration from Germany during National Socialism: the case of Thomas Mann
(Siegen University, 2011) Kuhn, Bärbel; Fenske, Uta; Guse, Klaus-Michael; Heck, Volker
Thomas Mann tried to deal with the subject of fascism quite early. As a Nobel Prize Winner and a symbol of “decent Germany “ he was very soon asked by other exiles to take a firm stand against national socialism and to support other less known exiles who did that. Thomas Mann did not comply with this request. The document of 1936, published in the Zürcher Zeitung was his first public statement against National Socialism. The German administration was thinking a lot about Thomas Mann, wondering whether to expatriate him or not. The Foreign Office was against it because they feared an enormous loss of the reputation of Germany. However, after the publication of Thomas Mann’s letter they started the expatriation process. Still, it is interesting that nobody was in a hurry to do that. They were awaiting the Olympic Games, so they did not want the possible damage to the reputation to impair the enormous propaganda success of the event. They were also afraid of the boycotts of the Olympic Games, which should be avoided by all means.
Propaganda in the First World War
(UNA - University of Augsburg, 2011) Kortler, Lena
In the First World war, modern media like films and images, postcards and posters were used for different propaganda purposes. The population was confronted with it at many levels, which facilitated mental mobilization. The images were not only published in relevant magazines, like Simplicissimus or Kladderadatsch, but also used as decorations on everyday objects like stamps and porcelain. Children were also prepared for war by means of toys. Dolls and teddy bears with uniforms substituted conventional toys. In addition, modern telecommunications allowed a quick spread of propaganda, so that, within the shortest time, the latest news could be announced all over Germany and worldwide. Intercontinental undersea cables, electricity and the world telegraphic network enabled worldwide exchange of information. As regards various means of propaganda, one should differentiate between the propaganda which refers to one’s own land and the one which agitates against the enemy. The image of Germany abroad was mostly that of the ugly German, the Hun, who violates the neighbouring states and turns them into ashes. As far as the style of representation is concerned, the French and British propaganda images directed against Germany were very similar. The self-image of the Germans was always positive, e.g. that of a peaceful population and a cultural nation.
Propaganda in World War I
(GRIAL - Universidad de Salamanca, 2011) Puente López de Pablo, Antonio
World War I involved the biggest military confrontation throughout Human History until that time. The confronted countries tried by all means to justify the armed conflict to their populations, which would suffer the most terrible consequences. In order to achieve this goal massive propaganda was used for the first time. All the countries without any exception got into an advertising campaign aimed at gaining the mass control in their corresponding states , so that the country could be gathered in front of the common enemy and guarantee victory which, otherwise, would practically be impossible.
Reign of Terror and Displacement 1939-1949
(UNA - University of Augsburg, 2011) Kortler, Lena; Fendt, Christian; Simmet, Oliver
After the First World War, the Czechoslovak state in which the Germans formed only a minority was founded. The relationship between Germans and Czechs remained difficult as a result of the founding of the state. In 1938, the Sudetenland was annexed to the German Reich; on 30.9.1938, the NS regime occupied the remainder of Czechia (“Rest-Tschechei”) as well. All Czech resistance was fought against uncompromisingly by imprisonment, detention in concentration camps, death sentences and retaliatory measures. Resulting from the war, during the six-year NS reign in Czechia, there also was ruthless exploitation of Czech workers. After the war, the displacement of Germans from Czechoslovakia followed. This controversial topic strains the German-Czech relations up to the present. Only under the umbrella of the European Union, reconciliation gradually succeeds.
Ressentiment, Conflict, destruction/extermination. Stereotypes of Poles
(Siegen University, 2011) Kuhn, Bärbel; Fenske, Uta; Guse, Klaus-Michael; Heck, Volker
The use of negative images and stereotypes is part of the major policy instruments of populist politicians. Therefore large parts of the population tend to believe in them and the stereotypes lay the ground for exclusion, persecution, pogroms and genocide. The history of the 20th century has been called an “age of extremes” (E. Hobsbawm) because a myriad of such persecutions and exterminations took place. In 1919, after the end of World War I, a lot of these negative images and stereotypes existed in Germany, p.e. against the Social Democrats who were called “unpatriotic” because they allegedly had fallen the undefeated army in the back, against the Jews who were pictured as “world conspirators” that had pushed Germany and (optionally all other countries) into the war but also against the German neighbors who fought on the Allied side. Anglophobe tirades were part of the rhetoric of every politician who followed imperialist objectives, especially since Wilhelm II started to build the naval fleet; since the liberation wars against Napoleon the French were called “hereditary enemies” of Germany; and the stereotype of the “Polish economy” (meaning chaos, mismanagement and crime) was created in the 18th century.
The development of Polish towns in the second half of the ninete-enth century
(Społeczna Wyższa Szkoła Przedsiębiorczości i Zarządzania, 2011) Hadrysiak, Sylwia
Urbanization (Latin: urbanus – urban) it is the process expressed in urban development, in-crease in their number, widening urban areas and paticipation of the urban population in total population (or participation of population living according to urban pattern). Urbanization is closely bound up and inextricable with the changes of social and cultural and so-called diffusion of urban lifestyle. Cities from antiquity served the following functions: administrative, communications, defense, tourism and recreation, religious places of worship. The massive process of urban development has taken place only during the Industrial Revolution. The transformation from craft production to production based on the manufactories employing thousands of hands to work has provided a significant demand for labor resources, which primarily was coming from rural areas. In the nineteenth century urbanization on the continent occurred very intensely, the slowdown of this process took place only in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.
The liberation of Nazi camps by the Allies
(UPEC - University of East Paris Créteil - IUFM, 2011) Mesnard, Eric
When soldiers of Allies army freed Europe, they discovered the scale of atrocities committed by the occupants, but, it took several weeks to understand the realities of the Nazi concentration camp system and the specificity of the Genocide that suffered the Jewish populations in Europe. “The sites liberation and the liberation of people should be distinguished. Indeed, many times, as the back of the front line, the SS commander decided the prior evacuation of camps with all their inmates…” (François Bédarida, « le phénomène concentrationnaire » in Bédarida François, Gervereau Laurent, La déportation. Le système concentrationnaire nazi, Paris, Musée d’histoire contemporaine/ BDIC, 1995). In the East, Soviets « freed » killing center (Sobibor, Belzec, Treblinka) which had been destroyed by the SS in 1943. In July 1944, Soviet armies passed through Treblinka and Sobibor without knowing that hundreds of thousands of Jews were gassed and burned. When Soviet soldiers got in the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau on the 27th of January 1945, they only found 7 000 survivors because on the 18th and 19th of January, the SS evacuated the camp with 58 000 prisoners who suffered the hardships of the “walks of death”. However, testimonials and the study of facilities confided to an inquiry commission allowed the awareness of what really happened at Auschwitz (« 1945: Libération des camps et découverte de l’univers concentrationnaire; crime contre l’humanité et génocide » Mémoire vivante n° 43, octobre 2004). In the West, American troops entered the Natzweiler-Struthof camp (Alsace) where inmates were evacuated. In spring 1945, the allied troops advanced rapidly. The evacuations of prisoners by the SS happened in appalling conditions. In April and May 1945, discoveries kept going…and, gave liberators nightmare visions: “It’s wrong to say that we didn’t know about Nazi concentration camps’ horrors before their liberation…But there is a difference between knowing and seeing… Now we cannot look away any longer. The abomination is under our eyes with all its nauseating details. Doors of Hell are open. ” Allies, that were sure to win against the Nazi Germany, decided to spread by the press, screened news and the radio, images of mass graves and evidence of survivors. But, the specific fate of Jewish wasn’t taken into account. When the extermination is evoked, it was associated with “Nazi crimes” as well as the economic European looting and the “deportation of workers” in Germany.
The Revolution of 1848
(UPEC - University of East Paris Créteil - IUFM, 2011) Mesnard, Eric
At the beginning of the year 1848, Louis-Philippe of Orleans (1773-1850) was the king of France. He was crowned after the Revolution of 1830. At first, inspired by the ideals of the Revolution, the king was seen as a personification of hope for the monarchy but soon the July Monarchy (1830-1848) faced numerous demonstrations which were roughly suppressed (the Canut revolts in Lyon in 1831, uprisings in Paris in 1832 and in Lyon in 1834). The republican Opposition got organized gathering support stemming from the social discontent. The conservative direction of the July Monarchy became more pronounced from 1848: Guizot, who was the secretary-general of Louis-Philippe the First, answered the requests concerning the expansion of the equal suffrage and the demands of the poorest in the following fashion: “Get richer by working and by saving money”. From 1846, the economic crisis (the rise of bread price, food shortage, unemployment) strengthened the unpopular regime. As political meetings were forbidden, Republicans organized, all over France, banquets to claim their main demand: the universal suffrage. On 22 February, 1848, a planned banquet was forbidden. This provoked demonstrations during which the troops shot at the crowd. This was the beginning of the French Revolution of 1848. A provisional government stood at the head of the republic proclaimed on 24 February, 1848. It decided to hold an election of the constitutional assembly through Universal Male Suffrage. In huge euphoria, the freedom of the press and assembly, the right to work, the abolition of death penalty for political offences and the abolition of slavery in colonies were proclaimed. The number of political clubs and associations increased in cities, also in Paris. They discussed prospects of a democratic and social republic; some women asserted their equal rights. However, the hopes for a democratic republic emerging from the French Revolution of 1848 fquickly faded: During elections on 23 April, the “Party of Order”, which gathered moderate and monarchist republicans, won thanks to rural votes. National workshops were closed on 22 June. This led to a murderous confrontation between the troops and the French people who held barricades on the 23 and 26 June. On 10 December 1848, Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte’s success in the presidential election confirmed the victory of those who wanted to put an end to the “48’s spirit”…
The Revolutions of 1848 in Europe
(UNA - University of Augsburg, 2011) Fendt, Christian
In the year 1848, upheavals against the prevailing political system or against the established social conditions were not a national, but a European phenomenon, which affected numerous countries and dynasties of Europe. Beginning with the February revolution in France, upheavals also took place in the states of the German Confederation, in the Habsburg Empire and in Poland. Nonetheless, there were different causes for each revolution, so that one cannot speak of one European revolution of 1848. In France, it was the civic-democratic February revolution that ended the rule of the “Citizen King”, Louis Philippe. It was caused, first and foremost, by the restriction of civic rights by means of the census suffrage and the social plight of workers, which led to an uprising and, finally, to the proclamation of the French Second Republic. In the German states, the restoration and the surveillance system of Metternich could not, in the long run, suppress the wishes for freedom of opinion, more rights to political participation and the abolition of Kleinstaaterei, which had become overwhelming. Economic crises, unemployment and famine caused by crop failures in the years 1845-1847 contributed to the growing discontent.
The Revolutions of 1848 in Europe – The Social Question
(UNA - University of Augsburg, 2011) Fendt, Christian
The social problems and grievances accompanying the Industrial Revolution, that is, the transition from agricultural to urbanized industrial society, are referred to as the Social Question. In Germany, the beginning of this transition was registered in the early19th century. Long before this moment in history, acute penury among huge sections of the population had already emerged. This was caused by the growing population, the decline of the old crafts and the gradual emergence of factory industry. The importance of the riot of the Silesian weavers in 1844 consisted in the public attention it attracted. It can also be regarded as a crucial event during the preliminary stages of the revolution beginning in 1848. The living and working conditions were also a main reason for the French workers to go again (after 1830) to the barricades in 1848. On June 24,1848, there was a riot of workers in a response to closing French National Workshops, which had provided work opportunities for the unemployed.
The Spring of Nations (1848)
(Społeczna Wyższa Szkoła Przedsiębiorczości i Zarządzania, 2011) Hadrysiak, Sylwia
The Spring of Nations is a term used to describe a series of revolutionary and national upris-ings, which occurred in Europe from 1848 to 1849. The concept of "nations" refers to societies seeking to participate in the ruling, to social classes looking to improve their living conditions and to nationalities struggling for autonomy, independence or unification within one state. During the Spring of Nations three revolutionary trends were thus revealed: related to political, social or national system. Revolutionary explosions of 1848 - 1849 covered almost the whole of Europe. There were no instances of it in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and in the Russian Empire. On the Iberian Peninsula only peasant revolts took place. Revolutionary movements in one country affected other nations. Information about events spread rapidly, leading to more uprisings. Many participants of the Spring of Nations were active in several countries.
The Spring of Nations and birth of Europe of Nations
(Społeczna Wyższa Szkoła Przedsiębiorczości i Zarządzania, 2011) Czekaj, Katarzyna
The Spring of Nations is a sequence of events in European history. Within a few months of 1848 and 1849, almost in all countries of the continent there was violent and armed rising of people against the existing political and social order. Citizens of France demanded civil rights and equal access to power for representatives of all social classes. Italians and Germans, who lived in the politically divided countries, manifested the desire to unite and create a common, state. Hungarians, Czechs, Poles, and the Slavic nations of the Balkans, which lived under domination of the foreign dynasties, raised the weapon in the struggle for independence. The Spring of Nations, as no movement before it, claimed the right of peoples to self-determination, i.e. the possibility for each nation to have their own, separate and free country. Although this idea was impracticable in the nineteenth century, the Spring of Nations highlighted the emerging problem of nationalism. It showed also the need to organize a new policy of coexistence of communities with different languages, cultures and religions within the framework of the European continent. The thoughts and ideas that emerged at that time are particularly important for us, because they also lie at the root of the European Union.
The transformations of towns at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. In the suburbs, the Zone
(UPEC - University of East Paris Créteil - IUFM, 2011) Baldner, Jean Marie
The urban growth and the industrialization in the second half of the 19th century attracted excluded populations to big urban areas when old familial and social solidarities didn’t work anymore. In towns, homeless and unemployed people were numerous. At the town’s gates, often in the former military area, the “zone” attracted unemployed and homeless people and families who earned their living as scavengers, beggars or sometimes pillagers. The “zone” worried the upper middle class and the governments, and was frequently depicted in literature, which either praised the liberty of the “zoniers” or despised them due to the danger they posed.
Urbanization in Europe in the 19th Century
(UNA - University of Augsburg, 2011) Kortler, Lena
Big, contiguous congested areas developed along with growing industrial cities. The century witnessed a rapid growth of an enormous number of factories, especially in heavy industry and textile industry. In order to produce as much as possible and to obtain as high sales of goods as possible, workers were needed in the factories. They often came from countryside to town, in hope of achieving a proper standard of living by working. The factories could assuredly nourish the population surplus, yet the worker had to in a way subject himself to the machine. The hard working day in the companies left hardly any space for the free development of workers. Moreover, the factory owners did not provide them with any care or protection. They did not have any protective clothing, breaks or holidays. At the beginning of industrialization, there was no coverage against illness or worker participation in the works council. Only over the years, did trade unions and work insurance develop. In order to distribute goods, a well-developed infrastructure with a comprehensive railway network as well as connections to sea ports was of high importance. The mobility within the cities was increased with the introduction of cable cars. In order to guarantee transport services even beyond city boundaries, large cities and congested areas were first linked to the railway network. Thus, the time needed for the transportation of goods was shortened and the market for the produced goods was extended.
Urbanization: Urban and Rural Development in the 19th Century
(UNA - University of Augsburg, 2011) Kortler, Lena
With the beginning of the industrialization in the Great Britain, fundamental changes in the lives of the worldwide population began. By means of intense overseas trade, innovations rapidly spread on the European mainland. A well-expanded transport network and a sound infrastructure, factories, raw material, employees and employers are only some factors required for the success of industrialization. Due to the technical innovations, the life of the population changed. Many people moved from the countryside to the cities, in hope for work and better opportunities to earn money. The primary sector gradually lost its importance. Urbanization is a result of industrialization. Towns had to brace themselves for their permanently growing populations. The supply of the inhabitants with water and electricity had to be ensured, just like the connection to a transport system and adequate housing space. The simple worker, however, could not afford big dwellings due to his small allowance, so that his family had to live in cramped housing space. Particularly strong urbanization can be observed in areas in which factories and high raw material deposits exist, like, for example, the Ruhr region, where, consequently, many workers were needed in order to work on and process these.