How Did Nationalism Change The Revolutions Of 1848?

As a product of the Revolutions of 1848, European sentiment towards Nationalism grew extensively among the middle and lower classes. European ethnic groups and nations desired a self-determined state that represented their group and culture. As a result, both Germany and Italy would experience unification movements within several decades. By 1871, the Italian states would be unified under the Italian tricolour flag; and in the same year, the German states would become integrated into Germany under Wilhelm I of Prussia. Nationalism is both a political and social system in which the nation-state is of utmost importance -- in which nation-states act in their own self-interest and are of full sovereignty. Although nationalism alone played a vital role in the Revolutions of 1848, liberal politics and school of thought would ultimately change the way nationalism would take hold in the unification process -- facilitating both processes in Italy and Germany.

In late February of 1848, revolutions spread

Otto von Bismarck used political wit and risk-taking to facilitate efforts towards German unification. Through Realpolitik, “...the pursuit of a Nation’s self-interest based on a realistic assessment of costs and consequences of action.” A political theory in which realistic, practical strategies are utilized over strategies of ideological or moral consideration. Because Realpolitik in a doctrine that acts in the self-interest of the state, it is qusai-nationalistic. Through Realpolitik, Bismarck gained significant leverage over Austria in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and considerable leverage over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. Following the Franco-Prussian War, King Wilhelm I of Prussia proclaimed the German Empire, officially unifying the German states into one under Prussian political structure that also juxtaposed Conservative Nationalism and