Ars Bellica

Maps

Europe after the Congress of Vienna

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The "principle of legality" did not fail to be tempered, first of all, to ensure some benefits to the winners (to the Russia, Poland was given 1; to Prussia, Westphalia, 2; to the Austria, the Veneto region was ceded, 3; to the Britain, other key points on seas, such as: Helgoland, 4, Malta, 5, the Ionian, 6). In addition, to give greater substance to the territorial States places on the borders of France was created the new kingdom of the Netherlands, 7, and Liguria region was annexed to Piedmont, 8. It was restored to the Holy Roman Empire, but it gave birth to a State which restated the fundamental difficulty: the Germanic Confederation, which included 39 sovereign states, three of them (Austria, Prussia, Denmark) with extensive territories outside of the federal government. The presidency was entrusted to Austria, but the map reveals clearly the austrian rivalry with Prussia. In Italy were eliminated the ancient aristocratic republics: the Venetian lands formed with Lombardy the Lombard-Venetian Kingdom, subject to Austria, in Tuscany (Habsburg-Lorraine, 9) and Modena (Habsburg-Este, 10) returned to the ancient kings, closely linked to Vienna the Papal States, 11, had to accommodate a garrison in the citadel of Ferrara Austria. To complete the italian "infeudation" by the Austria, the Duchy of Parma, 12, was given a lifetime in Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Napoleon, with the agreement that at his death would have been returned to their rightful sovereign, the Bourbons, who in the meantime would hold the ancient republic of Lucca, 13 (this is perhaps the most typical example of alchemy own the Congress of Vienna). Norway, Denmark joined by four centuries, from 1815 was united with Sweden (until 1905, when will get independence).

The emancipation of the Spanish colonies of America

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The first settlers to officially proclaim the independence were those of the viceroyalty of La Plata, or Argentina, in 1816. But the "de facto" autonomy of La Plata dating back to 1810, when it was established in Buenos Aires a provisional Creole government, albeit loyalist, in support of the legitimate ruler ousted by the French. The following year (1811) the province of Paraguay broke away from La Plata, starting the separatist process that will peculiar in the entire history of the continent. The map shows the dates of independence. The later date for Uruguay, it's because the "province cisplatin" also reached independence for secession from the mother colony. The only federal states in which the Creoles were able to give life, albeit fleeting , was the United States of Colombia (Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, 1819-1830) and the Republic of the United Provinces, in Central America (1821-1839), both indicated with a sharper edge. The Republic of Panama does not appear on the map because it became as state just at the beginning of this century, also for secession (from Colombia). It's necessary to add that the first movement of insurrection in Mesoamerica did not happen by the hands of Creoles but by the black slaves in the French colony of Haiti. Black slaves of Haiti, insurgents in the name of "immortal principles", forced Napoleon to grant independence since 1804. The most common color (yellow) indicates the areas explored by the Spanish settlers in the early decades of the century, the areas in green color indicates the region explored in brazilian territories by the Portuguese settlers. The third color, violet, marks the republic of slaves in Haiti. The fourth color, the orange, shows territories who held the status of a colony.

The ethnic and linguistic components of the Austrian Empire

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The map shows the main ethnic and language components of the Austrian Empire in 1848, in conformity with the directions of the historic D. Thomson (History of Europe from the French Revolution to the present day , Feltrinelli). The names of the main regions, among which appears (in German) the Kustenland, literally the "Waterfront", which indicated the provinces of Trieste, Gorizia and Istria. The Friuli rehion is distinguished by the Lombards and Venetians as the "Ladino" speakers. The complexity of the situation offered by the map, on one hand justifies the fatal crisis of an age that was dominated by the idea of the nation, on the other, confirm its survival until 1918, thanks to an exceptional ability in administrative matters, peculiar characteristic of the Habsburg bureaucracy. In fact from that mosaic, derived a Central European culture, uniformed in many respects. Of course, the Thomson indications does not take account of certain minorities, such as Ladin groups in Trentino and Veneto, and the linguistic exceptions along the Dalmatian coasts.

The political unification of Italy: 1859-1870

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The four colors in the map indicate: the Kingdom of Sardinia on the eve of the second war for independence; the regions annexed in March 1860 (the "Kingdom of northern and central Italy"), after the return to power of Cavour (the annexation of Lombardy, the Ducati, Tuscany, the papal Legations and disposal of Savoy and of Nice to France); regions annexed to the Kingdom of Italy at the end of that year, after the eventful expedition of the "Thousand" and the intervention of the royal troops in the Marche and in Umbria regions, and the two subsequent purchases of Veneto and Lazio. In addition to the most historically significant places are indicated the boundaries of the ancient states and the routing of Garibaldi's ships. The solid lines in red indicate the working railways in 1859. In northern Italy, Turin was connected on the one hand with Milan and Venice and on one other to Genoa and Bologna, a phenomenon quite remarkable given the aversion of the rulers to agree to the crossing of borders. But in the rest of Italy, except for the junction between Florence and Livorno, Civitavecchia to Rome and Naples with Caserta and Salerno, the rail network was non-existent. In 1870 (as you see the line is not continuous) was not possible to reach Turin from Ancona, or Bari and Lecce, and, with a very long and circuitous route, Rome and Naples. Because not only annexations but even the railways "sewed the boot(italian peninsula)" so is useful a comparison of the rail network among the different regions.