Europe 1815–1914: How Nationalism Redrew the Map Between Vienna and Sarajevo

A Century Between Two Turning Points

In June 1815 the Congress of Vienna redrew Europe after Napoleon. Its map was a map of dynasties: a German Confederation of 39 states, an Italian peninsula split among kingdoms, duchies and the Papal States, and three multi-ethnic empires, the Austrian, Russian and Ottoman, ruling most of central and eastern Europe. A century later, on 28 June 1914, the shots in Sarajevo opened a war between a very different set of states.

The force that changed the map in between was nationalism. This map follows it through 52 moments of treaties, wars, revolutions and uprisings: Italy and Germany unite, the Ottoman Empire is pushed out of the Balkans by new nation states, and the Austrian Empire becomes the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary.

The First Breaks in the Vienna Order (1815–1847)

The first new nation state came out of the Ottoman Balkans. The Greeks declared independence in January 1822. By 1827 the revolt was close to defeat, but the great powers intervened: French troops freed the Morea in 1828, Russia went to war with the Ottomans, and the Treaty of Adrianople (1829) ended that war. The Kingdom of Greece was recognised in 1832. In 1830 Belgium broke away from the Netherlands, and the Treaty of London of 1839 recognised it. Uprisings in Russian Poland (1830–31) and central Italy (1831) were crushed.

In the German lands, economic union came before political union: the Prussian-led Zollverein customs union started on 1 January 1834. Austria annexed the Free City of Kraków in 1846, and in 1847 Switzerland fought a short civil war, the Sonderbund War.

1848: The Springtime of Peoples

In March 1848 revolution spread across Europe. Milan and Venice rose against Austria, Sardinia-Piedmont went to war, and Hungary won its own government. Austria retook Lombardy in August 1848, and Franz Joseph became emperor in December. In April 1849 Hungary declared independence and a Roman Republic was proclaimed, but by August 1849 the revolutions had been crushed; Venice was the last to fall. The map's red overlay shows the uprisings and revolutionary zones of these years.

Italy and Germany Unite (1854–1871)

After the Crimean War (1853–56), the Peace of Paris took the Danube mouth away from Russia. In 1859 Alexandru Ioan Cuza was elected prince of both Moldavia and Wallachia, the core of the future Romania. The same year France and Sardinia defeated Austria, and at Villafranca Lombardy went to Sardinia. In 1860 the central Italian states joined Sardinia, Nice and Savoy went to France, and Garibaldi took the south. The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed on 17 March 1861. Venetia followed in 1866 and Rome in September 1870.

Germany was united by three wars. In 1864 Prussia and Austria defeated Denmark over Schleswig and Holstein. In 1866 Prussia defeated Austria, annexed several of its opponents and formed the North German Confederation (1867). Austria, pushed out of Germany, made its compromise with Hungary and became Austria-Hungary in 1867. In the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71 Paris was besieged, the German Empire was proclaimed in January 1871, and the Treaty of Frankfurt (May 1871) gave Alsace-Lorraine to Germany.

The Ottoman Retreat from the Balkans (1875–1913)

In 1875 Herzegovina rose against Ottoman rule, Serbia and Montenegro went to war in 1876, and Russia followed in 1877. After Plevna fell in December 1877, the Treaty of San Stefano (March 1878) created a large Bulgaria. Four months later the Congress of Berlin cut it back: Serbia, Montenegro and Romania became fully independent, Bulgaria became an autonomous principality, Eastern Rumelia stayed under the sultan, and Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Thessaly went to Greece in 1881, and Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia united in 1885. Crete became an autonomous Cretan State in 1898. In 1905 Norway left its union with Sweden. In October 1908 Bulgaria declared full independence and Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia. After Albanian revolts and the Italian seizure of Rhodes in 1912, the First Balkan War drove the Ottomans almost out of Europe. The Treaty of London (May 1913) created Albania, and the Treaty of Bucharest (August 1913) ended the Second Balkan War. The map ends in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914.

How to Read the Map

• Each state has its own colour. Layers that change identity keep one colour, such as Prussia becoming the German Empire, Sardinia-Piedmont becoming the Kingdom of Italy, and Wallachia becoming Romania.
• Two red overlays mark foreign army occupations and uprisings or revolutionary zones.
• Border bands show the Zollverein customs union (1834–66) and the North German Confederation (1867–70).
• Markers show treaties, battles, revolutions and uprisings at the place and date where they happened.

How the Map Was Made

Borders come from OpenHistoricalMap (CC0) where dated boundaries exist, and otherwise from modern provinces (Natural Earth) and the Cliopatria dataset (CC BY 4.0). Border changes follow the treaty texts from Vienna (1815) to Bucharest (1913), among them Adrianople (1829), London (1832, 1839, 1864 and 1913), Zurich and Turin (1859–60), Vienna, Gastein and Prague (1864–66), Frankfurt (1871), San Stefano and Berlin (1878) and Constantinople (1881, 1897 and 1913). Event details come from Wikipedia and standard histories. Front lines, occupation zones and uprising zones are approximate.

Chronological Timeline

• 1815 — Congress of Vienna redraws Europe
• 1822 — Greeks declare independence
• 1829 — Treaty of Adrianople
• 1830 — Belgian Revolution; November Uprising in Poland
• 1832 — Kingdom of Greece
• 1834 — The Zollverein customs union begins
• 1839 — Treaty of London recognises Belgium
• 1846 — Austria annexes Kraków
• 1848 — Springtime of Peoples: revolutions across Europe
• 1849 — Hungary declares independence; the revolutions are crushed
• 1854–1856 — Crimean War and the Peace of Paris
• 1859 — Cuza unites Moldavia and Wallachia; Lombardy to Sardinia
• 1860 — Central Italy joins Sardinia; Nice to France; Garibaldi takes the south
• 1861 — Kingdom of Italy proclaimed
• 1863 — January Uprising in Russian Poland
• 1864 — Prussia and Austria defeat Denmark
• 1866 — Prussia defeats Austria; Venetia to Italy
• 1867 — North German Confederation; Austria-Hungary
• 1870 — Paris besieged; Italians take Rome
• 1871 — German Empire proclaimed; Alsace-Lorraine to Germany
• 1877 — Plevna falls to Russia
• 1878 — Treaty of San Stefano; Congress of Berlin
• 1881 — Thessaly to Greece
• 1885 — Bulgaria and Eastern Rumelia unite
• 1898 — Cretan State
• 1903 — Ilinden Uprising and the Kruševo Republic
• 1905 — Norway independent; revolution in Russia
• 1908 — Bulgarian independence; Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia
• 1912 — Italy takes Rhodes; First Balkan War
• 1913 — Treaties of London and Bucharest
• 1914 — Assassination in Sarajevo