Lord Byron (1788-1824): English poet, organized funds and later went to fight in the war, dying of fever in 1824.

Outcome: The Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent nation.

The Role of Romanticism:

A cultural movement that sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment, focusing on emotions, intuition, and mystical feelings rather than science and reason.
Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803): German philosopher. Argued that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people (das Volk) through folk songs, folk poetry, and folk dances (Volksgeist - the true spirit of the nation).
Language: Played a crucial role in developing nationalist feelings.
- Example: In Poland, after its partition by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, the Polish language was used for church gatherings and religious instruction, becoming a symbol of resistance against Russian dominance. Priests and bishops were often imprisoned or sent to Siberia for refusing to preach in Russian.

Economic Hardship and Popular Revolt (1830s-1848):

The 1830s were years of great economic hardship in Europe.
Rapid population growth, mass migration from rural areas to overcrowded cities, and widespread unemployment.
Intense competition from cheaper machine-made goods from England, especially in textile production.
Bad harvests and rising food prices led to widespread pauperism.
Silesian Weavers' Revolt (1845): Weavers rose in revolt against contractors who drastically reduced their payments for finished textiles.
1848 Revolution in France: Food shortages and widespread unemployment led to Parisians taking to the streets. Louis Philippe was forced to flee. The National Assembly proclaimed a Republic, granting suffrage to all adult males above 21.

The 1848 Revolution of the Liberals:

Alongside the revolts of the poor, a revolution led by the educated middle classes was underway.
In German regions, middle-class professionals, businessmen, and prosperous artisans formed an all-German National Assembly at Frankfurt.
Frankfurt Parliament (May 18, 1848):
- Met in the Church of St. Paul.
- Drafted a constitution for a German nation to be headed by a monarchy subject to a Parliament.
- The crown was offered to Friedrich Wilhelm IV (King of Prussia), who rejected it. He viewed the elected assembly with contempt and joined other monarchs to oppose it.
- The Parliament lost support of workers and artisans because it was dominated by the middle class. When troops were called in, the assembly was forced to disband.
Women's Role: Women had actively participated in liberal movements, forming political associations, founding newspapers, and taking part in political meetings and demonstrations. However, they were denied suffrage rights and admitted only as observers to the Frankfurt Parliament.

After the failure of the Frankfurt Parliament, Prussia took the lead in German unification, seeing it as a way to assert its dominance.

Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898):
- Role: Chief Minister of Prussia, known as the "architect" of German unification. Followed a policy of "blood and iron."
- Strategy: Car