Chapter VIII. The Ambition of Louis Napoleon The Coup-d’état of 1851—From President to Emperor—The Empire is Peace—War With Austria—The Austrians Advance—The Battle of Magenta—Possession of Lombardy—French Victory at Solferino—Treaty of Peace—Invasion of Mexico—End of Napoleon’s Career Chapter IX. Garibaldi and Italian Unity Power of Austria Broken The Carbonari—Mazzini and Garibaldi—Cavour, the Statesman—The Invasion of Sicily—Occupation of Naples—Victor Emmanuel Takes Command—Watchword of the Patriots—Garibaldi Marches Against Rome—Battle of Ironclads—Final Act of Italian Unity Chapter X. The Expansion of Germany Beginnings of Modern World Power William I of Prussia—Bismarck’s Early Career—The Schleswig-Holstein Question—Conquest of the Duchies—Bismarck’s Wider Views—War Forced on Austria—The War in Italy—Austria’s Signal Defeat at Sadowa—The Treaty of Prague—Germany after 1866 Chapter XI. The Franco-Prussian War Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic Causes of Hostile Relations—Discontent in France—War with Prussia Declared—Self deception of the French—First Meeting of the Armies—The Stronghold of Metz—Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte—Napoleon III at Sedan—The Emperor a Captive; France a Republic—Bismarck Refuses Intervention—Fall of the Fortresses—Paris is Besieged—Defiant Spirit of the French—The Struggle Continued—Operations Before Paris—Fighting in the South—The War at an End Chapter XII. Bismarck and the German Empire Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth Century Nation Bismarck as a Statesman—Uniting the German States—William I Crowned at Versailles—A Significant Decade—The Problem of Church Power—Progress of Socialism—William II and the Resignation of Bismarck—Old Age Insurance—Political and Industrial Conditions in Germany Chapter XIII. Gladstone as an Apostle of Reform Great Britain Becomes a World Power Gladstone and Disraeli—Gladstone’s Famous Budget—A Suffrage Reform Bill—Disraeli’s Reform Measure—Irish Church Disestablishment—An Irish Land Bill—Desperate State of Ireland—The Coercion Bill—War in Africa—Home Rule for Ireland Chapter XIV. The French Republic Struggles of a New Nation The Republic Organized—The Commune of Paris—Instability of the Government—Thiers Proclaimed President—Punishment of the Unsuccessful Generals—MacMahon a Royalist President—Bazaine’s Sentence and Escape—Grevy, Gambetta and Boulanger—The Panama Canal Scandal—Despotism of the Army Leaders—The Dreyfus Case—Church and State—The Moroccan Controversy Chapter XV. Russia in the Field of War The Outcome of Slavic Ambition Siege of Sebastopol—Russia in Asia—The Russo-Japanese War—Port Arthur Taken—The Russian Fleet Defeated