Mixed domestic gains and losses in France result from European policies.

The support France gives to the Italian cause has aroused the eager hopes of other nations.

The proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy on March 17, 1861 after the rapid annexation of Tuscany and the kingdom of Two Sicilies has proved the danger of half-measures, but when a concession, however narrow, has been made to the liberty of one nation, it can hardly be refused to the no less legitimate aspirations of the rest.

In 1863, these "new rights" again clamor loudly for recognition: in Poland, in Schleswig and Holstein, in Italy, now united, with neither frontiers nor capital, and in the Danubian principalities.

To extricate himself from the Polish impasse, the emperor again proposes a congress, with no luck.

He is again unsuccessful: Great Britain refuses even to admit the principle of a congress, while Austria, Prussia and Russia give their adhesion only on conditions which render it futile, i.e., they reserve the vital questions of Venetia and Poland.

The Emperor support of the Polish rebels alienates the Russian leadership.

The visit of Czar Alexander II to Paris becomes a disaster when he is twice attacked by Polish assassins, though he escapes.

In Berlin, Bismarck sees the opportunity to squeeze out the French by forming closer relationships with the Russians.