The Russian tsar believed his empire was protected by God and by a 1.5 million men army. This nationalist view made Russian leaders believed they had power over the smaller nations of western Europe. On the other side, the Austro-Hungarian empire showed its nationalism when it declared a war because of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
The outcome of the Battle of Gettysburg affected morale on both sides by convincing the North that was possible and the South that defeat was inevitable.
