Nationalism in Europe 10th History
Nationalism in Europe 10th History
Nationalism in Europe 10th History
CHAPTER-1
THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
Frederic Sorrieu
He was a French artist famous for prints prepared in 1848 that visualized the dream of a world
consisting of Democratic and Social Republics.
Nationalism
A feeling of oneness with the society or the state, love and devotion for the motherland and belief
in the political identity of one’s country are the basic attributes of nationalism.
Nation State
A state that establishes itself as a separate political and geographical entity and functions as a
complete and sovereign territorial unit. This concept emerged in 19th century Europe as a result of
the growth of nationalism.
Modern State
A state in which sovereignty is exercised by a centralized power over a specific territory and
population.
Absolutist Government
A system of government wherein limitless powers are vested in a single person or body. It is a
monarchical form of government in which the ruler is the absolute authority and is not answerable
to anybody.
French Revolution (1789)
It marks the beginning of nationalism.
Salient features of the French Revolution were:
France was under absolute monarchy in 1789.
The Revolution transferred the sovereignty from the monarch to the French people.
Ideas of La patrie (the fatherhood) and Le citoyen (the citizen) adopted.
New French Flag, the tricolour, adopted replacing the royal standard.
Estates General elected by citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
A centralized political system established.
Internal custom dues abolished.
Uniform weights and measures adopted.
French became the language of the nation.
French armies moved into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy in the 1790s with a
promise of liberating the people from their despotic rulers.
Napoleon (1769-1821)
Ruled France from 1799 to 1815.
Assumed absolute powers in 1799 by becoming the First Consul.
Civil Code/Napoleonic Code (1804)
Established equality before law.
Abolished all privileges based on birth.
Granted the right to property to French citizens.
Simplified administrative divisions.
Abolished feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom.
Removed restrictions on guilds in towns.
Improved transport and communication.
Militarily, Napoleon proved to be an oppressor for the people of the conquered territories.
Taxation and censorship were imposed and military services were made mandatory.
Markets were not free as the 39 confederacies of France had their own laws which
posed problems for the free movement of goods.
There were no standard weights and measures and no fixed rates of custom duties,
which greatly affected the trade.
Liberalism fused with the French Revolution envisaged the
End of autocracy and clerical privileges
Introduction of a constitution and representative government
Inviolability of private property
Removal of trade restrictions
Freedom of markets
Zollverein
A customs union formed in 1834 at the initiative of Prussia. It abolished tariff barriers and reduced
the number of currencies to two from over thirty.
Conservatism
Stands for the preservation of the traditional institutions of state and society such as the
monarchy, the church, social hierarchies and family along with the modern changes introduced
by Napoleon. Conservatism as a political ideology arose after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815
at the Battle of Waterloo. The conservative regimes
Were autocratic
Were intolerant to criticism and dissent
Adopted the censorship of press for curbing the liberal ideals
Discouraged any questions that challenged their legitimacy
Congress of Vienna (1815)
For drawing a new settlement for Europe and restoring the monarchies that were overthrown
by Napoleon for creation of a new conservative order.
The salient features of the treaty were as follows:
The Bourbon dynasty restored to power in France.
France was disposed of its conquered territories.
Kingdom of Netherlands, which included Belgium, was set up in the North and Genoa
was set up in the South for preventing French expansion in future.
Prussia was given new territories, including a portion of Saxony.
Austria got control over Northern Italy.
Russia got Poland.
Napoleon’s confederation of 39 states was not changed.
The Revolutionaries
Upholders of the idea of liberalism and against the conservative regimes of the 19th century. Many
secret societies were formed whose main aims were:
Training the revolutionaries and spreading their ideas throughout Europe.
Opposing monarchical governments established after the Vienna Congress of 1815.
18th May 1848: 831 elected representatives marched to take their places in the
Frankfurt Parliament.
18th January 1871: The new German empire headed by the German Emperor
Kaiser William I was declared in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.
The unification of Germany established Prussian dominance in Europe.
The New German Empire focused on modernizing the currency, banking, legal and judicial
systems.
Unification of Italy
A long history of political fragmentation was experienced in Italy.
Italy during the middle of the nineteenth century
Britain was not a nation state prior to 18th century. The primary identities were based
on ethnicity such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish.
The steady growth of power made the English nation extend its influence over the other
nations and islands.
1688: England established as a nation state. English parliament seized power from the
monarchy.
1707: The United Kingdom of Great Britain formed with the Act of the Union between
England and Scotland.
England dominated Scotland and Ireland in all spheres. British Parliament was
dominated by English members.
1801: Ireland was forcibly taken by the British after the failed revolution led by Wolfe
and his United Irishmen (1798).
A new „British Nation‟ was formed with her various symbols such as the British flag (Union
Jack), the national anthem (“God Save Our Noble King”) and the English language.
Visualising the Nation
Nation was personified in the female form by the artists of the 19th century.
Female allegories such as that of liberty, justice and republic were invented.
In France, the idea of a people’s nation was the christened Marianne. She was
characterized by the ideas of liberty and republic.
In Germany, Germania became the allegory of the nation.
Different Allegories
Symbols Significance
Broken chains Liberty
Breastplate with eagle Strength
Crown of oak leaves Heroism
Sword Readiness to fight
Olive branch around the Willingness to make peace
Sword
Rays of the rising sun Beginning of a new era
Black, red and gold tricolor Flag of the liberal
nationalists
Nationalism and Imperialism
Nationalism culminated into imperialism in the last quarter of the 19th century.
The Balkans in Europe after 1871
The Balkans comprised modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece,
Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.
The disintegration of the ruling Ottoman Empire and the spread of the ideas of
romantic nationalism made this area explosive.
The European subject nationalities started breaking from its control to declare
independence.
The Balkan revolutionaries‟ acts were directed to gain back the long-lost
independence.
The Balkan States were fiercely jealous of each other and wanted to gain more
territory at the expense of the other.
There was intense rivalry among the European powers over trade, colonies, naval
might and military might. European powers such as Russia, Germany, England and
Austro-Hungary were keen on opposing the hold of other powers over the Balkans
for extending their own area of control.
All these events ultimately triggered the First World War (1914).
Nationalism stained with imperialism led Europe to disaster.
Many colonized countries in the world started to oppose imperial
domination.
The anti-imperialist movements developed as nationalist movements.
1804 Civil Code or Napoleonic Code removed all privileges based on birth &
established equality
Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini became the member of the secret
1807
societies of the of the Carbonari
1812 Grimm brothers published their first collection of tales
1813 Napoleon lost the battle of Leipzig
1814-1815 Fall of Napoleon; the Vienna Peace Settlement
1815 Defeat of Napoleon by Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria
1821 Greek struggle for independence begins
1821 Nationalism sparked off amongst the Greeks
July 1830 First upheaval took place in France
1831 Giuseppe Mazzini was sent to exile for attempting a revolution in Liguria
1831 An armed rebellion took place against Russian rule
1832 Treaty of Constantinople recognised Greece as an independent nation
1833 Founding of Young Europe in Berne
1834 A Customs Union or zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia
1845 Weavers in Silesia led a revolt against contractors
18 May 1848 831 elected representatives marched in a festive procession to take their
places in the Frankfurt parliament
1859 Tactful diplomatic alliance with France engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-
Piedmont succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces
1859-1870 Unification of Italy
1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy
1866-1871 Unification of Germany
1867 Habsburg rulers granted more autonomy to the Hungarians
Prussian king, William I, was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony
January 1871
held at held at Versailles
1905 Slav nationalism gathers force in the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires