THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

Frédéric Sorrieu’s Vision (1848)

• French artist visualised democratic & social republics.
• First print: People of Europe & America march towards Statue of Liberty.
• Liberty: Holds Torch of Enlightenment & Charter of Rights of Man.
• Broken symbols of absolutism on the ground.
• Nations identified by flags & costumes.
• US & Switzerland lead (already nation-states).
• France follows with tricolour flag.
• Germany (not yet united) carries black-red-gold flag – symbol of liberal hopes.
• Others: Austria, Two Sicilies, Lombardy, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary, Russia.
• Christ, saints, angels – symbolise fraternity.

Rise of Nationalism in 19th-Century Europe

• Nationalism reshaped Europe.
• Nation-states replaced multi-national empires.
• Modern state: Centralised power, defined territory.
• Nation-state: Citizens share common identity & history.
• Identity built through struggles & leadership.

Ernst Renan: What is a Nation? (1882)

• Nation≠language/race/religion/territory
• Nation = shared past, deeds, will & sacrifice.
• Daily plebiscite – people’s consent essential.
• Nation = solidarity, not conquest.
• Ensures liberty; opposes unified world rule.

The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation 

1789 Revolution: Marked rise of nationalism; ended monarchy; sovereignty to citizens.

Symbols & Unity

• Concepts: La patrie (fatherland), Le citoyen (citizen)
• Tricolour flag replaced royal standard
• Estates General → National Assembly
• National hymns, oaths, martyrs celebrated
• Uniform laws, weights & measures
• Internal duties abolished
• Parisian French promoted; regional dialects discouraged
• Mission: Liberate Europe from despotism; nationalism spread via Jacobin clubs.
• French Armies (1790s): Spread nationalism in Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy.

Napoleon’s Reforms

Napoleonic Code (1804):

• Ended privileges by birth
• Equality before law
• Right to property

Administrative changes:

• Abolished feudalism, manorial dues
• Freed peasants
• Removed guild restrictions
• Improved transport & communication
• Introduced uniform laws, currency, weights/measures

Reactions

• Initially welcomed (Holland, Switzerland, Brussels, etc.)
• Turned hostile due to:
• Heavy taxation
• Censorship
• Forced conscription

The Making of Nationalism in Europe

• 18th-century Europe: No modern nation-states.
• Regions: Divided into kingdoms, duchies, cantons.
• Eastern & Central Europe: Under autocratic monarchies.
• Diversity: Multiple ethnic groups, languages, cultures.

Habsburg Empire (Austria-Hungary)

• Patchwork of regions & peoples.
• Alpine (Tyrol, Austria, Sudetenland) – German-speaking aristocracy.
• Lombardy, Venetia – Italian-speaking.
• Hungary – Half Magyar, half various dialects.
• Galicia – Polish-speaking aristocracy.
• Other groups: Bohemians, Slovaks, Slovenes, Croats, Roumans.
• Unity: Only common link – allegiance to emperor.
• Conclusion: Diversity hindered political unity; nationalism later evolved to unite these groups.

The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class 

Landed Aristocracy: 

• Dominant class; shared lifestyle across regions.
• Owned rural estates & townhouses.
• Spoke French in diplomacy/high society.
• Tied by marriage; small in number.

Peasantry:

• Majority population.
• West: Small owners, tenants.
• East/Central: Serfs on large estates.

Industrialisation & Middle Class:

• Started in England (late 18th c.), later in France, Germany.
• Led to towns, commercial/industrial classes.
• New groups: Industrialists, professionals, workers.
• In Central/Eastern Europe, these emerged late.

Nationalism:

• Educated, liberal middle class supported national unity & end of aristocratic privileges.

Important Dates:

• 1797: Napoleon invades Italy.
• 1814-15: Vienna Settlement after Napoleon's fall.
• 1821: Greek War of Independence.
• 1848: Revolutions across Europe; nation-state demands.
• 1859–70: Italy unification.
• 1866–71: Germany unification.
• 1905: Rise of Slav nationalism in Habsburg & Ottoman Empires.

Liberal Nationalism

Liberalism Origin

• Latin liber = free.
• Favoured individual freedom & legal equality.

Political Ideals

• Govt. by consent, end of autocracy & clerical privileges.
• Constitution, representative parliament.
• Supported private property rights.

Limitations

• No universal suffrage.
• Voting rights only for propertied men.
• Women & poor men excluded.
• Brief male suffrage under Jacobins.
• Napoleonic Code restricted rights, especially for women.

Economic Ideals

• Free markets, no state restrictions.
• Supported by middle classes.

German Example

• 39 states, many currencies, customs, weights.
• 1833: Trade barriers caused delays & extra costs.
• 1834: Zollverein (customs union) led by Prussia.
• Removed tariffs, unified currency (30+ to 2).
• Railways boosted movement & economic unification.
• Led to economic nationalism → stronger nationalist feelings.

A New Conservatism after 1815

• Post-1815: Rise of conservatism in Europe.
• Belief: Preserve monarchy, Church, social order, family, property.
• Not anti-modern: Supported modernisation to strengthen monarchy (e.g., army, bureaucracy, economy).

Congress of Vienna (1815)

• Hosted by Metternich (Austria).
• Aimed to undo Napoleonic changes.
• Bourbon dynasty restored in France.
• France lost annexed territories.

Buffer states created:

• Netherlands (incl. Belgium) in north,
• Genoa + Piedmont in south,
• Prussia got west territories,
• Austria got N. Italy,
• Russia got Poland,
• Prussia got Saxony part.
• German Confederation (39 states) retained.

√ Goal: Restore monarchies, build conservative order.

√ Conservative regimes = autocratic:

• No tolerance for dissent.
• Censorship laws imposed.
• Suppressed liberal ideas (freedom, liberty).

√ Liberals continued to fight for freedom of press.

          The Revolutionaries

• Post-1815: Repression led liberal-nationalists underground.
• Secret societies formed to oppose monarchy, spread liberty, and promote nation-states.

Giuseppe Mazzini (Italian revolutionary):

• Born: Genoa, 1805.
• Joined Carbonari (secret society).
• Exiled in 1831 for Ligurian revolt.

Founded:

• Young Italy (Marseilles),
• Young Europe (Berne).

Belief: Nations = natural units of mankind.

• Italy must be unified republic, not divided states.
• Inspired similar societies in Germany, France, Switzerland, Poland.
• Seen as a threat by conservatives; Metternich called him a dangerous enemy.

The Age of Revolutions (1830–1848)

• Liberalism & nationalism linked to revolutions in Italy, Germany, Ottoman provinces, Ireland, Poland.
• Led by educated middle class: professors, teachers, clerks, merchants.

France, 1830 (July Revolution):

• Bourbon kings overthrown,
• Constitutional monarchy under Louis Philippe.
• Metternich: "When France sneezes, Europe catches cold."
• Triggered Belgium's independence from Netherlands.

Greek War of Independence (1821–1832):

• Greece under Ottoman rule since 15th century.
• Inspired by revolutionary nationalism.
• Support from Greek exiles & West Europeans.
• Artists/poets romanticised ancient Greece.
• Lord Byron supported, died in 1824.
• Treaty of Constantinople (1832): Greece = independent nation.

Romantic Imagination & National Feeling 

• Nationalism shaped by culture, not just wars.
• Romanticism: cultural movement; focused on emotions, intuition, heritage.
• Aim: build collective national identity through shared past & culture.

Key Figures & Ideas:

• Johann Gottfried Herder (Germany):
• True culture in common people (das volk).
• Volksgeist in folk songs, poetry, dances.
• Recording folklore = key to nation-building.

Use of Vernacular:

• Spread nationalism among illiterate masses.

Case of Poland:

• Partitioned by Russia, Prussia, Austria.
• Polish identity kept alive via music & language.
• Karol Kurpinski: used opera, folk dances (polonaise, mazurka) as nationalist tools.

Russian Rule:

• Polish banned, Russian imposed.
• 1831 Rebellion crushed.
• Clergy used Polish in Church, resisted Russian.
• Many priests jailed/exiled.
• Polish = symbol of resistance.

Hunger, Hardship, and Popular Revolt

1830s: Economic hardship due to

• Population growth → job scarcity.
• Rural migration to overcrowded cities.
• Small producers in towns hurt by cheap English imports.
• Peasants faced feudal dues in aristocratic regions.
• Food price hikes and bad harvests led to pauperism.

1848

• Food shortages and unemployment in Paris sparked revolt.
• Louis Philippe fled; Republic proclaimed.
• Suffrage granted to all adult males, right to work guaranteed.
• National workshops set up for employment.

1845 Silesian Revolt

• Weavers revolted against reduced payments by contractors.
• Protesters destroyed property and looted supplies.
• Army intervention → 11 weavers shot.

1848 – The Revolution of the Liberals

Revolt of Middle Classes (1848)

• France: Monarch abdicated; Republic with universal male suffrage.
• In Germany, Italy, Poland, and Austro-Hungarian Empire, middle-class liberals demanded:
• Constitutionalism.
• National unification (nation-state).
• Parliamentary principles (freedom of press, association).

German Revolution (1848)

• Frankfurt National Assembly: Middle-class representatives drafted a constitution for a German monarchy with parliamentary power.
• King Friedrich Wilhelm IV rejected the crown.
• Social divide: Assembly lost support from workers and artisans.
• Assembly disbanded by military force.
• Women's Role:
• Women active in political associations, demonstrations, and founded newspapers.
• Denied suffrage rights; only observers in the Frankfurt parliament.

Post-1848

• Monarchs in Central/Eastern Europe granted liberal concessions:
• Serfdom abolished in Habsburg dominions and Russia.
• Hungarian autonomy (1867).

Germany – Army as Architect of a Nation

Post-1848 Nationalism

• Shift from democracy to state power.
• Prussia led the unification of Germany after the failure of the 1848 liberal movement.

Otto von Bismarck

• Chief minister of Prussia.
• Used army and bureaucracy to lead unification.

Three Wars (1864-1871)

• Against Austria, Denmark, and France.
• Prussia's victories completed German unification.

1871

• German Empire proclaimed in Versailles.
• Kaiser William I crowned Emperor.

Nation-building

• Emphasized modernization of currency, banking, legal, and judicial systems.
• Prussian practices became models for Germany.

Italy Unified

Political Fragmentation:

• Italy divided into 7 states (1830s), with only Sardinia-Piedmont ruled by Italians.
• Austria, Pope, and Spain controlled other regions.

Giuseppe Mazzini:

• Sought a unified Italian Republic, formed Young Italy for the cause.
• Revolutions of 1831 and 1848 failed.

Sardinia-Piedmont:

• Led by King Victor Emmanuel II for unification through war.
• Chief Minister Cavour focused on diplomatic alliances.

French Alliance (1859):

• Cavour allied with France to defeat Austria.
• Giuseppe Garibaldi and volunteers helped in South Italy.

Unification (1861):

• Victor Emmanuel II proclaimed King of united Italy.
• High illiteracy meant many peasants unaware of liberal-nationalist ideals.

   The Strange Case of Britain

No British Nation (Pre-18th Century)

• People identified ethnically (English, Welsh, Scot, Irish) with distinct cultures and politics.

English Influence

• English power grew, extending influence over other nations.
• 1688: English Parliament took power from the monarchy.

Act of Union (1707)

• England and Scotland united to form United Kingdom of Great Britain.
• English Parliament dominated; Scottish culture suppressed.

Ireland's Fate

• Divided between Catholics and Protestants.
• 1801: Ireland forcibly incorporated into the UK after failed Catholic revolts.

Formation of British Identity

• England's culture became dominant.
• British symbols (Union Jack, anthem, English language) promoted.

Visualising the Nation

Personifying Nations

• Artists represented nations as female figures to give the abstract idea of a nation a concrete form (allegory).

French Revolution

• Liberty: Red cap, broken chain.
• Justice: Blindfolded woman with scales.

Marianne (France)

• Allegory of the French nation.
• Features: Red cap, tricolour, cockade.
• Symbol of unity, seen in statues, coins, and stamps.

Germania (Germany)

• Allegory of the German nation.
• Wears crown of oak leaves (symbol of heroism).

Nationalism and Imperialism

Late 19th Century Nationalism:

• Shifted from idealistic to narrow, intolerant, and war-prone.
• European powers manipulated nationalist movements for imperialism.

The Balkans:

• Ethnically diverse region (Slavs: Romania, Bulgaria, etc.).
• Under Ottoman Empire, but many nationalities sought independence.
• Nationalist tensions grew, leading to conflict.
• Big powers (Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, England) competed for control, fueling wars.

Nationalism and Imperialism:

• Imperialism led to nationalist anti-colonial movements globally.
• Anti-imperial movements fought for independence, inspired by nationalism.
• Idea of nation-states became universal, though varied in each region.
• Nationalism, aligned with imperialism, contributed to World War I.

NCERT SOLUTIONS

1. Write a Note on:

a) Giuseppe Mazzini

b) Count Camilo de Cavour

c) The Greek War of Independence

d) The Frankfurt Parliament

e) The role of women in nationalist struggles

a) Giuseppe Mazzini

- Italian revolutionary, born 1807 in Genoa.

- Member of Carbonari; exiled in 1831 for revolutionary attempt in Liguria.

- Founded ‘Young Italy’ (Marseilles) and ‘Young Europe’ (Berne) for young nationalists.

- Believed nations were God’s intended units; aimed for unified Italian republic.

b) Count Camilo de Cavour

- Chief minister of Sardinia-Piedmont; led Italian unification movement.

- Not a revolutionary or democrat; spoke better French than Italian.

- Formed diplomatic alliance with France to defeat Austrians in 1859.

- Freed northern Italy from Austrian Habsburg control.

c) The Greek War of Independence

- Greece under Ottoman rule since 15th century; independence struggle began 1821.

- Supported by Greek exiles and Western Europeans admiring ancient Greek culture.

- Poets and artists praised Greece as cradle of European civilization.

- Treaty of Constantinople (1832) recognized Greece as independent.

d) The Frankfurt Parliament

- All-German National Assembly formed 1848 by middle-class professionals and artisans.

- First meeting on 18 May 1848 in Church of St. Paul, Frankfurt.

- Drafted constitution for German nation with monarchy and parliament.

- Prussian king rejected crown; assembly lost support, was disbanded by troops.

e) The Role of Women in Nationalist Struggles

- Women actively participated in liberal movements but faced controversial rights issues.

- Formed political associations, founded newspapers, joined meetings and demonstrations.

- Denied voting rights during Assembly elections.

- At Frankfurt Parliament, women allowed only as observers in visitors’ gallery.

2. Steps Taken by French Revolutionaries to Create Collective Identity

-National Symbols: Introduced the tricolour flag and new anthems (like La Marseillaise) for unity.  

- Uniform Laws: Created a centralized legal system, removed internal taxes, and ensured equal rights.  

- Political Participation: Promoted "La Patrie" (fatherland) and "Le Citoyen" (citizen) to encourage patriotism and equal rights.  

3. Marianne and Germania – Importance  

- Marianne (France): 

  - Symbol of freedom & republic.  

  - Wore a red cap & tricolour.  

  - Statues, coins, and stamps featured her to unite people.  

- Germania (Germany)  

  - Represented strength & unity.  

  - Shown with armor & oak leaves.  

  - Inspired Germans to fight for unification. 

4. Process of German Unification  

- Prussia led unification under Otto von Bismarck.  

- Three Wars: 

  - Danish War (1864) – Won Schleswig-Holstein.  

  - Austro-Prussian War (1866) – Removed Austria.  

  - Franco-Prussian War (1870-71) – Defeated France.  

- 1871: Wilhelm I declared German Emperor.  

- Modernization: Improved banking, laws, and economy.  

5. Napoleon’s Administrative Reforms  

- Centralized Government: Appointed prefects for better control.  

- Napoleonic Code: Replaced old laws with equal legal rights.  

- Tax Reforms: Made taxation fair and efficient.  

- Education: State-run schools to train loyal citizens.  

- Infrastructure:Built roads, bridges, canals for trade.  

- Religion:Concordat of 1801 – Church under state control.  

Discuss

1. What was the 1848 Revolution of the Liberals?

- Series of uprisings across Europe led by middle-class liberals, workers, and intellectuals.  

- Aimed to replace monarchieswith democratic governments based on liberal ideas.  

Political Ideas:  

- Constitutional governments(written rules to limit king’s power).  

- Universal male suffrage (voting rights for all men).  

- Freedom of press & assembly (right to speak and protest).  

Social Ideas:  

- Equality before law (no special privileges for nobles).  

- Meritocracy (jobs based on talent, not birth).  

Economic Ideas:  

- Free-market economy(less government control).  

- Laissez-faire (businesses operate without interference).  

2. How Did Culture Help Nationalism Grow in Europe? (3 Examples)  

1. Language & Literature (Ireland)  

- Irish writers (W.B. Yeats, James Joyce) used Irish themes to resist British rule.  

- Revival of Irish language (Gaeilge) strengthened national identity.  

2. Art & Symbols (France)  

- Tricolour flag (blue, white, red) symbolized liberty, equality, fraternity.  

- Inspired unity during the French Revolution.  

3. Music & Folklore (Czech Republic)  

- Composers like Smetana used folk songs in music.  

- Promoted Czech pride against Austro-Hungarian rule.  

3. How Did Nations Develop in the 19th Century? (Germany & Italy) 

Germany: 

- Prussia led unification under Otto von Bismarck.  

- Won 3 wars (Denmark 1864, Austria 1866, France 1870).  

- 1871: Wilhelm I became German Emperor.  

- Modernized banks, laws, and currency.  

Italy:  

- Giuseppe Mazzini (Young Italy) tried but failed.  

- Sardinia-Piedmont (led by Victor Emmanuel II) took charge.  

- Garibaldi’s volunteers freed Southern Italy (1860).  

- 1861:Italy unified under Victor Emmanuel II.  

4. Why Was Britain’s Nationalism Different?

- No sudden revolution– unification was gradual.  

- 1707: England + Scotland = UK (United Kingdom).  

- 1801: Ireland forced into UK (Protestant control over Catholics).  

- British symbols promoted:  

  - Union Jack flag  

  - National anthem ("God Save the King")  

  - English language (suppressed Scottish/Irish culture).  

5. Why Did Nationalist Tensions Rise in the Balkans? 

- Many ethnic groups (Serbs, Croats, Greeks, Albanians, etc.).  

- Religious conflicts (Christians vs. Muslim Ottomans).  

- Ottoman Empire weakened – people wanted independence.  

- Nationalist revolts (Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria fought for freedom).  

- European powers (Russia, Austria) interfered, making conflicts worse.