POLITICAL SCIENCE

1. POWER SHARING
1. Ethnic composition in Belgium

 Belgium is a small country located in the Western Europe. It has just over one crore of population. It
borders with the Netherlands, Germany, France and Luxembourg.
 Belgium has a complex ethnicity. 59% of the people speak Dutch and the live in Flemish region. 40% of
its population speaks French and they live in Wallonia region. Just one percent of the population speaks
German.
 Brussels is the capital of Belgium. 80% of the population is French speaking and 20% is Dutch speaking.
 French speaking people were relatively rich and powerful. They were not liked by the Dutch speaking
community. In 1950s and in 1960s there were tensions between both the communities. Conditions
where acute in Brussels.

2. Ethnic Composition in Sri Lanka

 Sri Lanka is an island nation, just a few kilometers off the southern coast of Tamil Nadu. It has about
two crore people, about the same as in Haryana.
 The major social groups are the Sinhala-speakers (74 per cent) and the Tamil-speakers (18 per cent).
Among Tamils there are two subgroups. Tamil natives of the country are called ‘Sri Lankan Tamils’ (13
per cent). The rest, whose forefathers came from India as plantation workers during colonial period,
are called ‘Indian Tamils’.
 Sri Lankan Tamils are concentrated in the north and east of the country. Most of the Sinhala speaking
people are Buddhists, while most of the Tamils are Hindus or Muslims. There are about 7 per cent
Christians, who are both Tamil and Sinhala.

3. Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka

 Majoritarianism: A belief that the majority community should be able to rule a country in whichever
way it wants, by disregarding the wishes and needs of the minorities.
 Sri Lanka emerged as an independent country in 1948. The democratically elected government
adopted a series of MAJORITARIAN measures to establish Sinhala supremacy.

 In 1956, an Act was passed to establish Sinhala supremacy according to which:

i) Sinhala was recognised as the only official language, thus disregarding Tamil.
ii) The governments followed preferential policies that favoured Sinhala applicants for
university positions and government jobs.
iii) A new constitution stipulated that the state shall protect and foster Buddhism.
 All these government measures, coming one after the other, gradually increased the feeling of
alienation among the Sri Lankan Tamils.

 The Sri Lankan Tamils launched parties and struggles for :

i)The recognition of Tamil as an official language
ii) For regional autonomy.
iii) Equality of opportunity in securing education and jobs.

 By 1980s several political organizations were formed demanding an independent Tamil Eelam (state)
in northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. The distrust between the two communities turned into
widespread conflict. It soon turned into a CIVIL WAR. (A violent conflict between opposing groups
1
 within a country)
 The impact of civil war:
i) Thousands of people of both the communities have been killed.
ii) Many families were forced to leave the country as refugees and many more lost their
livelihoods.
iii) The civil war has caused a terrible setback to the social, cultural and economic life of the
country.

4. Accommodation in Belgium

 Between 1970 and 1993, they amended their constitution four times so as to work out an arrangement
that would enable everyone to live together within the same country.
 Here are some of the elements of the Belgian model:

i) Constitution prescribes that the number of Dutch and French-speaking ministers shall be equal in the
central Government. Thus no single community can make decisions unilaterally.

ii) Many powers of the central government have been given to state governments of the two regions of
the country. The state governments are not subordinate to the Central Government.

iii) Brussels has a separate government in which both the communities have equal representation.

iv) Apart from the Central and the State Government, there is a third kind of government. This
‘community government’ is elected by people belonging to one language community – Dutch, French
and German-speaking – no matter where they live. This government has the power regarding cultural,
educational and language-related issues.

5. Why is Power Sharing Desirable?

 Two different sets of reasons can be given in favour of power sharing.

a) Prudential Reasons:

i) Power sharing is good because it helps to reduce the possibility of conflict between social groups.
ii) Since social conflict often leads to violence and political instability, power sharing is a good
way to ensure the stability of political order.
iii) Tyranny of the majority is not just oppressive for the minority; it often brings ruin to the
majority as well.
iv) It brings better outcomes.

b) Moral Reasons:

i) Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy.

ii) People have a right to be consulted on how they are to be governed.
iii) The very act of power sharing as valuable.

6. Forms of Power Sharing

 In modern democracies, power sharing arrangements can take many forms.

a) Power is shared among different organs of government

- The organs are the legislature, executive and judiciary.
- Let us call this horizontal distribution of power because it allows different organs of government
placed at the same level to exercise different powers.

2
 -Such a separation ensures that none of the organs can exercise unlimited power.
-Each organ checks the others. This results in a balance of power among various institutions.
-This arrangement is called a system of checks and balances.

b) Power can be shared among governments at different levels of government

- A general government for the entire country and governments at the state and local level.
- For entire country- Central Government.
- State level- State Government
- Local level- Local Self Government.
-Such a general government for the entire country is usually called federal government. In India, we
refer to it as the Central or Union Government.
-This is called federal division of power.
-Let us call division of powers involving higher and lower levels of government vertical division of
power.

c) Power is shared among different social groups:

-‘Community government’ in Belgium is a good example of this arrangement.

- In some countries there are constitutional and legal arrangements whereby socially weaker sections
and women are represented in the legislatures and administration.
- There is the system of ‘reserved constituencies’ in assemblies and the parliament of our country.
- This type of arrangement is meant to give space in the government and administration to diverse
social groups who otherwise would feel alienated from the government. This method is used to give
minority communities a fair share in power.

d) Power is shared by Political parties, pressure groups and movements:

- In democracy, the periodic elections ensure that power does not remain in one hand. In the long run,
power is shared among different political parties that represent different ideologies and social groups.
- Sometimes this kind of sharing can be direct, when two or more parties form an alliance to contest
elections. If their alliance is elected, they form a coalition government and thus share power.
- In a democracy, we find interest groups such as those of traders, businessmen, industrialists, farmers
and industrial workers.
- They also will have a share in governmental power, either through participation in governmental
committees
or bringing influence on the decision-making process.

******************************
POLITICAL SCIENCE

2. FEDERALISM
1. Definition

 Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and
various constituent units of the country. Usually, a federation has two levels of government.

2. Unitary and Federal Systems

3
  Unitary form of government
a) Under the unitary system, either there is only one level of government or the sub-units are
subordinate to the central government.
b) The central government can pass on orders to the provincial or the local government.
c) Most of the powers are with the central government.
 Federal form of government
a) In a federal system, the central government cannot order the state government to do something.
b) State government has powers of its own for which it is not answerable to the central government.
c) Both these governments are separately answerable to the people.

3. Features of Federalism

a) There are two or more levels (or tiers) of government.

b) Different tiers of government govern the same citizens, but each tier has its own JURISDICTION
in specific matters of legislation, taxation and administration. (Jurisdiction = power, authority)

c) The jurisdictions of the respective levels or tiers of government are specified in the constitution.

d) The fundamental provisions of the constitution cannot be unilaterally changed by one level of
government. Such changes require the consent of both the levels of government.
e). The highest court acts as an umpire if disputes arise between different levels of government in
the exercise of their respective powers.
f) Sources of revenue for each level of government are clearly specified to ensure its
financial autonomy. (Financial autonomy= ability to manage its money)
g) The federal system has dual objectives: to safeguard and promote unity of the country, while at the
same time accommodate regional diversity.

4. The Two Types of Federation

 Coming together federation

a) Independent States coming together on their own to form a bigger unit, so that by
pooling sovereignty and retaining identity they can increase their security.
b)This type of ‘coming together’ federations include the USA, Switzerland and Australia.
c) All the constituent States usually have equal power and are strong vis-à-vis the federal government.
 Holding together federation
a) A large country decides to divide its power between the constituent States and the national
government.
b) India, Spain and Belgium are examples of this kind of ‘holding together’ federations.
c) The central government tends to be more powerful vis-à-vis the States.
d) Very often different constituent units of the federation have unequal powers.
e) Some units are granted special powers.

5. Legislative Division of Power in India

The Constitution clearly provided a threefold distribution of legislative powers between the Union
Government and the State Governments. Thus, it contains three lists:

4
  Union List
a) It includes subjects of national importance such as defence of the country, foreign affairs, banking,
communications and currency.
b) They are included in this list because we need a uniform policy on these matters throughout the
country.
c) The Union Government alone can make laws relating to the subjects mentioned in the Union List.
d) There are 97 subjects in this list.
 State List
a) It contains subjects of State and local importance such as police, trade, commerce, agriculture and
irrigation.
b) The State Governments can make laws on these subjects.
c) It contains 61 subjects.
 Concurrent List
a) Subjects which are common for both centre and state are included in this list.
b) Both central government and state government can make the laws on these subjects.
c) If their laws conflict with each other, the law made by the Union Government will prevail.
d) The main subjects in this list are: education, forest, trade unions, marriage, adoption, succession.
e) There are 52 subjects in this list.
 Residuary subjects
a) Matters which are excluded from any of these three lists are known as residuary subjects and the
option to make laws regarding these matters is called residuary power.
b) According to the constitution, the Union Government has the power to legislate on these ‘residuary’
subjects.
c) Example: Programming, E- commerce, internet, hardware, software, IT, cyber laws.

6. States with special status and union territories

 States with special status

a) All States in the Indian Union do not have identical powers.
b) Some States enjoy a special status.
c) States such as Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram enjoy special powers under certain
provisions of the Constitution of India (Article 371) due to their peculiar social and historical
circumstances.
d) These special powers are especially enjoyed in relation to the protection of land rights of indigenous
peoples, their culture and also preferential employment in government services.
e) Indians who are not permanent residents of this State cannot buy land or house here.
 Union Territories
a) These territories do not have the powers of a State.
b) The Central Government has special powers in running these areas.
c) These are areas which are too small to become an independent State but which could not be
merged with any of the existing States.

7. Power sharing arrangement between Union and the State governments

 It is not easy to make changes to this power sharing arrangement.

 The Parliament cannot on its own change this arrangement.
 Any change to it has to be first passed by both the Houses of Parliament with at least two-thirds
majority.
 Then it has to be ratified by the legislatures of at least half of the total States.

5
8. Linguistic States

 The creation of linguistic States was the first and a major test for democratic politics in our country.
 Linguistic state = the states are divided on the basis of their regional languages.
 In 1947, the boundaries of several old States of India were changed in order to create new States. This
was done to ensure that people who spoke the same language lived in the same State.
 But there were more demands from the people to create new linguistic states. The central
government resisted linguistic States for some time. Some national leaders feared that it would lead
to the disintegration of the country.
 Finally in 1956, more number of states had been created following the recommendations of the State
Reorganization Commission (SRC).
 The experience has shown that the formation of linguistic States has actually made the country, more
united.

8. Language Policy

 In terms of languages, India is perhaps the most diverse country in the world.
 The Census found 121 major languages in India.
 Of these 22 languages are now included in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution and are
therefore called ‘Scheduled Languages’. A candidate in an examination conducted for the Central
Government positions may opt to take the examination in any of these languages.
 Others are called ‘non-Scheduled Languages’.
 Hindi is the mother tongue of only about 44 per cent Indians.
 Our Constitution did not give the status of national language to any one language.
 According to the Constitution, the use of English for official purposes was to stop in 1965.
 However, many non-Hindi speaking States demanded that the use of English continue.
 In Tamil Nadu, this movement took a violent form.
 The Central Government responded by agreeing to continue the use of English along with Hindi for
official purposes.
 States too have their own official languages.

9. Centre- State Relations

 Restructuring the Centre-State relations is one more way in which federalism has been strengthened
in practice.

 Centre- State Relations before 1990s

a) For a long time, the same party ruled both at the Centre and in most of the States.
b) This meant that the State governments did not exercise their rights.
c) As and when the ruling party at the State level was different, the parties that ruled at the Centre
tried to undermine the power of the States.
d) In those days, the Central Government would often misuse the Constitution to dismiss the State
governments that were controlled by rival parties.
e) This undermined the spirit of federalism.

 Centre- State Relations after 1990s

a) All this changed significantly after 1990.
b) This period saw the rise of regional political parties in many states of the country.
c) This was also the beginning of the era of COALITION GOVERNMENTS at the Centre.
d) Since no single party got a clear majority in the Lok Sabha, the major national parties had to

6
 enter into an alliance with many parties including several regional parties to form a government
at the Centre.
e) This led to a new culture of power sharing and respect for the autonomy of State Governments.

10. Decentralisation in India

 When power is taken away from Central and State governments and given to local government, it is
called decentralisation.
 Advantages of decentralisation
a) The basic idea behind decentralisation is that there are a large number of problems and issues
which are best settled at the local level.
b) People have better knowledge of problems in their localities.
c) They also have better ideas on where to spend money and how to manage things more efficiently.
d) At the local level it is possible for the people to directly participate in decision making.
e) This helps to inculcate a habit of democratic participation.
e) Local government is the best way to realise one important principle of democracy, namely local
self-government.

11. Local self governments before and after 1992

 Before 1992
a) The local governments were directly under the control of state governments.
b) Elections to these local governments were not held regularly.
c) Local governments did not have any powers or resources of their own.
d) Thus, there was very little decentralisation in effective terms.
 The Constitution was amended in 1992 to make the third-tier of democracy more powerful and
effective.
 After 1992
a) Now it is constitutionally mandatory to hold regular elections to local government bodies.
b) Seats are reserved in the elected bodies and the executive heads of these institutions for the
Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
c) At least one-third of all positions are reserved for women.
d) An independent institution called the State Election Commission has been created in each State to
conduct Panchayat and Municipal elections.
e) The State governments are required to share some powers and revenue with local government
bodies.

12. Panchayati Raj system

 Rural local government is popularly known by the name Panchayati raj. It is a three-tier system.
 Gram Panchayat:
a) Each village, or a group of villages in some States, has a gram panchayat.
b) This is a council consisting of several ward members, often called panch, and a president or sarpanch.
c) They are directly elected by all the adult population living in that ward or village.
d) It is the decision-making body for the entire village.

The Gramsabha
Gram Sabha is different from Gram Panchayat. The Panchayat works under the
overall supervision of the Gramsabha. All the voters in the village are its members.
It has to meet at least twice or thrice in a year to approve the annual budget of the
gram panchayat and to review the performance of the gram Panchayat.

7
  Panchayat Samiti/Block Panchayat/Mandal Parishad:
a) A few gram panchayats are grouped together to form what is usually called a panchayat samiti
or block or mandal.
b) The members of this representative body are elected by all the panchyat members in that area.
 Zilla Parishad:
a) All the panchayat samitis or mandals in a district together constitute the zilla (district) parishad.
b) Most members of the zilla parishad are elected.
c) Zilla parishad chairperson is the political head of the zilla parishad.

13. Local government in urban area

 In towns – Municipalities
Municipal chairperson is the political head of the municipality.
 In cities – Municipal Corporation
Mayor is the head of the Municipal Corporation.

****************************

ECONOMICS

1. DEVELOPMENT
1. What is development?

 We have aspirations or desires about what we would like to do and how we would like to live. Similarly,
we have ideas about what a country should be like.
Development involves thinking about these questions and about the ways in which we can work
towards achieving these goals.

2. Different people- different goals

 Different persons can have different developmental goals.

Example: Landless rural labourers - More days of work and better wages; local school is able to provide
quality education for their children; there is no social discrimination and they too can become leaders
in the village.
Prosperous farmers from Punjab - Assured a high family income through higher support prices for their
crops and through hardworking and cheap labourers; they should be able to settle their children
abroad.
 What may be development for one may not be development for the other. It may even be
destructive for the other.
Example: To get more electricity, industrialists may want more dams. But this may submerge the land
and disrupt the lives of people who are displaced – such as tribals. They might resent this and may
prefer small check dams or tanks to irrigate their land.

3. Income and other goals

 What people desire are regular work, better wages, and decent price for their crops or other products
that they produce. In other words, they want more income.

8
  Besides seeking more income people also seek things like equal treatment, freedom, security, and
respect of others. They resent discrimination. All these are important goals.
 Money, or material things that one can buy with it, is one factor on which our life depends. But the
quality of our life also depends on non-material things.
 If you get a job in a far off place, before accepting it you would try to consider many factors, apart
from income, such as facilities for your family, working atmosphere, or opportunity to learn. In another
case, a job may give you less pay but may offer regular employment that enhances your sense of
security.
 For development, people look at a mix of goals.

4. National development

 It is very important to keep in mind that different persons could have different as well as conflicting
notions of a country’s development.
 We have to think whether there is a better way of doing things. Would the idea benefit a large number
of people or only a small group? National development means thinking about these questions.

5. Comparing different countries

 For comparing countries, their income is considered to be one of the most important attributes.
 However, for comparison between countries, total income is not such an useful measure. Since,
countries have different populations, comparing total income will not tell us what an average person
is likely to earn.
 We compare the average income which is the total income of the country divided by its total
population. The average income is also called per capita income.
 While ‘averages’ are useful for comparison, they also hide disparities. Average income is useful for
comparison but it does not tell us how this income is distributed among people.

6. World Development Report

 It is brought out by the World Bank.

 Per capita income used in classifying countries.
 Rich countries: Countries with per capita income of US$ 12,056 per annum and above in 2017.
 Low-income countries: Those with per capita income of US$ 955 or less.
 India comes in the category of low middle income countries because its per capita income in 2017 was
just US$ 1820 per annum.
 The rich countries, excluding countries of Middle East and certain other small countries, are generally
called developed countries. This is because in these countries there exist huge income disparities.

7. Income and other criteria

 If per capita income were to be used as the measure of development, Haryana will be considered the
most developed and Bihar the least developed state of the three.
 But when we use other indicators of development such as Infant Mortality Rate, Literacy Rate and
Net Attendance Ratio, to compare these three states, we find that Kerala is far ahead of Haryana or
kerala is most developed in terms of human development.
 The average person in Haryana has more income than the average person in Kerala but lags behind in
these crucial areas.
 The reason is — money in your pocket cannot buy all the goods and services that you may need to live
well.
 Normally, your money cannot buy you a pollution-free environment or ensure that you get
unadulterated medicines. Money may also not be able to protect you from infectious diseases.
9
  Kerala has a low Infant Mortality Rate because it has adequate provision of basic health and
educational facilities.
 So just like in Kerala, all the governments have to provide public facilities for the people to enhance
human development.

 Infant Mortality Rate (or IMR) indicates the number of children that die before the
age of one year
as a proportion of 1000 live children born in that particular year.
 Literacy Rate measures the proportion of literate population in the 7-and-above
age group.
 Net Attendance Ratio is the total number of children of age group 14 and 15 years
attending school
as a percentage of total number of children in the same age group.

8. Body Mass Index (BMI)

 One way to find out if we are properly nourished is to calculate what nutrition scientists call Body
Mass Index (BMI).
 BMI = Weight of the person in kgs ÷ Square of the height of the person in metres.
 A student’s BMI could be within the normal range or less than that (underweight) or more (obesity).

9. Human Development Report

 Human Development Report is published by UNDP.

 UNDP compares countries based on the educational levels of the people, their health status and per
capita income.
 The indicators used by UNDP are:
a) Per capita income
b) Life expectancy at birth
c) Mean years of schooling.
 India’s HDI rank was 130 in 2018.
 Sri Lanka is much ahead of India in every respect and its rank was 76 in 2018.
 Nepal and Bangladesh have low per capita income than that of India, yet they are better than India in
life expectancy.
 HDI stands for Human Development Index. HDI ranks in above table are out of 189 countries in all.
 Life Expectancy at birth denotes average expected length of life of a person at the time of birth.
 Per Capita Income is calculated in dollars for all countries so that it can be compared. It is also done
in a way so that every dollar would buy the same amount of goods and services in any country.

10. Sustainable Development

 Sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the future generations
without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs.
 It is not harmful to the environment.
 “We have not inherited the world from our forefathers — we have borrowed it from our children.”
It means we have to use the resources judiciously and preserve the resources for the future
generations.
 Consequences of environmental degradation do not respect national or state boundaries; this issue is
no longer region or nation specific. Our future is linked together. Any damage takes place in one
part of the world can be harmful to many other parts of the world.

10
ECONOMICS

2. THE SECTORS OF INDIAN ECONOMY

1. Sectors of Economic Activities

 Primary Sector
a) When we produce a good by exploiting natural resources, it is an activity of the primary sector.
b) This is because it forms the base for all other products that we subsequently make.
c) For example, the cultivation of cotton. It takes place within a crop season.
d) For the growth of the cotton plant, we depend mainly, but not entirely, on natural factors like
rainfall, sunshine and climate. The product of this activity, cotton, is a natural product.
e) Example: agriculture, dairy, fishing, forestry, mining, quarrying, poultry farming etc.
f) This sector is also called agriculture and related sector.

 Secondary Sector
a) This sector includes all the activities in which natural products are changed into other forms
through ways of manufacturing.
b) The manufacturing activity may take place in a factory, a workshop or at home.
c) For example, using cotton fibre from the plant, we spin yarn and weave cloth. Using sugarcane as a
raw material, we make sugar or gur.
d) Since this sector gradually became associated with the different kinds of industries that came up,
it is also called as industrial sector.

 Tertiary Sector
a) Unlike primary and secondary sectors, this sector does not produce any goods, rather it produces
services.
b) These are activities that help in the development of the primary and secondary sectors.
c) For example, goods that are produced in the primary or secondary sector would need to be
transported by trucks or trains and then sold in wholesale and retail shops. At times, it may be
necessary to store these in godowns.
d) Services that support the production activities: Transport, storage, communication, banking, trade.
e) Service sector also includes some essential services that may not directly help in the production of
goods.
f) For example, we require teachers, doctors, and those who provide personal services such as
washermen, barbers, cobblers, lawyers, and people to do administrative and accounting works.
g) Services based on information technology: internet cafe, ATM booths, call centres, software
companies etc.

2. Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

 The value of all final goods and services produced within a country during a particular year is called
GDP. It shows how big the economy is.
 The three sectors can be compared by checking the contribution of each sector to the GDP.

11
  Take, for instance, a farmer who sells wheat to a flour mill for Rs 8 per kg. The mill grinds the wheat
and sells the flour to a biscuit company for Rs 10 per kg. The biscuit company uses the flour and things
such as sugar and oil to make four packets of biscuits. It sells biscuits in the market to the consumers
for Rs 60 (Rs 15 per packet). Biscuits are the final goods, i.e., goods that reach the consumers.
 In the above example, wheat is the primary good; wheat floor is the intermediary good and biscuit is
the final good.
 In the calculation of GDP, only the values of final goods are counted not the values of primary and
intermediary goods because value of final goods already includes the value of all the intermediate
goods that are used in making the final good.
 In India, the mammoth task of measuring GDP is undertaken by a central government ministry.
 This Ministry, with the help of various government departments of all the Indian states and union
territories, collects information relating to total volume of goods and services and their prices and
then estimates the GDP.

3. Historical Changes in Sectors

 Generally, it has been noted from the histories developed countries that at initial stages of
development, primary sector was the most important sector of economic activity.
At this stage, most of the goods produced were natural products from the primary sector and most
people were also employed in this sector.
 Over a long time (more than hundred years), and especially because new methods of manufacturing
were introduced, factories came up and started expanding.
Those people who had earlier worked on farms now began to work in factories in large numbers.
People began to use many more goods that were produced in factories at cheap rates. Secondary
sector gradually became the most important in total production and employment. Hence, over time,
a shift had taken place.
 In the past 100 years, there has been a further shift from secondary to tertiary sector in developed
countries.
The service sector has become the most important in terms of total production. Most of the working
people are also employed in the service sector. This is the general pattern observed in developed
countries.

4. Rising importance of Tertiary Sector India

Why is the tertiary sector becoming so important in India? Look at the following reasons.

 First, in any country several services such as hospitals, educational institutions, post and telegraph
services, police stations, courts, village administrative offices, municipal corporations, defence,
transport, banks, insurance companies, etc. are required. These can be considered as basic services.
In a developing country the government has to take responsibility for the provision of these services.
 Second, the development of agriculture and industry leads to the development of services such as
transport, trade, storage and the like, as we have already seen. Greater the development of the
primary and secondary sectors, more would be the demand for such services.
 Third, as income levels rise, certain sections of people start demanding many more services like eating
out, tourism, shopping, private hospitals, private schools, professional training etc.

12
  Fourth, over the past decade or so, certain new services such as those based on information and
communication technology have become important and essential. The production of these services
has been rising rapidly.
 At the same time, not the entire service sector is growing equally well. There are a very large number
of workers engaged in services such as small shopkeepers, repair persons, transport persons, etc.
These people barely manage to earn a living and yet they perform these services because no
alternative opportunities for work are available to them. Hence, only a part of this sector is growing
in importance.

5. Employment Scenario

 The primary sector continues to be the largest employer in India. It is because not enough jobs were
created in the secondary and tertiary sectors.
 When the production of goods went up by more than nine times in the last 40 years, employment in
the industry went up by around three times.
 The same applies to the tertiary sector as well. While production in the service sector rose by 14 times,
employment in the service sector rose around five times.

6. Underemployment and disguised unemployment

 Underemployment: Underemployment occurs when a person does not work full time or takes a job
that does not their training and actual financial needs.
 Disguised unemployment: a kind of unemployment in which there are people who are visibly
employed but are actually unemployed.
 In rural areas, this type of unemployment is found in agricultural sector.
 This underemployment can also happen in other sectors. For example there are thousands of casual
workers in the service sector in urban areas who search for daily employment.
 They are employed as painters, plumbers, repair persons and others doing odd jobs. Many of them
don’t find work every day.

7. How to create more employment?

 The following steps can be taken to create more employment opportunities:

a) Provide irrigational facilities to the farmers by constructing dams and canals.
b) Construction of roads, bridges and providing transport facilities.
c) Set up banks in rural areas that would give the people credit at a reasonable rate of interest.
d) Identify, promote and locate industries and services in semi-rural areas where a large number of
people may be employed.
e) The activities like setting up a dal mill, opening of a cold storage or starting of a honey collection
centre can provide employment opportunities to many people in rural areas.
f) A study conducted by the erstwhile Planning Commission (now known as NITI Aayog) estimates that
nearly 20 lakh jobs can be created in the education sector alone. Similarly, if we are to improve the
health situation, we need many more doctors, nurses, health workers etc. to work in rural areas.
g) The same study by the Planning Commission says that if tourism as a sector is improved, every year
we can give additional employment to more than 35 lakh people.
13
8. MGNREGA

 The central government in India made a law implementing the Right to Work in about 625 districts
of India.
 It is called Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA 2005).
 Under MGNREGA 2005, all those who are able to, and are in need of, work in rural areas are
guaranteed 100 days of employment in a year by the government.
 If the government fails in its duty to provide employment, it will give unemployment allowances
to the people.
 The types of work that would in future help to increase the production from land will be given
preference under the Act.

9. Organized and Unorganised sectors

 All the employees can be categorized into organised and unorganised sectors on the basis of the
nature of employment.
 Features of Organised Sector:
a) Organised sector covers those enterprises or places of work where the terms of employment
are regular and therefore, people have assured work.
b) They are registered by the government and have to follow its rules and regulations which are given
in various laws such as the Factories Act, Minimum Wages Act, Payment of Gratuity Act, Shops
and Establishments Act etc.
c) It is called organised because it has some formal processes and procedures.
Some of these people may not be employed by anyone but may work on their own but they too
have to register themselves with the government and follow the rules and regulations.
d) Workers in the organised sector enjoy security of employment. They are expected to work only
a fixed number of hours. If they work more, they have to be paid overtime by the employer.
They also get several other benefits from the employers.
e) They get paid leave, payment during holidays, provident fund, gratuity etc. They are supposed
to get medical benefits and, under the laws, the factory manager has to ensure facilities like
drinking water and a safe working environment. When they retire, these workers get pensions
as well.

 Features of Unorganised Sector:

a) The unorganised sector is characterised by small and scattered units which are largely outside
the control of the government.
b) There are rules and regulations but these are not followed.
c) Jobs here are low-paid and often not regular.
d) There is no provision for overtime, paid leave, holidays, leave due to sickness etc.
e) Employment is not secure. People can be asked to leave without any reason.
f) When there is less work, such as during some seasons, some people may be asked to leave.
h) A lot also depends on the whims of the employer.
i) This sector includes a large number of people who are employed on their own doing small
jobs such as selling on the street or doing repair work and farmers work on their own.
14
10. Protecting Workers in the Unorganised Sector

 The government has to protect and support the workers in the unorganised sector. Some of the
methods can be:
a) The farmers need to be supported through adequate facility for timely delivery of seeds,
agricultural inputs, credit, storage facilities and marketing outlets.
b) The casual workers can be protected by bringing them under insurance coverage.
c) The governments can help the small scale industries in procuring raw materials and in marketing
the products.
d) All retired employees have to be given with pensions.

11. Sectors in terms of ownership: Public Sector and Private Sector

 Public sector
a) The government owns most of the assets and provides all the services.
b) Railways , State transport corporation, water transport corporation, BHEL, SAIL, BSNL, Air India Ltd.
are some of the public sector undertakings.
c) The purpose of the public sector is to provide services to the people at affordable cost.
d) Governments raise money through taxes and other ways to meet expenses on the services
rendered by it.

 Private Sector
a) In the private sector, ownership of assets and delivery of services is in the hands of
private individuals or companies.
b) Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) or Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)
are privately owned.
c) Activities in the private sector are guided by the motive to earn profits.
d) To get such services we have to pay money to these individuals and companies.

12. Importance of Public Sector

Public sector alone can undertake the following activities:

 Basic facilities which require heavy funding

a) There are several things needed by the society as a whole but which the private sector will not
provide at a reasonable cost.
b) Some of these need spending large sums of money, which is beyond the capacity of the private
sector.
c) Governments have to undertake such heavy spending and ensure that these facilities are available
for everyone.
d) Examples are construction of roads, bridges, railways, harbors, generating electricity, providing
irrigation through dams etc.

 Activities that require the support of the government

a) Selling electricity at the cost of generation may push up the costs of production of goods in many

15
 industries.
b) Government here steps in by producing and supplying electricity at rates which these industries
can afford.
c) Government has to bear part of the cost.

 Procuring food grains from farmers at MSP.

a) The Government in India buys wheat and rice from farmers at a ‘fair price’. This it stores in
its godowns and sells at a lower price to consumers through ration shops.
b) In this way, the government supports both farmers and consumers.

 Providing health and education facilities at reasonable cost

a) Running proper schools and providing quality education, particularly elementary education, is
the duty of the government.
b) Providing adequate health facilities to the people free of cost.
c) Ensuring food security and the provision of nutritious food.
d) Reducing infant mortality rate.
e) Women and child welfare.

***********************

16
HISTORY

1. THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

 Nationalism: Identification with one’s own nation and support for its interests. Uncritical affection
towards one’s own nation.
 Nation-state: A nation-state is one in which the majority of its citizens and its rulers develop a sense of
common identity and shared history or descent.
This commonness was forged through struggles, through the actions of leaders and the common
people.

1. The Utopian Vision of Frederic Sorrieu

 In 1848, Frédéric Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four prints visualizing his dream of a
world made up of ‘democratic and social Republics’, as he called them.
 Men and women of all ages and social classes – marching in a long train, and offering homage to the
statue of Liberty as they pass by it.
 On the earth in the foreground of the image lie the shattered remains of the symbols of absolutist
institutions.
 In Sorrieu’s utopian vision, the peoples of the world are grouped as distinct nations, identified through
their flags and national costume.
 From the heavens above, Christ, saints and angels gaze upon the scene. They have been used by the
artist to symbolise fraternity among the nations of the world.
 Ernst Renan - the French philosopher wrote the essay ‘What is a Nation?’ In this essay Renan criticizes
the notion suggested by others that a nation is formed by a common language, race, religion, or
territory.

 Absolutism: It refers to a form of monarchical government that was centralized, militarized

and repressive.
 Utopian: A vision of a society that is so ideal that it is unlikely to actually exist.
 Plebiscite: A direct vote by which all the people of a region are asked to accept or reject a
proposal.

2. The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation

 The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789.
 The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united
community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
 A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
 The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
 New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.
 A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens
within its territory.
 Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was
adopted.
 Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in Paris, became the
common language of the nation.
 When the news of the events in France reached the different cities of Europe, students and other
members of educated middle classes began setting up Jacobin clubs.
17
3. The Civil Code

 Through a return to monarchy Napoleon had destroyed democracy in France

 In the administrative field he had incorporated revolutionary principles in order to make the whole
system more rational and efficient.
 The Civil Code was introduced in 1804 which wasusually known as the Napoleonic Code.
 It did away with all privileges based on birth
 It established equality before the law and
 secured the right to property

4. Napoleonic Reforms in Europe

 The Civil Code was exported to the regions under French control.
 In the Dutch Republic, in Switzerland, in Italy and Germany, Napoleon simplified administrative
Divisions.
 He abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.
 In the towns too, guild restrictions were removed.
 Transport and communication systems were improved.
 Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a new-found freedom.

5. Reaction of the People towards Napoleonic Rule

 In the areas conquered, the reactions of the local populations to French rule were mixed.
 Initially, in many places such as Holland and Switzerland, as well as in certain cities like Brussels, Mainz,
Milan and Warsaw, the French armies were welcomed as harbingers of liberty.
 But the initial enthusiasm soon turned to hostility.
 The new administrative arrangements did not go hand in hand with political freedom.
 Increased taxation, censorship, forced conscription into the French armies all seemed to outweigh the
advantages of the administrative changes.

6. Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in Europe

 Eastern and Central Europe were under autocratic monarchies within the territories of which lived
diverse peoples.
 They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identity or a common culture.
 Often, they even spoke different languages and belonged to different ethnic groups.
 The Habsburg Empire that ruled over Austria-Hungary, for example, was a patchwork of many different
regions and peoples.
 It included the Alpine regions – the Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland – as well as Bohemia, where
the aristocracy was predominantly German-speaking.
 It also included the Italian-speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia.
 In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other half spoke a variety of dialects.
 In Galicia, the aristocracy spoke Polish.
 Such differences did not easily promote a sense of political unity. The only tie binding these diverse
groups together was a common allegiance to the emperor.

7. The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class

 Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class in Europe.
 The members of this class were united by a common way of life that cut across regional divisions.

18
  They owned estates in the countryside and also town-houses. They spoke French for purposes of
diplomacy and in high society.
 The peasants constituted the majority. But they had been burdened with feudal dues.
 With the wake of industrialization, new social groups came into being: a working-class population, and
middle classes made up of industrialists, businessmen, professionals.
 It was among the educated, liberal middle classes that ideas of national unity following the abolition of
aristocratic privileges gained popularity.

8. Liberal Nationalism

 The term ‘liberalism’ derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free.
 For the new middle classes liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before
the law.
 Liberalism in political sphere:
a) It emphasized the concept of government by consent.
b) End of autocracy and clerical privileges.
c) A constitution and representative government through parliament.
d) The inviolability of private property.
 Liberalism in Social Sphere
a) Liberals were not in favour of universal suffrage.
b) The right to vote and to get elected was granted exclusively to property-owning men.
c) Men without property and all women were excluded from political rights.
d) Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries women and non-propertied men
organised opposition movements demanding equal political rights.
 Liberalism in Economic Sphere
a) In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets.
b) They demanded for the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods
and capital.

9. Economic Nationalism

 During the nineteenth century the middle class demanded for the freedom of markets and the
abolition of state-imposed restrictions .
 The German-speaking regions in the first half of the nineteenth century possessed its own currency,
weights and measures.
 A merchant travelling in 1833 from Hamburg to Nuremberg to sell his goods would have had to pass
through 11 customs barriers and pay a customs duty of about 5 per cent at each one of them.
 Duties were often levied according to the weight or measurement of the goods.
 As each region had its own system of weights and measures, this involved time-consuming calculation.
 The measure of cloth, for example, was the elle which in each region stood for a different length.
 An elle of textile material bought in Frankfurt would get you 54.7 cm of cloth, in Mainz 55.1 cm, in
Nuremberg 65.6 cm, in Freiburg 53.5 cm.
 Such conditions were viewed as obstacles to economic exchange and growth by the new commercial
classes, who argued for the creation of a unified economic territory allowing the unhindered
movement of goods, people and capital.

10. Zollverein

 In 1834, a customs union or Zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia and joined by most of
the German states.
 The union abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two.

19
11. A New Conservatism after 1815

 Conservatism – A political philosophy that stressed the importance of tradition, established institutions
and customs, and preferred gradual development to quick change
 Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European governments were driven by a spirit of
conservatism.
 Conservatives believed that established, traditional institutions of state and society – like the monarchy,
the Church, social hierarchies, property and the family – should be preserved.
 Most conservatives, however, did not propose a return to the society of pre-revolutionary days. Rather,
they realised, from the changes initiated by Napoleon, that modernisation could in fact strengthen
traditional institutions like the monarchy. It could make state power more effective and strong.
 A modern army, an efficient bureaucracy, a dynamic economy, the abolition of feudalism and serfdom
could strengthen the autocratic monarchies of Europe.

12. The Treaty of Vienna

 In 1815, representatives of the European powers – Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria – who had
collectively defeated Napoleon, met at Vienna to draw up a settlement for Europe.
 The Congress was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich.
 The delegates drew up the Treaty of Vienna of 1815 with the object of undoing most of the changes
that had come about in Europe during the Napoleonic wars.
 The Bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed during the French Revolution, was restored to power.
 France lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon.
 A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion in future.
 Thus the kingdom of the Netherlands, which included Belgium, was set up in the north and Genoa was
added to Piedmont in the south.
 Prussia was given important new territories on its western frontiers, while Austria was given control of
northern Italy.
 But the German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon was left untouched.
 In the east, Russia was given part of Poland while Prussia was given a portion of Saxony.
 The main intention was to restore the monarchies that had been overthrown by Napoleon, and create
a new conservative order in Europe.

13. The Conservatives vs Revolutionaries

 Conservative regimes set up in 1815 were autocratic.

 They did not tolerate criticism and dissent, and sought to curb activities that questioned the legitimacy
of autocratic governments.
 Most of them imposed censorship laws to control what was said in newspapers, books, plays and
songs and reflected the ideas of liberty and freedom associated with the French Revolution.
 The memory of the French Revolution nonetheless continued to inspire liberals. One of the major
issues taken up by the liberal-nationalists, who criticised the new conservative order, was freedom of
the press.
 During the years following 1815, the fear of repression drove many liberal-nationalists underground.
 Secret societies sprang up in many European states to train revolutionaries and spread their ideas.
 To be revolutionary at this time meant a commitment to oppose monarchical forms that had been
established after the Vienna Congress, and to fight for liberty and freedom.
 Most of these revolutionaries also saw the creation of nation-states as a necessary part of this struggle
for freedom.

20
14. Giuseppe Mazzini

 Born in Genoa in 1807, he became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
 He founded two underground societies, first, Young Italy in Marseilles, and then, Young Europe in
Berne.
 Mazzini believed that God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind.
 Following his model, secret societies were set up in Germany, France, Switzerland and Poland.
 Mazzini’s relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of democratic republics frightened the
conservatives. Metternich described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.

15. The 1830 Revolution in France

 The Bourbon kings, who had been restored to power during the conservative reaction after 1815,
were now overthrown by liberal revolutionaries who installed a constitutional monarchy with Louis
Philippe at its head.
 ‘When France sneezes,’ Metternich once remarked, ‘the rest of Europe catches cold. ’ The July
Revolution sparked an uprising in Brussels which led to Belgium breaking away from the United
Kingdom of the Netherlands.

16. The Greek War of Independence

 Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century.
 The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for independence amongst
the Greeks which began in 1821.
 Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from many West
Europeans who had sympathies for ancient Greek culture.
 Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilization.
 The English poet Lord Byron organised funds and later went to fight in the war, where he died of fever
in 1824.
 Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognised Greece as an independent nation.

17. The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling

 Romanticism: Romanticism is a cultural movement

a) It sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment.
b) Romantic artists and poets generally criticised the glorification of reason and science and focused
instead on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings.
c) Their effort was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage, a common cultural past, as the
basis of a nation
 Johann Gottfried Herder
a) He was a German philosopher who claimed that true German culture was to be discovered
among the common people – das volk.
b) It was through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances that the true spirit of the nation
(volksgeist) was popularised.

21
  The Grimm Brothers:
a) They spent six years travelling from village to village, talking to people and writing down fairy
tales, which were handed down through the generations.
b) These were popular both among children and adults. In 1812, they published their first collection of
tales. They also published a 33-volume dictionary of the German language
c) They considered their projects of collecting folktales and developing the German language as part of
the wider effort to oppose French domination and create a German national identity.
 Karol Kurpinski: He celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music, turning folk dances
like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.

18. Role of Language in the propagation of Nationalist Ideas

 Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments.

 After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools and the Russian language was
imposed everywhere.
 In 1831, an armed rebellion against Russian rule took place which was ultimately crushed.
 Following this, Polish was used for Church gatherings and all religious instruction.
 As a result, a large number of priests and bishops were put in jail or sent to Siberia by the Russian
authorities as punishment for their refusal to preach in Russian.
 The use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance.

19. The Economic Hardship in Europe in 1830s

 The 1830s were years of great economic hardship in Europe. Reasons are as follows:
a) The first half of the nineteenth century saw an enormous increase in population all over Europe.
b) In most countries there were more seekers of jobs than employment.
c) Population from rural areas migrated to the cities to live in overcrowded slums.
d) Small producers in towns were often faced with stiff competition from imports of cheap
machine-made goods from England.
e) In those regions of Europe where the aristocracy still enjoyed power, peasants struggled under
the burden of feudal dues and obligations.

20. The Revolution of 1848 in France

 Food shortages and widespread unemployment brought the population of Paris out on the roads in
1848.
 Barricades were erected and Louis Philippe was forced to flee.
 A National Assembly proclaimed a Republic, granted suffrage to all adult males above 21, and
guaranteed the right to work.
 National workshops to provide employment were set up.

21. The Revolt by weavers in Silesia

 The journalist Wilhelm Wolff described the events in a Silesian village.

 In these villages (with 18,000 inhabitants) cotton weaving is the most widespread occupation.

22
  The misery of the workers is extreme. The desperate need for jobs has been taken advantage of by the
contractors to reduce the prices of the goods they order.
 On 4 June at 2 p.m. a large crowd of weavers emerged from their homes and marched in pairs up to the
mansion of their contractor demanding higher wages.
 They were treated with scorn and threats alternately. Following this, a group of them forced their way
into the house, smashed its elegant windowpanes, furniture, porcelain … another group broke into
the storehouse and plundered it of supplies of cloth which they tore to shreds.
 The contractor fled with his family to a neighbouring village. He returned 24 hours later having
requisitioned the army. In the exchange that followed, eleven weavers were shot.

22. The Frankfurt Parliament

 In the German regions middle-class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans came together
in the city of Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly.
 On 18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives marched in a festive procession to take their places in
the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul.
 They drafted a constitution for a German nation to be headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament.
 When the deputies offered the crown on these terms to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, he
rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.
 While the opposition of the aristocracy and military became stronger, the social basis of parliament
eroded.
 The parliament was dominated by the middle classes who resisted the demands of workers and artisans
and consequently lost their support.
 In the end troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.

23. Women and the Revolution

 The issue of extending political rights to women was a controversial one within the liberal movement,
in which large numbers of women had participated actively over the years.
 Women had formed their own political associations, founded newspapers and taken part in political
meetings and demonstrations.
 Despite this they were denied suffrage rights during the election of the Assembly.
 When the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul, women were admitted only as
observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.

24. The Unification of Germany

 Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class Germans, who in 1848 tried to unite the
different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state.
 This liberal initiative to nation-building was, however, repressed by the combined forces of the
monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia.
 From then on, Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification.
 Its chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of this process.
 His policy was ‘blood and iron’.
 He carried it out with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
23
  Three wars over seven years – with Austria, Denmark and France – ended in Prussian victory and
completed the process of unification.
 In January 1871, the Prussian king, Kaiser William I, was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony
held at Versailles.

25. The Unification of Italy

 Like Germany, Italy too had a long history of political fragmentation.

 During the middle of the nineteenth century, Italy was divided into seven states, of which only one,
Sardinia-Piedmont, was ruled by an Italian princely house.
 The north was under Austrian Habsburgs, the centre was ruled by the Pope and the southern regions
were under the domination of the Bourbon kings of Spain.
 Giuseppe Mazzini:
a) During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini had sought to put together a coherent programme for a unitary
Italian Republic.
b) He had also formed a secret society called Young Italy for the dissemination of his goals.
 Count de Cavour:
a) He was the Chief Minister of Sardinia- piedmont.
a) Through a tactful diplomatic alliance with France engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont
succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859.
b) A large number of armed volunteers under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the battle.
c) In 1860, they marched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
d) In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy.
 Giuseppe Garibaldi:
a) He was the member of the secret society, Carbonari.
b) His army was known as the ‘Red Shirts’.

26. The Unification of Britain

 Unlike Germany or Italy, the unification of Britain was not the result of a sudden upheaval or revolution.
 It was the result of a long-drawn-out process.
 There was no British nation prior to the eighteenth century.
 The primary identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles were ethnic ones – such as English,
Welsh, Scot and Irish.
 All of these ethnic groups had their own cultural and political traditions.
 But as the English nation steadily grew in wealth, importance and power. In 1688, the English
Parliament was established.
 The Act of Union (1707):
a) The Act of Union between England and Scotland resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom
of Great Britain’.
b) Through this England was able to impose its influence on Scotland.
c) The British parliament was henceforth dominated by its English members.
d) The growth of a British identity meant that Scotland’s distinctive culture and political institutions
were systematically suppressed.
24
 e) The Scottish Highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic language or wear their national dress,
and large numbers were forcibly driven out of their homeland.

 The Incorporation of Ireland:

a) Ireland suffered a similar fate.
b) It was a country deeply divided between Catholics and Protestants.
c) The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic
country.
d) Catholic revolts against British dominance were suppressed.
e) After a failed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen (1798), Ireland was forcibly
incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.
f) A new ‘British nation’ was forged through the propagation of a dominant English culture.
g) The symbols of the new Britain – the British flag (Union Jack), the national anthem (God Save Our
Noble King), the English language – were actively promoted and the older nations survived only as
subordinate partners in this union.

27. Visualizing the Nation

 Allegory – When an abstract idea is expressed through a person or a thing. An allegorical story has
two meanings, one literal and one symbolic
 Artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries found a way out by personifying a nation.
 In other words they represented a country as if it were a person.
 Nations were then portrayed as female figures.
 The female figure became an allegory of the nation.
 During the French Revolution artists used the female allegory to portray ideas such as Liberty, Justice
and the Republic. These ideals were represented through specific objects or symbols.
 The attributes of Liberty are the red cap, or the broken chain, while Justice is generally a blindfolded
woman carrying a pair of weighing scales.
 Similar female allegories were invented by artists in the nineteenth century to represent the nation.
 Marianne:
a) In France the allegory was christened Marianne, a popular Christian name.
b) Her characteristics were drawn from those of Liberty and the Republic – the red cap, the tricolour,
the cockade.
c) Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public of the national symbol of
unity and to persuade them to identify with it.
d) Marianne images were marked on coins and stamps.
 Germania:
a) Germania became the allegory of the German nation.
b) In visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for
heroism.
c) Meaning of the symbols used by Germania:

25
 Attribute Significance
1 Broken chains Being freed
2 Breastplate with eagle Symbol of the German empire – strength
3 Crown of oak leaves Heroism
4 Sword Readiness to fight
5 Olive branch around the sword Willingness to make peace
6 Black, red and gold tricolour Flag of the liberal-nationalists in 1848
7 Rays of the rising sun Beginning of a new era
28. Nationalism and Imperialism

 Imperialism: a policy of extending a country’s power and influence over another country through
colonization.
 By the last quarter of the nineteenth century nationalism became a narrow creed with limited ends.
(used for selfish motives)
 During this period nationalist groups became increasingly intolerant of each other and ever ready to
go to war.
 The major European powers, in turn, manipulated the nationalist aspirations of the subject peoples in
Europe to further their own imperialist aims.

29. The Balkan Issue

 The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation comprising modern-day Romania,
Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.
 The inhabitants of these regions were known as the Slavs.
 A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
 One by one, the Balkan nations broke away from its control and declared independence.
 As the different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity and independence, the Balkan
area became an area of intense conflict.
 The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the
expense of the others.
 Matters were further complicated because the Balkans also became the scene of big power rivalry.
Each power – Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary – was keen on countering the hold of other
powers over the Balkans, and extending its own control over the area.
 This led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War.

30. Anti-imperial Movements

 The European powers had misused nationalist ideas to colonize and subjugate many parts of the world.
 But many countries in the world which had been colonised by the European powers in the nineteenth
century began to oppose imperial domination.
 Interestingly the anti-imperial movements that developed everywhere were also nationalist.
 European ideas of nationalism were nowhere replicated.
 People everywhere developed their own specific variety of nationalism.
 But the idea that societies should be organised into ‘nation-states’ came to be accepted as natural a nd
universal.

26