NATIONALISM IN EUROPE PART 3

While the conservative regimes were trying to consolidate their power, the liberals and
nationalists continued to spread the idea of revolution. These people belonged to the educated
middle-class elite; like professors, school teachers, clerks and members of the commercial
middle classes.
FRANCE

• The first upheaval took place in France in July 1830.

• The Bourbon kings were overthrown by liberal revolutionaries.
• A constitutional monarchy was installed with Louis Philippe at its head.
• The July Revolution sparked an uprising in Brussels which resulted in Belgium breaking
away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

INDEPENDENCE OF GREECE:

• The Greek war of independence mobilized the nationalist feelings among the educated
elite across Europe.
• The struggle for independence among the Greeks began in 1821.
• The nationalists in Greece got support from many Greeks who were living in exile.
• Moreover, they also got support from many West Europeans who sympathized with
the ancient Greek culture.
• Poets and artists mobilized public opinion to support this struggle against the Muslim
empire,the Ottoman Empire.
• Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent
nation.

THE ROMANTIC IMAGINATION AND NATIONAL FEELING

Romanticism was a cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of nationalist
sentiment.

• Romantic artists usually criticized the glorification of reason and science. They focused on
emotions, intuition and mystical feelings. They tried to create a sense of collective heritage, a
common cultural past, as the basis of a nation.
• Other Romantics; like the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744 – 1803); claimed
that the true German culture could be discovered among the common people; das volk.
• These Romantics used folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances to popularize the true spirit of
the nation (volksgeist).
• The emphasis on vernacular language was also important to take the nationalist message to a
large number of people who were mostly illiterate.
• Karol Kurpinski celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music in Poland. He
turned folk dances; like polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.
LANGUAGE
Language also 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.
• An armed rebellion took place against Russian rule in 1831 but this was ultimately
crushed.
 • But after this, many members of the clergy in Poland began to use language as a
weapon of national resistance.
• In all Church gatherings and in all religious instructions, Polish was used.
• The Russian authorities put a large number of priests and bishops in jail or sent them to
Siberia as punishment for their refusal to preach in Russian.
• The use of Polish thus became a symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance.

Hunger, Hardship and Popular Revolt

The 1830s were years of great economic hardship in Europe.

• POPULATION GROWTH- There was huge growth in population in the first half of the
nineteenth century.
• UNEMPLOYMENT-Number of unemployed had increased manifold.
• LARGE SCALE MIGRATION -There was large scale migration from rural areas to urban
areas. Such migrants lived in overcrowded slums in the cities.
• STIFF COMPETITION At that time, the industrialization in England was more advanced
than in other parts of Europe. Hence, cheap machine-made goods from England gave
stiff competition to small producers in the towns of the other European countries.
• ARISTOCRACY-In some regions of Europe, aristocracy was still powerful and the
peasants were under the burden of feudal dues and obligations. A year of bad harvest;
coupled with price rise in food led to pauperism in town and country.
FRANCE
The year 1848 was one such bad year. Because of shortage of food and high level of
unemployment, the people of Paris came out on the roads. The protest was at such a large
scale that Louis Philippe had to flee. A National Assembly proclaimed a republic. It granted
suffrage to all adult males above 21. It guaranteed the right to work. National workshops were
set up to provide employment.

The Revolution of the Liberals

When the revolts of the poor took place in 1848, another revolution was being led by the
educated middle classes. In some other parts of Europe, independent nation-states did not yet
exist, e.g. Germany, Italy, Poland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
DEMANDS
Men and women of the liberal middle classes from these parts raised demands for national
unification and a constitution.
They demanded the creation of a nation-state on parliamentary principles.
They wanted a constitution, freedom of press and freedom of association.
GERMANY
Frankfurt Parliament:

• In German regions, there were a large number of political associations whose members
were middle class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans. They came
 together in the city of Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all-German National
Assembly.
• On18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives took out a festive procession to take part
in the Frankfurt parliament which was convened in the Church of St. Paul.
• They drafted a constitution for a German nation.
• This German nation was to be headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament.
• Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia was offered the crown on these terms. But he rejected
the offer and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.
• The opposition of the aristocracy and military to the parliament grew stronger.
• Meanwhile, the social base of the parliament eroded because it was dominated by the middle
classes.
• The middle class resisted the demands of workers and artisans and thus lost their support.
Finally, troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.

ROLE OF WOMEN
• Women also participated in large numbers in the liberal movement. In spite of that, they were
denied the voting rights during the election of the Assembly.
• When the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul, women were allowed only
as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.
• Women started formed political associations,
• Founded newspapers
• Taking part in political meetings and demonstrations
OUTCOME
• Although the liberal movements were suppressed by the conservative forces but the
old order could not be restored.
• In the years after 1848, the monarchs began to realize that granting concessions to the
liberal-nationalist revolutionaries was the only way to end the cycle of revolution and
repression.
• Hence, the monarchies of Central and Eastern Europe began to introduce changes which had
already taken place in Western Europe before 1815.
Serfdom and bonded labour was abolished both in the Habsburg dominions and in Russia. The
Habsburg rulers granted more autonomy to the Hungarians in 1867.

Q 1. Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolutions of the liberals?

Q2. How did culture contribute to the growth of nationalism in Europe ?

Q3. Explain the concept of a Nation state.

Q3. List the decisions taken at Congress of Vienna.

Q4. Why the 1830s the year of hardships for Europe?

Q5. Describe the political condition of Europe in mid 18th century

Q6. What was the main feature of Romanticism?