NCERT-CBSE

INDIA AND THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD - II

CH – 1 THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

Q1. What is a na on state?

Ans) A na on is the culmina on of a long past of endeavours,
sacrifice and devo on. A heroic past, great men, glory, that is the
social capital upon which one bases a na onal idea. The concept and
prac ces of a modern na on state believes in a centralised power
that exercised sovereign control over a clearly defined territory. A
modern na on state has a na onal flag, a na onal language and a
na onal anthem. Therefore, it is a group of people who live in a
defined territory despite many differences and respect that territory
has motherland and share a common history.
France is said to be the first modern state in the world.

Q2. What were the factors for emergence of Na on

States in Europe?
Ans) Following were the factors for emergence of Na on States in
Europe –
A) Emergence of Renaissance in Europe.
B) Decline of Feudalism in Europe.
C) Decline of Church in Europe.
D) Rise of Middle-class having mind, money and muscle in Europe
E) Emergence of the language-based sense of collec ve iden ty
Q3. What were the ruling families in Europe in 18th
century?
Ans) Following were the ruling families in Europe in
18th century –
A)Romanov in Russia
B) Habsburg in Austria-Hungry
C) Hohenzollern in Germany
D)O oman in Turkey

Q4. Explain the new middle class in 19th century.

Ans) In the wake of the industrial revolu on in Europe – new social
groups came into being -
A) A working-class popula on and
B) Middle classes made up of industrialists, businessmen,
professionals.
In Central and Eastern Europe these groups were smaller in
number ll late nineteenth century. It was among the educated,
liberal middle classes that ideas of na onal unity following the
aboli on of aristocra c privileges gained popularity. This was
called the new middle class in 19th century Europe.

Q5. Describe new conserva sm in Europe in 19th

century.
Ans) Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European
governments were driven by a spirit of conserva sm. Conserva ves
believed that established, tradi onal ins tu ons of state and society
– like the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property and the
family – should be preserved. This was called the new conserva sm.
The new conserva sm believed and realised from the changes
ini ated by Napoleon, that modernisa on could in fact strengthen
tradi onal ins tu ons like the monarchy. It could make state power
more effec ve and stronger. A modern army, an efficient
bureaucracy, a dynamic economy, the aboli on of feudalism and
serfdom could strengthen the autocra c monarchies of Europe.

Q6. Explain Vienna congress and its outcomes.

Ans) In 1815, representa ves of the European powers – Britain,
Russia, Prussia, and Austria – who had collec vely defeated
Napoleon, met at Vienna to draw up a se lement for Europe. The
Congress was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Duke Me ernich.
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 -
A) The bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed during the
French Revolu on, was restored to power, and France lost the
territories it had annexed under Napoleon.
B) A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to
prevent French expansion in future.
C) Thus, the kingdom of the Netherlands, which included Belgium,
was set up in the north and Genoa was added to Piedmont in
the south.
D) Prussia was given important new territories on its western
fron ers, while Austria was given control of northern Italy.
E) But the German confedera on of 39 states that had been set up
by Napoleon was le untouched.
 F) In the east, Russia was given part of Poland while Prussia was
given a por on of Saxony.
G) The main inten on was to restore the monarchies that had
been overthrown by Napoleon, and create a new conserva ve
order in Europe.

Q7. Who were the revolu onaries in the 19th century.

Ans) A er the defeat of Napolean Bonaparte in the ba le of
waterloo in 1815, to be revolu onary meant a commitment to
oppose monarchical forms that had been established a er the
Vienna Congress, and to fight for liberty and freedom. Most of these
revolu onaries also saw the crea on of na on-states as a necessary
part of this struggle for freedom.
One such individual was the Italian revolu onary Giuseppe Mazzini.
Mazzini believed that God had intended na ons to be the natural
units of mankind. Me ernich described Giuseppe Mazzini as ‘the
most dangerous enemy of our social order.’

Q8. Explain the roman c imagina on and na onalist

feeling in Europe with reference to Poland.
Ans) Roman cism, a cultural movement which sought to de develop
a par cular form of na onalist sen ment. Roman c ar sts and poets
generally cri cised the glorifica on of reason and science and
focused instead on emo ons, intui on, and mys cal feelings. Their
effort was to create a sense of a shared collec ve heritage, a
common cultural past, as the basis of a na on.
For example, the great German philosopher Johann Go ried Herder
(1744-1803) claimed that true German culture was to be discovered
among the common people – das volk. It was through folk songs, folk
poetry, and folk dances that the true spirit of the na on (volksgeist)
was popularised. So collec ng and recording these forms of folk
culture was essen al to the project of na on-building.

Q9) Language played an important role in the

emergence of na on states in Europe. Explain with
reference to Poland.
Ans) The emphasis on vernacular language and the collec on of
local folklore was to carry the modern na onalist message to large
audiences who were mostly illiterate.
Language too played an important role in developing na onalist
sen ments.
Poland had been par oned at the end of the eighteenth century by
the Great Powers – Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Even though Poland
no longer existed as an independent territory, na onal feelings were
kept alive through music and language. Karol Kurpinski, for example,
celebrated the na onal struggle through his operas and music,
turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into na onalist
symbols.
A er Russian occupa on, 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
ul mately crushed. Following this, many members of the clergy in
Poland began to use language as a weapon of na onal resistance.
Polish was used for Church gatherings and all religious instruc on. As
a result, many priests and bishops were put in jail or sent to Siberia
by the Russian authori es 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.

Q10. Describe the Frankfurt parliament as the 1st step

towards German Unifica on.
Ans) In the German regions many poli cal associa ons whose
members were middle-class professionals, businessmen and
prosperous ar sans came together in the city of Frankfurt and
decided to vote for an all-German Na onal Assembly.
On 18 May 1848, 831 elected representa ves marched in a fes ve
procession to take their places in the Frankfurt parliament convened
in the Church of St Paul.
They dra ed a cons tu on for a German na on to be headed by a
monarchy subject to a parliament. When the depu es 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.
The parliament was dominated by the middle classes who resisted
the demands of workers and ar sans and consequently lost their
support.
In the end troops were called in and the assembly was forced to
disband.
The issue of extending poli cal rights to women was a controversial
one within the liberal movement, in which large numbers of women
had par cipated ac vely over the years. When the Frankfurt
parliament convened in the Church of St Paul, women were admi ed
only as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.
The Frankfurt is o en called the ini al step towards the unifica on of
Germany as a na on state.

Q11. Describe the process of German unifica on.

Ans) Na onalist feelings were widespread among middle-class
Germans, who in 1848 tried to unite the different regions of the
German confedera on into a na on-state governed by an elected
parliament. This liberal ini a ve to na on-building was 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
na onal unifica on. Its chief minister, O o von Bismarck, was the
architect of this process carried out with the help of the Prussian
army and bureaucracy.
Three wars over seven years – with Austria, Denmark, and France –
ended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unifica on.
In January 1871, the Prussian king, William I, was proclaimed German
Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles.
On 18 January 1871, an assembly comprising the princes of the
German states, representa ves of the army, important Prussian
ministers including the chief minister O o von Bismarck gathered in
the unheated Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles to proclaim
the new German Empire headed by Kaiser William I of Prussia.

Q12. Describe the process of Italy unifica on.

Ans) Italians were scaered over several dynas c states as well as
the mul -na onal Habsburg Empire.
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 domina on of the bourbon kings of Spain. Even the Italian
language had not acquired one common form and s ll had many
regional and local varia ons.
During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini had sought to put together a
coherent programme for a unitary Italian Republic. He had also
formed a secret society called Young Italy for the dissemina on of his
goals.
The failure of revolu onary uprisings both in 1831 and 1848 meant
that the mantle now fell on Sardinia-Piedmont under its ruler King
Victor Emmanuel II to unify the Italian states through war. In the eyes
of the ruling elites of this region, a unified Italy offered them the
possibility of economic development and poli cal dominance.
Chief Minister Cavour who led the movement to unify the regions of
Italy was neither a revolu onary nor a democrat. Through a tac ul
diploma c alliance with France engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-
Piedmont succeeded in defea ng the Austrian forces in 1859.
Apart from regular troops, many armed volunteers under the
leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the fray. In 1860, they
marched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicklies and
succeeded in winning the support of the local peasants in order to
drive out the Spanish rulers.
In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy. In
1871 Rome became the new capital of Italy and the total process of
unifica on was completed. It was a two-step procedure -
 1) First was to gain freedom from Austria
2) Second was the process of independent states of Italy into a
single domain.

Q13. What steps did the French revolu onaries held

to create a sense of collec ve iden ty among the
French people?
Ans) Following steps were taken by the French revolu onaries to
create a sense of collec ve iden ty among the people –
A) The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the
ci zen) emphasised the no on of a united community enjoying
equal rights under a cons tu on.
B) A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the
former royal standard.
C) The Estates General was elected by the body of ac ve ci zens
and renamed the Na onal Assembly.
D) New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs
commemorated, all in the name of the na on.
E) A centralised administra ve system was put in place and it
formulated uniform laws for all ci zens within its territory.
F) Internal customs du es and dues were abolished and a uniform
system of weights and measures was adopted.
G) Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was
spoken and wri en in Paris, became the common language of
the na on.
Q 14. Who were Marianne and Germania? What was
the importance of the way they were portrayed?
Ans) When an abstract idea (for instance, greed, envy, freedom,
liberty) is expressed through a person or a thing, it is called an
allegory. Ar sts in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries found a
way out by personifying a na on. In other words, they represented a
country as if it were a person. Na ons were then portrayed as female
figures. The female form that was chosen to personify the na on did
not stand for any woman in real life; rather it sought to give the
abstract idea of the na on a concrete form. That is, the female figure
became an allegory of the na on.
GERMANIA - Germania became the allegory of the German na on. In
visual representa ons, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the
German oak stands for heroism.
MARIANNE - In France she was christened Marianne, a popular
Chris an name, which underlined the idea of a people’s na on. Her
characteris cs were drawn from those of Liberty and the Republic –
the red cap, the tricolour, the cockade. Statues of Marianne were
erected in public squares to remind the public of the na onal symbol
of unity and to persuade them to iden fy with it. Marianne images
were marked on coins and stamps.

Q15. What changes did Napoleon introduce to make

administra ve system more ra onal in territories
ruled by him?
Ans) Following are the changes Napoleon introduced to make
administra ve system more ra onal in territories ruled by him –
1)Napoleon, a er becoming the emperor of France in
1804, saw his role as a moderniser of Europe.
2)He introduced many laws such as the protec on of
private property and a uniform system of weights and
measures provided by the decimal system.
3) Ini ally, many saw Napoleon as a liberator who
would bring freedom for the people.
4) He modernised the French army and provided it with
latest equipment and training facili es.
5) He reintroduced slavery to support the planta on
owners in the French colonies.

Q16. How was the history of na onalism in Britain

unlike the rest of the world?
Ans) In Britain the forma on of the na on-state was not the result
of a sudden upheaval or revolu on. It was the result of a long-drawn-
out process. There was no Bri sh na on prior to the eighteenth
century.
The primary iden es of the people who inhabited the Bri sh Isles
were ethnic ones – such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish. All these
ethnic groups had their own cultural and poli cal tradi ons.
The English parliament, which had seized power from the monarchy
in 1688 at the end of a protracted conflict, was the instrument
through which a na on-state, with England at its centre, came to be
forged.
The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland that resulted
in the forma on of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’ meant, in
effect, that England was able to impose its influence on Scotland.
The Bri sh parliament was henceforth dominated by its English
members. The Sco sh Highlanders were forbidden to speak their
Gaelic language or wear their na onal dress, and large numbers were
forcibly driven out of their homeland.
The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their
dominance over a largely Catholic country. Catholic revolts against
Bri sh dominance were suppressed. A er a failed revolt led by Wolfe
Tone and his United Irishmen (1798), Ireland was forcibly
incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.
A new ‘Bri sh na on’ was forged through the propaga on of a
dominant English culture. The symbols of the new Britain – the
Bri sh flag (Union Jack), the na onal anthem (God Save Our Noble
King), the English language – were ac vely promoted and the older
na ons survived only as subordinate partners in this union.

Q17. What were the 3 symbols of the new Britain that

emerged as a strange na on state in 1801?
Ans) A new ‘Bri sh na on’ was forged through the propaga on of a
dominant English culture 1801.
The symbols of the new Britain –
1) The Bri sh flag (Union Jack)
2) The na onal anthem (God Save Our Noble King)
3) The English language
These were ac vely promoted and the older na ons survived only as
subordinate partners in this union.

Q18. Why did na onalist tensions emerge in Balkans?

How did it lead to the First World War?
Ans) The most serious source of na onalist tension in Europe a er
1871 was the area called the Balkans. The Balkans was a region of
geographical and ethnic varia on comprising modern-day Romania,
Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croa a, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro whose inhabitants were broadly
known as the Slavs. The spread of the ideas of roman c na onalism
in the Balkans together with the disintegra on of the O oman
Empire made this region very explosive.

One by one, its European subject na onali es broke away from its
control and declared independence. The Balkan peoples based their
claims for independence or poli cal rights on na onality and used
history to prove that they had once been independent but had
subsequently been subjugated by foreign powers. Hence the
rebellious na onali es in the Balkans thought of their struggles as
a empts to win back their long-lost independence.
During this period, there was intense rivalry among the European
powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and military might.
These rivalries were very evident in the way the Balkan problem
unfolded. 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. Na onalism,
aligned with imperialism, led Europe to disaster in 1914.

Q19. Explain the contribu on of culture to the growth

of na onalism in Europe.
Ans) The development of na onalism did not come about only
through wars and territorial expansion. Culture played an important
role in crea ng the idea of the na on: art and poetry, stories and
music helped express and shape na onalist feelings.
Roman cism, a cultural movement which sought to de develop a
par cular form of na onalist sen ment. Roman c ar sts and poets
generally cri cised the glorifica on of reason and science and
focused instead on emo ons, intui on, and mys cal feelings. Their
effort was to create a sense of a shared collec ve heritage, a
common cultural past, as the basis of a na on.
For example, the great German philosopher Johann Go ried Herder
(1744-1803) claimed that true German culture was to be discovered
among the common people – das volk. It was through folk songs, folk
poetry, and folk dances that the true spirit of the na on (volksgeist)
was popularised. So collec ng and recording these forms of folk
culture was essen al to the project of na on-building.
The emphasis on vernacular language and the collec on of local
folklore was not just to recover an ancient na onal spirit, but also to
carry the modern na onalist message to large audiences who were
mostly illiterate.
This was especially so in the case of Poland, which had been
par oned at the end of the eighteenth century by the Great Powers
– Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Even though Poland no longer existed
as an independent territory, na onal feelings were kept alive through
music and language. Karol Kurpinski, for example, celebrated the
na onal struggle through his operas and music, turning folk dances
like the polonaise and mazurka into na onalist symbols.

Q20. Explain the Greek War of Independence.

Ans) An event that mobilised na onalist feelings among the
educated elite across Europe was the Greek war of independence.
Greece had been part of the O oman Empire since the fi eenth
century. The growth of revolu onary na onalism in Europe sparked
off a struggle for independence amongst the Greeks which began in
1821.
Na onalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile
and from many West Europeans who had sympathies for ancient
Greek culture.
Poets and ar sts lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilisa on
and mobilised public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim
empire.
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 Constan nople of 1832 recognised Greece as an
independent na on.

Q21. Describe the meaning of liberalism.

Ans) The term ‘liberalism’ derives from the La n root liber, meaning
free. For the new middle classes’ liberalism stood for freedom for the
individual and equality of all before the law.
Poli cally, it emphasised the concept of government by consent.
Since the French Revolu on, liberalism had stood for the end of
autocracy and clerical privileges, a cons tu on and representa ve
government through parliament. Nineteenth-century liberals also
stressed the inviolability of private property.
In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets
and the aboli on of state-imposed restric ons on the movement of
goods and capital. During the nineteenth century this was a strong
demand of the emerging middle classes.

Q21. Describe the Custom Union in Germany.

Ans) In 1834, a customs union or Zollverein was formed at the
ini a ve 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. The crea on of a network of
railways further s mulated mobility, harnessing economic interests
to na onal unifica on. A wave of economic na onalism strengthened
the wider na onalist sen ments growing at the me.

Q23. Write about -

Garibaldi - Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) was perhaps the most

celebrated of Italian freedom fighters. He came from a family
engaged in coastal trade and was a sailor in the merchant navy. In
1833 he met Mazzini, joined the Young Italy movement, and
par cipated in a republican uprising in Piedmont in 1834. The
uprising was suppressed and Garibaldi had to flee to South America,
where he lived in exile ll 1848. In 1854, he supported Victor
Emmanuel II in his efforts to unify the Italian states. In 1860,
Garibaldi led the famous Expedi on of the Thousand to South Italy.
Fresh volunteers kept joining through the course of the campaign, ll
their numbers grew to about 30,000. They were popularly known as
Red Shirts.
In 1867, Garibaldi led an army of volunteers to Rome to fight the last
obstacle to the unifica on of Italy, the Papal States where a French
garrison was sta oned. The Red Shirts proved to be no match for the
combined French and Papal troops. It was only in 1870 when, during
the war with Prussia, France withdrew its troops from Rome that the
Papal States were finally joined to Italy.

Mazzini - The Italian revolu onary Giuseppe Mazzini was born in

Genoa in 1807. He became a member of the secret society of the
Carbonari. As a young man of 24, he was sent into exile in 1831 for
a emp ng a revolu on in Liguria. He subsequently founded two
more underground socie es, first, Young Italy in Marseilles, and then,
Young Europe in Berne, whose members were like-minded young
men from Poland, France, Italy, and the German states.
Mazzini believed that God had intended na ons to be the natural
units of mankind. So, Italy could not con nue to be a patchwork of
small states and kingdoms. It had to be forged into a single unified
republic within a wider alliance of na ons. This unifica on alone
could be the basis of Italian liberty. Following his model, secret
socie es were set up in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Poland.
Mazzini’s relentless opposi on to monarchy and his vision of
democra c republics frightened the conserva ves. Me ernich
described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’
Bismarck - O o von Bismarck was a German poli cian who was
the first chancellor of the German Empire from 1871 to 1890. He was
born in 1815 in Prussia and belonged to a noble family. He united
Germany through wars with Denmark, Austria, and France and
pursued pacific policies in foreign affairs. He was also a conserva ve
and an opponent of socialism. He died in 1898.

Count Cavour - Camillo Benso, count di Cavour, (born Aug. 10,

1810, Turin, Piedmont, French Empire—died June 6, 1861, Turin,
Italy), Italian statesman, leading figure of the Risorgimento.
Influenced by revolu onary ideas from an early age, he travelled to
Paris and London and in 1847 founded the liberal newspaper Il
Risorgimento, and he helped persuade Charles Albert to grant a
liberal cons tu on. Elected to Parliament in 1848, Cavour held
several cabinet posts before becoming prime minister of Piedmont
(1852–59, 1860–61). His exploita on of interna onal rivalries and of
revolu onary movements brought about the unifica on of Italy
under the house of savoy, with himself as the first prime minister of
the new kingdom (1861).

Conserva vism - A er the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European

governments were driven by a spirit of conserva sm. Conserva ves
believed that established, tradi onal ins tu ons of state and society
– like the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property, and the
family – should be preserved.
Most conserva ves, however, did not propose a return to the society
of pre-revolu onary days. Rather, they realised, from the changes
ini ated by Napoleon, that modernisa on could in fact strengthen
tradi onal ins tu ons like the monarchy. It could make state power
more effec ve and stronger.
A modern army, an efficient bureaucracy, a dynamic economy, the
aboli on of feudalism and serfdom could strengthen the autocra c
monarchies of Europe.
Conserva ve regimes set up in 1815 were autocra c. They did not
tolerate cri cism and dissent, and sought to curb ac vi es that
ques oned the legi macy of autocra c 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 Revolu on.

Napoleon Code - Napoleonic Code or French Code Napoléon or

French civil code was enacted on March 21, 1804. It was the main
influence on the 19th-century civil codes of most countries of
con nental Europe and La n America.

Symbols of Bri sh Na on State - A new ‘Bri sh na on’ was

forged through the propaga on of a dominant English culture 1801.
The symbols of the new Britain –
1) The Bri sh flag (Union Jack)
2) The na onal anthem (God Save Our Noble King)
3) The English language

These were ac vely promoted and the older na ons survived only as
subordinate partners in this union.