10TH GRADE

SOCIAL STUDIES
THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
Notes

FRÉDÉRIC SORRIEU DREAM OF WORLD

● In 1848 prepared a series of four prints visualising his dream of a world made
up of ‘democratic and social Republics’.
● One of his prints showed Europeans and Americans marching in a long train
and offering homage to the Statue of Liberty as they pass by it.
● On the earth lie the shattered remains of the symbols of absolutist institutions.
● In Sorrieu’s utopian vision, the people of the world are grouped as distinct
nations, identified through their flags and national costume.
● The procession was led by the United States and Switzerland, followed by
France and Germany. Following the German people are the people of Austria,
the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lombardy, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary
and Russia.
● Christ, saints, and angels look down from above on the scene. The artist has
used them to represent fraternity among the world's nations.

For a long time, Europe was dominated by the concept of the modern state. But,
during the 19th century, nationalism arose as a force that caused significant changes
in Europe's political and mental world. The end result was the birth of a nation-state.

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IDEA OF THE NATION

● The first clear expression of nationalism came up with French Revolution in
1789. Till 1789- France was under an absolute monarchy. However, the French
Revolution led- the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of
French citizens.

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 ● Various measures and practices were introduced to create a sense of collective
identity among the people.

● The aim of revolutionaries was to liberate the people of Europe from

despotism. The establishment of Jacobin Clubs paved the way for French
armies that carried the idea of nationalism and moved to Holland, Belgium,
Switzerland, and Italy.

The Napoleonic Code

● Due to the political vacuum, Napoleon came into the picture.

● With his introduction, democracy was destroyed in France.
● He established the Civil Code of 1804, also known as the Napoleonic Code.

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THE MAKING OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

● During the mid 18th century there were no nation-states in Europe. Eastern &
Central Europe- Under autocratic monarchy.
● There was no common culture & collective identity among people in these
territories. They even spoke different languages and belonged to different
ethnic groups.

The Aristocracy and the New Middle-Class

● Aristocrats were socially and politically dominant class on the continent, who
were united by a certain way of life. They owned estates in the countryside
and also townhouses.
● Peasantry comprised the majority of the population.
● In the Western and parts of Central Europe, the growth of industrial production
meant the emergence of a commercial class.
● During the second half of the 18th-century industrialisation began in England,
however, it was in the 19th century that industrialisation occurred in France
and parts of Germany. With this as new social groups emerged: a
working-class population, and middle classes made up of industrialists,
businessmen, professionals.

What did Liberal Nationalism Stand for?

➔ Liberalism- Derived from a Latin term. “Liber” means ‘free’.
➔ It stood for freedom for the individuals and equality of all before the law.

➔ Political liberalism
● It meant government by consent.
● End of autocracy and clerical privileges.
● A constitution and representative government through parliament. 19th-century
● Liberals also stressed the inviolability of private property.
● However, there was no equality before the law at that time.
● Throughout the 19th and early twentieth centuries, women and non-propertied
men organised opposition movements demanding equal political rights.

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 ➔ Economic Liberalism: It stood for freedom of markets & abolition of
state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.

A NEW CONSERVATISM AFTER 1815

● After the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte in 1815, the European government
adopted the idea of Conservatism.
● Conservatives believed in the traditional institutes of state and society and
preferred gradual development to quick change.

TREATY OF VIENNA, 1815

Why? : To bring back conservatism (restore Monarchy) in Europe after Napoleon’s

defeat.
In 1815, representatives of the European powers– Britain, Austria, Russia, and
Prussia (BARP) met in Vienna to draw up a settlement for Europe.

● The Congress was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich.

● The Bourbon dynasty was restored to power in France.
● France lost its territory.
● German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon was not
touched.
● To prevent French expansion, boundaries were set up.

Conservative regimes that were set up in 1815, were autocratic, who did not
tolerate criticism and dissent and sought to curb activities that questioned the
legitimacy of autocratic governments.

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The Revolutionaries

● In many European countries in 1815, secret societies were formed to train

revolutionaries and spread their ideas. Revolutionaries were opposed to
monarchical forms, and they fought for liberty and freedom.
● An Italian revolutionary, Giuseppe Mazzini (born in Genoa in 1807) became a
member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
● He founded two more underground societies, called Young Italy in Marseilles,
and Young Europe in Berne.

Metternich described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.

THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS: 1830-1848

● Liberalism and nationalism came to be increasingly associated with revolution in

many regions of Europe such as the Italian and German states, the provinces of
the Ottoman Empire, Ireland and Poland.
● These revolutions were led by liberal-nationalists belonging to educated
middle-class.

Revolutions in different places:

1. First upheaval took place in France in July 1830, where Bourbon Kings were
overthrown by liberal revolutionaries who installed a constitutional monarchy
with Louis Philippe at its head.

2. The July Revolution sparked an uprising in Brussels which led to Belgium

breaking away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

3. The Greece War of Independence: The rise of revolutionary nationalism in

Europe sparked a Greek independence struggle that began in 1821. Nationalists in
Greece received support from other Greeks in exile, as well as from many West
Europeans. Poets and artists praised Greece as the cradle of European

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 civilisation. Greece was recognised as an independent nation by the Treaty of
Constantinople in 1832.

The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling

What is romanticism?
It is a cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of nationalist
sentiment through arts, poetry, stories, and music. People who contribute to it are
known as Romantic artists.

● Romantic artists criticised glorification of reason & science. Their effort was to
create a sense of a shared collective heritage, a common cultural past, as the
basis of a nation.

● Romantic German philosopher Johann Gottfried 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
nation (volksgeist) was popularised.

● In Poland language played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments.

● ​After Russia captured Poland, Polish language was banned and Russian language
was imposed. Struggle for Polish language over Russian language in Poland
began. Many priests & bishops were put in jail for using Polish over Russian.

Hunger, Hardship and Popular Revolt

● In the 1830s, Europe faced economic difficulties. Throughout Europe, population

increased dramatically during the first half of the 19th century.
● Food price increased and a poor harvest year resulted in widespread starvation
and poverty in town and country.

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 ● In 1845, weavers of Silesia led a revolt against the contractors because of low
payments.
● Food shortages and widespread unemployment drove the Paris population onto
the streets in 1848.
● Barricades were erected and Louis Philippe was forced to flee.

Result- National Assembly proclaimed a Republic, granted suffrage to all adult males
above 21, and guaranteed the right to work.

1848: The Revolution of the Liberals

In 1848, a revolution led by the educated middle classes was underway. In other parts of
Europe like Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, men and women of
the liberal middle classes combined their demands for creation of a nation-state on
parliamentary principles – a constitution, freedom of the press and freedom of
association.

May Revolution

● Middle-class people came together in city of Frankfurt and voted for an

all-German National Assembly.
● On 18th May, 831 elected representatives marched to Frankfurt Parliament
(convened in the Church of St. Paul), and drafted constitution for a German
headed by a monarchy subject to a Parliament.
● The Crown was offered to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia but he rejected it
and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.
● The Middle Class dominated the Parliament and a large number of women
participated in liberal movement.
● 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.
● Conservative forces were able to suppress liberal movements in 1848, but failed
to restore the old order.
● After 1848, autocratic monarchies of Central and Eastern Europe introduced
changes that had already introduced in Western Europe before 1815.

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 ● Serfdom and bonded labour were abolished both in the Habsburg dominions and
in Russia.

THE MAKING OF GERMANY AND ITALY

● After 1848, conservatives promoted nationalist sentiments often for capturing
power and political domination over Europe. Nationalist feelings were widespread
among middle-class Germans.
● In 1848- They tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation
into a nation-state.
● Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification.
● 3 wars over 7 years- with Austria, Denmark, & France-ended in Prussian victory
& completed the process of unification.
● The nation-building process in Germany had demonstrated the dominance of
Prussian state power.
● Otto Von Bismarck- architect in the process of nation-building.
● In January 1871, the Prussian king, William I, was proclaimed German Emperor at
Versailles.

Unification of Italy

● Mid-19th Century- Italy was divided into seven states.

● Only Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by- Italian princely house.
● In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II- proclaimed the king of United Italy.
● Chief Minister Cavour led the movement to unify the regions of Italy. In 1861
Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy.

The Strange Case of Britain

● Great Britain was the model of the nation and prior to the 18th century there was
no British nation. The nation became powerful as it steadily grew in wealth,
importance and power.
● English parliament seized power from the monarchy in 1688
● The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in the formation
of United Kingdom of Great Britain.
● Ireland was forcibly incorporated into United Kingdom in 1801.

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 ● A new ‘British nation’ was forged through propagation of dominant English
culture.
● Symbol of new Britain:
- British Flag (Union Jack)
- The National Anthem (God Save Our Noble King)
- English language

VISUALISING THE NATION

● In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries artists represented a country as a
person and nations as female figures. Nations were then portrayed as female
figures.
● Female allegories such as that of liberty, justice, and republic were invented.
● Germania became the allegory of Germany.
● Allegory of France- Marianne.

Nationalism and Imperialism

● Last quarter of the 19th century nationalism became a narrow creed with limited
ends. Ottoman Empire made the Balkans region explosive.
● Balkan became an area of intense conflict.
● Nationalism, aligned with imperialism, led Europe to disaster in 1914.

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 ● The most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871 was Balkans.
● Each European power wanted to extend their control over the Balkans.
● This led to series of wars in the region and finally the First World War.

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