History

Chapter-1 : The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

(Important Points)
About Picture
1. In 1848, Frederic Sorrieu (a French Artist) → prepared series of 4 prints (pictures)
visualising his dream of a “World made up of Democratic & Social republic”.
2. The first print (fig-1) shows the people of Europe and America – men and women of all
ages and social classes – marching in a long train and offering homage to statue of
Liberty.
3. Statue of Liberty personified as a female figure – carries torch of enlightenment in one
hand and Charter of rights of Man in other hand.
4. In the foreground of the image lie shattered remain of symbols of Absolutist institutions.
5. Sorrieu’s Utopian Vision : the people of the world are grouped as distinct nations,
identified through their flag and national costume.
6. (Utopian meaning: A vision of society that is so ideal that it is unlikely to actually exist).

7. Leading the procession, United States and Switzerland were already nation states.
8. France flag : (tricolor)……..Germany flag : (Black, red & gold colour)
9. Other Countries were : Austria, Sicilies, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungry, Russia

10. During 19th century, Nationalism emerged as a force, which resulted in emergence of
“Nation State” in place of “Multi-national dynastic empire of Europe”.
11. Modern State : was controlled by centralised power (rulers) over clearly defined territory.
12. Nation State : was controlled by majority of its citizens, who develop a sense of common
identity. This commonness came through struggle, action of leaders and common people.

A. The French Revolution (1789)

1. French revolutionaries introduced various measure and practices that could create sense
of collective identity among French people.
2. The idea of La Patri (the Fatherland) and Le Citoyen (the citizen) → emphasized the
notion of united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
3. A new French flag (tri color) was chosen to replace the old royal standard flag. The estate
general was elected by citizens and renamed the national assembly. New hymns (patriotic
songs) were composed, oath taken and martyrs commemorated.
4. A centralized administrative system was put in place which formulated uniform laws for
all citizens. French became the common language of Nation.
5. When the new of French revolution reached different cities of Europe, students and
members of educated middle class families began setting up Jacobian Clubs. They
prepared way for French army to move into Halland, Belgium, Switzerland and much of
Italy in 1790s.

6. Nepolean (a king) → destroyed democracy in France and returned to Monarchy.

7. He introduced “Civil code of 1804” also known as Napoleonic Code → which removed all
the privileges based on birth and established Equality before the law.
8. Initially all the countries welcomed French armies as harbingers (angles) of liberty but
soon they realized that French armies want to conquer whole Europe.

B. The Making of Nationalism in Europe

1. Until mid 19th century there were no nation-states in Europe. They were ruled by
emperor. They spoke different languages and belong to different ethnic groups and
culture.
2. There were two classes – Aristocracy (rich and powerful people) & Peasantary (farmers &
poor people – Majority population).
3. The term Leberalism → derived from the latin word ‘liber’ meaning free. It stands for
freedom for all and equality of all before the law.
4. Yet equality before law did not guarantee suffrage (right to vote). Right to vote was given
to only property owing men. Men without property and women had no right to vote.
5. In the economic sphere, liberalism stands for the freedom of market and abolition of
state imposed restrictions on movement of goods and capital.
6. In 1834, a custom union or zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia and joined
by most of German states. The union abolished tariff barriers and reduced no. of
currencies from 30 to 2.

7. Nepolean was defeated in 1815. Following his defeat, European Governments were
driven by spirit of conservatism.
8. Conservatives believed that traditions and established institutions like monarchy, church
etc to be preserved.
9. In 1815, representatives of European powers (Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria), who
defeated Nepolean met at Vienna to draw up settlement for Europe.
10. This congress (meeting) was hosted by Austrian chancellor Duke Metternich.
They drew up the “Treaty of Vienna of 1815” with the objective of undoing the changes
that had come up during Nepoleonic wars.
11. The Buorbon dynasty was restored to power and France lost the territories it had
annexed under Napolean. The main intention was to restore monarchies that were
overthrown by Napolean.
12. Conservative regime set up in 1815 were autocratic. They did not tolerate criticism
and dissent. There was no freedom of speech.

C. The Revolutionaries
1. After 1815, many liberal nationalist went underground due to fear of repression.
2. One such individual was Italian revolutionist “Giuseppe Mazzini” (born in 1807). He
became member of secret society of the Carbonari. At the age of 24, he was sent to exile
in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria.
3. He founded two more underground society (i) Young Italy in Marseilles (ii)Young Europe
in Berne.
4. Mazzini’s opposition to monarchy and his vision of democratic republics frightened the
conservatives.
5. The Austrian chancellor Metternich described him as the most dangerous enemy of social
order.

D. The age of revolutions : 1830 – 1848

1. The first revolution took place in France in July 1830. The Bourbon kings who were
restored by conservatives after 1815, were overthrown by liberal revolutionaries, who
installed the constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe as its head.
2. Metternich once said, “When france sneezes, the rest of the Europe catches cold.”
3. The july revolution sparks uprising in Brussels, which led to Belgium breaking away
from the United Kingdom of Netherland.
4. An event that mobilised nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe
was the Greek war of Independence, which began in 1821.
5. Poets and artists applauded Greece as the cradle of European civilization.
6. English poet Lord Byron organized funds for war and went to fight. He died in 1824.
7. Finally the treaty of Constantinpole of 1832 recognized Greece as independent
nation.

E. The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling

1. The development of nationalism did not come only through wars. Culture (art, poetry,
stories, music) played an important role in creating the idea of nation and create
nationalist feelings.
2. What is Romanticism : A cultural movement which sought to develop a particular
form of nationalist movement.
3. French Romantic Artist : Delacroix depicted Massacre of Chios, in which 20000 greeks
were killed. He showed the suffering of women and children and sought to appeal to
the emotions of the spectator and create sympathy for the greeks.
4. German Romantic Artist : Johann Gottfried (1744-1803) claimed that true German
culture was to be discovered among common people (das folk). He popularised true
spirit of nation (volksgeist) through folk songs, folk dance and folk poetry.
5. Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments. The use
of polish language came as a symbol of struggle against Russian dominance.
6. The Grimm Brothers: The brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were born in German
city Hanau in 1785 & 1786 respectively. Although they studied Law, they soon
developed an interest in collecting old folktales. In 1812 they published their first
collection of tales.

F. Hunger, hardship and Popular Revolt

1. The 1830s were years of great economic hardship in Europe. The 1 st half of 19th
century saw an enormous increase in population all over Europe. There were more
job seekers than employment.
2. In 1848, food shortage and widespread unemployment brought the population of
Paris on the roads, Louis Philippe was forced to flee.
 3. A national assembly proclaimed a Republic, granted suffrage to all males above the
age of 21 and guaranteed the right to work.
4. Earlier in 1845, weavers in Silesia had led a revolt against contractors, who reduced
their payments. The journalist Wilhelm Wolff described the events in Silesian village
as follows.
5. On june 4th at 2pm a large crowd marched up to mansion of contractor and smashed
his house (window panes, furniture etc.). The contractor fled with his family. After 24
hours, he returned with army. In exchange, 11 weavers were shot.

G. The Revolution of the Liberals

1. In 1848, revolution started in many European countries led by educated middle class.
They took advantage of growing popular unrest to push their demands for creation of
nation state.
2. In German region, a large no. of middle class professionals and businessman came
together in the city of Frankfurt and decided to vote for all German National Assembly.
3. On 18 May 1848, 831 elected members marched in a festive procession to take their
places in the Frankfurt parliament convened in the church of St Paul.
4. They drafted a constitution for a German nation headed by monarchy and offered the
crown to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, king of Prussia. He rejected it and joined the other
monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.
5. In the end troops were called and assembly was forced to disband (abolished) as it
lost support.
6. Though conservative forces were able to suppress liberal movement in 1848, they
could not restore the old order. Monarchs began to realise that revolutions can be
ended only by granting concessions to liberal revolutionaries.
7. Serfdom (slavery) and bonded labour were abolished.

H. The Making and Germany & Italy

1. As we have seen that nationalist feelings were widespread among middle class
Germans, who in 1848 tried to unify German confederation into a nation state.
2. The liberal initiative of nation building was repressed by monarchy, military and large
land owners (called Junkers) of Prussia.
3. From then on Prussia took the leadership for the movement for national unification.
4. Its chief minister “Otto Von Bismarck” was the architect of this process with the help
of Prussian army & bureaucracy.
5. Three wars over seven years – with Austria, Denmark and France – ended in Prussian
victory and completed the process of unification.
6. On 18 January 1871, the Prussian king Kaiser William I, was proclaimed German
Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles.

7. Italy Unified: During middle of the 19th century, Italy was divided into 7 states, of
which only one “Sardinia-Piedmont” was ruled by Italian princely house.
8. North was under Austrian Habsburgs, Centre was ruled by Pope and South by Bourbon
kings of Spain.
 9. The failure of revolutionary uprisings in 1831 & 1848 led Sardinia-Piedmont ruler King
Victor Emmanuel II to unify the Italian states through war.
10. Chief minister Cavour, who led the movement to unify the regions of Italy was neither
a revolutionary nor democrat. He spoke French better than Italian.
11. Giuseppe Garibaldi was the most celebrated Italian freedom fighter. He was a sailor
in merchant navy. In 1833 he met Mazzini, joined Young Italy movement and
participated in republican uprising in 1834.
12. The uprising was suppressed and he fled to South America, lived in exile till 1848. In
1854, he supported Victor Emmanuel II, to unify Italy. In 1860, garibaldi led thousands
to south Italy, They were known as Red Shirts.
13. In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of unified Italy.

I. The Strange case of Britain

1. In Britain, the formation of nation-state was not the result of sudden upheaval or
revolution. It was a result of a long drawn out process.
2. There was no British state prior to 18th Century. The primary identity of people who
inhabited the British were ethnic ones - such as English, welsh, Scot & Irish. They had
their own culture and political tradition.
3. The English parliament seized power from monarchy in 1688 and became nation state
with England at its center.
4. The act of union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in formation of United
Kingdom of Great Britain.
5. Ireland was forcibly incorporated into United Kingdom in 1801.

J. Visualizing the nation

1. How to give a face to nation. Artists portrayed nation as a female figures.
2. In France, she was Christened Marianne. A popular Christian name, which underlined
the idea of a people’s nation.
3. Similarly Germania became the allegory of German nation.

K. Nationalism and Imperialism

1. By the last quarter of 19th century Nationalism no longer retained its idealistic
sentiment but became narrow creed with limited end. Imperialism came into picture.
2. The most serious source of tension in Europe after 1871 was the area called Balkan
(Romania, Albania, Greece, Croatia etc.). This region was very explosive.
3. Balkan states were jealous of each other and always fighting for more territory.
4. Russia, Germany, England and Austro-Hungary was keen on countering the hold of
other powers over the Balkans. This led to series of wars and finally the First World
War in 1914.
5. Many countries in the world which had been colonised by European powers in 19 th
century began to oppose imperial domination and struggled to form independent
nation-state.