THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

• Nationalism emerged as a force which

brought about sweeping changes in political
world of Europe.
• The result of these changes was the
emergence of NATION STATE- OF MULTI
DYNASTIC EMPIRES OF EUROPE.
• NATION STATE- COMMON IDENTITY, SHARED
HISTORY, DESCENT.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION & IDEA OF
NATION

The first clear FRANCE- was a

expression of full fledged
nationalism came territorial state in
with the French 1789 under the
Revolution in rule of ABSOLUTE
1789. MONARCH.
The political & constitutional
changes that came in the
wake of French Revolution
led to

Transfer of sovereignty from

monarchy to body of citizens.

The Revolution proclaimed

that it was the people who
would constitute the nation
& shape its destiny.
STEPS TAKEN BY FRENCH REVOLUTIONARIES TO
CREATE A SENSE OF COLLECTIVE IDENTITY
AMONG PEOPLE
• The ideas of LA PATRIE & LE CITOYEN-
emphasised the notion of a united community
enjoying equal rights under a constitution.

• A new FRENCH FLAG-TRICOLOUR was chosen to

replace the former royal standard.

• The Estates General was renamed as NATIONAL

ASSEMBLY.
• New hymns were composed.
• A CENTRALISED ADMINSITRATIVE SYSTEM
was put in place & it formulated uniform
laws for all its citizens.
• Internal custom duties & dues were
abolished.
• Uniform system of weights & measures was
adopted.
• Regional dialects were discouraged.
• French- became the common language of the
nation.
 MISSION OF THE FRENCH
REVOLUTIONARIES
IT WAS THE MISSION &
DESTINY OF FRENCH NATION

TO LIBERATE THE PEOPLE OF

EUROPE FROM DESPOTISM

HELP PEOPLE OF EUROPE

BECOME NATIONS
 JACOBIN CLUBS

JACOBIN CLUBS

MADE WAY FOR FRENCH ARMIES WHICH MOVED INTO

HOLLAND, BELGIUM,SWITZERLAND, ITALY

FRENCH ARMIES- BEGAN TO CARRY THE

IDEA OF NATIONALISM ABROAD
 NAPOLEONIC CIVIL CODE 1804
• It did away with all the privileges based on
birth.
• Established equality before law
• Secured right to property
• Abolished feudal system
• Freed peasants from serfdom & manorial dues
• Guild restrictions were removed in towns
• Transport & communication system was
improved.
• Peasants, artisans, workers & new
businessmen enjoyed a new freedom.
• Businessmen, small scale producers began to
realise uniform laws, standardised weights &
measures & a common national currency

• Would facilitate movement & exchange of

goods & capital from one part to another.
 INITIAL ENTHUSIASMS TURNED INTO
HOSTILITY
Initially the french armies were looked
as harbingers of liberty.

But initial enthusiasm turned into

hostility

As it became clear that the new

administrative arrangements did not
go hand in hand with political freedom.
• Increased taxation
• Censorship
• Forced conscription into the French
armies required all conquer the rest of
Europe

All these seem to outweigh the

advantages of the administrative change.
 BOHEMIA-
GERMAN
SPEAKING
ITALIAN
ALPINE REGION- SPEAKING
TYROL,AUSTRIA, PROVINCES-
SUDETENLAND LOMBARDY &
VENETIA

HABSBURG
EMPIRE
 • HALF SPOKE-
MAGYAR
HUNGARY • HALF SPOKE-VARIETY
OF OTHER DIALECTS

• SPOKE-POLISH

GALICIA
PEASANT PEOPLE

BOHEMIANS
& SLOVAKS- SLOVENES-
TO THE CARNIOLA
NORTH

ROUMANS-
CROATS-TO TO EAST IN
THE SOUTH TRANSYLVAN
IA
DIVISIONS IN SOCIETY

LANDED
ARISTOCARCY

PEASANTRY

WORKING CLASS
POPULATION &
MIDDLE CLASSES
 • DOMINANT CLASS
• MEMBERS UNITED-
BY COMMON WAY OF
LIFE.
• OWNED ESTATES IN
LANDED COUNTRYSIDE
• SPOKE FRENCH
ARISTOCRACY • FAMILIES WERE
OFTEN CONNECTED
BY TIES OF MARRIAGE
• NUMERICALLY A
SMALL GROUP
 • MAJORITY OF
POPULATION
• TO THE WEST-
LAND FARMED BY
SMALL OWNERS &
PEASANTRY TENANTS
• EASTERN &
CENTRAL EUROPE-
LAND CULTIVATED
BY SERFS
 • In the wake of
Industrialisation new
social groups came
into being.

MIDDLE • Working class

population

CLASS
• Middle class- made
up of: Industrialist,
• Businessmen &
professionals
• It was among them-
the idea of NATIONAL
UNITY & ABOLITION
OF ARISTOCRATIC
PRIVILEGES GAINED
POPUARITY
 LIBERALISM
• The term Liberalism derives from Latin root-
liber-to be free.
• For new middle class

Liberalism stood for the individual & equality of

all before law.
POLITICAL ECONOMIC
ASPECT ASPECT

LIBERALISM
 POLITICAL ASPECT- LIBERALISM
• Politically it emphasised the concept of
government by consent.
• Stood for end of autocracy & clerical
privileges.
• A constitution
• A representative government through
parliament
LIMITATIONS TO POLITICAL ASPECT OF
LIBERALISM
• Equality before law did not necessarily stand
for UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.
• In France, Right to vote & right to get elected
was granted exclusively to property owning
men.
• Men without property & all women were
excluded from political rights.
ECONOMIC ASPECT-LIBERALISM

It stood for freedom of

markets

Abolition of state imposed

restrictions on movement of
goods & capital.
 CONSERVATISM

A political philosophy
that stressed the Preferred gradual
importance of development to quick
traditions, institutions change.
and customs.
 CONSERVATISM
They believed that established & traditional
institutions of state & society like

Monarchy,
church,
social hierarchies,
property
& family should be preserved.
• They did not propose a return to society of
pre-revolutionary days.
• They realised from the changes initiated by
Napoleon that modernization in fact

Could strengthen traditional institutions –

monarchy.
It could make state power more effective &
strong.
 NATURE OF CONSERVATIVE REGIME
• AUTOCRATIC
• DID NOT TOLERATE CRITICISMS & DISSENT
• SOUGHT TO CURB THE ACTIVITIES THAT
QUESTIONED THE LEGITIMACY OF
AUTOCRATIC GOVERNMENTS.
• IMPOSED CENSORSHIP LAWS – to control
what was said in newspapers, books , plays &
songs.
 FEATURES OF VIENNA TREATY-1815

In 1815 the representatives of

European powers

BRITAIN, RUSSIA, PRUSSIA & AUSTRIA

– who had defeated Napoleon met at
VIENNA

To draw up a settlement for Europe.

• The Bourbon dynasty –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

• Kingdom of Netherlands which included

Belgium was set up in the north
• Genoa was added to Piedmont in the south.
• Prussia –given new territories on its western
front, was given a portion of SAXONY.
• Austria was given control of NORTHERN ITALY
• Russia was given Poland
• German confederation-39 states left untouched.

• THE MAIN INTENTION WAS TO RESTORE THE

MONARCHIES THAT WERE OVERTHROWN BY
NAPOLEON & CREATE A NEW CONSERVATIVE
ORDER.
 THE REVOLUTIONARIES

Secret societies
To oppose
sprang up in many To be a
monarchical forms
European states to revolutionary
that had been
train meant a
established after
revolutionaries & commitment:
Vienna Congress,
spread their ideas.

Saw creation of nation

To fight for
state-as necessary
LIBERTY &
part of struggle for
FREEDOM.
freedom.
ROLE OF GIEUSEPPE MAZZINI

Italian revolutionary.

Founded two underground

societies:
YOUNG ITALY IN
MARSEILLES
YOUNG EUROPE IN
BERNE
Mazzini believed that God had
intended nations to be natural
units of mankind.

So, Italy had to be forged into a

single unified republic with wider
alliance of nations.

This unification alone could be the

basis of Italian liberty. Following his
model, secret societies were set up in
Germany, France, Switzerland &
Poland.
 AGE OF REVOLUTION(1830-1848)
• Liberalism & Nationalism came to be
associated with revolution in Italian , German
states, provinces of Ottoman Empire, Ireland
& Poland.
• These revolution were led by

• LIBERAL NATIONALIST- belonging to educated

middle classes elite.
JULY REVOLUTION-FRANCE (1830)
• Bourbon King who had been restored to power during
conservative order was now overthrown by

• LIBERAL REVOLUTIONARIES

Who now installed a CONSTITUIONAL MONARCHY with

LOUIS PHILLIPE AS ITS HEAD.
THE JULY REVOLUTION

SPARKED AN UPRISING IN BRUSSELS

WHICH LED TO BELGIUM BREAKING

AWAY FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM
OF NETHERLANDS.
 GREEK WAR OF INDEPENDENCE
• Greece had been a part of Ottoman Empire
since the 15th century.
• The growth of revolutionary nationalism in
Europe sparked off a struggle for Independence
among the Greeks which began in 1921.
• Nationalist in Greece got support from other
Greeks living in exile & also from many western
Europeans who had sympathies for ancient
Greek culture.
• Poets & artist lauded Greece as the cradle of
European civilization & mobilised public
opinion to support its struggle against the
Muslim empire.
• Finally, Treaty of CONSTANTINOPLE OF 1832

• RECOGNIZED GREECE AS IN INDEPENDENT

NATION.
 ROMANTICISM
vA cultural movement which sought to develop
a particular form of nationalist sentiment.

vRomantic artists generally criticised the

glorification of reason & science.

vFocused instead on emotions, intuition &

mystical feelings.
Their effort was A sense of shared
to create : collective heritage

A common
cultural past as
the basis of nation
 JOHAN GOTTFRIED
• He claimed that a true German culture was to be
discovered among the common people

DAS VOLK
• It was through folk songs, folk poetry & folk
dances that the true spirit of nation was
popularised.
• So collecting & recording these folk culture- was
essential to the project of nation building.
The emphasis of vernacular
language & collection of local
folklore

Was not just to recover an

ancient & national spirit

But also to carry the modern

nationalist message to large
audience who were illiterate.
 ROLE OF MUSIC, OPERAS
• Even though Poland no longer existed as
an independent territory but national
feelings were kept alive through

MUSIC & LANGUAGE

 • Celebrated the
national
struggle through
operas and
KAROL music, turning
KURPINSKI folk dances like
the polanise &
mazurka into
nationalist
symbols.
 ROLE OF LANGUAGE
• Language too played a role in developing
nationalist feelings.

• After Russian occupation, the Polish language

was forced out of school & Russian language
imposed everywhere.

• In 1831-an armed rebellion against Russian

rule took place which was ultimately
crushed.
• Following this many members of clergy in
Poland began to use language

• As a weapon of national resistance

• Polish was used for Church gatherings & all
religious instruction.
• As a result, a large no of priests & bishops were
put in jail or sent to Siberia by the Russian
authorities as punishment for their refusal to
preach in Russian.
• Use of Polish- came to be seen as a symbol of
the struggle against Russian dominance.
 HUNGER,HARDSHIP & REVOLT
• The 1830’s were years of great economic
hardship in Europe:
vINCREASE IN POPULATION IN EUROPE
vMORE JOB SEEKERS THAN EMPLOYMENT
vMIGRATION- LED TO OVERCROWDING
vRISE OF FOOD PRICES
vYEARS OF BAD HARVEST
vPEASANTS UNDER THE BURDEN OF FEUDAL DUES
vWIDESPREAD PAUPERISM
The year 1848 was one such year:
Food shortage, unemployment
brought population of Paris out on the
roads.

Louis Philippe was forced to flee.

National assembly proclaimed a

REPUBLIC, granted suffrage to all the
adult males above 21 years,
guaranteed right to work.
 1845-Silesia
• In 1845 weavers in Silesia also revolted
against

• Contractors who supplied them raw materials

&
• Gave them orders for finished textiles BUT
• Drastically reduced their payments
1848: THE REVOLUTION OF LIBERALS

Events of 1848 in
France- had brought
A revolution led by
abdication of the
educated middle
monarch and a
classes was under
republic based on
way.
universal suffrage had
been proclaimed.
• In other parts of Europe-Germany, Poland,
Italy, Austro-Hungarian Empire-men & women
of liberal middle classes combined their
demands for constitutionalism.
• They took advantage of the growing popular
unrest to push their demands for the creation
of nation state on parliamentary principles

• A constitution, freedom of press, freedom of

association
 GERMAN REGION
In German region a large no of political
associations whose members middle class
professionals, businessmen & artisans
came together in Frankfurt

Decided to vote for an all German

National Assembly

In 1848- 831 elected representatives

drafted a Constitution for German nation
to be headed by a monarchy subject to a
parliament.
• When crown was offered to FRIEDRICH
WILHELM IV

• THE KING OF PRUSSIA

• He rejected it & joined monarchs to oppose
the elected assembly.
• While the opposition of- the aristocracy,
military became stronger, the social basis of
the parliament eroded.
 The Parliament was
dominated by the middle
classes who resisted the
demands of workers and
artisans and lost their
support.

In the end troops were

called in & the assembly
was forced to disband.
 ROLE OF WOMEN
• The issue of extending political rights to women
was a controversial one within the liberal
movement, in which large no of women had
participated.
• Women had formed their own political
associations, founded newspapers, taken part in
meetings & demonstrations.
• Women were denied suffrage rights.
• They were only admitted as observers to stand
in the visitor’s gallery.
 CONCLUSION
• Though conservative forces were able to
suppress liberal movements in 1848, they
could not restore the old order.
• Monarchs began to realise the significance of
concessions.
• Serfdom & bonded labour abolished.
• The Habsburg ruler granted more autonomy
to the Hungarians in 1867.
 VISUALISING THE NATION
• Artist in 18th & 19th century found a way to
personify a nation.
• They represented country as it were a person.
• Nations were potrayed as female figures.
• The female form that personified the nation did
not stand for any particular women in real life.
• Rather it sought to give the abstract idea of
nation a concrete form.
• FEMALE FIGURE-ALLEGORY OF A NATION
• The French Revolution used female allegory to
potray ideas of:
• Liberty,
• Justice &
• Republic.

• Red cap or broken chain- Liberty

• Blinfolded women carrying a pair of weighing
scales- Justice
 FRANCE- GERMANY-
MARIANNE GERMANIA
 THE MAKING OF GERMANY
• Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle
class Germans, who tried to unite the different German
confederation into a nation state governed by elected
parliament.

• Middle class liberal initiative opposed by

• Junkers + Monarchy & Military (conservative forces)

 ROLE 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 the process.
• Otto Von Bismark+ Prussian Army + bureaucracy

• Fought three wars with Austria, Denmark & France

(over seven years)

Ended in Prussian victory & completed the process of

unification.
• In 1871, the Prussian king, Kaiser William I

• Was proclaimed the new German empire.

• The nation building had demonstrated the
dominance of Prussian state.
• The new state played a strong emphasis on
modernizing the currency, banking, legal &
judicial system.
 UNIFICATION OF ITALY
HISTORY OF POLITICAL FRAGMENTATION:
• During the middle of 19th century, Italy was
divided into seven states,
• Of which only one-Sardinia Piedmont was ruled
by an Italian princely house.
• The North –under Austrian Habsburgs
• Centre-ruled by Pope
• Southern region under the Bourbon kings of
Spain.
 ROLE OF GIEUSEPPE MAZZINI

During 1830’s, Mazzini

Formed secret society-
had sought to put
Young Italy for the
together a coherent
dissemination of his
programme for a
goals.
unitary Italian Republic.
• The failure of revolutionary uprisings both in
1831 & 1848 meant that the mantle now fell
on Sardinia –Piedmont under its ruler King
Victor Emmanuel II

• To unify Italian states through war.

• In the eyes of ruling elites of this region, a
unified Italy offered the possibility of
economic development & political
dominance.
 ROLE OF CAVOUR
• Cavour led the movement to unify the region
of Italy.
• Through a tactful diplomatic alliance with
France engineered by Cavour

• Sardinia Piedmont succeeded in defeating

the Austrian forces in 1859.
 ROLE OF GARIBALDI
• Apart from regular troops, a large number of
armed volunteers under the leadership of
Garibaldi joined the fray.
• In 1860- they marched into South Italy & the
Kingdom of Two Sicilies and succeeded in
winning the support of local peasants

• In order to drive out the Spanish rulers.

 In 1861- Victor Emmanuel II
was proclaimed the king of
united Italy.

Much of the Italian population-

among whom rates of illiteracy
were very high-remained
unaware of liberal nationalist
ideology.
 BRITAIN
• In Britain the formation of nation state was not the
result of a sudden upheaval or revolution.
• There was no British nation prior to 18th century.
• The identities of the people who inhabited the
British isles were ethnic ones such as:
Ø ENGLISH
Ø WELSH
Ø SCOT
Ø IRISH
• All these ethnic groups had their own cultural &
political traditions.
• But as English nation steadily grew in wealth,
importance and power, it was able to extend
its influence over the other islands.
• The English Parliament had seized power from
the monarchy in 1688

• Was the instrument through which a nation-

state with England at its centre came to be
forged.
• The Act of Union(1707)

• Between England & Scotland resulted in the

formation of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain

• England was able to impose its influence on

Scotland.
• British Parliament-dominated by the its
English members.
• The growth of British identity meant that
Scotland’s distinctive culture & political
institutions were suppressed.

• The Scottish Highlanders were forbidden to

speak their Gaelic language or wear their
national dress.

• A large number were forcibly driven out of

their homeland.
• Ireland suffered a similar fate.
• It was a country divided between Catholics &
Protestants.
• The English helped the Protestants of Ireland
to establish their dominance over a largely
Catholic country.
• Catholic revolt against the British dominance
were suppressed.
• After a failed revolt by Wolfe Tone & his
United Irishmen-IRELAND was forcibly
incorporated into the United Kingdoms.
 NATIONALISM & IMPERIALISM
• BALKANS- The most serious source of nationalist
tension in Europe after 1871.

• The Balkans was a region of geographical &

ethnic variation-comprising- Romania, Bulgaria,
Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-
Herzegovina, Slovenia , Serbia & Montenegro
whose inhabitants were known as Slavs.
• A large part of Balkans was under the control of
the Ottoman Empire.

• The spread of Romantic nationalism in the

Balkan region + disintegration of the Ottoman
Empire

• Made the region very explosive.

• Ottoman Empire sought to strengthen itself

through modernization but with very little
success.
• One by one , its European subject nationalities
broke away from its control and declared
independence.

• The Balkan people based their claims for

Independence or political rights on nationality.

• Used history to prove that they had once been

subjugated by foreign powers.

• Hence, the rebellious nationalist in the Balkan

region thought of their struggle as attempts to win
back their long lost independece.
 BALKAN-AREA OF INTENSE CONFLICT
& RIVALRY
• As different Slavic nationalist struggled to define
their identity and independence, the Balkan area
became an area of intense conflict.

• The Balkan states were jealous of each other.

• Each hoped to gain more territory at the expense of

the others.

• Balkans also became the scene of big power rivalry.

• During this period, there was an intense rivalry
among European powers over trade & colonies
as well as naval & military might.

• Each power-Russia, Germany , England, Austro-

Hungary was keen on countering the hold of
these powers over the Balkans, & extending its
own control over the area.

• This led to series of war in the region & finally

the First World War.
 GROWTH OF NATIONALISM
• Nationalism aligned with imperialism led Europe
to disaster in 1914.

• Many countries began to oppose the imperial

domination.

• The anti-imperial movements that developed

everywhere were nationalist- they struggled to
form nation state.
• They were inspired by a sense of collective
national unity, forged in confrontation with
imperialism.

• European ideas of nationalism were replicated.

• The idea that societies should be organized into

nation-states came to be accepted as natural &
universal.