The Rise of Nationalism in Europe - Notes

Nation (State):
A large number of people of mainly common descent, language, history, inhabiting a territory
bounded by defined limits and forming a society under one government is called a nation.

Frederic Sorrieu and his visualization:

In 1848, Frederic Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four prints, visualizing his dream
of a world made up of ‘democratic and social republics’, as he called them.

The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation

1. In 1789 Nationalism came with French Revolution and the political and constitutional
changes led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French
citizens. Various measures and practices were introduced such as the ideas of la patrie
(the fatherland) and le citoyen ( the citizen). A new French flag, the tricolour was chosen
to replace the former one.
2. Democracy destroyed in France by Napoleon but in the administrative field he had
incorporated revolutionary principles in order to make the whole system more rational
and efficient.

Napoleonic Code:

1. The first major change was doing away with all privileges based on birth, establishing
equality before law and securing the right to property.
2. Administrative divisions were simplified.
3. Feudal system was abolished and peasants were freed from serfdom and manorial dues
(abuse of manorial lords).
4. In towns, guild restrictions were removed.
5. Transport and communication systems were improved.
6. Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a new found freedom.
7. Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods in particular began to realize that
uniform laws, standardized weights and measures and a common national currency would
facilitate the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another.

The Making of Nationalism in Europe

1. Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose
rulers had their autonomous territories.
2. They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identity or a common culture.
3. The Habsburg Empire ruled over Austria Hungary.
4. In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other half of the spoke a
variety of dialects.
 5. Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived within the boundaries of the
empire.
6. The only tie binding these diverse groups together was a common allegiance to the
emperor.

The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class

The Aristocracy was the dominant class on the continent politically and socially. The majority of
the population was made up of the peasantry. Industrialisation began in England in the second
half of the eighteenth century. New social groups came into being: a working-class population
and middle classes made up of industrialists, businessmen, professionals.
What did Liberal Nationalism Stand for?

1. The term ‘liberalism’ derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free. The right to vote
and to get elected was granted exclusively to property-owning men. Men without
property and all women were excluded from political rights.
2. In 1834, a customs union or zollverein was formed at the initiative 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.

A New Conservatism after 1815

 In 1815, European governments were driven by a spirit of conservatism. Conservatives

believed in monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property and that the family should
be preserved.
 A modern army, an efficient bureaucracy, a dynamic economy, the abolition of feudalism
and serfdom could strengthen the autocratic monarchies of Europe.
 In 1815, representatives of the European powers – Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria
met in Vienna to draw up a settlement for Europe.
 The Bourbon dynasty was restored to power and France lost the territories it had annexed
under Napoleon.
 The major issues taken up by the liberal-nationalists, who criticised the new conservative
order, was freedom of the press.
The Revolutionaries

1. In 1815, secret societies were formed in many European states to train revolutionaries
and spread their ideas. Revolutionary opposed monarchical forms, fight for liberty and
freedom.
2. The Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini, born in Genoa in 1807, founded two more
underground societies, first, Young Italy in Marseilles.
3. Secondly, he founded Young Europe in Berne, whose members were like-minded young
men from Poland, France, Italy and the German states.
In July 1830, Bourbon Kings were overthrown by liberal revolutionaries who installed a
constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe at its head. The July Revolution sparked an uprising
in Brussels which led to Belgium breaking away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
In 1821, Greeks struggled for independence.

The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling

1. Culture played an important role in creating the idea of the nation: art and poetry, stories
and music helped express and shape nationalist feelings.
2. Romanticism, a cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of
nationalist sentiment. Language also played an important role in developing nationalist
sentiments.
3. Russian language was imposed everywhere and in 1831 an armed rebellion against
Russian rule took place which was ultimately crushed.

Hunger, Hardship and Popular Revolt

Europe faced economic hardships in the 1830s. The first half of the nineteenth century saw an
enormous increase in population all over Europe. The rise of food prices or a year of bad harvest
led to widespread pauperism in town and country. In 1848, food shortages and widespread
unemployment brought the population of Paris out on the roads.

1848: The Revolution of the Liberals

1. The poor, unemployment and starving peasants and workers in many European countries
in the years 1848, a revolution led by the educated middle classes was under way.
2. Men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for
constitutionalism with national unification.
3. They drafted a constitution for a German nation to be headed by a monarchy subject to a
parliament.
4. Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected
assembly.
5. While the opposition of the aristocracy and military became stronger, the social basis of
parliament eroded.
6. The issue of extending political rights to women was a controversial one within the
liberal movement.
7. Women had formed their own political associations, founded newspaper and taken part in
political meeting and demonstrations.
8. Women were admitted only as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.
9. Monarchs were beginning to realize that the cycles if revolution and repression could be
ended by granting concessions to the liberal-nationalist revolutionaries.
Unification of Italy:
Giuseppe Mazzini had played an important role in the unification of Italy. He formed a secret
society called ‘Young Italy’ in Marseilles, to spread his goals. He believed Italy could not
continue to be a patchwork of small states and had to be forged into a single unified republic.
During 1830’s, Mazzini sought to put together a coherent programme for a unitary Italian
Republic. As uprisings in 1831 and 1848 had failed, the mantle now fell on Sardinia-Piedmont
under its ruler Emmanuel II to unify Italy.

Under Chief Minister Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in destroying the Austrian forces in
1859. Even Garibaldi joined the fray. In 1860, they marched into South Italy and the kingdom of
the two Sicilies and with the help of the local peasants, drove out the Spanish rulers. In 1861,
Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed as King of United Italy.

Unification of Germany:
In the 18th century, Germany was divided into a number of states. Some of these states ceased to
exist during the Napoleonic wars. At the end of the war, there were still 39 independent states in
Germany. Prussia was most powerful, dominated by big landlords known as Junkers.

 Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle class Germans who had tried to unite
the different regions of the German federation into a nation-state governed by an elected
Parliament.
 In May 1848, a large number of political associations came together to vote for an all-
German National Assembly. Their representatives met at Frankfurt and the Frankfurt
Assembly proposed the unification of Germany as a constitutional monarchy under the
King of Prussia as emperor
 The King of Prussia rejected the offer and the liberal initiative of nation building was
repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy, the military and the ‘Junkers’.
 Then on, Prussia under its Chief Minister Otto Von Bismarck led the movement for
unification of Germany. Bismarck carried out this process with the help of the Prussian
army and the bureaucracy. He fought three wars over seven years with Denmark, Austria
and France. Prussia was victorious in all these wars and the process of unification was
completed as a result of Prussia’s victory over France.
 Consequently, on 18th January 1871, an assembly comprising of princes of German States,
representatives of the army, important Prussian ministers and Bismarck gathered in the
Palace of Versailles and proclaimed the Prussian King, Kaiser William, the new German
Emperor.

The Strange Case of Britain

Great Britain was the model of the nation and prior to the eighteenth century there was no British
nation. The nation became powerful as it steadily grew in wealth, importance and power.
The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in the formation of the ‘United
Kingdom of Great Britain’ meant, in effect, that England was able to impose its influence on
Scotland. In 1801, Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom. The symbols of
the new Britain – the British flag (Union Jack), the national anthem (God Save Our Noble King),
the English language – were actively promoted.

Visualising the Nation

The idea of a nation was expressed in various forms by artists and painters. Most of the nations
were portrayed as female figures. The female figure became an allegory of the nation.
‘Marianne’ in France and ‘Germania’ in Germany became allegories of a nation.

Nationalism and Imperialism

Nationalism which is the feeling of love for one’s own nation became intense and narrow
minded

in the mid-nineteenth century.

Imperialism is territorial control of a region or a country by another country by using military

control.

This feeling of nationalism became intense in the Balkan region. The Balkan region formerly
comprised the present-day territories of Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Greece, Bosnia
Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.

The people in these countries were called Slavs. The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire in
the region made the situation very explosive in the region as every state was jealous of one
another and hoped to gain independence at the cost of the other.

One by one, the European nationalities in the Balkan broke away from the control of the
Ottoman Empire and declared independence. As the different Slavic nationalities struggled to
define their identity and independence, the Balkan area became an area of intense conflict.

During this time, many powerful European nations such as England, France, Russia and
Germany competed to gain control in the Balkan region.

This competition for gaining prominence in the region finally led to the First World War in
1914. Later, several Asian and African countries which were colonized by the European nations
began to oppose imperial domination.

Anti- imperial movements that began in colonies were nationalist in nature as people were
fighting to form independent nation states.