DPS MODERN INDIAN SCHOOL, DOHA, QATAR

2020-2021
Grade X

HISTORY NOTES
CHAPTER 1: RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

INSTRUCTION: Take a copy of the notes and keep with you

for reference.

Q1. Define Nation States.

Ans.) Nation state is one in which the majority of its citizens and
not only its rulers came to develop a sense of common identity
and shared history or decent.

Q2. What was the main objective of the Treaty of Vienna?

Ans.) The main objective of the treaty was undoing most of the
changes that had come about in Europe during the Napoleonic
wars, to restore the monarchies that had been overthrown by
Napoleon and to create a new conservative order.

Q3. What was meant by liberal nationalism?

Ans. i) Ideas of national unity in the early 19 th century in Europe
was closely linked to ideology of liberal nationalism.
ii) ‘Liberalism’ is derived from the word liber which means free.
iii) Liberalism stood for freedom of the individual and equality of
all before the law. Politically it stood for government by consent.
iv) Since French revolution, liberalism stood for the end of
autocracy and clerical privileges, a constitution, and
representative government through parliament. It also stressed
on the inviolability of private property.

Q4. How did liberalism come about in the economic

sphere?
Ans. i) in the economic sphere, liberalism stood for freedom of
markets and abolition of state imposed restrictions on movement
of goods and capital.
ii) the middle class argues for the creation of a unified economic
territory allowing unhindered movement of goods and capital.
iii) In 1834, a customs union or zollverein was formed at the
initiative of Prussia and joined by other German states.
iv) It abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of
currencies from over thirty to two.
v) The creation of network of railways also stimulated mobility,
harnessing economic interest to national unification.

Q5. What were the changes brought about by the

revolution led by the liberals in 1848?
Ans i) In some parts of Europe where independent nation states
did not exist like in Germany, Italy, Poland and Austro-Hungarian
Empire, men and women of liberal middle class combined their
demands for constitutionalism with national unification.
ii) They took advantage of the growing unrest to push their
demand for creation of nation-state on parliamentary principles –
a constitution, freedom of press and freedom of association.
iii) In German regions many political associations comprising of
middle class professionals, business men and prosperous artisans
came together in Frankfurt to form the All German National
Assembly.
iv) On 8th May 1848, the elected representatives the formed the
Frankfurt Parliament and assembled in the Church of St. Pauls.
v) They drafted a constitution for the German Nation to be
headed by a monarchy subject to the parliament.
vi) Friedrich Wilhelm IV, the King of Prussia was offered the crown
but he refused it and joined the other monarchs to oppose the
elected assembly.
vii) As the opposition of the aristocracy and military became
stronger and the social basis of the parliament got eroded, troops
were called in and the Assembly was disbanded.

Q6. ‘Culture played an important role in creating the idea

of nation’ – Elaborate how.
Ans. i) Romanticism was a cultural movement during the early
19th century in Europe. The movement sought to develop a
particular form of nationalist sentiment through art, poetry,
stories and music.
ii) It glorified folk art, vernacular language by focusing on
emotions, intuitions and mystical feelings. It criticized the
glorification of reason and science.
iii) Their effort was to create a sense of shared collective heritage,
a common cultural past, as the basis of the nation.
iv) German philosophers like Johann Gottfried Herder said that
true German culture could be discovered amongst the common
people.
v) It was through folk song, poetry and dances that the true spirit
of the nation was popularized and so collecting and recording
these forms of folk culture was essential to the process of nation
building.
vi) The emphasis on vernacular language and the collection of
local folklore was not just to recover national spirit but also to
spread modern nationalist message to a larger audience who
were mostly illiterate.
vii) When Poland was partitioned by the great powers and no
longer existed as an independent territory, nationalist feelings
were kept alive through music and language.
viii) Language also helped in developing nationalist sentiments. In
Russian occupied Poland, Polish language was forced out and
Russian was imposed. But many members of clergy in Poland
continued the use of Polish language in Church gatherings thus
using language as a weapon of national resistance.

Q7. What was the result of July Revolution of 1830 in

France?
Ans.) The Bourbon dynasty kings who were restored to power
under the conservative regime was overthrown and a
constitutional monarchy under Louis Phillipe was set up. It also
inspired uprising in Brussels which led to Belgium breaking away
from Kingdom of Netherlands.

Q8. Explain the process of English Unification.

Ans i). Many Nation States formed not as a result of a sudden
upheaval or revolution. In Britain it was a long drawn process
where Parliament played an important role.
ii) But there was no British nation prior to 18 th century. There were
different identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles
like English, Welsh, Scots, Irish and all had their own cultural and
political traditions.
iii) But as the English nation steadily grew in wealth importance
and power, it was able to extend its influence over other nations
of the islands. The English Parliament has seized power from the
monarchy in 1688 and played an important role in the formation
of a nation state with England at its center.
iv) The Act of Union between Scotland and England formed the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and England started to impose its
influence on Scotland.
v) In Ireland the English helped the Protestants to establish their
dominance and after a failed revolt by Wolfe tone and his United
Irishmen, Ireland was also incorporated into United Kingdom in
1801.
vi) A new British nation was forged through propagation of English
culture and older nations survived only as subordinate partners in
the union.

Q9. What is an Allegory?

Ans.) When an abstract idea like greed, envy, freedom etc. is
expressed through a person or a thing. Eg. In Europe in 18 th and
19th century, artists represented a country in form of a person.
Allegory of France was Marianne and Allegory of Germany was
Germania.

Q10. Describe the nationalist tension in Europe after

1871.
Ans i) The most serious source of Nationalist tension in Europe
after 1871 was the area called the Balkans. The region was a
region of ethnic and geographical variation comprising of modern
day Romania, Croatia, Serbia etc and the inhabitants were
broadly called the Slavs.
ii) A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the
Ottoman Empire.
iii) The spread of ideas of romantic nationalism together with the
disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made the region very
explosive.
iii) Through the 19th century the Ottoman Empire tried to
strengthen itself through modernization and internal reforms but
with little success.
iv) One by one the European Nationalities began to break away
and declare their independence and based their claims of
independence on nationality and used history to prove that they
were once independent but afterward had been subjugated by
foreign powers.
v) The Balkan states were jealous of each other and each hoped
to gain more territory at the expense of the others.
vi) Balkans also became the scene of big power rivalry with
Russia, Germany, England and Austro –Hungary extending their
control over the area.