RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

Important Terms
1. Absolutist – A system of rule or a government which enjoys unlimited power.
2. Utopian Vision – An idea which was so ideal that could not be true.
3. Nation State – It was a state in which the majority of its citizens develop a sense of
common identity and shared history or descent.
4. La Patrie – Father land
5. La Citoyen – Citizens.
6. Napoleonic Code – This code was made by Napoleon which is also known as Civil
Code of 1804.
7. Liberalism – It was derived from the Latin word Liber which meant free.
8. Zollverein – In 1834, a custom union or Zollverein was formed at the initiative of
Prussia and it was joined by most of the German States.
9. Conservatives – It is a political philosophy which gave importance to tradition,
established institution and customs and preferred slow change.
10. Treaty of Vienna – In 1815, the representatives of Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria
who had collectively defeated Napoleon met at Vienna to draw up a settlement.
11. Young Italy – An underground society made by Giuseppe Mazzini in Mulsciller.
12. Young Europe - An underground society made by Giuseppe Mazzini in Berne.
13. Treaty of Constantinople – This treaty finally recognised Greece as an independent
nation.
14. Romanticism – It is a cultural movement which developed nationalist sentiments.
15. Allegory – It was a personification of a nation.
16. Germania – German Allegory.
17. Marianne – French Allegory.
18. Italia – Italian Allegory.
19. Britannia - British Allegory.
20. Junkers – Large landowners by Germany.
21. Plebiscite – A direct vote by which all the people of a region are asked to accept or
reject a proposal.
22. Helenism – Ancient Greek Culture is called Helenism.
23. Union Jack – The British flag.
24. God Save our Noble King – The British national anthem.

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 Important Persons
1. Napoleon – The most powerful ruler of France who established a large French Empire.
2. Giuseppe Mazzini – He was an Italian revolutionary born in Genoa in 1807 who
became a member of secret society Coronary.
3. Count Cavour – Chief Minister of Sardinia Piedmont, popularly known as Bismarck of
Italy.
4. Garibaldi – He was a key player of Italian unification who formed armed volunteers
name Red Shirts.
5. Victor Emmanuel II – He was the king of Sardinia Piedmont who was proclaimed king
of Italy in 1861.
6. Karol Kurpinski – He celebrated the national struggle through operas and music. He
turned folk dances like polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.
7. Wilhelm Wolf – He was journalist who described the events is Silesian villages.
8. Ottovon Bismarck – He was the chief minister of Prussia and the chief architect of
German Unification.
9. King William I – The King of Prussia who was proclaimed German Emperor in a
ceremony held at Versailles.
10. Frederic Sorrieu –He was a famous French painter who visualized the dream of
democratic and social republic.
11. Metternich – Austrian Chancellor who hosted Vienna Congress in 1815.
12. Ernst Renan – A Famous French Philosopher who published a famous essay entitled
“What is a Nation?”
13. Louise Otto- Peters – He was a political activist who founded a women’s journal and a
feminist political association.
14. Delacroix – A French romantic Painter who prepared a painting – The massacre at
Chios.
15. Philip Velt –A German artist who prepared a painting of Germania in 1848.
16. Johann Gottfried – A famous German Romantic Philosopher who claimed that true
German culture was to be discovered among the common people – das volk.

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 IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS
1. 1688 The English Parliament seized power from the monarchy and formed a
Nation state.
2. 1707 The Act of Union between England and Scotland resulted in the
formation of the “United Kingdom of Great Britain”.
3. 1785 Birth of Jacob Grimm, the liberal leader of Germany.
4. 1786 Birth of Wilhelm Grimm, the liberal leader of Germany.
5. 1789 French Revolution.
6. 1797 Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Italy, Napoleonic wars began.
7. 1801 Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom.
8. 1804 Civil Cod of Napoleon was framed in France.
9. 1807 Birth of Famous Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini.
10. 1812 The first collection of folk tales of Grimm brothers (Jacob and Wilhelm)
was published.
11. 1814-15 Fall of Napoleon
12. 1815 The Battle of Waterloo.
13. 1815 The Vienna Peace Settlement.
14. 1819 Birth of Louise Otto- Peters.
15. 1821 The beginning of struggle for independence amongst the Greeks.
16. 1821 Death of Napoleon
17. 1830 The July Revolution of France.
18. 1832 The Treaty of Constantinople.
19. 1834 A custom union or Zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia which
was joined by most German states.
20. 1848 The Frankfurt Parliament was addressed.
21. 1848 Final Revolution of France where artists, industrial workers and peasants
revolted against economic hardship.
22. 1859-70 Unification of Italy
23. 1861 Emananual II was proclaimed the king of United Italy.
24. 1866-71 The Unification of Germany.
25. 1871 The Prussian King William I was proclaimed German Emperor in the
Ceremony held at Versailles.
26. 1905 Slav nationalism gathered force in the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires.
27. 1914-1918 The First World War.

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 FAMOUS STATEMENTS
1. “When France Sneezes, the rest of Europe of catches cold” – Duke Metternich
2. “A nation is the culmination of a long past of endeavours, sacrifice and devotion.” Ernst
Renan.
3. “Nature has created men and women to carry out different functions….Men, the stronger,
the bolder and freer of the two, have been designated as protector of the family, its
provider, meant for public tasks in the domain of law, production, defence. Women, the
weaker, dependent and timid, required the protection of man.” Carl Welcker, an elected
member of the Frankfurt Parliament.

Describe the first print prepared by Frederic Sorrieu.

1. The first print prepared by Frederic Sorrieu shows the people of Europe and America
marching in a long train, and offering homage to the Statue of Liberty as they pass.
2. The statue bears the torch of enlightenment in one hand, and the Charter of Rights of Man
in the other. On the earth in the foreground lie the symbols of Absolutist institutions.
3. The procession is led by the United States of America and Switzerland, which had already
become nation states by then. France is identified by her revolutionary tricolour and has
just reached the statue.
4. The flag used by Germany is the black, red and gold, which represents their liberal hopes in
1848 to unify the various German-speaking principalities into one nation state. Following
the German people are the people of Austria, the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, Lombardy,
Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary and Russia.
5. Christ, saints and angels gazing upon the scene symbolise fraternity among the nations of
the world.
Summarise the attributes of a nation, as Ernst Renan understands
them. Why are nations important in his views?
The attributes of a nation as Renan describes them are:
1. Common glories in the past or common history with glories.
2. Common will in the present.
3. To have performed great deeds together and a wish to perform still more.
4. It is a large-scale solidarity.
5. A system of plebiscite is followed.
6. All inhabitants are to be consulted on all matters.
7. There is no will to annex or to hold any country against its will, i.e. guarantee of liberty in a
nation.
Nations are important in his view because their existence is a guarantee of liberty, which would be
lost if the world had only one law and one master.
From which country did the first clear expression of nationalism
come in the 18th century? Why? With what results?
The first clear expression of nationalism came in the 18th century from France with the French
Revolution in 1789.

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The first expression of nationalism occured in France because it was a fully territorial state by that
time under the rule of an absolute monarch, i.e. Louis XVI.
The political and constitutional changes that came in the wake of the French Revolution led to the
transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to the National Assembly - a body of French citizens.
The revolution proclaimed that the people would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its
destiny.
In addition, when the French revolutionary war broke out, the French armies carried the idea of
nationalism abroad.

What were the reactions of the local population to the French rule in
the conquered territories?
The reactions of the local people in the territories conquered by the French were mixed. In the
beginning, in Holland, Switzerland, Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw, people welcomed the
French armies as Harbingers of Liberty. Political freedom was advantageous, but more taxes,
censorship, and forced conscription into the French armies for conquering the rest of Europe made
the local population more hostile to them. Thus, the initial enthusiasm was lost.

Describe the political conditions of Europe in the mid-18th century.

There was no nation state in Europe in the mid-18th century. The main features of the political
conditions of Europe were:
1. Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, Duchies and Cantons. Their rulers
had autonomous territories.
2. There were autocratic monarchies in eastern and central Europe. There were diverse people. For
example, the Habsburg Empire consisted of different regions and people. The Austria-Hungary
Habsburg Empire mainly had four regions:
A. Alpine region - It consisted of Tyrol, Austria, Sudetenland and Bohemia. The
aristocracy spoke German; Italian was spoken in Lombardy and Venetia.
B. Hungary - Half the population spoke Magyar, while the other half spoke a variety of
dialects.
C. Galicia - The aristocracy spoke Polish.
D. There were another group consisted of the peasant people. There were Bohemians and
Slovaks to the north, Slovenes in Carniola, Croats to the south and Romans to the east in
Transylvania.

The only tie binding these diverse groups together was a common allegiance to the Emperor.

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 Describe the social and economic conditions of Europe in the mid-
18th century.
A. Social conditions:
I. Landed aristocracy: It was the dominant class. They were united with ties of marriage. They
spoke French for diplomatic purposes. However, they were in a minority.
2. Peasantry: The majority of the population consisted of peasants. To the west, land was farmed
by the tenants and small owners. In east and central Europe, there were large estates cultivated by
serfs.
B. Economic conditions:
1. Growth of towns: There was an emergence of commercial classes in Western and parts of
Eastern Europe. This was due to the growth of industrial production and trade. Their existence was
based on the production for the market.
2. Industrialisation: Industrialisation began in England in the second half of the 18th century.
However, it flourished in France and Germany during the 19th century.
3. A new working class and middle class consisting of industrialists, businessmen and
professionals came into existence.

What was the Napoleonic Code?

It was a civil code of Napoleon which had following features.
a. The privileges based on birth were done away.
b. It established equality before law and secured the right to property.
c. Weights and measures were standardized and common national currency was
introduced.
d. Transportation, communication and the banking system was improved.
e. Simplification of administration was done and feudal system as well as serfdom
was abolished.

Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the
way in which they were portrayed?
Marianne: It was the female Allegory of France. During the French revolution artists used the
female allegory or symbols to portray ideas such as Liberty, Justice and the Republic. In France,
she was Christened Marianne, a popular Christian name,
Germania: It became allegory of the German nation. In visual representations, Germania wears a
crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for heroism.

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 What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense
collective identity among the French People?
They had taken following steps:-
1. The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized equal right
under a constitution.
2. A new French Flag, the tricolor was chosen to replace the former French flag.
3. The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National
Assembly.
4. New hymns were composed, martyrs oaths taken and commemorated all in the name of the
nation.
5. Regional dialects were discouraged and French became the only language of the nation.

The Greek War of Independence.

1. Greece had been a part of Ottoman Empire since 15th century.
2. The Greek war of Independence started in 1821.
3. Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilization and mobilized public
opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire.
4. The English poet Lord Byron organized funds and later went to fight in the war where he
died of fever in the year 1824.
5. Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 made Greece as an independent nation.

Briefly explain the process of Unification of Italy.

1. Political Fragmentation: Like Germany, Italy was lso politically fragmented. During the
middle of the 19th century, Italy was divided into seven states, of which only one, Sardinia –
Piedmont was ruled by an Italian Prince.
2. Role of Mazzini – Giuseppe Mazzini made efforts to unite Italian Republic. He had formed
two secret societies called “Young Italy and Young Europe” for achieving the goals.
3. Role of Count Cavour : He was the chief minister who led the movement to unify Italy. He
formed a tactful diplomatic alliance with France and defeated the Austrian Forces.
4. Role of Giuseppe Garibaldi: Garibaldi also formed armed volunteers. In 1860, they marched
into South Italy and the Kingdoms of Two Sicilies and succeeded in driving out the Spanish
rulers.
5. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed King of United Italy who later on completed
the unification of Italy after annexing Venetia and Papal Territories.
Briefly explain the process of Unification of Germany.
1. Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle class Germans. Though Germany was
divided into 39 confederations, yet the process of unification was started under the aegis of
Prussia.
2. Frankfurt Parliament – In German regions a large number of political associations of the
middle class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans came together in the city
of Frankfurt and decided to vote for the all German National Assembly. 831 elected
representatives marched to take their place in the Frankfurt Parliament. They drafted a
constitution for a German nation headed by a monarchy. But it was not accepted by the
King of Prussia Fredric William IV.
3. Denmark Prussia War: The chief Minister of Prussia, Otto Von Bismarck, took the
leadership of unification and defeated Denmark with the help of Austria in 1864.

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 4. Austro Prussia War: In 1866, Austria was also defeated by Bismarck and the territories
conquered by Austria were unified to Germany.
5. Franco – Prussia War : In 1870-71, Bismarck defeated France with the help of Italy and
thus completed the process of unification. King Kaiser William I became the king of
unified Germany.
Why did the nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?
1. Ethnic Variation: The Balkans countries were between the Adriatic Sea and the Black
Sea. Their inhabitants were known as slaves. They were ruled by the Ottoman Empire
of Turkey.
2. Disintegration of Ottoman Empire – The ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans
together with disintegration of the Ottoman empire made this region very explosive.
3. Subjugation – Soon many foreign powers attempted to subjugate these newly
independent states. The Balkan people tried to claim independence by using history to
prove that they had once been independent.
4. Mutual Jealously : Balkan area became an area of intense conflict, since these Balkan
states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the
expense of others.

Explain the process of Britain Being a Nation State.

1. Glorious Revolution: In 1688, the British Parliament seized power from the king.
2. The Act of Union 1707 : Through the Act of Union, Scotland was incorporated into the
United Kingdom of Great Britain.
3. The Act of Union 1801 : Through this Act, Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the Great
Britain.