Ch- 1 Nationalism in Europe

Class -X
Part -1
Question/Answers

Made by Sudeshna Mitra

Q1. Who was Frédéric Sorrieu? How has he visualized his dream of a world made
up? Explain.
Frédéric Sorrieu, a French artist, in 1848 prepared a series of four prints visualising his
dream of a world made up of democratic and Social Republics.

1. The first print shows the people of Europe and America marching in a long train and
offering homage to the Statue of Liberty as they pass it. The torch of Enlightenment
was carried by a female figure in one hand and the Charter of the Rights of Man in
the other.
2. On the earth in the foreground lie the shattered remains of the symbols of absolutist
institutions.
3. In Sorrieu’s utopian vision, the people of the world are grouped as distinct nations,
identified through their flags and national costume.
4. The procession was led by the United States and Switzerland, followed by France
and Germany. Following the German people are the people of Austria, the Kingdom
of the Two Sicilies, Lombardy, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary and Russia.
5. From the heavens above, Christ, saints and angels gaze upon the scene. They have
been used by the artist to symbolise fraternity among the nations of the world.

During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as a force which brought huge changes
in the political and mental world of Europe. The end result of these changes was the
emergence of the nation-state.

Q2. Analyse the measures and practices introduced by the French revolutionaries
to create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people.
Ans. The measures and practices introduced by the French revolutionaries to create a sense
of collective identity among the French people were as follows.

1. The idea of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasised the idea
of united people enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
2. A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
3. The Estates General was elected by the active citizens and renamed the National
Assembly.
4. New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated in the name
of nation.
5. Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in
Paris, became the common language of the nation.
6. A centralised administrative system was put in practice and it formulated uniform
laws for all citizens within its territory.
 7. Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights
and measures was adopted.

Q3. What were Jacobin Clubs? How did their activities and campaigns help to
spread the idea of nationalism abroad? Explain.

Ans. Jacobin clubs were the political clubs that were set up by educated middle class in all
over Europe to replace autocratic regimes in Europe with democratic governments. They
were inspired by the events in France.

1. The activities and campaigns of these clubs paved the way for the French armies
which moved into Holland, Belgium and Switzerland and much of Italy in 1790.
2. With the outbreak of revolutionary wars, the French armies carried the ideas of
nationalism in foreign countries

Q4. Napoleon had destroyed democracy in France, but in the administrative field
he had incorporated revolutionary principles in order to make the whole system
more rational and efficient. Analyse the statement with arguments.

Ans. Napoleon declared himself the emperor of France and destroyed democracy. In the
administrative field, he incorporated revolutionary principles, which were as follows

1. The Civil Code of 1804, also known as Napoleonic Code, abolished all the privileges
based on birth, established equality before the law and gave the right to property.
2. The code which was introduced in the regions under French control, like Italy,
Germany, Switzerland, simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal
system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.
3. In towns guild restrictions came to an end.
4. Uniform weights and measures were adopted. A common national currency helped in
the movement of goods and capital from one region to another.
5. Transport and communication systems were improved.

Q5. Describe the events of French Revolution which had influenced the people
belonging to other parts of Europe.

Ans. Events of French Revolution that influenced the people of other parts of Europe were
as follows.

1. When the news of the French Revolution reached different cities of Europe, students
and other members of educated middle classes began to set up Jacobin clubs which
influenced the French army.
2. The French armies began to carry the idea of nationalism abroad.
3. The Napoleonic Code, introduced in 1804, abolishing privileges and upholding
equality and other reforms, exported these new ideas to the European regions under
French Control
Q6. How did the local people in the areas conquered by Napoleon react to French
rule? Explain.

Ans. The reactions of the local populations to French rule were mixed. Although the
economic reforms introduced by Napoleon were welcomed by businessmen and small
producers of goods.

1. Initially the French armies were welcomed in Holland, Switzerland and in cities like
Brussels, as messenger of liberty, but they soon realised that administrative reforms
did not go hand in hand with political freedom.
2. The people reacted against increased taxation and censorship.
3. Local people had to serve in the French army to conquer other parts of Europe,
these all seemed to outweigh the advantages of administrative changes.

Q7. Till the mid -18th century there were no nation-states in Europe. Support the
statement with example.

Ana. There was no nation- states in Europe till the mid-18th century. Germany, Italy and
Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose rulers had their
autonomous territories.

1. Eastern and Central Europe were under autocratic monarchies within the territories
of which lived diverse peoples.
2. They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identity or a common culture.
Often, they even spoke different languages and belonged to different ethnic groups.
3. The Habsburg Empire that ruled over Austria-Hungary, for example, was a
patchwork of many different regions and peoples. It included the Alpine regions –
the Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland – as well as Bohemia, where the aristocracy
was predominantly German-speaking. It also included the Italian-speaking provinces
of Lombardy and Venetia.
4. In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other half spoke a variety
of dialects. In Galicia, the aristocracy spoke Polish.
5. Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived within the boundaries of the
empire, a mass of subject peasant peoples – Bohemians and Slovaks to the north,
Slovenes in Carniola, Croats to the south, and Roumans to the east in Transylvania.
6. Such differences did not easily promote a sense of political unity. The only tie
binding these diverse groups together was a common allegiance to the emperor.

Q8. Who were the Aristocracy?

Ans. Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class on the continent.
The members of this class were united by a common way of life that cut across regional
divisions. They owned estates in the countryside and also town-houses.

1. They spoke French for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were
often connected by ties of marriage.
2. This powerful aristocracy was, however, numerically a small group. The majority of
the population was made up of the peasantry.
 3. To the west, the bulk of the land was farmed by tenants and small owners, while in
Eastern and Central Europe the pattern of landholding was characterised by vast
estates which were cultivated by serfs.

Q9. What led to the emergence of new middle class in Europe?

Ans. In Western and parts of Central Europe the growth of industrial production and trade
meant the growth of towns and the emergence of commercial classes whose existence was
based on production for the market.

1. Industrialisation began in England in the second half of the eighteenth century, but
in France and parts of the German states it occurred only during the nineteenth
century.
2. In its wake, new social groups came into being: a working-class population, and
middle classes made up of industrialists, businessmen, professionals.
3. In Central and Eastern Europe these groups were smaller in number till late
nineteenth century. It was among the educated, liberal middle classes that ideas of
national unity following the abolition of aristocratic privileges gained popularity.

Q10. Explain the concept of liberalism? What did it politically emphasise during
the 19th century Europe?

Ans. The term ‘liberalism’ derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free.

1. For the new middle classes liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and
equality of all before the law.
2. Politically, it emphasised the concept of government by consent.
3. Since the French Revolution, liberalism had stood for the end of autocracy and
clerical privileges, a constitution and representative government through parliament.
Nineteenth-century liberals also stressed the inviolability of private property.
4. In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets and the
abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.

Q11. “Equality before the law did not necessarily stand for universal suffrage.”
Explain.

Ans. The new middle class in Europe advocated the concept of liberalism emphasising the
concept of freedom and equality for all. This view was not visible in the political experiment
around Europe.

1. The right to vote and to get elected was granted exclusively to property-owning
men.
2. Men without property and all women were excluded from political rights. Only for a
brief period under the Jacobins did all adult males enjoy suffrage.
3. However, the Napoleonic Code went back to limited suffrage and reduced women to
the status of a minor, subject to the authority of fathers and husbands. Throughout
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries women and non-propertied men
organised opposition movements demanding equal political rights.
Q12. Mention any two economic obstacles that the liberal-nationalists wanted to
overcome. In what way did the Zollverein customs union of 1834 try to overcome
these shortcomings?

Ans. During the early 19th century, Europe was closely allied to the ideology of liberalism.
Two economic obstacles that the liberal-nationalists wanted to overcome.

a. Restricted movement of goods and capitals.

b. Existence of countless small principalities and different currencies, weights and
measures

These barriers created obstacles to economic exchange and growth by the new
commercial classes. To sort out this problem, in 1834, a customs union or zollverein was
formed at the initiative of Prussia and joined by most of the German states. The
following steps were taken to resolve this issue;

1. The union abolished tariff barriers

2. reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two.
3. The creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility, harnessing
economic interests to national unification.

Q13. Explain any three beliefs of the conservatism that emerged after 1815.

Ans. Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European governments were driven by a
spirit of conservatism.

1. The conservatives held the belief that established, traditional institutions of state and
society like monarchy, church, social hierarchies, property and family must be
protected and preserved.
2. They never proposed a pre-revolutionary period to return to but they knew that as
Napoleon had carried out changes, modernisation would in fact contribute to a
strong monarchy.
3. They believed that it would strengthen power of the state and make it much more
effective. For them it was a firm belief that aristocratic monarchies of Europe would
gain much from a modern army, an efficient bureaucracy, a dynamic economy, the
abolition of feudalism and serfdom.

Q14. Who hosted ‘Vienna Congress’ in 1815? Analyse the main changes brought
by the Vienna Treaty.

Ans. The Congress was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich.

1. The following changes were brought by the treaty

2. The bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed during the French Revolution, was
restored to power, and France lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon.
3. A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French
expansion in future.
4. Thus, the kingdom of the Netherlands, which included Belgium, was set up in the
north and Genoa was added to Piedmont in the south.
5. Prussia was given important new territories on its western frontiers, while Austria
was given control of northern Italy. But the German confederation of 39 states that
 had been set up by Napoleon was left untouched. In the east, Russia was given part
of Poland while Prussia was given a portion of Saxony.

The main intention was to restore the monarchies that had been overthrown by
Napoleon, and create a new conservative order in Europe.

Q15. How did the Treaty of Vienna (1815) come inti being?

Ans. In 1815, representatives of the European powers – Britain, Russia, Prussia and
Austria – who had collectively defeated Napoleon, met at Vienna to draw up a
settlement for Europe. The Congress was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Duke
Metternich. The delegates drew up the Treaty of Vienna of 1815 with the object of
undoing most of the changes that had come about in Europe during the Napoleonic
wars. The Bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed during the French Revolution, was
restored to power, and France lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon.

Q16. What led to the rise of the revolutionaries after the establishment of the
conservative regimes in Europe after 1815?

Ans. The following were the reason that led to the rise of revolutionaries after the
establishment of conservative regimes in Europe after 1815.

1. Conservative regimes set up in 1815 were autocratic.

2. They did not tolerate criticism and dissent, and sought to curb activities that
questioned the legitimacy of autocratic governments.
3. Most of them imposed censorship laws to control what was said in newspapers,
books, plays and songs and reflected the ideas of liberty and freedom associated
with the French Revolution.
4. The memory of the French Revolution nonetheless continued to inspire liberals.
One of the major issues taken up by the liberal-nationalists, who criticised the
new conservative order, was freedom of the press.

Q17. How had revolutionaries spread their ideas in many European states
after 1815? Explain with examples.

Ans. After the Congress of Vienna in 1815 when conservative regimes were restored
to power, many liberal minded people went underground because of the fear of
repression. Secret societies sprang up in European states to train the revolutionaries
and spread their ideas.
1. Many revolutionaries opposed monarchical rule and fought for liberty and
freedom of their respective states.
2. One such revolutionary was Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian patriot, was sent to
exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He became the member
of a secret society carbonari.
3. He founded two underground societies, first Young Italy in Marseilles and the
other Young Europe in Berne. The society had members from Poland, France,
Italy, Germany, etc. The members believed in the formation of nation states
and they were liberal minded people.
4. Following the example of Italy, secret societies were set up in Germany,
France Switzerland, Poland. Mazzini’s vision of democratic republics
frightened the conservatives.
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