HISTORY

-About Fredric sorrieu

Frédéric Sorrieu vision of World 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.
-What is a nation state
A nation-state is a political entity where a state (a sovereign
country with a government and defined borders) corresponds to
a single nation (a group of people with a shared cultural
identity, history, and/or ethnicity)
-Who was Ernst Renan?
How did he explain the nation? Ans. Ernst Renan was a French
philosopher. He explained the nation in a lecture in Sorbonne in
1882 as follows-
(1) He criticises that a nation is formed by a common
language, race, religion, or territory.
(2) According to him, a nation is the culmination of a long past
of endeavours, sacrifice and devotion. (3) A heroic past, great
men, glory, that is the social capital upon which one bases a
national idea.
(4) To have common glories in the past, to have a common will
in the present, to have performed great deeds together, to wish
to perform still more, these are the essential conditions of
being a people.
(5) A nation is therefore a large-scale solidarity. Its existence is
a daily plebiscite. A province is its inhabitants.
(6) The existence of nations is a good thing. Their existence is
a guarantee of liberty.
-Aristocracy and the new middle class
1. Dominance of Landed Aristocracy:
o The landed aristocracy was the most powerful
class in Europe.
o They owned large estates in both the countryside
and towns.
o Spoke French in diplomacy and elite society.
o United by a common lifestyle and marriage ties
across regions.
 o Numerically small, but held major social and
political power.
2. Peasantry – The Majority:
o Made up the largest section of the population.
o In the west, land was farmed by tenants and small
owners.
o In Eastern and Central Europe, large estates
were worked by serfs (bonded laborers).
3. Impact of Industrialisation:
o Began in England in the late 18th century.
o Spread to France and German states in the 19th
century.
o Led to growth of towns, industrial production, and
trade.
4. Emergence of New Social Groups:
o Middle classes: included industrialists,
businessmen, professionals.
o Working class: emerged due to factory work and
urbanisation.
o These groups were smaller in Central and Eastern
Europe until the late 19th century.
5. Spread of Nationalist Ideas:
o Educated liberal middle classes supported
national unity.
o Wanted abolition of aristocratic privileges and
equal rights.

-Liberalism
1. Liberalism Meaning:
o Derived from Latin word ‘liber’ meaning free.
 o Advocated freedom for individuals and equality
before the law.
2. Political Liberalism:
o Supported government by consent, end of
autocracy, and clerical privileges.
o Favoured constitutional rule and parliamentary
representation.
3. Liberalism After French Revolution:
o Voting rights were limited to property-owning
men.
o Women and non-propertied men were excluded
from political rights.
o Only under Jacobins, all adult males got suffrage
briefly.
o Napoleonic Code reduced voting rights again and
subordinated women to men.
4. Struggles for Equal Political Rights:
o 19th and early 20th century saw movements by
women and poor men demanding universal
suffrage.
5. Economic Liberalism:
o Stood for free markets, abolition of state
restrictions on trade and capital movement.
o Strongly supported by the new middle/merchant
classes.
6. Example: German-Speaking Regions:
o Napoleon created a confederation of 39 states
from many small principalities.
o Each state had its own currency, weights, and
measures.
o Merchants faced 11 customs barriers and high
duties, making trade difficult.
 7. Problems Due to Fragmentation:
o Time-consuming due to different systems of
weights (e.g., elle varied from 53.5 cm to 65.6 cm).
o Seen as obstacles to trade and economic
growth.
8. Zollverein (1834):
o A customs union initiated by Prussia and joined by
most German states.
o Abolished tariff barriers and reduced currencies
from 30+ to just 2.
9. Impact of Zollverein:
o Unified economic territory, boosted trade, and
improved mobility.
o Development of railways connected regions, aiding
economic and national unity.
o Economic nationalism helped spread nationalist
sentiments.

-Conservatism
1. Conservatism After 1815:
o After Napoleon’s defeat, European governments
followed conservatism.
o Conservatives aimed to preserve traditional
institutions – monarchy, Church, social hierarchy,
property, and family.
2. Modernisation for Conservatism:
o Conservatives did not want to return to pre-
revolution society.
o They believed that modernisation (like a strong
army, efficient bureaucracy, abolition of feudalism)
could strengthen monarchy and state power.
3. Congress of Vienna (1815):
o Held to reorganize Europe after Napoleon’s defeat.
o Attended by Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria;
hosted by Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich.
4. Treaty of Vienna (1815):
o Aimed to undo changes made during Napoleonic
rule.
o Bourbon monarchy restored in France.
o France lost territories gained under Napoleon.
o New states created to prevent French expansion:
 Kingdom of Netherlands (includes Belgium)
in the north.
 Genoa added to Piedmont in the south.
 Prussia got territories on the western
frontier.
 Austria got Northern Italy.
 Russia got part of Poland, Prussia got part
of Saxony.
 German Confederation of 39 states was
retained.
5. Goals of the Vienna Settlement:
o Restore monarchies overthrown by Napoleon.
o Create a conservative, stable order in Europe.
6. Nature of Conservative Regimes:
o Autocratic and intolerant of criticism.
o Imposed censorship on newspapers, books, plays,
songs.
o Aimed to suppress ideas of liberty and freedom
from the French Revolution.
7. Opposition by Liberals:
 o Liberals and nationalists criticised the
conservative order.
o A major demand was freedom of the press.

-Hunger , Hardship and popular Revolt

1. Population Growth and Unemployment:
o Rapid population increase in early 19th century
Europe.
o More job seekers than employment
opportunities.
o Rural people migrated to cities, leading to
overcrowded slums.
2. Impact on Small Producers:
o Faced stiff competition from cheap machine-
made goods from industrialised England.
o Especially affected textile workers using manual or
semi-mechanised methods.
3. Feudal Burden and Food Crisis:
o In areas still under aristocratic control, peasants
suffered under feudal dues.
o Food price rise or bad harvests caused
widespread poverty in both towns and villages.
4. Revolution of 1848 (France):
o Due to food shortages and unemployment,
people revolted in Paris.
o Barricades were set up; King Louis Philippe fled.
o A Republic was proclaimed by the National
Assembly.
o Suffrage granted to all adult males above 21.
o Right to work guaranteed; National Workshops
created to provide jobs.
 5. Silesian Weavers' Revolt (1845):
o Took place in Silesia (German region), where
weaving was the main occupation.
o Contractors reduced wages despite workers'
extreme poverty.
o On 4 June, weavers protested, demanding better
pay.
o Protest turned violent: contractor’s house and
storehouse were attacked.
o Army was called; 11 weavers were shot dead.
o Event reported by journalist Wilhelm Wolff.

-Germany - Can the Army be the Architect of a Nation ?

 Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class
Germans, who in 1848 tried to unite the different regions
of the German confederation into a nation-state governed
by an elected parliament.
 Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for
national unification. its Chief minister, Otto von Bismarck
(followed the policy of Blood and Iron), was the architect of
this process carried out with the help of the Prussian army
and bureaucracy. Three wars over seven years - with
Austria, Denmark and France - ended in Prussian victory
and completed the process of unification. In January 1871,
the Prussian king, Willaim I was proclaimed German
Emperor in a ceremony held at Versaillies. On 18 January
1871, an assembly gathered in the unheated Hall of
mirrors in the Palace of Versaillies to proclaim the new
German Empire headed by Kaiser William I of Prussia.
 The new state placed a strong emphasis on modernising
the currency, banking, legal and judicial systems in
Germany.
 -Italy Unified
1. During the middle of the nineteenth century, Italy was
divided into seven states, of which only one, Sardinia-
Piedmont, was ruled by an Italian princely house. Even the
Italian language had not acquired one common form and
still had many regional and local variations.
2. During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini had sought to put
together a coherent programme for a unitary Italain
Republic. He formed a secret society called Young Italy for
the dissemination of his goals. The failure of revolutionary
uprisings both in 1831 and 1848 meant that the mantle
now fell on Sardinia Piedmont under its ruler King Victor
Emmanuel If to unify the Italian states through war
3. Through a tactful diplomatic alliance with France
engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in
defeating the Austrian forces in 1859. Apart from regular
troops, a large number of armed volunteers under the
leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the fray.In 1860,
they marched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two
Sicilies and succeeded in winning the support of the local
peasants in order to drive out the Spanish rulers. In 1861
Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy.
-Political Situation of Italy before Unification
1. Like Germany, Italy also has a long history of division.
2. The Italians are scattered in several powerful provinces
and the Habsburg State.
3. In the middle of the nineteenth century, Italy was divided
into seven provinces — one Sardinia-Piedmont —
dominated by the Italian Prince House.
4. The North was under Austrian Habsburg, the center was
under papal rule and the southern states were under
Bourbon kings in Spain.
5. Even the Italian language did not find one common
language and still had many regional and local variations.
-Unification of Germany
1. It started with the liberal Nationalist movement of 1848
with the formation of the Frankfurt Parliament but efforts
failed.
2. The move was then taken by Prussia and the responsibility
shifted to Prime Minister Otto Von Bismarck.
3. Bismarck led three wars over a period of seven years with
Austria, Denmark and France culminating in a Prussian
victory.
4. Finally, Germany unified in January 1871.
5. The king of Prussia, William I, was proclaimed emperor of
Germany at a ceremony held in Versailles.
-Female Allegory
1. Need for Personification:
o In the 18th and 19th centuries, artists used female
figures to personify nations, giving a human form to
abstract ideas like nationhood, liberty, and unity.
2. French Revolution Influence:
o Artists during the French Revolution used female
allegories to represent ideals such as:
 Liberty (shown with a red cap and broken
chains)
 Justice (shown as a blindfolded woman with
scales)
3. Marianne – France’s Allegory:
o In France, the nation was symbolised by Marianne,
representing liberty, reason, and the Republic.
o She was shown with red cap, tricolour, and
cockade.
o Her images appeared on coins, stamps, and
statues in public squares to encourage national
unity.
4. Germania – Germany’s Allegory:
 o In Germany, the national personification was
Germania.
o She wore a crown of oak leaves, symbolising
heroism and strength.
o Germania appeared in visual arts and was used to
inspire nationalist feelings.
5. Purpose of Allegories:
o These symbolic figures helped people emotionally
connect with the idea of the nation.
o They promoted national identity and unity during
movements for independence and unification.

-Nationalism and Imperalism difference

:

Aspe
Nationalism Imperialism
ct
Mean Nationalism is the Imperialism is the
ing belief that people who policy of
share a common extending a
language, culture, country's power
history, and territory and control over
should form their own other territories
independent nation. and peoples.
Main To achieve To expand
Aim independence, unity, territory, gain
and self-rule for a political,
nation. economic, and
Aspe
Nationalism Imperialism
ct
military control
over other
regions.
Drive A desire for
n by A sense of national power,
identity and common resources, and
culture. strategic
advantage.
Natu Always
Originally liberal and
re exploitative,
democratic, later
often involved
became aggressive
oppression of
and intolerant.
other nations.
Exam European powers
ple Slavic people in the like Britain,
(Euro Balkans wanted Russia, and
pe) independence from the Austria competing
Ottoman Empire. to control the
Balkans.
Led to wars,
Led to formation of
Resul colonisation,
independent nation-
t and ultimately
states.
World War I.