Europe in the 19th Century- 1 | History for UPSC 2024 (Pre & Mains) PDF Download

 Page 1


Europe in the 
19
th
Century
Rise of Nationalism
The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
Italian and German Unification
Europe in the 19
th
Century
Events Leading Up To The First World War
The Course of the War
Page 2


Europe in the 
19
th
Century
Rise of Nationalism
The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
Italian and German Unification
Europe in the 19
th
Century
Events Leading Up To The First World War
The Course of the War
The French 
Revolution 
and the Idea 
of the Nation
• The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French 
Revolution in 1789.
• From the very beginning, the French revolutionaries introduced 
various measures and practices that could create a sense of 
collective identity amongst the French people. 
• The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) 
emphasised the notion of a united community enjoying equal 
rights under a constitution. 
• A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former 
royal standard.
• The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens 
and renamed the National Assembly. 
• New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs
commemorated, all in the name of the nation. 
• A centralised administrative system was put in place and it 
formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory. 
• Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform 
system of weights and measures was adopted. 
• Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken 
and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation
Page 3


Europe in the 
19
th
Century
Rise of Nationalism
The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
Italian and German Unification
Europe in the 19
th
Century
Events Leading Up To The First World War
The Course of the War
The French 
Revolution 
and the Idea 
of the Nation
• The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French 
Revolution in 1789.
• From the very beginning, the French revolutionaries introduced 
various measures and practices that could create a sense of 
collective identity amongst the French people. 
• The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) 
emphasised the notion of a united community enjoying equal 
rights under a constitution. 
• A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former 
royal standard.
• The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens 
and renamed the National Assembly. 
• New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs
commemorated, all in the name of the nation. 
• A centralised administrative system was put in place and it 
formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory. 
• Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform 
system of weights and measures was adopted. 
• Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken 
and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation
The French 
Revolution 
and the Idea 
of the Nation
• The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and 
the destiny of the French nation to help other peoples of Europe 
to become nations.
• With the outbreak of the revolutionary wars, the French armies 
began to carry the idea of nationalism abroad.
• In the administrative field, Napoleon had incorporated 
revolutionary principles in order to make the whole system 
more rational and efficient. 
• This Code was exported to the regions under French control. 
• In the Dutch Republic, in Switzerland, in Italy and Germany, 
Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the 
feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial 
dues. 
• Transport and communication systems were improved. Peasants, 
artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a new-found 
freedom.
• Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods, in particular, 
began to realise that uniform laws, standardised weights and 
measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the 
movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to 
another.
Page 4


Europe in the 
19
th
Century
Rise of Nationalism
The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
Italian and German Unification
Europe in the 19
th
Century
Events Leading Up To The First World War
The Course of the War
The French 
Revolution 
and the Idea 
of the Nation
• The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French 
Revolution in 1789.
• From the very beginning, the French revolutionaries introduced 
various measures and practices that could create a sense of 
collective identity amongst the French people. 
• The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) 
emphasised the notion of a united community enjoying equal 
rights under a constitution. 
• A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former 
royal standard.
• The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens 
and renamed the National Assembly. 
• New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs
commemorated, all in the name of the nation. 
• A centralised administrative system was put in place and it 
formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory. 
• Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform 
system of weights and measures was adopted. 
• Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken 
and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation
The French 
Revolution 
and the Idea 
of the Nation
• The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and 
the destiny of the French nation to help other peoples of Europe 
to become nations.
• With the outbreak of the revolutionary wars, the French armies 
began to carry the idea of nationalism abroad.
• In the administrative field, Napoleon had incorporated 
revolutionary principles in order to make the whole system 
more rational and efficient. 
• This Code was exported to the regions under French control. 
• In the Dutch Republic, in Switzerland, in Italy and Germany, 
Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the 
feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial 
dues. 
• Transport and communication systems were improved. Peasants, 
artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a new-found 
freedom.
• Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods, in particular, 
began to realise that uniform laws, standardised weights and 
measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the 
movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to 
another.
The 
Aristocracy 
and the New 
Middle Class
• Initially, in many places such as Holland and Switzerland, as well 
as in certain cities like Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw, the 
French armies were welcomed as harbingers of liberty. 
• But the initial enthusiasm soon turned to hostility, as it became 
clear that the new administrative arrangements did not go hand 
in hand with political freedom. 
• 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. 
They spoke French for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. 
Their families were often connected by ties of marriage. 
• This powerful aristocracy was, however, numerically a small 
group. 
• The majority of the population was made up of the peasantry.
• 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.
Page 5


Europe in the 
19
th
Century
Rise of Nationalism
The Revolutions of 1830 and 1848
Italian and German Unification
Europe in the 19
th
Century
Events Leading Up To The First World War
The Course of the War
The French 
Revolution 
and the Idea 
of the Nation
• The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French 
Revolution in 1789.
• From the very beginning, the French revolutionaries introduced 
various measures and practices that could create a sense of 
collective identity amongst the French people. 
• The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) 
emphasised the notion of a united community enjoying equal 
rights under a constitution. 
• A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former 
royal standard.
• The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens 
and renamed the National Assembly. 
• New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs
commemorated, all in the name of the nation. 
• A centralised administrative system was put in place and it 
formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory. 
• Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform 
system of weights and measures was adopted. 
• Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken 
and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation
The French 
Revolution 
and the Idea 
of the Nation
• The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and 
the destiny of the French nation to help other peoples of Europe 
to become nations.
• With the outbreak of the revolutionary wars, the French armies 
began to carry the idea of nationalism abroad.
• In the administrative field, Napoleon had incorporated 
revolutionary principles in order to make the whole system 
more rational and efficient. 
• This Code was exported to the regions under French control. 
• In the Dutch Republic, in Switzerland, in Italy and Germany, 
Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the 
feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial 
dues. 
• Transport and communication systems were improved. Peasants, 
artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a new-found 
freedom.
• Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods, in particular, 
began to realise that uniform laws, standardised weights and 
measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the 
movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to 
another.
The 
Aristocracy 
and the New 
Middle Class
• Initially, in many places such as Holland and Switzerland, as well 
as in certain cities like Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw, the 
French armies were welcomed as harbingers of liberty. 
• But the initial enthusiasm soon turned to hostility, as it became 
clear that the new administrative arrangements did not go hand 
in hand with political freedom. 
• 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. 
They spoke French for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. 
Their families were often connected by ties of marriage. 
• This powerful aristocracy was, however, numerically a small 
group. 
• The majority of the population was made up of the peasantry.
• 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.
The 
Aristocracy 
and the New 
Middle Class
• 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.
• 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.
• In its wake, new social groups came into being: a working-class 
population, and middle classes made up of industrialists, 
businessmen, professionals.
• 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