Rise of Nationalism in 19th century: Nationalism and Nation State | History Optional for UPSC (Notes) PDF Download

Understanding Nationalism and the Nation-State

Key Factors in the Rise of Nationalism:

• Community Notions: Nationalism was sustained by ideas of community based on factors like language, ethnicity, or religion.
• State Rivalry: Competition and rivalry among states and imagined communities also played a crucial role.

Nationalism, when aligned with the modern state, led to the creation of the nation-state. In some instances, the modern state actively promoted a sense of nationalism to provide its citizens with a cohesive nationalist ideology.

This collaboration between nationalism and the state resulted in popular mobilizations, which further strengthened the state and contributed to the formation of nation-states.

Origins of Nationalism

America vs. France: Different Views on Nation and Nationalism:

• In America, nationalism was less about a single, united identity and more focused on individual rights and the balance between states and the federal government.
• In contrast, France viewed the nation as a unified whole, emphasizing the importance of a collective identity.

Mass Participation and Citizenship:

• The concept of the nation became closely tied to mass involvement, citizenship, and the collective authority of the people.
• Post-Revolutionary France strongly promoted linguistic uniformity, even though many citizens did not speak French.

Linguistic Uniformity and National Identity:

• In revolutionary France, speaking French became a requirement for full citizenship.
• Similarly, in Italy, the Italian language was the sole basis for nationalism and unification, despite only a small percentage of the population using it daily in 1860.

Mazzini and the Vision of Italian Nationalism:

• Giuseppe Mazzini, a key figure in Italian nationalism, believed in the indivisibility of popular sovereignty and opposed federalist proposals as tools for local elites.
• He felt that the Italian people needed to be 'formed' to overcome regional divisions, although he had a deep faith in the unity of the popular will.

The Role of Literature in Shaping National Identity:

• Mazzini argued that literature could inspire and shape the nation by addressing the needs of the people, thus influencing political development.

Stages of Nationalism Growth

Proto-nationalism Before 1789:

• Before the late 18th century, preliminary notions of national unity existed, varying from country to country.
• These ideas of geographical or cultural unity were precursors to modern nationalism.
• In countries like Britain and France, nation-building had been ongoing since the 16th and 17th centuries, respectively.

Nationalism After 1789:

• Modern nationalism took shape following the French Revolution.
• 19th-century observers noted elements of nationalism in the medieval period, such as a sense of ethnic or linguistic identity, which can be seen as a form of patriotism or proto-nationalism.

Medieval Nationalism:

• Some historians, like the 19th-century French thinker Guizot, argued that the Hundred Years War(1337-1453) fostered a sense of national unity in France.
• Despite being a time of crisis marked by war, plague, and famine, this period contributed to a burgeoning sense of patriotism.

Role of Monarchy and Geography in Nation Formation:

• The growth of the French monarchy was crucial in creating a unified French state.
• While some historians argue that France was a geographical reality independent of monarchical centralization, this view is debated.
• Geographically, France lacked clear natural frontiers, and its statehood emerged as an accidental product of history.

Swiss National Consciousness:

• The emergence of Swiss national consciousness occurred by 1848, following the victory of liberals and the drafting of a new federal constitution.
• This consciousness developed despite the initial diversity of the four different nationalities that formed the modern state in 1648.

Modern Nationalism: The 19th Century

• The 19th century is viewed as the era of nationalism, where the ideas of the nation and nation-state, rooted in Britain and France, became universal principles for modern societies.
• Friedrich List emphasized the importance of a large population, extensive territory, and diverse national resources for a successful nation.
• The principle of nationality applied primarily to larger nationalities during the liberal period of nationalism, reflecting a belief in the advantages of large-scale states.
• This threshold principle of nationality was shared by thinkers like John Stuart Mill, Friedrich Engels, and Mazzini.

Mazzini’s Vision vs. Wilson’s Principle of National Self-Determination:

• Mazzini’s vision of national self-determination was significantly different from that of President Wilson after World War I.
• In 1857, Mazzini’s map of Europe based on nations included only a dozen states and federations.
• In contrast, post-World War II Europe, based on the right to national self-determination, had 26 nation-states.
• The late 19th century saw a shift in attitudes towards nationality and nationalism, particularly with the rise of mass political movements and electoral democracy.

Nation and State: The Debate:

• The debate on the relationship between nation and state evolved, with figures like Colonel Pilsudski noting that the state shapes the nation rather than the other way around.
• Ultimately, electoral democracy challenged the liberal theory of the nation, highlighting the dynamic interplay between nation and state.

Spread of Nationalism and the Modern State

Nationalism and the Modern State:

• Nationalism began to flourish in the 19th century, influenced by the ideas of the French Revolution and the impacts of Napoleonic military victories and the resulting political reorganizations.
• Factors that facilitated the spread of nationalism in Europe included:
• 1. Simplification of the European political map, notably within the German Empire.
• 2. Intensification of Spanish nationalism during the Peninsular War.
• 3. Rise of Italian and German nationalism inspired by French armies, the Napoleonic role in nation-state formation, and the spread of revolutionary and democratic ideas.

Nationalism in Eastern Europe:

• In the late 19th century, mass politics significantly boosted nationalism, especially in Eastern Europe, a region comparatively less advanced than Western Europe.
• Absolutist and modern states in Western Europe played crucial roles in the transition from feudalism to capitalism. This process involved:
• Creation of Centralized States: Dynastic rulers in the 16th and 17th centuries established centralized states with strong standing armies.
• Taxation and Use of Force: Absolutist states claimed rights to taxation and a monopoly over legitimate force within their boundaries.
• State-Making through Wars: Wars among absolutist rulers spurred state-making processes, with state taxation linked to war costs. Mercantilist policies aimed to enhance military power through economic strength.
• Political Unification: Most of the 500 political entities of the period perished, but political unification of Italy and Germany was made possible by the rise of nationalist ideology in the 19th century.

Cultural Variation and State Formation:

• The European state-making process minimized internal cultural variation within states while maximizing variation among states.
• This minimization was achieved through centralization of state power and the development of a concept of sovereignty that was absolute and indivisible.
• Centralizing monarchs overcame obstacles to sovereign rights from local assemblies or the aristocracy, clergy, or bourgeoisie.

Bourgeois Revolutions and the Modern State:

• The bourgeois revolutions of the Age of Revolutions, particularly in Holland, England, and France, were pivotal in establishing the modern capitalist state.
• These revolutions eliminated barriers to the modern state and were crucial in shaping the state’s role in the economy and society.

Study of the System of States:

• The study of the system of states that emerged from the 16th and 17th centuries can be framed through the lens of economic development, specifically capitalist development and its uneven spread across Europe in the 19th century.
• Industrialization in Britain during the late 18th century gradually spread across Europe throughout the 19th century.
• Countries that industrialized later, such as Germany and Russia, faced disadvantages in competing with earlier industrializers like Britain.

State Role in Late Industrialization:

• In nations like Germany and Russia, where industrialization occurred later than in Britain, the state played a crucial role in creating conditions for rapid industrialization.
• This included establishing tariff protections and promoting cartelization of industry.
• The concentration of capital in Germany and the strong nexus between banks and industrial firms were more pronounced than in Britain.

Friedrich List and Economic Development:

• Friedrich List challenged Britain’s free trade and liberal capitalism doctrines, advocating for protectionist policies to enable Germany to develop and catch up with Britain.
• The German bourgeoisie viewed the creation of a national market as essential for economic development, linking political unification with economic progress.

German National State Creation:

• The German national state was established through a top-down revolution, particularly after the wars of 1864, 1866, and 1870-71, led by Bismarck and the Prussian Army.
• In Italy, nationalism was initially associated with the literary heritage of figures like Dante and the youthful ideals of Mazzini before becoming tied to the economic interests of the bourgeoisie.
• During the 1840s, economic unification was promoted by journalists and intellectuals, linking the nascent Italian bourgeoisie’s interests with the success of the German customs union (Zollverein).

Austrian Opposition and Economic Nationalism:

• Austrian opposition to the integration of Italian railways, such as the linking of Piedmontese and Lombard railway systems, fueled economic nationalism.
• There was no unified agenda among Italian industrialists for railway building, customs union, common currency, or national market.
• Industrialists often feared increased competition and were too weak to benefit from market expansions.

Role of Landlords and Urban Professionals:

• In Italy, landlords and urban professionals played a more significant role in the movement toward economic unification than the bourgeoisie.
• Figures like Cavour, Minghetti, and Ricasoli, all improving landlords and moderate liberals, were instrumental in Italian national unification.

Nations and Nation-States

Modern States, Nations, and Nationalism

• Territorial Basis: Modern states, nations, and nationalism are all fundamentally territorial, as they are founded on specific geographical areas.
• 19th Century Ideals: In the 19th century, the idea emerged that the state and the nation should align geographically within the concept of the nation-state.
• Territorial State: The modern state is often referred to as the “territorial state,” characterized by a clearly defined territory over which it claims sovereign rights for all its citizens.
• Nationalism as an Ideology: Nationalism is a territorial ideology that fosters internal unity while creating divisions between different peoples and nations. It discourages conflicts based on social class or status within a nation but amplifies differences between various nations.
• Linking Nations to Statehood: Nationalism connects culturally and historically defined territorial communities, known as nations, to political statehood. This ideology can lead to demands for independent states, transformations of existing states, or attempts to legitimize state policies in the name of national interest.

Impact of Nationalism on Modern States

• Older States: In older states like England and France, nationalism was associated with the development of more democratic relationships between the state and civil society.
• Internal Unification: Nationalism promotes the internal unification of culturally and economically diverse regions into a more homogenous state territory.
• Division and Boundaries: Nationalism also divides one political community or nation from another and often determines geographical boundaries.

Support for Unification and Separation

• In Italy and Germany, nationalism and the state worked together to create a new nation-state.
• In Scandinavia, nationalism led to the separation of Norway from Sweden.
• In the case of Poland, there were both separation and unification processes that contributed to the formation of the Polish nation-state.

Doctrine of National Self-Determination

• In the late 19th century, the principle of national self-determination became the foundation for establishing new nation-states based on factors such as language, an invented national language, ethnicity, or shared culture and tradition.
• The nationalisms of Greece, Czechoslovakia, and Ireland emerged before the establishment of these nation-states, which eventually gained independence from the multinational empires that had nurtured them. These new nation-states were carved out of the Ottoman Empire, Austrian Empire, and British Empire, respectively.

Spread of Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe

• As nationalism spread to Central and Eastern Europe, especially in regions with limited industrialization and weak bourgeoisie, the role of the lower middle class and peasantry in shaping nationalism became more pronounced.
• With the growth of industrialization, the rise of the working class and socialism, and inter-imperialist rivalries, nationalism began to be associated with conservative and right-wing ideologies, rather than solely with the republican ideas of the French Revolution.

Relationship between Democratic and Nationalist Mobilization

Liberal Democracies and Nationalism

• French Revolution as Inspiration: The French Revolution, with its principles of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and the Rights of Man, inspired subsequent democratic and popular movements across Europe.
• Role of Jacobins: The Jacobins influenced 19th-century radicals throughout Europe, and the French Revolution's experience shaped the ideal model of the bourgeois revolution.
• Gradual Democratization: France's democratization was gradual, with the French Revolutions of 1830 and 1848, and the Paris Commune of 1871 contributing to the process. However, the radicalism of 1792-95 was significant.
• Napoleon's Impact: Despite being a setback for the Revolution's ideals, Napoleon's conquests spread nationalism and democracy among conquered peoples.
• Congress of Vienna: The Congress of Vienna aimed to contain France and, through the Metternich system, sought to restrict the spread of democratic and nationalist ideas.
• Concert of Europe: The Concert of Europe attempted to suppress liberal and nationalist movements that threatened autocratic rule, with revolutions occurring in Spain, Greece, and Italy in 1820, and a more serious wave of revolutions in France, Germany, Belgium, and Poland in 1830.
• 1848 Revolutions: The revolutions of 1848, which swept across Europe, accelerated the movement toward democracy and nationalism, leading to Napoleon III's rise in France, the unification of Germany and Italy, and stirred national sentiments in the multi-national Austrian Empire.
• Socio-Economic Changes: Democratization in the first half of the 19th century was driven not only by revolutions but also by socio-economic changes, including industrial growth and the emergence of new social classes like the bourgeoisie and workers.
• Modern State and Bureaucracy: The growth of the modern state and bureaucracy contributed to the development of official languages and public education, fostering democratic and nationalist ideas.
• Press Growth: The expansion of the press, with an increase in the number of publications and the size of the reading public, made state policies a matter of public concern, aiding the liberal middle class's growth.
• British Experience: In Britain, where there was no revolutionary upheaval during the 19th century, movements like Chartism and the Reform Acts of 1832 and 1867 contributed to democratization. The Industrial Revolution fostered capitalism and strengthened civil society's relationship with the state, with the ruling class representing a compromise between the rising bourgeoisie and the older aristocracy.

Factors Affecting National Mobilization and Democratization

• As the 19th century progressed, the concept of democracy gained popularity despite the reactionary role of the Concert of Europe and the Holy Alliance, becoming associated with the growth of liberal capitalism in Britain and France.
• Contrasting Experiences: It is common to contrast the experiences of first-wave capitalists like Britain and France with late industrializers or second-wave countries like Germany and Italy.
• Economic Development: Economic development led to the emergence of new social classes, particularly the working class, which posed challenges for modernizing states and the liberal bourgeoisie in the 19th century.
• Electoral Democracy: By the mid-19th century, many European states had included propertied middle classes within electoral democracy, while the labour and socialist movements in the late 19th century altered the balance of social forces.

Nationality and Language

• State modernization was accompanied by the establishment of centralized administration and a large bureaucracy based on rational-legal principles. This process also involved the development of a national language for administration, not just local communication.
• The selection of a dialect or language as the medium of official communication led to state support for its propagation, particularly through the education system.
• The growth of a professional middle class and modern state bureaucracies was supported by the expansion of modern universities, law, and journalism.
• The expansion of the secondary school system and the state’s choice of an official or national language in schools caused significant conflict among rival ethnic-linguistic groups within multi-ethnic states like Austria-Hungary and across Eastern Europe.
• In earlier periods, language was less divisive due to low literacy levels, a weak elite-mass relationship, and the lack of state legitimization through some form of representative government.
• In the 19th century, linguistic nationalism was linked to the growth of modern bureaucracy and the aspirations of a rising petty bourgeoisie seeking jobs and cultural influence.
• Language became a significant issue in international politics, exemplified by the disputes between Danes and Germans over Schleswig-Holstein and between Germans and French over the Rhine frontier in the 1840s.
• The increasing importance of language in nationality conflicts emerged in the late 19th century, with modern state administrative innovations sharpening public linguistic identity.
• Census data collection from the 1860s onwards included language questions, compelling individuals to choose not only a nationality but also a linguistic nationality.

Nationalism, State, and Class

• In older states like Britain and France, state-based patriotism fostered a sense of nationalism throughout the 19th century.
• The processes that transformed subjects into citizens contributed to nationalism and patriotism in various states.
• Popular perceptions of natural-cultural differences and political and national characteristics played a role in both nationalism and national chauvinism in late 19th-century countries, whether liberal capitalist like Britain or late-industrializing like Germany.
• The working-class patriotism in Europe acknowledged class divisions while affirming loyalty to the nation-state.
• This was evident when the working class and socialist parties of the Second International, despite condemning imperialist wars and emphasizing the international character of socialist struggles, identified with their nations and national interests when World War I broke out.
• Lenin was shocked by the German Social Democrats, the largest socialist party in Europe, voting for war credits immediately after the war was declared.
• Socialists and Marxists underestimated the power of nationalism and working-class patriotism.

Nationalism, Empire, and Imperial Rivalry

• The expansion of the franchise and liberal states’ efforts, like Britain, modernizing states like Germany, and autocracies like Tsarist Russia, to gain legitimacy and popular support fostered a form of patriotism.
• National pride and identification was also bolstered by overseas expansion and the material and psychological rewards of empire for countries like Britain, France, Holland, and Spain.
• In Britain, national identification was strengthened by pride in its global empire.
• Britain's industrial achievements were celebrated during the Industrial Exhibition of 1851, and its imperial greatness was marked by the Imperial Durbar in India in 1877.
• Scottish nationalism, which developed in the 18th and 19th centuries after the Union of 1707, was weakened by economic development, which diversified regions and social classes within Scotland.
• Scottish workers, Highland crofters, and tenants clashed with Scottish landlords, and Scottish nationalism was not a strong force.
• Scots played significant roles in both empire acquisition and management, undermining Scottish nationalism.
• State policies aimed at gaining legitimacy and support for government actions, along with spontaneous and state-sponsored support for imperial exploits and colonial profits, fostered national pride.
• Patriotism was reflected in jingoistic responses in Britain to the Boer War against settlers in South Africa from 1898 to 1902.
• As late 19th-century imperial rivalries among European powers intensified, attention could be diverted from domestic economic troubles or class conflicts.
• Though the partition of Africa occurred without war among European powers, competition for overseas markets, raw materials, investment opportunities, and territorial expansion promoted identification with the nation-state among various population segments.
• Military successes or commercial achievements abroad rallied support for 19th-century states, whether in countries with vast empires like Britain or those with limited overseas influence like Germany.
• 19th-century nationalism was tied to economic and military rivalry between Britain and Germany, naval competitions between the two powers, and the ambitions of late-industrializing countries like Germany and Italy to catch up with early industrializers like Britain and France who had large empires.
• Late 19th-century aggressive nationalism in countries like Germany rallied support for regimes and encouraged nationalist sentiment across Europe.
• The German Emperor William II's speech in Tangiers, Morocco, in 1905 sparked fear in France, especially through French media.
• French anxiety about German hostility and the memory of France's defeat at Sedan in the Franco-German War of 1870 fostered national unity, helping to transcend domestic conflicts during crises.
• The period from 1890 to 1914, often termed “armed peace,” was characterized by military and diplomatic alliances among contenders for industrial, military, and colonial supremacy.
• National calendar memorialization and school texts, alongside nationalist newspapers, encouraged both spontaneous and state-sponsored support for the nation-state in 19th-century Europe.

Ethnic-Linguistic Basis of Nationalism in the Late 19th Century

• By the late 19th century, modernization and homogenization processes had fostered a sense of nationalism in older states and large states that had achieved unification by then.
• Unitary nationalism often incited counter-nationalism among ethnic or linguistic groups feeling oppressed or excluded by nationalist homogenization.
• Between 1880 and 1914, nationalism was no longer restricted by the ‘threshold principle’ that had previously limited

Nationalist Movements and Democracy

Nation and Nationalism:

• Nation and nationalism are associated with the people, popular sovereignty, and democratic rights.

Influence of the French Revolution:

• The French Revolution significantly impacted national movements in the 19th century.

Shift in Nationalist Politics:

• By the late 19th century, there was a shift towards illiberal or right-wing nationalist politics.
• This shift occurred even as mass participation through regular elections increased.

Fear of Popular Participation:

• The rise in right-wing nationalism was driven by a fear of increased popular participation, particularly from the working class and left-wing socialist parties.

Compromise of Liberal Intelligentsia:

• The liberal intelligentsia and middle class, who initially supported republican or liberal nationalism, compromised with conservative landowners and dynastic states after the 1848 revolutions.
• This compromise was aimed at achieving national unification and addressing the political challenges posed by the working classes and socialist parties.

Role of Race and Empire:

• Ideologies of race and empire supported the conservative version of nationalism.

Impact of the 1848 Revolutions:

• The revolutions of 1848 exposed the weaknesses of the liberal bourgeoisie in Europe.
• In Germany, liberals had to compromise with the Prussian state, while in Italy, it led to the rise of Piedmont Sardinia.

Emergence of Nationalist Sentiment:

• The 1848 revolutions revealed nationalist sentiment within the Habsburg Empire and Eastern Europe.
• They also highlighted the rise of working-class and socialist ideologies throughout Europe.

Complex Relationship:

• The relationship between democratic and popular movements and nationalism has always been complex.

National Mobilization in Britain:

• In late 18th century Britain, common people supported national mobilization against revolutionary and Napoleonic France.
• However, the ruling class and British state were hesitant to unleash popular energies that could threaten their local interests.

Struggles in Italian National Movement:

• Although Mazzini promoted democratic ideals and a people's war of national liberation, Italian liberals struggled to inspire the masses and were largely confined to urban areas.
• Mazzini's concept of people's war was influenced by the Spanish war of 1808-13, but he overlooked the crucial role of the clergy in garnering peasant support for Spanish nationalism.

Carlo Pisacane’s Efforts:

• Carlo Pisacane, a Neapolitan who played a significant role in defending the Roman Republic, believed that Italian leadership lagged behind popular initiatives.
• He criticized Garibaldi for failing to create a truly revolutionary army.
• However, Pisacane and his small revolutionary force were killed by local peasants in 1857.

Weakness of National Movement:

• In Italy, the connection between the national movement for political unification and popular participation was weak.
• Massimo d’Azeglio remarked, “We have made Italy, now we have to make Italians,” reflecting this weakness.

Italian Nationalism and Popular Mobilization

In Italy, the involvement of the masses and the peasantry in the nationalist movement was limited for several reasons:

• The conservatism of state rulers hindered broader participation.
• Landlords were reluctant to make concessions to peasants, which could have drawn them into the national movement.
• The intelligentsia and revolutionaries struggled to bridge the gap between urban and rural populations.
• The elite feared radical change, which affected their willingness to support widespread mobilization.

Coppa argues that the 1848 war was more of an "ideological war" for the Italians. During this period, Garibaldi's volunteers and Milanese revolutionaries fought alongside troops from Piedmont, the Papal States, Tuscany, and Naples against Austria. However, the participation of the rulers was driven by fear of revolution and the force of public opinion.

• The failures of the Republics in Venice and Rome highlighted the shortcomings of Mazzinian ideals of popular warfare. Between 1859 and 1861, Cavour's motives were more "patriotic than nationalist," aiming to secure a dominant position for Piedmont rather than a genuine commitment to Italian unification.
• Garibaldi's successful campaign in the south led to a revolution in Sicily and his victory in Naples. He eventually accepted a subordinate role in the process of Italian unification as envisioned by Cavour. Garibaldi recognized the necessity of working with the monarchy.
• Italy was unified through a combination of force and popular consent, as seen in plebiscites. However, the centralized government of the new Italian state alienated sentiments in Naples and Sicily. At the time of unification, only a small minority (2.5%) spoke Italian, necessitating the deployment of over 100,000 troops to establish control over the turbulent south shortly after unification.
• Cavour instructed his agents in Central Italy to conduct plebiscites to show that the people endorsed the decisions of their assemblies to join Piedmont. The manipulation of plebiscites in Romagna, the Duchies, Nice, and Savoy by Napoleon III and Cavour revealed the limited mass participation in the unification process.
• The divisions between the industrialized north, the less developed central region, and the neglected south intensified after unification. The process of Italian unification was driven more by military success and international diplomacy than by popular struggle or mass mobilization. It involved the minimal mobilization of the masses necessary for achieving independence and unification.
• Even after the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy, the nation’s politics were dominated by political parties with narrow social bases and limited connections to the Italian masses. The extension of the franchise, public education, and industrial and urban growth in Italy lagged behind France and Germany.
• The process of Italian unification was akin to a passive revolution, where the elite mobilized the masses only to the extent necessary to achieve national unification and independence from Austria. The slow and inadequate economic development, coupled with the growth of civil society and democratic values, contributed to the conditions that allowed fascism and Mussolini’s rise to power after World War I.
• The post-war crisis led to a Fascist victory, despite Italy’s relatively minor role in the war and its late entry. Italian democracy evolved slowly even after unification, and Italian nationalism struggled to win over the southern population.

Development of Nationalism in Eastern Europe:

• Three phases in the development of national movements in the small states of Eastern Europe.
• In the first stage or phase A there was primarily an emphasis on culture: literature and folklore; in phase B pioneers of the national idea and its publicists occupied centre-stage.
• It was only in the third stage – phase C – that the national movements acquired mass support on any significant scale.

Cultural Nationalism: Phase A and B:

• The development of a European romantic perception of the natural and untainted peasantry and a serious study of folklore by the late 18th century provided a basis for many a national movement in Eastern Europe by the late 19th century.
• The cultural and linguistic revival movements in Europe between the 1780s and 1840s were the handiwork of scholars and ruling elites anxious to preserve and develop national tradition of some forgotten people or peasants and were sometimes the product of foreign scholars and elites.
• While many of the East European languages developed or constructed their literary language somewhere between the late 18th and 19th centuries literary Hungarian emerged in the 16th century.
• This was a conscious effort to unite the southern Slavs. Although Serbo-Croat developed as one literary language, the Catholic Croats used Roman characters while the Orthodox Serbs used Cyrillic ones.
• In eastern Europe – specially south eastern Europe – the ethnic and linguistic diversity was greater than in the rest of Europe, specially western Europe, and awareness of distinct linguistic cultural identity emerged late.
• The Magyars, however, had a distinct sense of themselves as an ethnic group with a language of their own even in the 13th century. Not only the Magyars, but the Czechs and the Poles too had developed a distinct identity based on ethnicity or language but their concept of the nation did not include the peasants and the common people.

Czech Nationalism:

• The emergence of a common Czech national feeling is attributable to the fear of competition for senior posts from immigrant German clerics felt by the native clergy.
• The Czechs did not have their own independent state during the 18th and 19th centuries. As a consequence, the nobility spoke German, Spanish or French, the townsmen German, leaving only the peasantry and the urban poor to speak the Czech language.
• The development of capitalism and the migration of Czech workers into towns created the basis for modern Czech nationalism.
• The revival of Czech language and literature was taken up by the intelligentsia in the late 18th century, by the sons of clerks, handicraftsmen and servants who had received university education.
• In the 1780s Czech language and theatre was patronized even by craftsmen and workers.
• The objective of the rising Czech intelligentsia was to “acquire equal rights for the modern Czech nation with that of the German nation in the Czech Lands”.
• Over the first half of the 19th century, the Czech intelligentsia, drawn mainly from small town craftsmen’s families, promoted Czech as the language of instruction in schools. By using newspapers, theatres and public discussions, the Czech cause was promoted and linked with Slav solidarity.
• The Czechs who constituted about 70% of the population in Bohemia and Moravia in the mid 19th century had almost no political rights while the Germans had full political rights.
• Discussions in public houses and the Czech debates over the internal conditions in Russia and Germany led the intelligentsia to opt for equality with the Germans in the Czech lands within the Austrian framework.
• In Austria it would be possible to live with other Slavs – Poles, Serbs, Slovaks, Croats – affording both safety in numbers and a better chance for the Czechs to achieve their rights than under the more authoritarian Tsarist autocracy or more homogenizing German Empire.
• These factors shaped the political concept of Austro-slavism which emerged in the 1840s. The doctrine wanted to transform the Austrian absolutist state into “a federal state of nations enjoying equal rights”.

Hungarian Nationalism:

• In the case of Hungary national awakening among Hungarians took place at about the same time as among other ethnic groups in the late 18th century.
• Two phases in the national movements, the cultural and the political: During the cultural nationalist phase the national language is created from among numerous dialects and a historical consciousness emerged.
• In the political phase demands for local autonomy and the use of the national language in administration eventually creates a nation state.
• In Hungary, diverse ethnic groups existed. Ottoman occupation from 1541 until the end of the 17th century of the central part of, Hungary affected the ethnic balance just as the subsequent Habsburg policy of introducing German settlers in Southern Hungary.
• Only the Magyars and the Croats had produced a significant feudal elite in Hungary together with a legal political life in the Diets.

Spread of National Idea and Nationalism:

• Proto-national feeling existed among the Serbs because the had kept alive the memory of the old Serb kingdom which was destroyed by the Turks. Some form of patriotism was kept alive by the Serbian Church which had canonized the Serb kings.
• It was after the growth of a sense of cultural nationalism based on a sense of language, culture and history that nationalism as an idea influenced the smaller nationalities of Eastern Europe.

Czechoslovakia:

• The Czech politicians of the late 19th century produced no grand political schemes and had to settle for small concessions. Economic and cultural advances in the Czech Lands meant that the bourgeoisie had insufficient reason to support Czech nationalism.
• It was World War I which triggered nationalism in the Czech Lands as elsewhere in Europe. Wartime difficulties produced unrest in the towns, desertions on the battlefield from 1915 onwards and Czech writers in 1917 published a manifesto supporting a future democratic Europe of free nations.
• Tomas Masaryk had pleaded for the independence of small nations in Europe i11 October 1915 and the rapid political changes during World War I led to the realization of such dreams.
• In 1915 the demand for an independent Czechoslovak state was made. Czech and Slovak military units joined the enemies of Austria-Hungary during World War I and thus established their claims to recognition by the victorious Entente powers.
• After a thousand years the Czech Lands were reunited with Slovakia – the result of Czech nationalism, the effects of World War I on large dynastic states, and President Wilson’s support for national self-determination.

Hungary:

• In Hungary the creation of the Dual Monarchy appeased the Hungarians but aroused national sentiment among the other nationalities. Hungarian statesmen tried to assimilate the non-Magyar population by means of the state language Hungarian.
• Between 1890-1914, as a result of modernization and industrialization, more than a million people were successfully assimilated by the Magyars.
• Budapest, which in the mid-19th century had a German speaking and non-Magyar population, became a Hungarian speaking city by the early 20th century. Emigration to the United States was in fact encouraged by the government to reduce the non-Magyar population like Slovaks and Serbs.
• By the early 20th century a new and more active political elite emerged among the Romanians and Slovaks. The break-up of the Hapsburg empire of Austria-Hungary led to the creation of new nation states of Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia.
• Owing to the problems involved in demarcating precise national frontiers – which plagued the post-war settlement – over three million Magyars became a minority in the newly independent neighbouring states of a truncated Hungary.
• It was a “great reversal of roles” which made the dominant Magyars a minority in new states, since the Treaty of Trianon in 1920 forced one in three Magyars to live outside the country.
• Hungarian ruling elites lost big estates, banks and factories, and therefore they used discontent produced by the reduction of Hungary to one-third of its former size to mobilize opposition to the unjust Treaty of Trianon.
• The conservative elites, utilizing this Treaty to deflect popular discontent into nationalist channels, eventually carried Hungary into the camp of fascist Germany and Italy during World War II.

Poland:

• In Poland the nobility by the 18th century developed a sense of Polish identity based on the acceptance of the Polish language and culture. Language was not yet in the 18th century a basis for national consciousness. The religious differences of the Polish population played a significant role in this period.
• Peasants did not have a developed national consciousness but they had participated in the battle for Polish independence in the late 18th century.
• It was during the 19th century that abolition of serfdom and enfranchisement took place at different points in time under the auspices of the three Great Powers – Prussia, Austria and Russia, which had partitioned Poland among themselves in the 18th century.
• National consciousness was speeded up by granting civil and democratic rights to burghers and later Jews; by movements and parties demanding agricultural reform; and by the gradual elimination of legal inequalities between classes.
• The second half of the 19th century saw the emergence of a Belorussian and Ukrainian national consciousness based on a language and literature which resisted domination by Polish language and literature. These differences of language were linked to social differences.
• Polish was linked to the nobility and intelligentsia while Belorussian and Ukrainian consciousness emerged opposed to the Polish state. Polish was the language of the upper classes.
• Belorussian, Ukrainian and Lithuanian, regarded as peasant languages, were considered inferior.
• While polish national consciousness had developed as a response to oppressive German nationalism after the creation of an independent Poland in 1918 the nationalism of the Poles too, became oppressive towards minority groups.
• The Polish Republic which came into being in 192