Key Concepts: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe | Social Studies (SST) Class 10 PDF Download

Definitions

Frederic Sorrieu: He was a French artist famous for prints prepared in 1848 that visualized the dream of a world consisting of Democratic and Social Republics.

Nineteenth-Century: Associated with the rise of nationalism and nation-states.

Nationalism: A feeling of oneness with the society or the state, love and devotion for the motherland and belief in the political identity of one's country are the basic attributes of nationalism.
Nation State: A state that establishes itself as a separate political and geographical entity and functions as a complete and sovereign territorial unit. This concept emerged in 19th century Europe as  a result of the growth of nationalism.
Modern State: A state in which sovereignty is exercised by a centralized power over a specific territory and population.
Absolutist Government: A system of government wherein limitless powers is vested in a single person or body. It is a monarchical form of government in which the ruler is the absolute authority and is not answerable to anybody.

French Revolution (1789)

• It marked the start of nationalism.
• In 1789, France was ruled by an absolute monarchy.
• The Revolution shifted power from the monarch to the French people.
• It declared that the people would now form the nation and determine its future.
• The concepts of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) highlighted the idea of a united community with equal rights under a constitution.
• A new flag, the tricolour, replaced the old royal standard.
• The Estates-General was elected by citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
• New anthems were created, oaths were pledged, and martyrs were honoured in the name of the nation.
• A centralised administrative system was established to create uniform laws for all citizens.
• Internal customs duties and fees were abolished.
• A standardised system of weights and measures was introduced.
• Regional dialects were discouraged, and the version of French spoken in Paris became the common language.
• As revolutionary wars began, French armies spread the idea of nationalism to other countries.

Napoleon (1769-1821)

• Ruled France from 1799 to 1815.
• Gained absolute power in 1799 by becoming the First Consul.
• Introduced the Civil Code, also known as the Napoleonic Code (1804).
• Established equality before the law.
• Abolished privileges based on birth.
• Granted the right to property to French citizens.
• Simplified administrative divisions.
• Abolished the feudal system, freeing peasants from serfdom.
• Removed restrictions on guilds in towns.
• Improved transport and communication systems as part of administrative changes.
• However, the reactions of local populations in conquered areas were mixed. Initially, places like Holland, Switzerland, and cities such as Brussels, Mainz, Milan, and Warsaw welcomed French armies as bringers of liberty. But this enthusiasm quickly turned to hostility when it became clear that the new administrative structures did not ensure political freedom. Increased taxation, censorship, and forced conscription into the French armies overshadowed the benefits of these changes.
• The Napoleonic Code was spread to regions under French control.

Europe in the mid-18th Century

If you examine the map of mid-eighteenth-century Europe, you will notice that there were no ‘nation-states' as we understand them today.

Example: The Habsburg Empire, which governed Austria-Hungary, was a mix of various regions and peoples. It included the Alpine areas – the Tyrol, Austria, and the Sudetenland – along with Bohemia, where most of the nobility spoke German. It also encompassed the Italian-speaking regions of Lombardy and Venetia. In addition to these three main groups, there were numerous subject peoples — Bohemians and Slovaks to the north, Slovenes in Carniola, Croats to the south, and Roumans to the east in Transylvania. The only thing that connected these diverse groups was their shared loyalty to the emperor.

Class Structure

• 1. Aristocracy: Socially and politically, the aristocracy was the leading class on the continent. Members of this class shared a lifestyle that crossed regional boundaries. They owned both country estates and townhouses. They spoke French for diplomacy and in high society. Their families were often linked by marriage. However, this influential aristocracy was relatively small in number.
• 2. Peasantry: The majority of the population consisted of peasants. In the west, most land was farmed by tenants and small landowners, while in Eastern and Central Europe, landholding was characterised by large estates worked by serfs.

Liberal Nationalism

It Means Individual freedom, Equality before the law, Government by consent, Freedom of markets, Abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
Liberalism became the main concern in Europe after the French Revolution because:

(a) Universal Adult Suffrage was not granted to the people by the Napoleonic Code.
(b) Men without property and women were denied the right to vote.
(c) Women were made subject to the authority of men.
(d) Markets were not free as the 39 confederacies of France had their own laws which posed problems for the free movement of goods.
(e) There were no standard weights and measures and no fixed rates of customs duties, which greatly affected the trade.

Conservatism

It emphasises the preservation of traditional institutions like the monarchy, the church, social hierarchies, and family, while also accepting some modern changes introduced by Napoleon. Conservatism as a political belief emerged after Napoleon's defeat in 1815.

The conservative regimes:

• Were intolerant of criticism and dissent
• Implemented press censorship to suppress liberal ideas
• Discouraged any challenges to their legitimacy

Congress of Vienna (1815)

The Congress of Vienna was organised by the Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich, aiming to restore the monarchies that Napoleon had overthrown and to establish a new conservative order in Europe. The key points of the treaty included:

• The Bourbon dynasty was reinstated in France.
• France lost the territories it had taken during Napoleon's rule.
• A new kingdom of the Netherlands, which included Belgium, was created in the north, and Genoa was added to Piedmont in the south to prevent future French expansion.
• Prussia received significant new territories on its western borders.
• Austria gained control over Northern Italy.
• In the east, Russia was awarded part of Poland. The German confederation of 39 states that Napoleon had established remained unchanged.

The conservative governments formed in 1815 were autocratic, intolerant of criticism or dissent, and aimed to suppress activities that challenged the legitimacy of autocratic rule.

The Revolutionaries

• After 1815, many liberal-nationalists went underground due to fears of repression.
• Secret societies formed across Europe to train revolutionaries and share their ideas.
• Being revolutionary meant opposing the monarchies set up after the Vienna Congress and fighting for liberty and freedom.
• Most revolutionaries believed that creating nation-states was essential for achieving freedom.

Giuseppe Mazzini

• Giuseppe Mazzini, born in Genoa in 1805, joined the secret society called the Carbonari.
• At just 24, he was exiled in 1831 for trying to start a revolution in Liguria.
• He later established two underground groups: Young Italy in Marseilles and Young Europe in Berne.

Role of the Educated Middle-Class Elite

• The revolutions were led by liberal-nationalists from the educated middle-class elite.
• This group included professors, school-teachers, clerks, and members of the commercial middle classes.

Romanticism as part of cultural movement

• Romantic poets and artists celebratedemotions and mystical feelings instead of logic and science, focusing on feelings, intuition, and the supernatural.
• They contributed to a sense of shared cultural heritage, which became the foundation of a nation.
• Folk songs, poetry, and dances played a vital role in nation-building as they conveyed the modern nationalist message to mostly illiterate audiences.
• An important event that stirred nationalist sentiments among the educated elite across Europe was theGreek War of Independence. Greece had been under the Ottoman Empire since the 15th century. The rise of revolutionary nationalism in Europe led to the Greeks' struggle for independence starting in 1821. Nationalists in Greece received backing from other Greeks in exile and many in Western Europe who admired ancient Greek culture. The English poetLord Byron raised funds and participated in the war, ultimately dying in 1824. Poets and artists praised Greece as the cradle of European civilisation, rallying public support for its fight against a Muslim empire. The Treaty of Constantinople in 1832 recognised Greece as an independent nation.
• Romantic nationalism in Poland persisted even though Poland no longer existed as an independent state. National sentiments were kept alive through music and language, particularly through the contributions of figures likeKarol Kurpinski.

The Revolution of the Liberals (1848)

• In 1848, another revolution took place in France, resulting in a republic based on universal male suffrage, which led to the abdication of the monarch.
• In other regions of Europe, including Germany, Italy, Poland, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, liberal middle-class men and women united their calls for constitutionalism with demands for national unification, as well as freedom of the press and freedom of association.

The making of Germany and Italy

• The unification of Germany was accomplished through a national movement led by Otto Von Bismarck, Chief Minister of Prussia.
• King Victor Emmanuel II unified Italy after defeating Austrian forces in 1859, with key contributions from leaders such as Giuseppe Mazzini and Count Cavour.

Visualizing the Nation

• Artists in the 18^th and 19^th centuries depicted nations as female figures.
• During the French Revolution, the female symbol was used to represent concepts like Liberty, Justice, and the Republic. These ideas were shown through specific symbols, such as the red cap and broken chain for Liberty, and a blindfolded woman with weighing scales for Justice.
• The name Marianne, a common Christian name, symbolised the idea of a nation belonging to the people. Statues of Marianne were placed in public areas, and her likeness appeared on coins and stamps. She is depicted wearing a red cap, representing liberty, and a tri-coloured cockade, symbolising freedom.
• Germania became the symbol of the German nation. Germania wore a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak represented heroism.