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class 10The Nationalism in EuropeHistory
The French Revolution and the Idea of Nation
During the 19th century, nationalism emerged as a force which brought about changes like the emergence of the nation-states in place of the different dynastic empires of Europe.
In 1848, Frederic Sorrieu, a French artist, visualised world as democratic and social republics.
The first idea of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. French Revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens.
The French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices that could create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people.
The French Revolution introduced new ideas like la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) and a new French flag replacing the former royal standard amongst the French people.
It introduced a centralised administrative system with uniform law for all citizens.
Other measures were new hymns were composed and oaths were taken, martyrs were remembered in the name of the nation, internal customs duties and dues were abolished and Estates General was elected by the body of citizens and renamed as National Assembly.
Regional dialects were discouraged. French language for speaking and Paris language for writing were accepted as a common language of the Country.
Napoleonic Code
Napoleon destroyed democracy in France and introduced the Civil Code of 1804, which came to be known as the Napoleonic code.
The main features of this Code were
- It removed all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law and secured the right to property.
• It simplified administrative divisions in Dutch Republic, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.
• It abolished the Feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom' and manorial dues².
It removed Guild system³ in the town areas and transport and communication systems were improved.
• It led to the establishment of universal laws, standardised weights and measures and common national currency which facilitate the movement and exchange of goods from one region to another.
The Making of Nationalism in Europe
In mid 18th century, there were no nation-states in Europe. Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons, whose rulers had their autonomous territories. They did not share a collective identity or a common culture.
The Habsburg Empire that ruled over Austria-Hungary was a combination of many different regions and people.
In Hungry, half of the population spoke Magyar, while the other half spoke a variety of dialects. In Galicia, the aristocracy spoke Polish language.
The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class
The aristocracy was socially and politically, the dominant class in the continent. They owned estates and property both in countryside and town houses.
In Western and central part of Europe ,there was an emergence of commercial classes. The based on production for the market.
As a result of industrialisation, the new social groups of working class population and middle classes including industrialists, businessmen and professionals came into existence.
The idea of national unity gained popularity among the educated liberal middle class.
New Definition of Nation State given by Ernest Renan
According to Ernest Renan, "A nation is the culmination of a long past of endeavours, sacrifice and devotion." A nation is large scale solidarity, its existence is a daily Plebiscite.'
Meaning of Liberal Nationalism
Ideas of national unity in the early 19th century Europe were closely related to the ideology of liberalism.
For the new middle classes, liberalism meant for freedom for individual and equality of all before the law.
In France, the right to vote and to get elected was granted exclusively to persons who owned property. Men without properties and women were excluded from this right.
During early 18th and 19th centuries women and on-propertied men organised opposition movements, emanding equal political rights.
In the economic sphere, liberalism meant for the freedom of markets and the abolition of restrictions imposed by the state on the movement of goods and capital.
In 1834, a Customs Union or Zollverein was formed which abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two.
A New Conservatism After 1815
After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European governments were inspired by a spirit of conservatism. Conservatives believed that established traditional institutions of state and society like the monarchy, the church, social hierarchies, property and the family should be preserved.
The European powers like 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 and they drew up the Treaty of Vienna of 1815.
Major Points of the Treaty of Vienna
• The Bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed during the French Revolution, was restored to power.
• France lost the territories which it had annexed under Napoleon.
• A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent its expansion in future.
• The Kingdom of the Netherlands, which included Belgium was set up in the North and Genoa was added to Piedmont in the South.
• Prussia was given new territories on its Western frontiers, including Saxony while Austria was given control of Northern Italy.
• German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon was not affected by the treaty.
• In the East, Russia was given part of Poland.
The main intention of the Congress was to restore the monarchies that had been overthrown by Napoleon and create a new conservative order in Europe. Conservative regimes that were set up in 1815, were autocratic.
The Revolutionaries
The liberal-nationalists opposed monarchial forms that had been established after the Vienna Congress and fight for liberty and freedom. Most of the revolutionaries saw the creation of nation-states as a necessary part of the struggle for freedom.
An Italian revolutionary, Giuseppe Mazzini (born in Genoa in 1807) became a member of the Secret society of the Carbonari. He was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria.
The Age of Revolutions : 1830-1848
Liberalism and nationalism was associated with the revolution in many regions of Europe such as the Italian and German states, the provinces of Ottoman Empire", Ireland and Poland. These revolutions were led by liberal-nationalists belonging to educated middle class.
These revolutions in different places were as follows
• The first upheaval took place in France in July, 1830. The Bourbon kings were overthrown by liberal revolutionaries, who installed Louis Philippe as the constitutional monarch.
• The July Revolution started an uprising in Brussels, which led to Belgium separating away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• The struggle for independence in Greece started in 1821 and the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832, recognised Greece as an independent nation.
The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling
The development of nationalism did not come about only through wars and territorial expansion. Culture played an important role in creating the idea of the nation. Art and poetry, stories and music helped express and shape the nationalist feelings.
Romantic artists and poets criticised the glorification of reason and science. They focussed on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings and tried to create a sense of a shared collective heritage as a basis of a nation.
Romantic German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803), claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people-das volk. Through collection of folklore like folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances the spirit of the nation was popularised.
Poland supported nationalist feeling through music and language. Karol Kurpinski celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music. Language also played an important role in developing national sentiments.
After Russian occupation on Poland, Polish language was forced out of schools and Russian language was imposed in place of it. The clergies in Poland used Polish language for religious instruction and used it as a weapon against the Russian dominance.
Hunger, Hardship and Popular Revolt
The 1830s were the years of great economic hardship in Europe. The first half of the 19th century saw an enormous increase in population all over the Europe. Population from rural areas migrated to the cities to live in overcrowded slums.
The condition of the workers in town was extreme. In 1845, weavers of Silesia village led a revolt against contractors. It was because the contractors supplied raw material to weavers and gave them orders for finished textiles but reduced their payments.
On 4th June, a large crowd of weavers revolted and demand from contractor for higher wages. However, these weaver were treated badly and threatened by the
contractor with the help of army. In 1848, population of Paris revolted due to food shortage and widespread unemployment. Barricades were erected and Louis Philippe was forced to flee.
As a result, a National Assembly proclaimed a republic and granted suffrage to adult males above 21 and guaranteed them the right to work. National workshop were set-up to provide employment.
1848: The Revolution of the Liberals
In other parts of Europe like Germany, Italy, Poland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for creation of a nation-state.
This demand was based on parliamentary principles like Constitution, freedom of press and freedom of association.
May Revolution
On 18th May, 1848, 831 elected representatives assembled in the Church of St Paul. They drafted a Constitution for a German nation. According to this constitution, the nation was to be headed by a monarchy which was under to a Parliamentary control.
When the deputies offered highest position to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, (King of Prussia) on these terms, he rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.
The Parliament was dominated by the middle classes, who resisted the demands of workers and artisans due to which it consequently lost the support of its members. In the end, troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.
Issue of Political Rights to Women
The issue of extending political rights to women was a dispute within the liberal movement, in which large numbers of women had participated actively over the years.
Women had formed their own political associations, founded newspapers and had taken part in political meetings and demonstrations.
n 1848, conservative forces were able to suppress liberal novenients, but could not restore the old order.
After 1848, the monarchies of Central and Eastern Europe introduced changes that had already introduced in Western Europe before 1815.
The changes were that serfdom and bonded labour were abolished both in the Habsburg dominions and in Russia.
The 'Civil Code of 1804' of France was generally known as
Unification of Germany
After 1848, nationalist sentiments were promoted by conservative often for capturing state power and political domination over Europe. In Germany, nationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class.
In 1848, the middle class 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 this national unification.
Prussia's Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck, aimed to achieve the goal of unification with the help of Prussian army and bureaucracy.
The major events that occurred at the time of unifications of Germany were
• Three wars with Austria, Denmark and France running over 7 years ended with Prussian victory and completed the process of unification.
• On 18th January, 1871, an Assembly comprising the princes of the German states, representatives of the army, important Prussian ministers including the Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck, declared the new German Empire headed by Kaiser William I of Prussia.
• The new state Germany had a strong emphasis on modernising the currency, banking, legal and judicial systems in Germany.
Unification of Italy
During the middle of the 19th century, Italy was divided into seven states, out of which only one state, Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian Princely House. The North was ruled by Austrian Habsburg, the centre was ruled by the Pope and the Southern regions were ruled by the Bourbon king of Spain.
Contribution of Famous Personalities
The contribution of famous personalities in unification of Italy were
(i) Giuseppe Mazzini During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini was a revolutionary, who actively supported the unification of the Italian states. He formed the secret society, Young Italy to promote Italian unification: 'One, free, independent, republican nation'. Metternich described him as 'the most dangerous enemy of our social order'.
(ii) Count Camillo Cavour CM Cavour led the movement to unify the regions of Italy. He was neither a revolutionary nor a democratic. He entered into an alliance with France and succeeded in defeating Austrian Forces in 1859.
(iii) Giuseppe Garibaldi He was a prominent personality in the unification of Italy. In 1833, he met Mazzini and joined the Young Italy movement. He participated in a republican uprising in Piedmont in 1834. In 1854, he supported Victor Emmanuel Il for his effort to unify the Italian states. In 1860, he led the famous expedition to South Italy and the Kingdom of two Sicilies with his 'Red Shirt' army. In 1867, he led the army to Rome to fight for Papal states where a French garrison was stationed. In 1870, France withdrew its troops .
Major Event Led to the Unification of Italy
In 1860, the army (regular troops and armed volunteers) under Garibaldi marched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
They succeeded in winning the support of the local peasants in order to drive out the Spanish rulers. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was declared king of United Italy. The stares of Tuscany, Modena, Parma and
the Papal were joined with Sardinia. By March 1860, the entire Central Italian states were united with Piedmont.
Rome became a part of Sardinia and in this way, the final unification of Italy, was also achieved in 1871.
The Growth of Great Britain
There was no British nation before the 18th century. The primary identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles were Ethnic ones like English, Welsh, Scot or Irish. The growth of Great Britain as nation-state can be understood sequentially with the points given below
As the English nation steadily grew in wealth, importance and power, it was able to extend its influence over the other nations of islands.
In 1688 the English Parliament seized power from the monarchy.
Incorporation of Scotland in United Kingdom
The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain. By this Act, Scotland was incorporated in England.
Hence, the British Parliament was dominated by its English members.
Incorporation of Ireland
Ireland was a country divided into Catholics and Protestants.
The English supported the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a majority Catholic country. As a result revolt raised by Catholics but it was suppressed.
In 1798, after a revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United
Irishmen against British, Ireland was forcibly included the
United Kingdom of Britain in 1801.
A new 'British' nation was established through the propagation of a dominant English culture.
The symbol of the new Britain were the British flag (Union Jack), the National Anthem (God Save Our Noble King) and the English language. These were actively promoted and the older nations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.
Visualising the Nation
In the 18th and 19th century, artists portrayed the nation as female figures. The female form that was chosen to personify the nation did not stand for any particular woman in real life.
The female figure became an allegory of the nation. In France, the female allegory was Marianne and Germania became the allegory of the German nation.
The characteristics of Marianne were to be red cap, the tricolour and the cockade which were drawn from liberty and republic. Marianne images were marked on coins and stamps. Germania was represented by a crown of Oak leaves.
Nationalism and Imperialism
By the last quarter of the 19th century, nationalism lost its idealistic liberal democratic sentiment.
During this period, nationalist groups became increasingly intolerant of each other and were ready to start war.
The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic differences comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro. Its inhabitants were broadly known as the Slavs.
A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Balkans became an area of intense conflict as different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity and independence.
During this time, many powerful European nations, such as Russia, France, Germany, England and Austro- Hungary competed to gain control over the Balkans. This led to a series of wars in the region and finally led to the First World War. Nationalism aligned with imperialism, led Europe to disaster in 1914.