Chapter 1 - Rise of Nationalism in Europe
Write in brief:
Q1.Write a Note on:
a)Giuseppe Mazzini
• Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian revolutionary who was born in Genoa in 1807. He was a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
• At the age of 24, he was exiled in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria.
• He founded underground societies named ‘Young Italy’ in Marseilles and ‘Young Europe’ in Berne, whose members were like-minded young men from Poland, France, Italy and the German States.
• He believed that God had planned nations to be natural units of mankind. Therefore, Italy should not remain a patchwork of small states and kingdoms. It had to be united into a single, unified republic within a wider alliance of nations. This unification should become the basis of Italian liberty.
• His ideas inspired other nationalists and secret societies were also set up in Germany, France, Switzerland and Poland.
b)Count Camilo de Cavour
• Count Camillo di Cavour was the Chief Minister of Italy.
• He led the movement to unify the regions of Italy. He was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat.
• Like many other wealthy and educated members of the Italian elite, he spoke French better than Italian.
• Through a tactful and diplomatic alliance with France, which was engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859.
c)The Greek War of Independence
• Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the 15th century. The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for independence amongst the Greeks which began in 1821.
• Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from many Western Europeans sharing sympathies for ancient Greek culture.
• Poets and artists admired Greece as the cradle of European civilisation and mobilised public opinion to support its struggle against an Islamic empire.
• Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople was signed in 1832 which recognised Greece as an independent nation. This war inspired nationalist feelings among the educated elites of Europe.
d)The Frankfurt Parliament
• In the German regions a large number of political associations of middle-class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans met in the city of Frankfurt in the Church of St. Paul and decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly.
• They drafted a constitution for a German nation to be headed by a monarch, subject to a parliament.
• When the deputies offered the crown to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, 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 and consequently lost their support.
• In the end troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.
e)The role of women in nationalist struggles
• The issue of extending political rights to women was a controversial one 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 taken part in political meetings and demonstrations.
• Despite this, they were denied suffrage during the election of the Assembly.
• When the Frankfurt Parliament convened in the Church of St. Paul, women were admitted only as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.
Q2.What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective identity among the French people?
Answer:The French revolutionaries took following important steps to create a sense of collective identity among the French people which were:
• The ideas of the fatherland (la Patrie) and the citizen (le citoyen) were introduced.
• A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the earlier royal standard.
• The Estates-General was renamed as National Assembly.
• New hymns were composed, oaths were taken and martyrs commemorated in the name of the nation.
• A centralised administrative system was established.
• French, as it was written and spoken in Paris, became the common language of the nation. Regional dialects were discouraged.
Q3.Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in which they were portrayed?
Answer:Marianne and Germania were female allegories invented by the artists in the 19th century to represent the nation.
Marianne was a popular Christian name. Her characteristics were drawn from notions of liberty and individualism-the red cap, the tricolour and the cockade. Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public of national unity and motivate them. Marianne images were also marked on coins and stamps.
Germania was the allegory of the German nation. In visual representations, she wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for heroism.
They were portrayed to remind the public of their national symbols of unity and to persuade them to identify with them.
Q4.Briefly trace the process of German unification.
Answer:
• In 1848, the middle class Germans tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament but they were repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners of Prussia.
• After this, Prussia soon became the leader of German unification movement. This was carried out by the Chief Minister of Prussia, Otto Von Bismarck, and Prussian army and bureaucracy.
• His main objective was to unify Germany and this was done by three wars, which they fought over 7 years with Austria, Denmark and France.
• The win led to Bismarck becoming the chancellor of North Confederation in 1867.
• After the win, in the Royal Palace of Versailles, the King of Prussia was crowned as the German Emperor. It symbolised the birth of a united Germany.
Q5.What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him?
Answer:Napoleon introduced the following changes to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him:
• Napoleon abolished all privileges based upon birth. He established equality before law and introduced the right to property.
• He simplified the administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.
• He removed guild restrictions in the towns.
• He improved the systems of transport and communication.
• Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods 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.
Discuss
Q1.Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the liberals. What were the political, social and economic ideas supported by the liberals?
Answer:The 1848 revolution of the liberals means the revolution led by the educated middle classes in France and other parts of Europe such as Germany, Italy, Poland and the Austro- Hungarian Empire.
• Politically, they demanded constitutionalism with national unification. They wanted creation of nation states based on parliamentary principles – a constitution, freedom of the press and freedom of association.
• Socially, they wanted to abolish class-based partialities and birth rights from the society. Their goal was to abolish serfdom and pursue equality.
• Economically, they wanted right to property, which was important to build a nation based on political, social and economic freedom.
Q2.Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe.
Answer:Three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe were:
• Romanticism was a cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment. Romantic artists and poets generally criticised the glorification of reason and science and focussed instead on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings. Their effort was to create a shared collective heritage and a common cultural past as the basis of a nation.
• German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people. It was through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances that the true spirit of the nation was popularised. These are helpful in carrying the modern nationalist message to large audiences who were mostly illiterate. For example, Karol Kurpinski celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music, turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.
• Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments. For example, during Russian occupation, the use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of struggle against Russian dominance. In this period, Russian language was imposed everywhere and Polish was even taken out of schools. After the 1831 rebel against the Russians, large number of the polish clergy started using language as a weapon of national resistance. This was done by using Polish language in Church gatherings and religious instructions and refused to preach Russian.
Q3. Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth century.
Answer:The development of the German and Italian nation states in the nineteenth century:
• Unification of Germany with the help of Army:
In 1848, an attempt was tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament.
This liberal initiative was repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, who were supported by the large landowners of Prussia.
Thereafter, Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification. Its Chief Minister, Otto von Bismarck took the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy in the process.
Prussia won three wars over seven year against Austria, Denmark and France and then the process of unification was accomplished.
In January 1871, the Prussian king, William I, was proclaimed as the German emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles.
• Unification of Italy:
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. The north was under Austrian Habsburgs, the centre was ruled by the Pope and the southern regions were under the domination of the Bourbon kings of Spain. \
In the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini sought to formulate a coherent programme for a unitary Italian republic. He had established a secret society called Young Italy for the attainment of his goals.
The revolutionary uprisings in 1831 and 1848 had failed which meant that responsibility of uniting Italian states now fell on King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont.
The Chief Minister of Italy, Cavour led the movement to unify the regions of Italy. He was able to conclude a diplomatic alliance with France. Also, 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, also joined the movement. In 1860, these troops marched into south Italy and the kingdom of Two Sicilies. These areas were liberated and later conjoined with Sardinia.
In 1870, Rome was vacated by France and it became a part of Sardinia. Hence, Italy was finally unified in 1871.
Q4. How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe?
Answer
• Britain as a nation did not exist before the eighteenth century. People living in the British Isles belonged to different ethnicities such as English, Scot, Welsh or Irish. The formation of British nation was not the result of a sudden revolution but it was a gradual process over time.
• The English Parliament had seized power from the monarchy in 1688. The Parliament played an instrumental role in forming the new nation-state with England as its centre.
• The Act of Union was signed between England and Scotland in 1701 and the United Kingdom of Great Britain' was formed.
• The British Parliament came to be dominated by the English members. Due to growth of British identity, Scotland’s distinctive culture and political institutions were systematically suppressed.
• The Scottish Highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic language or wear their national dress, and large numbers were forcibly driven out of their homeland.
• Ireland was a country deeply divided between Catholics and Protestants. The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic country. Catholic revolts against British dominance were suppressed.
• After a failed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen in 1798, Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.
• The symbols of the new Britain - the British flag, the national anthem, the English language were actively promoted and the older nations survived only as subordinate partners in British union.
Q5. Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?
Answer
• Ethnic Variation: The Balkans was a region of ethnic and geographical variations that consisted of modern-day Albania, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia, Serbia, Herzegovina and Montenegro. The inhabitants of this region are commonly known as the Slavs.
• Disintegration of Ottoman Empire: A large part of the Balkans was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. All through the nineteenth century the Ottoman Empire had sought to strengthen itself through modernisation and internal reforms but with very little success. The spread of the ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans together with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made this region very unstable.
• Difference in Identity: The Balkan peoples based their claims for independence on nationality and used history to prove that they had once been independent but had subsequently been subjugated by foreign powers. Therefore, the rebellious nationalities in the Balkans thought of their struggles as attempts to win back their long-lost independence.
• Jealousy: The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the expense of the others.
• European Powers: During this period, there was intense rivalry among the European powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and military power. Each power – Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary was keen on countering the hold of other powers over the Balkans, and extending its own control over the area. This led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War.
