The Rise of Nationalism in Europe
(1) The Dream of Worldwide Democratic and Social Republics – The Pact Between Nations, a print prepared by
Frédéric Sorrieu, 1848.
The first print (Fig. 1)
series, shows the peoples of Europe and America – men and women
of all ages and social classes – marching in a long train,
and offering
homage to the statue of Liberty
foreground of the image lie the shattered
remains of the symbols of absolutist institutions
utopian vision,
the peoples of the world are grouped as distinct nations,
identified through their flags and national costume nationalism
Central Idea of this chapter
(2) Ernst Renan, ‘What is a Nation?’
Nationalism
Nation - state
centralised power exercised sovereign control over a clearly
defined territory
consist of
nation-state was one in which the majority of its citizens, and not only its rulers, came to develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent.
It is primary, literary source of history.
The writer is the French philosopher Ernst
Renan (1823-92)
Its purpose is to outlined his understanding of
what makes a nation.
It outlines nation as
A nation is the culmination of a long past of
endeavours, sacrifice and devotion.
daily plebiscite
A nation never has any real interest in annexing or holding on to a country against its will
Nation
Their existence
is a guarantee of liberty, which would be lost if
the world had only one law and only one master
(3) The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation
The revolution proclaimed
that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny.
measures and practices that
could create a sense of collective identity
The ideas of la patrie (the
fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen)
A new French flag, the tricolour
The Estates General was elected by the
body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly
A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens
Internal customs duties and dues were abolished
uniform system of weights and measures was adopted
Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken
help other peoples of Europe
to become nations
The
Civil Code of 1804 – usually known as the Napoleonic Code
Changes which were favorable
did away with all privileges based on birth,
established equality before the law and secured the right to property.
This Code was exported to the regions under French control.
Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom
guild
restrictions were removed
Transport and communication systems
were improved
new administrative arrangements did not
go hand in hand with political freedom.
Unfavorable outcome
Increased taxation,
censorship, forced conscription into the French armies required to conquer the rest of Europe,
The Making of Nationalism in Europe
How did nationalism and the idea of the nation-state emerge?
The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class
landed aristocracy was the dominant class on the continent
They owned estates in the countryside and also town-houses
They spoke French for purposes of diplomacy
often connected by ties of marriage
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 characterized by vast estates which were cultivated by serfs
In Western and parts of Central Europe the growth of industrial
production and trade meant the growth of towns
the emergence
of commercial classes
Industrialisation began in England in the second
half of the eighteenth century
new social groups came into being: a working-class population, and middle classes made up of industrialists, businessmen, professionals
What did Liberal Nationalism Stand for?
Social sphere
For the new middle classes liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law
Politically, it emphasised the concept of government
by consent
Since the French Revolution,
liberalism had stood for the end of autocracy and clerical privileges,
a constitution and representative government through parliament.
equality before the law did not necessarily stand for universal
suffrage
the right to vote and to get elected was granted exclusively to property-owning men
Men without property and all women were excluded from political rights
In the economic sphere,
liberalism stood for the freedom of markets
the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement
of goods and capital
In 1834, a customs union or zollverein was formed
The union abolished tariff barriers and
reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two
The creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility
A New Conservatism after 1815
After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815,
European governments
were driven by a spirit of conservatism
Conservatives believed
that established, traditional institutions of state and society
however, did not propose
a return to the society of pre-revolutionary days
European powers – Britain, Russia,
Prussia and Austria
who had collectively defeated Napoleon, met
at Vienna to draw up a settlement for Europe
Treaty of Vienna of 1815 restore the monarchies
create a new conservative order in Europe
The Bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed
during the French Revolution, was restored to power
France
lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon
A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion
series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion in future
Prussia was given important new territories on its western
frontiers, while Austria was given control of northern Italy
German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon was left untouched
In the east, Russia was given part of Poland
while Prussia was given a portion of Saxony
Its features
autocratic
tolerate criticism and dissent
sought to curb activities that
questioned the legitimacy of autocratic governments.
imposed censorship laws to control what was said in newspapers books, plays and songs and reflected the ideas of liberty and freedom
The Revolutionaries
following 1815, the fear of repression drove many
liberal-nationalists underground
Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832
recognised Greece as an independent nation
An event that mobilised nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe was the Greek war of independence
So collecting and recording these
forms of folk culture was essential to the project of nation-building
Romanticism, a cultural movement which sought to
develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment
After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced
out of schools and the Russian language was imposed everywhere
The use of Polish came to be seen as a
symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance.
Immediate cause
The year 1848 was one such year. Food shortages and widespread unemployment brought the population of Paris out on the roads.
Louis Philippe was forced to flee
Earlier, in 1845, weavers in Silesia had led a revolt against contractors who supplied them raw material and gave them orders for finished textiles but drastically reduced their payments.
a revolution led by the educated middle classes was under way
February 1848 in France had brought about the abdication of the monarch and a republic based on universal male suffrage had been proclaimed
Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire – men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for constitutionalism with national unification.
(4) The Making of Germany and Italy
(5) Germany – Can the Army be the Architect of a Nation?
middle-class Germans, who in 1848 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
national unification.
chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of this process carried out with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
Three wars over seven years – with Austria, Denmark and France – ended in Prussian Austria, Denmark and France – ended in Prussian victory
On the bitterly cold morning of 18 January 1871, Otto von Bismarck gathered in the gathered in the
unheated Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versaillesto proclaim the new German Empire headed by Kaiser William I of Prussia
(6) Italy Unified
During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini had sought to put together a
coherent programme for a unitary Italian Republic
secret society called Young Italy
a unified Italy offered them the possibility of economic development and political dominance.
Chief Minister Cavour who led the movement to unify the regions
of Italy
Sardinia-Piedmont
succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859
In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united
Italy.
(7) The Strange Case of Britain
The primary identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles were ethnic ones – such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish.
The English parliament, which
had seized power from the monarchy in 1688
The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland that resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain
The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic country
After a failed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen (1798), Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801
A new ‘British nation’ was forged through the propagation of a dominant English culture.
Visualising the Nation
female
figure became an allegory of the nation
ideals were represented through specific objects or
symbols.
Liberty are the red cap, or the broken chain, while Justice is generally a blindfolded woman carrying a pair of weighing scales.
In France she was christened Marianne, a popular Christian name, which underlined the idea of a people’s nation.
Germania became the allegory of the German nation. Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for heroism.
(8) Nationalism and Imperialism
By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, Europe moved further their own imperialist aims
As the different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity and independence, the Balkan area became an area of intense conflict.
During this period, there was intense rivalry among the European powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and military might.
Nationalism, aligned with imperialism, led Europe to disaster in 1914.
The anti-imperial movements that
developed everywhere
European ideas of nationalism were nowhere replicated, for people everywhere developed their own specific variety of nationalism
the idea that societies should be organised into
‘nation-states’ came to be accepted as natural and universal.