Notes: THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
In 1848, Frederic Sorrieu, a French artist
prepared a series of 4 paints visualizing his dream of a world made up of
'democratic and social Republic',as he called them.
● In
the first print the artist shows the people of Europe and America- men and
women of all ages and social classes- marching in a long train offering homage
to
It was
imagined as a female figure who held the Torch of Enlightenment in one hand and
the Charter of Rights of Man in the
other.
● In the foreground the
the artist
depicted the
shattered remains of
the symbols of
absolutist institutions.
● In
Sourrieu's idealist
vision, the people of the
world are grouped as
distinct nations,
identified through their
flags and national
costumes.
●
Leading the processions are the states of the United States and Switzerland
which were already nation-states at that time.
●
France,with its revolutionary tricolour flag, had reached the status.
The Features of the
'Nation-State'.
The
following were the features of the Nation-State that emerged in Europe in the
20th century:
1).
The Concept and practices of a modern state with sovereign centralised power
developed in Europe.
2).
Nation-State was supposed to be a state where the majority of its citizens
shared common identity and history.
3).Nations
began to be personified i.e. they were represented as a person with
characteristics that identified their nations. Mainly female figures were used
to portray the nation.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
AND THE IDEA OF THE NATION.
The
feeling of clear- cut expression of nationalism or collective identity came to
France with the French Revolution in 1789.
The steps taken by the French revolutionaries to
create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people.
1).Political
and constitutional changes led to the transfer of sovereignty from monarchy to
a body of French citizens.
2).
Various measures and practices were introduced by French revolutionaries which
proclaimed that a nation is made by its people and only then can shape up its
destiny. Concepts of a community, which is united under one flag and enjoying
equal rights, came into being.
create a sense of
collective identity.
1).The
ideas of la- patrie(the fatherland)
and
le citoyen(the citizens) emphasized this notion.
2).The
tricolour,New French flag,was replaced by the royal standard.
3).Uniform
laws were formulated for all its citizens under
a centralised administrative system.
4).
Internal custom duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights
and measures were adopted.
5).The
body of active citizens elected the Estates General and it was renamed National
Assembly.
6).New
hymns were composed,oaths taken and martyrs commemorated in the
name
of the nation.
The Idea of the French
Revolution spread to other parts of Europe.
The French revolution inspired other countries
of Europe in the following ways:
1.
The French revolutionaries proclaimed to help Europeans to constitute nation-
states.
2.
Various revolutionary clubs like the Jacobin clubs began to be formed by
students and educated middle class in different European cities based on the
French model.
3.
The Revolutionary War in countries like Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy
paved the way for French armies to move to
other parts of Europe.
4.
Napoleon also played an important role in spreading the ideologies of the
French revolution in European countries through administrative changes.
Napoleonic Code or The Civil Code Of
1804.
Napoleon
incorporated revolutionary principles in
the administrative fields to make the whole system more rational and effective.
His civil code of 1804 was also known as napoleonic code.
1.
He did away with all the privileges based on birth. Everyone was placed equally
before the law.
2.
He abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom(bonded labourers of tenant land) and manorial dues.
3.
He secured the right to property.
4.
Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed the taste of new- found
freedom as guild restrictions were removed in towns.
5.
Uniform laws, standardize weights and measures and a common national currency
felicitated the movement and exchange of goods and capitals from one region to
another.
6.
Transport and communication systems were important which led to easy and quick
movement of goods.
The Making Of Nationalism In Europe.
The Habsburg Empire was a patchwork of many different
regions and people in Europe. How?
•
Habsburg Empire was a patchwork of many different regions and people as the
Alpine regions- the Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland were part of it.
•The
Italian speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia were also included in it.
•
Different languages and dialects were spoken by different sections of society
throughout the Empire.
•
For example, in Bohemia, the nobility or the aristocrats spoke German and
Lombardy and Venetia were the provinces where Italian was spoken.
•
Polish was the language of aristocracy in Galicia. •Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived peasantry,
within the boundaries of Empire such as Bohemians and Slovaks to the north.
• Slovenes in Carniola, Croats to the south
and Roumans to the east in transylvania.
•
Loyalty to the emperor was the only tie binding these groups that were so
different from each other.
The Aristocracy And The New Middle Class.
>
The landed aristocracy dominated all social and political spheres.
>They
were united by a common lifestyle.
>
Huge estates and large town-houses were owned by them.
>
French was the language they preferred in the high society and diplomatic
circles.
>
Marriages connected the aristocratic families.
>
Though they formed a small group, they dominated with power.
How did the growth of
industrialization change the social and political equation of Europe?
>
Industrialization began in England in the 2nd half of the 18th century but in
France and part of the German States it occurred only during the 19th century.
>
In the western and some part of central Europe, commercial classes began to
emerge because of setting up of industries and beginning of trade.
>
This class caused the emergence of new social groups like the middle class and
the working class.
>
The middle class included industrialists, businessman and professionals. They
were less number.
>
It was the liberal and educated middle class that encouraged national unity and
abolition of aristocratic privileges.
>
It was because of these ideals they gain
popularity and emerged as a new social class.
>
They stood for equality and freedom and stressed the formation of constitution
giving preference to representative form of government rather then established
aristocratic regimes.
What did Liberal Nationalism stand for?
The term 'liberalism' derives from the Latin
root Liber, which means free.
It was an ideology that stood for freedom for
the individual and equality of all before the law.
Politically, Liberalism stood for constitution,
a representative government ruling by consent, a parliamentary system,
ownership of private property and end of the privileges of aristocracy.
Economically, Liberalism stood for freedom of
markets, end of state restrictions on movement of goods and capital, creation
of unified economic territory allowing unhindered movement of goods, people and
capital.
How equality before law did not necessarily
stand for universal suffrage in Europe under political liberalism?
▪︎The
new middle class in Europe advocated the concept of liberalism emphasizing the
concept of freedom and equality for all. But at the same time this was not
visible in the political experiment around Europe. The right to vote
was exclusively with the propertied class, that too only men.
▪︎
Women even with property with property rights were excluded from right to vote.
▪︎
The Jacobins who stood for revolution for equality were also biased on this
issue, they too granted right to vote
to all adult male population only.
▪︎
Napoleon who stood to end privileges too reduced women to the margin of the
society with no political rights.
▪︎ Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries
women and non propertied male struggled to win political rights for themselves.
What were the economic obstacles that the
liberal nationalist wanted to overcome? How did they tried to overcome these
shortcomings?
Europe was closely allied to the ideology of
liberalism. Two economic obstacles that the liberal- nationalists wanted to overcome
were:
1.
The abolition of state imposed restriction on the movement of goods and
capital.
2.
Existence of countless small principalities a confederation of 39 states, each
of these possessed it's own currency and weights and measures.
These barriers created obstacles to economic
exchange and growth of the new commercial classes.
To sort out this problem, in 1834, a custom
union called zollevrein was formed by Prussia along with most of the German
States.
The following steps were taken to resolve this
issue
a).
Tariff barriers were abolished.
b).
Number of currencies from 32, operating were reduced to two.
c).
A network of railways was created for harnessing economic interest.
A New Conservatism After 1815.
What views did the conservatives hold?
*Conservatism was adopted by the
European government after defeating Napoleon in 1815.
*They favoured it to preserve the
established traditional institutions of state and society like monarchy,
church, social hierarchies, property and family.
*There were some who did not want to
adopt the pre- revolutionary system, rather rather they favored Napoleonic
changes and wanted to adopt modernization as it would rather contribute to
strengthen traditional institutions and state power and make it is much more effective.
*Conservatives began to believe that
aristocratic monarchies of Europe too would be strengthened from a modern army,
an efficient bureaucracy, a dynamic economy and the abolition of feudalism and
serfdom.
TREATY OF VIENNA 1815.
-
Representatives of the European powers Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia-
met at Vienna in 1815.
-
They had defeated Napoleon collectively
and wanted to draw up a settlement for Europe.
-
The Vienna Congress was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich.
Features of the Treaty Of Vienna, 1815.
1.
The main objective of the treaty of Vienna was
to undo most of the changes that had come about in Europe during the
napoleonic war.
2.
The bourbon dynasty which had been deposed
during the French Revolution was restored to power.
3.
France lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon.
4 The kingdom of Netherlands was set up in the
North.
5.
Geneva was added to Piedmont in the South.
6.
Prussia was given important new territories.
7.
Austria was given the control of Northern Italy.
8.
Russia was given part of Poland.
The Revolutionaries.
What led to the rise of the revolutionaries
after the establishment of the conservatives regimes in Europe after 1815?
The reasons that led to the rise of
revolutionaries are:
1).
During the years following 1815, the conservative regimes began curbing
activities that questioned the legitimacy of the autocratic governments in
Europe.
2).
Criticism and dissent was not tolerated.
3).
Censorship was imposed to control the spread of ideas like liberty and freedom.
4).
Freedom of expression was curbed as thinkers were not allowed to raise their
views.
5).
The liberal nationalists, inspired by the French Revolution, began to carry
their opposition secretly and formed
secret societies,first Young Italy in Marseille and then Young Europe in Berne
to spread the ideas of nationalism and train the revolutionaries.
The Ages of Revolution:
1830 - 1848.
Liberalism and nationalism came to be
increasingly associated with revolutions in many regions of Europe such as the
Italian and German states, the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Ireland and
Poland.
In 1830, two major revolts came into
existence,
1).Upheavals
in France
2).Greek
war of
Independence.
These revolutions were led by the liberal
nationalists belonging to the educated middle class elite, they were
professors, school teachers, clerks and members of the commercial middle
classes.
1).
The 1st upheaval took place in France in July 1830.
•
The bourbon king who had been restored to power during the conservative
reaction after 1815, now overthrown by liberal revolutionaries who installed a
constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe at its head.
•
The July Revolution sparked an uprising in Brussels which led to Belgium
breaking away from the United Kingdom of the
Netherlands.
•
Seeking this , Duke Metternich who hosted Congress in 1815, quoted that
"when France sneezes, the rest of Europe catches cold".
2).
The Greek war of independence mobilized nationalist feelings among the educated
elite across Europe.
•
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 among Greeks which began in 1821.
•
Nationalist in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also
from many West Europeans who had sympathies for the ancient Greek Empire.
•
Eminent poets and artists landed Greece as the cradle of European civilization
and mobilized public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim Empire.
•
The English poet, Lord Byron organized funds and also went to fight the war
where he died of fever in 1824.
• At
the end, 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 expansions but culture played an important role in creating
the idea of the nation:
1). Art, music, literature and drama helped to
express, shape and strengthen nationalist
sentiments.
2).
Romantics like the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder held the view
that true German culture could be discovered only among the common people,the
'das volk'.
3).
Glorification of reason and science was criticized by the romantic
artists, rather they favoured emotions,
institutions and mystical feelings.
4).
Language too boosted nationalism. The Polish people opposed the Russian
occupation and the ban on the Polish language, by using it in Church gatherings
for all religious ceremonies and for religious instructions. The Polish
language became a weapon of the nationalists.
5).
Two Germans, Grimm Brothers, used
stories and folk tales written in German to promote the German spirit against
the domination of the French.
6).
Operas and music like that of Karol Kurpinski kept alive the national spirit
7).
Folk dances like mazurka became a national symbol.
Hunger, Hardship And Popular Revolt.
Why were the 1830s called the years of great
economic hardship in Europe?
Because:
a.
There was a rapid increase in population during the first half of the 19th
century which led to widespread unemployment.
b).
The unemployed rural people migrated from villages to cities to earn bread.
This worsened the living conditions in town.
c).
Cheap machines- made goods from England made it impossible for the small
producers to compete.
d).
Peasants suffered because of less agrarian facilities, burdens of feudal dues
and obligations, bad harvest and rise in price. This led to widespread rural
poverty.
Revolution Of The Liberals.
•In
1848, a revolution led by the liberals( educated middle classes) also took
place.
•Germany,
Italy, Poland, Austro-Hungarian Empire-
men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for constitutionalism with national
unification.
•
They took advantage of the growing popular unrest to push their demands for the
creation of a nation state on parliamentary principles, a constitution ,
freedom of the press and freedom of association.
• In
the German region, a large number of political associations came together in
the city of Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all German National Assembly.
• On
18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives
marched to take their place in the
Frankfurt Parliament convened in the church of Saint Paul.
• A
constitution for a German nation was drafted which was to be headed by a
monarchy subject to a Parliament.
When the deputies offered the Crown to
Friedrich Wilhelm IV, king of Prussia on these terms, he rejected it and joined
other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly
In the end troops were called and the assembly
was forced to disband..
The role played by the woman in nationalist
struggles.
~
Women played a vital role in the nationalist struggle around the world.
~
Women from many parts of Europe like Germany
Italy and Poland actively
supported the liberals demanding constitutional monarchy with national
unification.
~
They too joined their demands for political rights like 'suffrage' along with
the struggle of liberals. But in spite of their active participation, extension
of political rights to them (women) remained a controversial issue.
~
Women formed their own political association and founded their
newspapers.
~
They held political meetings and staged demonstrations to gain support for
their demands. But they were denied
suffrage rights during the assembly elections. When the Frankfurt Parliament
was being convinced to the St Paul Church, they were granted admission merely
early as spectators.
Difference between
revolution of 1830 and 1848.
|
The
Revolution of 1830. |
The Revolution of 1848. |
|
1. This revolution was led by liberal
nationalists belonging to the educated middle class elite. |
1. This revolution was started by the poor,
unemployed, starving peasants and workers. |
|
2. A constitutional monarchy with Louis
Philippe at its head was installed in
France |
2. The constitutional monarch abdicated.
Louis Philippe had to flee away. |
|
3. Through this revolution the Burbon
kings reinstated by the conservatives were overthrown by the liberal nationalists |
3. Through this revolution a republic based
on universal Adult 'suffrage' was established. |
|
4. The economic hardships, rise in food
price, burden of feudal dues, and
obligations on the peasants were some of the reasons for the revolt. |
4.The shortage of food and widespread
unemployment brought the population of Paris on the road. |
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