The Rise of Nationalism in Europe Vocabulary Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, historical figures, and political concepts from the study of the rise of nationalism in 19th-century Europe.

Frédéric Sorrieu

A French artist who, in 1848, prepared a series of four prints visualising his dream of a world made up of 'democratic and social Republics'.

Absolutist

A government or system of rule that has no restraints on the power exercised; in history, it refers to a form of monarchical government that was centralised, militarised, and repressive.

Utopian

A vision of a society that is so ideal that it is unlikely to actually exist.

Nation-state

A state in which the majority of its citizens, and not only its rulers, come to develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent.

Ernst Renan

A French philosopher who delivered a famous lecture in 1882 entitled 'Qu’est-ce qu’une nation?' ('What is a Nation?'), arguing that a nation is based on heroic pasts and a common will.

Plebiscite

A direct vote by which all the people of a region are asked to accept or reject a proposal.

La patrie

A French term referring to 'the fatherland,' used during the French Revolution to emphasize the notion of a united community.

Le citoyen

A French term referring to 'the citizen,' used to emphasize a community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.

Napoleonic Code (Civil Code of 1804)

A legal code that did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law, and secured the right to property.

Liberalism

Derived from the Latin root 'liber' (free), it stood for freedom for the individual, equality before the law, and the concept of government by consent.

Suffrage

The right to vote.

Zollverein

A customs union formed in 1834 at the initiative of Prussia which abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two.

Conservatism

A political philosophy that stressed the importance of tradition, established institutions, and customs, and preferred gradual development to quick change.

Congress of Vienna (1815)

A meeting of European powers (Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria) to draw up a settlement for Europe and restore monarchies after the defeat of Napoleon.

Giuseppe Mazzini

An Italian revolutionary who was a member of the Carbonari and founded the underground societies 'Young Italy' and 'Young Europe'.

Romanticism

A cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment by focusing on emotions, intuition, and mystical feelings instead of reason and science.

Johann Gottfried Herder

A German philosopher who claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people ($\text{das volk}$) through folk songs, poetry, and dance.

Volksgeist

The 'true spirit of the nation' which Romantic thinkers like Herder believed was popularised through folk culture.

Feminist

Awareness of women’s rights and interests based on the belief of the social, economic, and political equality of the genders.

Ideology

A system of ideas reflecting a particular social and political vision.

Otto von Bismarck

The Chief Minister of Prussia and the architect of German unification, who carried out the process with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.

Count Camillo de Cavour

The Chief Minister who led the movement to unify the regions of Italy, using tactful diplomatic alliances with France.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

A celebrated Italian freedom fighter who led the 'Expedition of the Thousand' to South Italy and commanded the volunteer army known as 'Red Shirts'.

Ethnic

Relates to a common racial, tribal, or cultural origin or background that a community identifies with or claims.

Allegory

When an abstract idea (for instance, greed, envy, freedom, liberty) is expressed through a person or a thing.

Marianne

The female allegory of France, representing the ideas of Liberty and the Republic with symbols like the red cap and the tricolour.

Germania

The female allegory of the German nation, often depicted wearing a crown of oak leaves to represent heroism.

Balkans

A region of geographical and ethnic variation (inhabitants known as Slavs) that became the most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871.