Nationalism and Romanticism: Post-Napoleonic Europe

Romanticism as Political Expression: Nationalism is described as the political expression of Romanticism.
Role of Sentiment: Like Romanticism, nationalism draws upon feeling, sentiment, and the "untouchable" aspects of the human experience. It is rarely based on logical arguments but rather on a sentimental attachment to one’s country.
Reaction to Napoleon: Nationalism emerged largely as a reaction to Napoleon Bonaparte, mirroring how Romanticism was a reaction to the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution.

Context: Following the defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna met to resolve the "Napoleonic mess."
The Napoleonic Mess: Napoleon had disrupted the "old rules" by:
- Creating brand new countries.
- Installing new rulers.
- Abolishing serfdom.
- Instituting a new law code.
Goals of the Congress: The primary objective of the delegates was to prevent future revolutions and avoid the horrors associated with the French Revolution, which had cost many their thrones.
Balance of Power: The Congress decided to create a Europe composed of large nations to act as counterbalances to one another.
- The goal was to ensure no single nation became overpowerful.
- Key participants included England, France, Prussia, and Austria.
Long-term Impact: From $1814$ to $1914$ , this system prevented major, long-drawn-out wars in Europe. While short wars occurred (e.g., the Prussian-Austrian War and the Franco-Prussian War, which lasted approximately $6$ weeks each), there was no conflict on the scale of the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars for a century until World War I.

Kingdom of Piedmont: Located in Northwest Italy.
Northeast Italy: Placed under the control of the Austrian Habsburg monarchy.
The Papal States: The Pope regained control of the area surrounding Rome.
Small Duchies: Various small duchies were scattered through the region.
The South: A new dynasty related to the previous French kings (Bourbons) was established.
Fatal Oversight: The Congress of Vienna failed to account for the emerging movements of nationalism and liberalism.

Genesis of Nationalism: Nationalism often grows when people lose their nation. Napoleon’s restructuring of borders based on geographical principles led to a sense of loss among the affected populations.
Cultural Nationalism: This concept posits that sharing a specific language, culture, values, and a "native spirit" unites people.
- The Brothers Grimm: Though they were linguists with " $300$ PhDs apiece," they collected fairy tales because they believed these stories preserved the "true spirit of the people."
- German Culture and the French: There was an ideology that German culture had been "colonized" by the French (highlighted by Frederick the Great's preference for speaking French). The Grimm brothers believed German culture had been lost among the nobility but preserved among the peasants.
Political Nationalism: The belief that a nation can only truly develop within its own state.
- Groups such as the Czechs, Flemings, and Slovenians were considered cultural nations without their own states.
- This movement was inherently revolutionary between $1815$ and $1848$ because it sought to break away from existing empires or join divided states (like Italy) together.

Leopold von Ranke: Known as the father of modernist history, von Ranke addressed why Europe overtook China in power by $1800$ .
- In $1500$ , China was more advanced; by $1800$ , it was not.
- Ranke’s Argument: Europe's greatness was due to the "coexistence and interplay of several distinct nations" that resisted the control of any single empire.
- Competition: Constant competition between nations drove European progress. Ranke insisted that for this to continue, Germans needed to separate their culture from the French.

Johann Gottlieb Fichte: Delivered a famous speech in $1806$ attacking Napoleonic ideology.
- Napoleon argued for a single monarch, empire, and law code to ensure peace and easier trade.
- Fichte argued this would be "horrible" because only within a nation can "individual genius" emerge.
Lord Byron: Argued for Greek independence from the Ottoman Empire.
Giuseppe Mazzini: A revolutionary in Italy who promoted the creation of a unified Italian nation through secret societies.

Klemens von Metternich: The Prime Minister of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire who sought to maintain the status quo through censorship and repression.
View on Italy: Metternich famously stated there was no such country as Italy; it was merely a "geographic entity."
Censorship: In $1819$ , Metternich pressured German states to censor universities to prevent the discussion of nationalism or revolution.
The Protocol of Troppau: This agreement argued that a revolution anywhere in Europe was the responsibility of all European leaders to suppress via collective international action to maintain peace and stability.
Implementation: Forces were sent to Naples and Spain to restore old monarchies after revolutions in $1820$ .

Louis XVIII: A constitutionalist monarch who believed in limits on royal power. However, he faced an aristocracy seeking "payback" and the return of confiscated lands.
Assassination of the Duke de Berry: The Duke was killed in $1820$ by former revolutionaries, causing Louis XVIII to prioritize stability.
Charles X: Succeeded Louis XVIII in $1824$ . He was an ultra-reactionary who:
- Wanted to compensate aristocrats for confiscated land.
- Mandated that all teachers be members of the clergy (priests) to restore religious behavior.
The July Revolution ( $1830$ ):
- After a vote of "no confidence" by the wealthy parliament, Charles X dissolved the chamber and issued four ordinances to reduce the number of voters and impose censorship.
- Barricades in Paris: The citizens rebelled by building barricades in the winding medieval streets of Paris, effectively halting the city.
- Abdication: When the army refused to fire on the citizens, Charles X abdicated and fled to England.
Louis Philippe: The Marquis de Lafayette endorsed Louis Philippe as the new, moderate "Citizen King."
- Under his $18$ -year rule, the number of voters increased from $100,000$ to $200,000$ .
- This meant approximately $\frac{1}{30}$ of the adult male population could vote, a small but significant increase that initially satisfied the public by avoiding ultra-reactionary policies.