Nationalism in Europe – Comprehensive Study Notes

Frédéric Sorrieu’s 1848 Utopian Vision

• Series of 4 prints titled “Democratic and Social Republics – The Pact Between Nations”
• First print: peoples of Europe & America (men, women, all classes) march past a female Statue of Liberty
‣ Liberty carries the torch of Enlightenment & the Charter of the Rights of Man
‣ Shattered crowns, sceptres = fall of absolutism
• Nations identified through flags & costumes
‣ USA & Switzerland lead (already nation-states)
‣ France shown with tricolour, Germany with black-red-gold although still un-unified
• Sky: Christ, saints, angels → fraternity of nations
• Represents a “utopian” ideal where all peoples become democratic republics

Key Terms & Concepts (as used in the chapter)

• Absolutist: rule with no legal restraint; centralised, militarised, repressive
• Utopian: an ideal society unlikely to exist
• Plebiscite: direct vote by people on a proposal
• Suffrage: right to vote
• Conservatism: ideology favouring tradition & gradual change
• Liberalism (liber = free): individual freedom, equality before law, representative government, free markets
• Allegory: abstract idea represented as person/thing (e.g., Marianne, Germania)
• Zollverein: 1834 German customs union abolishing internal tariffs
• Volksgeist: “spirit of the people” revealed in folklore (Herder)

French Revolution & Birth of National Idea (1789-1799)

• Sovereignty transferred from monarch to citizens → “la patrie” & “le citoyen”
• Symbols/practices to forge unity
‣ Tricolour flag replaces Bourbon standard
‣ National Assembly (formerly Estates-General) elected by “active citizens”
‣ National hymns, oaths, commemorations
‣ Centralised administration, uniform laws, weights & measures; abolition of internal customs
‣ Parisian French imposed; regional dialects discouraged
• Mission-idea: liberate other Europeans; Jacobin clubs abroad prepare ground for French armies

Napoleon’s Administrative Export (1804-1814)

• $\text{Civil Code of 1804}$ (Napoleonic Code)
‣ Equality before law, end of birth privileges, right to property
• Abolished serfdom & manorial dues in conquered areas; removed guild restrictions
• Standardised weights, measures, currency; improved roads & communication
• Mixed reaction: welcomed initially, later hostility due to taxation, censorship, compulsory conscription

Europe c. 1800: Political & Social Mosaic

• No nation-states; patchwork of kingdoms, duchies, city-states
• Habsburg Empire = multi-ethnic (German, Italian, Magyar, Slovak, Slovene, Croat, Romanian, Polish)
• Social structure
‣ Landed aristocracy (small, powerful, French-speaking)
‣ Vast peasantry (tenants in West; serfs in East)
‣ Emerging middle class: industrialists, professionals, commercial bourgeoisie

Economic Liberalism & Zollverein

• 1833 example: Hamburg → Nuremberg = 11 customs barriers, each ~$5\%$ duty; different “elle” units (Frankfurt 54.7 cm, Nuremberg 65.6 cm)
• 1834 Zollverein (Prussia-led) abolishes internal tariffs; >30 currencies → 2; railway network fosters mobility
• Friedrich List (1834): economic union will “bind the Germans into a nation … awaken national sentiment”

Conservative Order & Congress of Vienna (1815)

• Metternich hosts; aim = undo Napoleonic changes, restore Bourbon monarchy, redraw map
‣ Netherlands (incl. Belgium) north of France; Genoa + Piedmont south; Prussia gains Rhineland; Austria gets N Italy; Russia gets part of Poland
• German Confederation of $39$ states retained
• Censorship, secret police; caricature “Club of Thinkers” mocks muzzling of dissent

Secret Societies & Revolutionary Nationalism

• Repression → underground networks (Carbonari, Young Italy, Young Europe)
• Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872): nationalism = God-given; campaign for unified republican Italy; inspires groups across Europe
• Conservatives label Mazzini “most dangerous enemy” (Metternich)

Age of Revolutions (1830-1848)

1830

• July Revolution in France topples Bourbons; constitutional monarchy under Louis-Philippe
• Belgium breaks from Netherlands

Greek War of Independence (1821-1832)

• Against Ottoman Empire; Philhellenism in Europe; Lord Byron dies at Missolonghi; Treaty of Constantinople (1832) recognises Greece

Cultural / Romantic Nationalism

• Romanticism values emotion & folk tradition over reason
• Herder: true culture in das Volk; collect folk songs/dances
• Grimm Brothers (1812): fairy-tales & 33-volume German dictionary oppose French cultural domination
• Poland: music (Kurpiński, polonaise, mazurka) & Church use Polish language against Russianisation

Socio-Economic Crisis & Popular Revolts

• 1830s-40s: population boom, urban slums, competition with English machine goods
• 1845 Silesian weavers revolt (W. Wolff report): wage cuts, mansion stormed, 11 shot
• 1848 Paris: food shortages, unemployment → barricades; Louis-Philippe abdicates; Second Republic grants universal male suffrage (>21) & national workshops

1848 Revolution of the Liberals

• Goal: constitutional nation-states (Germany, Italy, Poland, Habsburg lands)
• Frankfurt Parliament
‣ $18\,\text{May}\,1848$ – 831 elected deputies meet in St Paul’s Church
‣ Draft constitution: hereditary monarchy under parliament; offer crown to Frederick William IV (Prussia) → refused
‣ Middle-class dominance alienates workers; assembly dispersed by troops
• Debate on women’s rights
‣ Carl Welcker: “Nature created men & women for different spheres”
‣ Louise Otto-Peters & anonymous reader demand universal rights; highlight irony of property-owning women vs. “stupidest cattle-herder”
‣ Women allowed only as observers in galleries (see Fig. 10)
• Aftermath: serfdom abolished in Habsburg & Russia; Hungary gains autonomy (1867)

Unification of Germany (1864-1871)

• Failure of 1848 liberals → conservative Prussian leadership (Junkers)
• Otto von Bismarck (chief minister) uses “blood & iron”
‣ 1864 Danish War (Schleswig-Holstein)
‣ 1866 Austro-Prussian War → N. German Confederation
‣ 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War → southern states join
• $18\,\text{Jan}\,1871$: William I proclaimed Kaiser in Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors (Fig. 11)
• Post-1871: common currency, banking, legal code; Prussian model dominates

Unification of Italy (1859-1870)

• Pre-1859: 7 states; only Sardinia-Piedmont under native dynasty; North under Austria, Centre under Pope, South under Bourbon Spain; linguistic fragmentation
• Early phase: Mazzini & Young Italy revolts (1831, 1848) fail
• Leadership shifts to King Victor Emmanuel II & PM Count Cavour (moderate, French-speaking)
‣ 1859: Franco-Sardinian alliance defeats Austria (Lombardy annexed)
‣ 1860: Garibaldi’s “Expedition of the Thousand” (Red Shirts) conquers Sicily & Naples; plebiscite joins south to north
‣ 1861: Kingdom of Italy proclaimed (excluding Rome & Venetia)
‣ 1866: Venetia added (Austro-Prussian War)
‣ 1870: Rome annexed after French troops withdraw (Franco-Prussian War)
• Popular gap: peasants thought “La Talia” was king’s wife; high illiteracy; Piedmontese elites dominate new state

The Peculiar Path of Britain

• No sudden revolution; gradual parliamentary supremacy after $1688$ Glorious Revolution
• Act of Union $1707$ creates “United Kingdom of Great Britain”; England dominates Scotland (suppresses Gaelic, tartan; Highland Clearances)
• Ireland: Protestant minority supported by England; failed United Irishmen revolt (1798); Act of Union $1801$ integrates Ireland
• Symbols propagated: Union Jack, “God Save Our Noble King,” English language

Visualising Nations: Female Allegories

• France: Marianne (Phrygian red cap, tricolour, cockade); statues, coins, stamps promote unity
• Germany: Germania (oak-leaf crown = heroism, breastplate with eagle, sword & olive branch, broken chains, black-red-gold flag, rising sun)
• 1850 Julius Hübner’s “Fallen Germania” laments defeat of 1848 revolution
• 1860 Clasen’s “Germania guarding the Rhine” shows shift to aggressive nationalism (sword inscription: defence of Rhine)

Nationalism Turns Imperialist & the Balkan Powder Keg

• Post-1871: nationalism becomes aggressive, exclusivist; powers exploit it for colonies & dominance
• Balkans: multi-ethnic Slavic lands (Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece, etc.) under weakening Ottoman Empire
‣ Competing national histories & territorial claims; jealousies among new states
‣ Great-power rivalry (Russia vs. Austro-Hungary vs. Britain & Germany)
‣ Series of Balkan wars culminate in assassination at Sarajevo (1914) → First World War
• Nationalism + imperialism = European disaster; simultaneously spurs anti-colonial nationalisms worldwide

Master Timeline

• $1789$ French Revolution begins
• $1797$ Napoleon invades Italy
• $1804$ Napoleonic Code
• $1814{-}1815$ Congress of Vienna
• $1821$ Greek revolt starts
• $1830$ July Revolution (France); Belgium separates
• $1834$ Zollverein; List’s treatise
• $1845$ Silesian weavers revolt
• $1848$ Revolutions; Frankfurt Parliament
• $1859{-}1870$ Italian unification wars
• $1866{-}1871$ German unification wars
• $1867$ Austro-Hungarian Compromise; serfdom abolished in Russia
• $1871$ German Empire proclaimed
• $1905$ Slav nationalism rises in Habsburg & Ottoman realms

Ethical, Philosophical & Practical Implications

• Renan (1882): nation as “daily plebiscite,” based on shared past & will; warns against forced annexation; nations guarantee liberty
• Liberal paradox: equality before law vs. limited suffrage; women & propertyless excluded → sparks feminist critique
• Romantic turn shows culture as political weapon; folktale collecting both preserves heritage & propagates nationalism
• Imperial appropriation: map of British Empire (Fig. 20) equates domination with national glory; raises moral critique of “freedom” banner juxtaposed with colonial subjects

Connections to Wider / Previous Study

• Builds on Enlightenment (liberty, citizenship) yet critiques excessive rationalism via Romanticism
• Previews 20th-century total wars rooted in nationalist rivalries
• Sets stage for anti-colonial nationalisms: concept adapted in Asia, Africa, Latin America (e.g., Indian nationalism – later chapters)

Quick-Reference: Major Leaders & Symbols

• France: Robespierre, tricolour, Marianne
• Germany: Bismarck, Junkers, Germania, black-red-gold
• Italy: Mazzini (ideologue), Cavour (diplomat), Garibaldi (soldier) – emblematic Red Shirts
• Britain: Parliament, Union Jack, Britannia
• Balkans: Slavs, pan-Slavism, Ottoman decline

Formulae & Numerical Highlights

• Customs duty for 1833 German merchant: $11 \times 5\% = 55\%$ potential cumulative charges
• Zollverein currency reduction: >30 \rightarrow 2 currencies
• Frankfurt Parliament deputies: $831$ representatives
• Garibaldi’s volunteers: grew from $1000 \rightarrow 30{,}000$ (“Expedition of the Thousand”)

Typical Exam Pitfalls & Tips

• Do not equate liberalism with universal democracy; stress property criterion & gender exclusion
• Remember chronology: German unification post-Italian, both post-1848 failures
• Differentiate cultural (Romantic) vs. political (armed) routes to nationalism
• Britain as exception: union by parliament, not revolution; older nations subsumed under English dominance
• Balkans: understand both internal rivalries AND great-power meddling