1. During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as a force which brought about sweeping changes in the political and mental world of Europe and resulted in emergence

of the nation-state.

2. Frederic Sorrieu, a French artist, visualised his dream of a world made up of ‘democratic and social Republics’, and presented it to the world and promoted the spirit of nationalism.

3. Ernst Renan, a French philosopher, gave the new definition of a nation.

4. The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789 in France.

5. The political and constitutional changes came to be seen. For example,

— Transfer of sovereignty from the monarchs to French citizens.

— A sense of collective identity amongst the French people was created through various

measures and practices.

6. Napoleon incorporated revolutionary principles in order to make the whole system more rational and efficient.

7. The Civil Code of 1804 usually known as the Napoleonic Code was introduced.

*Simplification of administrative divisions, improvement in transport and communication

*systems, removal of guild restrictions,

*standardisation of weights and measures and Introduction of common currency were major changes in the system.

*The right to property was also secured.

8. But increased taxation, censorship, forced conscription into the French armies required to conquer the rest of Europe, outweighed the advantages of the administrative changes.

9. Nationalism and the idea of the nation-state were achieved. Common things were

*regional divisions, ownership of estates and town-houses. Industrialisation began in France and parts of the German states during the nineteenth century. New social groups came

into being: a working-class population, and middle classes (industrialists, businessmen,professionals).

10. Slowly and steadily ideas of national unity among the educated, liberal middle classes gained popularity which led to the abolition of aristocratic privileges.

11. The ideology of liberalism emerged which ended the state interference in the economic life of society. Freedom of markets was achieved and state-imposed restrictions on the

movement of goods and capital were abolished. Napoleon’s administrative measures were altered.

12. On 18 May 1848, in the Frankfurt Parliament, a constitution was drafted and freedom of the press and freedom of association were established.

13. Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire and Belgium gained independence from the Netherlands.

14. Giuseppe Mazzini formed Young Italy to establish a unitary Italian Republic.

15. Liberal middle classes emerged with the demands for constitutionalism with national unification.

16. In 1815, Britain, Russia, Prussia and Austria collectively defeated Napoleon and to make a settlement the Treaty of Vienna of 1815 was signed. According to the provisions of

this treaty, the Bourbon dynasty was restored to power, France lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon and a series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion in future.

17. Belgium was set up in the north and Genoa was added to Piedmont in the south. Prussia was given important new territories on its western frontiers, while Austria was given control of northern Italy. Russia was given part of Poland while Prussia was given a portion of Saxony.

18. During the years following 1815, the fear of repression drove many liberal-nationalists underground.

19. Secret societies sprang up in many European states to train revolutionaries and spread their ideas.

20. The Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.

21. He subsequently founded two more underground societies—Young Italy in Marseilles, and Young Europe in Berne. The members of these societies were like-minded young men

from Poland, France, Italy and German States.

22. The period between 1830–1848 is symbolised with the age of revolutions. Revolution started in several regions of Europe such as the Italian and German states, the provinces of the

Ottoman Empire, Ireland and Poland. The first upheaval took place in France in July 1830. The Bourbon kings were now overthrown by liberal revolutionaries. Louis Philippe was

made a constitutional monarch. Belgium got separated from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. The Greek war of independence started in 1821. Finally, the Treaty of

Constantinople of 1832 recognised Greece as an independent nation.

23. Culture played a vital role in creating the idea of the nation through art and poetry, stories and music. It helped to express and arouse nationalist feelings.

24. The 1830s were years of great economic hardship in Europe. The first half of the nineteenth century saw an enormous increase in population all over Europe which gave

rise to unemployment. Population from rural areas migrated to the cities to live in overcrowded slums.

25. Small producers in towns were often faced with stiff competition from imports of cheap machine-made goods from England, where industrialisation was more advanced than on

the continent. This was especially so in textile production, which was carried out mainly in homes or small workshops and was only partly mechanised.

26. In those regions of Europe where the aristocracy still enjoyed power, peasants struggled under the burden of feudal dues and obligations.

27. The rise of food prices or a year of bad harvest led to widespread pauperism in town and country.

28. Food shortages and widespread unemployment brought the population of Paris out on the roads.

29. As a result of all these developments, barricades were erected and Louis Philippe was forced to flee. A National Assembly proclaimed a republic, granted suffrage to all adult

males above 21, and guaranteed the right to work.

30. Cotton weaving was the most widespread occupation. Still the economic conditions of the workers were miserable. There were very less jobs and they were underpaid. In hope of a positive change, on 4 June, 1845, a large crowd of weavers revolted against their contractor demanding higher wages. But they were treated harshly and forcefully sent back homes.

31. In the year 1848, a revolution led by the liberals (educated middle classes) also took place. They made demands for constitutionalism with national unification. In the German

regions a large number of political associations came together in the city of Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly. A Constitution for a German nation was drafted which was to be headed by monarchy subject to a Parliament.

32. Germany was divided into many states. In 1848, the German confederation and Prussia began organising themselves into a German state.

33. Three wars—Danish War, Austro-Prussian War and Franco-Prussian War—were fought which ended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unification of Germany in 1871. The Prussian King Kaiser William I was proclaimed German Emperor.

34. Like Germany, Italy, too had a long history of political fragmentation. Italians were scattered over several dynastic states as well as the multi-national Habsburg Empire.

35. During the middle of the nineteenth century, Italy was divided into seven states, of which only one, Sardinia-Piedmont, was ruled by an Italian princely house. The unification process was led by three revolutionaries—Giuseppe Mazzini, Count Camillo de Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi.

36. Giuseppe Mazzini during the 1830s sought to put together a coherent programme for a unitary Italian Republic. He organised a new political society called Young Italy.

37. The failure of revolutionary uprisings both in 1831 and 1848 meant that the responsibility now fell on Sardinia-Piedmont under its ruler King Victor Emmanuel II to unify the Italian states through war.

38. Count de Cavour now led the movement to unify the regions of Italy. Through a tactful diplomatic alliance with France engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in

defeating the Austrian forces in 1859.

39. Apart from regular troops, a large number of armed volunteers under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi joined the fray. In 1860, they marched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and succeeded in winning the support of the local peasants in order to drive out the Spanish rulers.

40. In 1861, the process of the unification of Italy completed and Victor Emmanuel-II was proclaimed king of the United Italy.

41. The history of nationalism in Britain was different from the rest of Europe. Before the eighteenth century there was no British nation. The people of different identities comprised of English, Welsh, Scot or Irish lived in the British Isles.

42. The Act of Union of 1707 between England and Scotland resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’. This led to the demolition of Scotland’s distinctive culture and political institutions. Ireland was forcibly included into the United Kingdom in 1801.

43. This amalgamation led to the growth of a new, powerful nation—‘British nation’. The symbols of the new Britain—the British Flag (Union Jack), the national anthem (God Save

Our Noble King), the English language—were actively promoted and the older nations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.

44. Nationalist tensions emerged in the Balkans states. The Balkans consisted of regions of modern day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-

Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro and their inhabitants were broadly known as Slavs. A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

45. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, it initiated nationalism in the Balkans states. Gradually, its European subject-nationalities broke away from its control and declared

independence.

46. In the race of expanding their territories and imposing their supremacy on each other, Slavic nationalities quickly got into severe clashes and the Balkan area became an area

of intense conflict.

47. It also became the scene of big power rivalry. This finally led to a series of wars in the region which culminated into the first world war that took place in 1914.

==Words that Matter ==

1. Nation-state: The region 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.

2. Plebiscite: A direct vote which gave power to the people of a region to accept or reject

a proposal.

3. Absolutist: A government or system of rule without restraints on the power exercised.

4. Utopian: An imaginary ideal society which principally doesn’t exist.

5. Suffrage: The right to vote.

6. Conservatism: A political philosophy that stressed the importance of tradition, established

institutions and customs, and preferred gradual development to quick change.

7. Feminist: Awareness of women’s rights and interests based on the belief of the social,

political and economic equality of genders.

8. Ethnic: The people of different identities living together sharing common racial, tribal, or

cultural origin or background.

9. Allegory: Expression of idea or thought through a person or a thing.

10. British nation: This amalgamation of different identities comprised of English, Welsh,

Scot or Irish lived in the British Isles.

Dateline

1. 1714: George-I became the king of Great Britain.

2. 1715: Louis XV became the king of France.

3. 1740-1748: The War of the Austrian Succession.

4. 1756-1763: The Seven Years War.

5. 1776: The American Declaration of Independence.

6. 1789: The French Revolution occurred.

7. 1797: Napoleon invaded Italy; Napoleonic wars began.

8. 1814: The First Treaty of Paris: established a lenient peace with France.

9. 1814-1815: Fall of Napoleon; the Vienna Peace Settlement; Napoleon escaped

from Elba, gathered a new army, but was defeated at Waterloo.

10. 1821: Greek struggle for independence began.

11. 1832: Greece gained independence from the Ottoman Empire.

12. 1831: Giuseppe Mazzini established Young Italy.

13. 1859-1861: The unification of Italy.

14. 1849-1878: The reign of Victor Emmanuel-II of Piedmont-Sardinia.

15. 1852: Camillo Cavour became the premier of Sardinia-Piedmont.

16. 1859: Piedmont and France defeated Austria; Piedmont annexed Lombardy.17. 1861: The Kingdom of Italy was announced; Victor Emmanuel-II of Piedmont-

Sardinia became king of Italy.

18. 1870: After France declared war on Prussia, Italy annexed Rome.

19. 1866-1871: The unification of Germany.

20. 1861-1888: Reign of King William-I of Prussia.

21. 1867: Prussia created the North German Confederation.

22. 1870-1871: Franco-Prussian War.

23. 1871: The German Empire was formed; Germany annexed Alsace and Lorraine.

24. 1848: The Revolutions of 1848.

25. 1905: Slav nationalism gathered force in the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires.