The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

Frdric Sorrieu and the Vision of a Democratic World\n\n* The Dream of Worldwide Democratic and Social Republics: In $1848$, the French artist Frdric Sorrieu created a series of four prints visualizing his dream of a world composed of what he termed ‘democratic and social Republics’.\n* The Procession of Nations: The first print in the series depicts the peoples of Europe and America. Men and women of all ages and social classes are shown marching in a long train, offering homage to the Statue of Liberty as they pass.\n* Symbolism of Liberty: Liberty is personified as a female figure. In one hand, she carries the torch of Enlightenment, and in the other, the Charter of the Rights of Man.\n* Demise of Absolutism: Scattered on the ground in the foreground are the shattered remains of symbols representing absolutist institutions.\n * Absolutist (Definition): Literally, a government or system of rule with no restraints on power. Historically, it refers to centralized, militarized, and repressive monarchical governments.\n* The Utopian Grouping: Sorrieu’s vision is utopian, meaning a vision of a society so ideal it is unlikely to exist. Nations are identified by their distinct flags and national costumes.\n * Leading Nations: The United States and Switzerland lead the procession, having already become nation-states by $1848$.\n * France: Recognizable by the revolutionary tricolour, France has just reached the statue.\n * Germany: Following France, the German people bear the black, red, and gold flag. In $1848$, Germany was not yet a united nation; the flag expressed liberal hopes to unify German-speaking principalities into a democratic nation-state.\n * Other Participating Nations: The procession includes people from Austria, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lombardy, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary, and Russia.\n* Divine Approval: From the heavens, Christ, saints, and angels gaze upon the scene, used by the artist to symbolize fraternity among the nations.\n\n# The Concept of the Nation-State and Ernst Renan\n\n* Nationalism as a Transformative Force: During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as a force that changed the political and mental landscape of Europe, replacing multi-national dynastic empires with the nation-state.\n* Modern State vs. Nation-State:\n * Modern State: A centralized power exercising sovereign control over a clearly defined territory, a concept developing over a long period in Europe.\n * Nation-State: A state where the majority of citizens, not just the rulers, develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent, forged through struggles and the actions of leaders and people.\n* Ernst Renan’s Definition: In his $1882$ lecture at the University of Sorbonne, ‘Qu’est-ce qu’une nation?’ (‘What is a Nation?’), Renan criticized the idea that nations are formed solely by common language, race, religion, or territory.\n * Nation as Solidarity: Renan defined a nation as the culmination of a long past of endeavors, sacrifice, and devotion. It requires ‘common glories in the past’ and a ‘common will in the present.’\n * The Daily Plebiscite: He famously described a nation’s existence as a ‘daily plebiscite’.\n * Plebiscite (Definition): A direct vote by which all people of a region accept or reject a proposal.\n * Necessity of Nations: Renan argued that nations are a guarantee of liberty, which would be lost if the world had only one law and one master.\n\n# The French Revolution and the Birth of Nationalism\n\n* 1789: The Starting Point: The first clear expression of nationalism was the French Revolution. Sovereignty transferred from the absolute monarchy to a body of French citizens.\n* Creating Collective Identity: The revolutionaries introduced several measures to foster a sense of unity:\n * La Patrie and Le Citoyen: The ideas of ‘the fatherland’ and ‘the citizen’ emphasized a community with equal rights under a constitution.\n * New Symbols: A new tricolour flag replaced the royal standard. New hymns were composed, oaths taken, and martyrs commemorated.\n * Administrative Reform: A centralized system formulated uniform laws. Internal customs duties were abolished, and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.\n * Language: Regional dialects were discouraged; French (as spoken in Paris) became the national language.\n* The Mission of Liberation: Revolutionaries declared it the mission of the French nation to help other European peoples liberate themselves from despotism.\n* Jacobin Clubs: Success of the revolution led to the formation of Jacobin clubs by the educated middle classes across Europe (Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy), paving the way for French armies.\n\n# Napoleon’s Administrative Reforms and the Civil Code\n\n* Napoleonic Code (Civil Code of 1804): Napoleon destroyed democracy but introduced revolutionary administrative principles:\n * Abolished all privileges based on birth.\n * Established equality before the law.\n * Secured the right to property.\n* Expansion of Reforms: These codes were exported to the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany.\n * Simplified administrative divisions.\n * Abolished the feudal system.\n * Freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.\n * Removed guild restrictions in towns.\n * Improved transport and communication systems.\n* Economic Impact: Uniform laws, standardized weights/measures, and a common currency facilitated the movement of goods and capital.\n* Mixed Reactions to French Rule: Initially welcomed as ‘harbingers of liberty,’ French rule soon faced hostility due to:\n 1. Increased taxation.\n 2. Censorship.\n 3. Forced conscription into French armies to conquer Europe.\n\n# The Diverse Social Landscape of Mid-18th Century Europe\n\n* Political Fragmentation: No nation-states existed; regions like Germany, Italy, and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies, and cantons with autonomous rulers.\n* The Habsburg Empire: A ‘patchwork’ of diverse regions and peoples, including:\n * Alpine regions: Tyrol, Austria, Sudetenland.\n * Bohemia: Predominantly German-speaking aristocracy.\n * Italian provinces: Lombardy and Venetia.\n * Hungary: Half the population spoke Magyar; others spoke various dialects.\n * Galicia: Aristocrasy spoke Polish.\n* Peasantry: Subject peoples included Bohemians, Slovaks, Slovenes (in Carniola), Croats, and Roumans.\n* The Aristocracy: The dominant social and political class. They were a small, landed group united by a common way of life, speaking French for diplomacy and marriage ties.\n* The New Middle Class: Emerged due to industrialization (beginning in England in the late $18^{th}$ century, France/Germany in the $19^{th}$ century). Consisted of industrialists, businessmen, and professionals.\n\n# Liberal Nationalism and the Zollverein\n\n* Liberalism: Derived from Latin liber (free). It stood for individual freedom and equality before the law.\n* Political Liberalism: Emphasized government by consent, the end of autocracy/clerical privileges, a constitution, and representative government. However, it did not initially mean universal suffrage; voting was often restricted to property-owning men.\n* Economic Liberalism: Demanded freedom of markets and the abolition of state restrictions on the movement of goods.\n* The German Example: Napoleon’s $39$-state confederation had different currencies and weights.\n * Customs Hurdles: In $1833$, a merchant traveling from Hamburg to Nuremberg passed through $11$ customs barriers, paying $5\%$ duty at each.\n * The Elle: A variable measure of cloth. One elle = $54.7\,\text{cm}$ in Frankfurt, $55.1\,\text{cm}$ in Mainz, $65.6\,\text{cm}$ in Nuremberg, and $53.5\,\text{cm}$ in Freiburg.\n* The Zollverein (1834): A customs union formed by Prussia and joined by most German states.\n * Abolished tariff barriers.\n * Reduced currencies from over $30$ to $2$.\n * Strengthened national sentiment through economic fusion (as noted by economist Friedrich List).\n\n# Conservatism After 1815 and the Congress of Vienna\n\n* Conservatism (Definition): A philosophy stressing tradition, established institutions (monarchy, Church, family), and gradual change.\n* The Treaty of Vienna (1815): Representatives of Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria met to undo Napoleonic changes. Hosted by Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich.\n * Restoration of the Bourbon dynasty in France.\n * France lost territories annexed under Napoleon.\n * Buffer States: Kingdom of the Netherlands (including Belgium) in the north; Genoa added to Piedmont in the south.\n * Territorial Gains: Prussia gained western frontiers and part of Saxony; Austria gained northern Italy; Russia gained part of Poland.\n * German Confederation: The $39$ states remained untouched.\n* Autocratic Rule: Post-$1815$ regimes were repressive, imposing censorship on newspapers, books, and plays that reflected revolutionary ideas of liberty.\n\n# The Role of Revolutionaries and Giuseppe Mazzini\n\n* Secret Societies: Fear of repression drove liberal-nationalists underground. Being a ‘revolutionary’ meant opposing monarchies established after $1815$.\n* Giuseppe Mazzini: Born in Genoa in $1805$, he was a member of the Carbonari. Exiled in $1831$ for a revolution in Liguria.\n * Foundations: Founded Young Italy in Marseilles and Young Europe in Berne ($1833$).\n * Vision: Believed God intended nations to be the natural units of mankind. Sought to forge Italy into a single unified republic.\n * Metternich’s View: ‘The most dangerous enemy of our social order.’\n\n# The Age of Revolutions (1830–1848)\n\n* July Revolution (1830): Liberal revolutionaries in France overthrew Bourbon kings, installing a constitutional monarchy under Louis Philippe.\n * Metternich’s Quote: ‘When France sneezes, the rest of Europe catches cold.’\n * Led to Belgium breaking away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.\n* Greek War of Independence: Part of the Ottoman Empire since the $15^{th}$ century. The struggle began in $1821$.\n * Support: Greek exiles and West Europeans sympathetic to ancient Greek culture (‘cradle of European civilization’).\n * Lord Byron: English poet who organized funds and died in the war ($1824$).\n * Success: The Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent nation.\n\n# Romanticism and Cultural Nationalism\n\n* Romanticism: A cultural movement that criticized reason and science, focusing on emotions, intuition, and mystical feelings to build a sense of collective heritage.\n* Johann Gottfried Herder: Claimed true German culture (das volk) was found in folk songs, poetry, and dances (volksgeist).\n* The Grimm Brothers: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm collected folktales to preserve a ‘pure German spirit’ and oppose French domination. They published a $33$-volume German dictionary.\n* Poland and Language: Despite being partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, Polish identity was kept alive via music (Karol Kurpinski’s operas, polonaise, mazurka) and language.\n * Polish as Resistance: Polish was used in Church and religious instruction as a weapon against Russian imposition. Priests were jailed or sent to Siberia for refusing to use Russian.\n\n# Economic Hardship and Popular Revolt\n\n* The 1830s: A decade of ‘Hunger and Hardship’ due to massive population increases and job shortages.\n * Competition: Small producers faced cheap machine-made imports from England, especially in textiles.\n * Pauperism: High food prices and bad harvests led to widespread poverty.\n* 1848 Crises: Food shortages and unemployment led to barricades in Paris; Louis Philippe fled. A Republic was proclaimed with universal male suffrage ($21+$) and the right to work.\n* Silesian Weavers’ Revolt (1845): Weavers revolted against contractors who reduced payments. On $4$ June, after demanding higher wages, they smashed a contractor’s mansion. In the ensuing clash with the army, $11$ weavers were shot.\n\n# The 1848 Revolution of the Liberals and the Frankfurt Parliament\n\n* Middle-Class Demands: Parallel to peasant revolts, the educated middle class demanded constitutionalism and national unification (Germany, Italy, Poland, Austro-Hungary).\n* Frankfurt Parliament: On $18$ May $1848$, $831$ elected representatives met in the Church of St Paul.\n * Drafted a constitution for a German nation under a monarchy subject to parliament.\n * Friedrich Wilhelm IV: The King of Prussia rejected the offered crown.\n * Failure: The parliament lost support by resisting the demands of workers; it was eventually disbanded by troops.\n* The Women’s Question: Women participated actively (formed associations, newspapers) but were denied suffrage. At the Frankfurt parliament, they were only admitted as observers.\n * Louise Otto-Peters: Noted activist and founder of a women’s journal, argued ‘Liberty is indivisible!’\n* Concessions: After $1848$, autocratic rulers realized they must grant concessions. Serfdom and bonded labor were abolished in the Habsburg dominions and Russia. Hungary gained autonomy in $1867$.\n\n# The Unification of Germany\n\n* Prussian Leadership: After the failed $1848$ assembly, Prussia took the lead in unification.\n* Otto von Bismarck: The Chief Minister and architect of German unification, using the Prussian army and bureaucracy.\n* Three Wars: Over seven years, Prussia fought Denmark, Austria, and France, winning all three.\n* Proclamation of the Empire: On $18$ January $1871$, in the unheated Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, Kaiser William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor.\n* Prussian Model: The new state prioritized modernizing the currency, banking, legal, and judicial systems.\n\n# The Unification of Italy\n\n* Political Fragmentation: Italy was divided into seven states; only Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian house (Victor Emmanuel II).\n * North: Austrian Habsburgs.\n * Center: The Pope.\n * South: Bourbon kings of Spain.\n* Leaders of Unification:\n * Giuseppe Mazzini: Proposed a unitary Italian Republic; founded Young Italy.\n * Count Camillo de Cavour: Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont. Engineered a diplomatic alliance with France to defeat Austria in $1859$.\n * Giuseppe Garibaldi: Led the ‘Expedition of the Thousand’ with ‘Red Shirt’ volunteers in $1860$ to support the liberation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.\n* Outcome: In $1861$, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy. Rome was joined in $1870$ after French withdrawal.\n\n# The Strange Case of Britain\n\n* Gradual Process: Nation-building was not a sudden revolution but a long-drawn process.\n* English Dominance: England grew in power and used its parliament (which seized power in $1688$) to extend influence.\n* Act of Union (1707): Between England and Scotland, forming the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain.’ Scotland’s culture and Gaelic language were subsequently suppressed.\n* Ireland: Divided between Catholics and Protestants. England supported Protestants to maintain control. After a failed revolt by Wolfe Tone in $1798$, Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the UK in $1801$.\n* British Symbols: The Union Jack, ‘God Save Our Noble King’ (National Anthem), and the English language were promoted.\n\n# Visualizing the Nation: Allegory and Symbols\n\n* Allegory (Definition): Expressing abstract ideas (freedom, greed) through a person or thing.\n* Marianne: The female allegory of France. Her attributes include the red cap, tricolour, and cockade, symbolizing the ‘people’s nation’.\n* Germania: The allegory of Germany. She wears a crown of oak leaves, representing heroism.\n* Symbolic Meanings:\n * Broken chains: Being freed.\n * Breastplate with eagle: Symbol of the German empire’s strength.\n * Sword: Readiness to fight.\n * Olive branch around sword: Willingness to make peace.\n * Black, red, and gold tricolour: Flag of liberal-nationalists in $1848$.\n * Rays of the rising sun: Beginning of a new era.\n\n# Nationalism, Imperialism, and the Balkans\n\n* Shift in Nationalism: By late $19^{th}$ century, nationalism became a narrow, intolerant creed used to further imperial aims.\n* The Balkan Crisis: The most serious source of tension after $1871$. A region of ethnic variation (Slavs) including modern Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, and Montenegro.\n* Ottoman Decline: The disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the spread of romantic nationalism made the area explosive.\n* Balkan Conflict: Subject nationalities used history to claim independence, leading to intense internal conflict and jealousy between states.\n* Big Power Rivalry: Russia, Germany, England, and Austro-Hungary vied for control over the Balkans, leading to a series of wars and ultimately the First World War in $1914$.\n* Anti-Imperialism: Movements globalized the idea of the nation-state, as colonized peoples struggled for independence and developed their own varieties of nationalism.