Ch 01 - The Rise of Nationalism in Europe10th History

The Utopian Vision

• Visual: Peoples of Europe and America (men and women of all ages and social classes) marching in a long train, offering homage to the Statue of Liberty.
• The Leaders: The procession is led by the United States and Switzerland, as they were already established nation-states by 1848. They are followed by France (identified by the revolutionary tricolour) and Germany.
• Symbolism of Liberty: The female figure holds the Torch of Enlightenment in one hand and the Charter of the Rights of Man in the other.
• Shattered Remains: On the earth in the foreground lie the shattered remains of symbols of absolutist institutions (monarchies).

Key Definitions

• Absolutist: A government or system of rule that has no restraints on the power exercised. In history, the term refers to a form of monarchical government that was centralized, militarized, and highly repressive.
• Utopian: A vision of a society that is so ideal that it is highly unlikely to actually exist in reality.

The Distinction

• Modern State: A system where a centralized power exercises sovereign control over a clearly defined territory. This concept had been developing over a long period in Europe.
• Nation-State: A state in which the majority of its citizens (and not merely its rulers) develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent. This commonness is forged through struggles, actions of leaders, and the common people.

Renan's Concept of a Nation

• The Nation: Renan criticized the idea that a nation is formed by common language, race, or religion. Instead, he argued a nation is the culmination of a long past of endeavors, sacrifice, and devotion.
• Plebiscite Definition: A direct vote by which all the people of a region are asked to accept or reject a proposal.
• Daily Plebiscite: Renan stated that a nation's existence is a 'daily plebiscite,' meaning it relies on the continued consent and desire of its people to be part of it.

Transfer of Sovereignty

• The revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from the absolute monarchy to a body of French citizens.
• It proclaimed the fundamental principle that the people would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny.

Measures for Collective Identity

• Ideological: Promoted the ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) to emphasize a united community enjoying equal rights.
• Symbolic: A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
• Political: The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
• Cultural & Linguistic: New hymns were composed and oaths taken. Regional dialects were discouraged, and French became the common national language.

From Limited to Universal to Restricted

• Initial Phase: The right to vote was granted almost exclusively to property-owning men.
• Jacobin Period: Briefly, all adult males enjoyed universal suffrage.
• Napoleonic Code (1804): Reverted to limited suffrage. It reduced women to the status of a minor, subjecting them to the authority of fathers and husbands.

Exporting the Revolution

• Formation: As news of the events in France reached different European cities, students and other members of the educated middle classes began setting up Jacobin clubs.
• Impact: Their activities and campaigns prepared the way for the French armies, which subsequently moved into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, and much of Italy in the 1790s.
• Result: With the outbreak of the revolutionary wars, the French armies began carrying the idea of nationalism abroad.

Features of the Napoleonic Code

• Social Equality: It did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law, and securely granted the right to property.
• Rural Reforms: Abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.
• Urban Reforms: Removed guild restrictions in towns, which facilitated trade.

From Liberators to Oppressors

• The Shift: Initially welcomed as harbingers of liberty, it quickly became clear to local populations that the new administrative efficiency did not equate to political freedom.
• Causes of Hostility: The advantages of uniform administrative changes were heavily outweighed by increased taxation, strict censorship, and forced conscription into the French armies required to conquer the rest of Europe.

Oppressors Masquerading as Liberators

• The Visual: The print shows French soldiers (distinguished by their blue, white, and red uniforms) acting as oppressors—harassing peasants and seizing a peasant's cart.
• The Irony: In the center, they are planting a 'Tree of Liberty'. The plaque on the tree ironically reads, 'Take freedom and equality from us, the model of humanity'.
• Historical Context: This visually represents the bitter hostility of local populations as they realized the 'liberating' French armies were actually engaging in subjugation.

The Social Divide

• The Landed Aristocracy: The dominant class socially and politically, though numerically a small minority. They owned extensive estates, spoke French for diplomacy and high society, and were connected by marriage ties.
• The Peasantry: Constituted the vast majority of the population. In Western Europe, land was farmed by tenants and small owners; in Eastern and Central Europe, landholdings were vast estates cultivated largely by serfs.

The Commercial and Professional Class

• Origin: The growth of industrial production and trade led to the growth of towns and the emergence of commercial classes whose existence was based on market production.
• Composition: Made up of industrialists, businessmen, and professionals (lawyers, doctors, administrators).
• Socio-Political Role: It was among this educated, liberal middle class that the ideas of national unity and the abolition of aristocratic privileges first gained immense popularity.

Political Liberalism

• Etymology: Derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free.
• Individual Rights: Emphasized freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law.
• Governance: Politically, it stressed the concept of government by consent.
• Institutional Demands: Liberalism stood for the end of autocracy and clerical privileges, demanding a constitution and a representative government through parliament.

Economic Liberalism

• Core Demand: The freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
• The Context (The Problem): Merchants faced countless customs barriers across fragmented states. For example, travelling from Hamburg to Nuremberg meant passing through 11 customs barriers, heavily hindering economic exchange and growth.

The Confusion of the Elle

• Definition: The elle was a standard measure of cloth.
• The Problem: Its actual physical length fluctuated drastically depending on the specific region (e.g., 54.7 cm in Frankfurt vs. 55.1 cm in Mainz).
• Impact: This lack of standardization forced merchants into time-consuming and complex calculations at every customs post, highlighting the desperate need for a unified economic territory (Zollverein).

The German Customs Union

• Formation: Formed in 1834 at the initiative of Prussia, and joined by most of the German states.
• Economic Achievements:
  1. It abolished the myriad of tariff barriers hindering trade.
  2. It drastically reduced the number of separate currencies from over thirty to just two.
• Broader Impact: By binding the region's economic interests together, the Zollverein harnessed economic interests to national unification.

Traditionalism with a Modern Twist

• Definition: A political philosophy that stressed the importance of tradition, established institutions (Monarchy, Church, Family), and preferred gradual development over quick revolutionary change.
• Embracing Modernization: Unlike older conservatives, post-1815 conservatives realized that modernization could actually strengthen traditional institutions. An efficient bureaucracy, dynamic economy, and modern army could make autocratic monarchies more effective.

Restoring the Old Order

• Participants: The powers who had collectively defeated Napoleon: Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria (BRAP).
• The Host: The Congress was hosted by the influential Austrian Chancellor, Duke Metternich.
• Primary Objective: To draw up a settlement to undo most of the changes brought about during the Napoleonic wars and restore conservative monarchies.

Containing France

• Strategy: A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to act as buffers and prevent French expansion in the future.
• The North: The kingdom of the Netherlands, which included Belgium, was set up in the north.
• The South: Genoa was added to Piedmont in the south.

Autocratic and Repressive

• Autocracy: The conservative regimes set up in 1815 were strictly autocratic. They did not tolerate criticism or dissent.
• Censorship: Most of them imposed heavy censorship laws to control what was said in newspapers, books, and plays. They systematically suppressed content that reflected the ideas of liberty and freedom associated with the French Revolution.

Underground Resistance

• The Cause: The fear of severe repression and censorship by the new autocratic conservative regimes drove many liberal-nationalists underground.
• The Objectives: To train revolutionaries, spread ideas of liberty, end autocracy, and fight for the creation of nation-states, which was seen as a necessary part of the struggle for freedom.

The Italian Visionary

• Background: Born in Genoa in 1807, he became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
• Organizations Founded: He founded two more underground societies: Young Italy in Marseilles, and Young Europe in Berne.
• Ideology on Nations: Mazzini believed that God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind. Therefore, Italy could not continue to be a patchwork of small states; it had to be forged into a single unified republic, which would be the basis for Italian liberty.

The Ultimate Threat

• The Quote: Metternich famously described Mazzini as 'the most dangerous enemy of our social order'.
• The Reasoning: Mazzini's relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of democratic republics deeply frightened the conservative elites, as it directly threatened the autocratic stability Metternich had engineered at the Congress of Vienna.

The First Upheaval

• The Overthrow: The Bourbon kings, who had been restored to power during the conservative reaction of 1815, were overthrown by liberal revolutionaries.
• New Government: A constitutional monarchy was installed with Louis Philippe at its head.
• Ripple Effect: The July Revolution sparked an uprising in Brussels, which ultimately led to Belgium breaking away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Sneeze Comment

• The Context: Austrian Chancellor Metternich observed that political upheavals in France, such as the July Revolution of 1830, immediately triggered similar revolutionary uprisings across other European nations (like in Brussels).
• The Meaning: The quote signifies that France was the central epicenter for European political change; whatever ideological shift happened in France would inevitably 'infectthe rest of the continent.'

Greek Independence

• The Struggle: Beginning in 1821, Greeks fought for independence against the Ottoman Empire (Muslim rule).
• European Support: Nationalists in Greece received support from other Greeks living in exile and from many West Europeans who had sympathies for ancient Greek culture. Poets and artists (like Lord Byron) supported it as a struggle for 'European Civilisation' against an Islamic empire.
• The Treaty: The Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 formally recognized Greece as an independent nation.

The Cultural Movement

• Definition: Romanticism was a cultural movement that sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment through art, poetry, stories, and music.
• The Philosophy: Romantic artists and poets generally criticized the glorification of reason and science.
• The Focus: Instead, they focused on emotions, intuition, and mystical feelings. Their goal was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage and a common cultural past as the fundamental basis of a nation.

German Romanticism

• Das Volk (The People): Herder claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people, referred to as das Volk.
• Volksgeist (National Spirit): He believed that the true spirit of the nation (volksgeist) was preserved and popularized through folk songs, folk poetry, and folk dances.
• The Goal: Therefore, collecting and recording these forms of folk culture was essential to the project of nation-building.

Folktales and Identity

• Their Work: The Grimm Brothers spent years collecting folktales from peasants and later published a massive 33-volume dictionary of the German language.
• The Motivation: They saw French domination as a direct threat to German culture and considered their folktale collection an essential part of the broader struggle against French influence.
• The Strategy: By preserving these stories, they aimed to create a pure German identity and foster a sense of shared history among the common people.

Polish Resistance

• The Context: Following its partition, Poland was ruled by Russia. The Russian language was aggressively imposed everywhere, including in schools.
• The Resistance: Members of the Polish clergy began using the Polish language for Church gatherings and all religious instruction as a form of defiance.
• The Repercussions: In response, Russian authorities severely punished the clergy, sending many priests to prison or Siberia.
• The Symbolism: The use of Polish became a powerful, unifying symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance.

The Weavers' Revolt

• The Cause: Weavers in Silesia worked for contractors who supplied them with raw materials. However, these contractors drastically reduced the payments for the finished textiles, leading to severe economic hardship.
• The Event: On June 4, 1845, a large crowd of weavers marched to the contractor's mansion, demanding higher wages. When ignored, they forced their way in and smashed windows, furniture, and porcelain.
• The Outcome: The contractor fled but returned a day later with the army. In the ensuing clash, eleven weavers were shot.

The Liberal Failure

• The Assembly: In 1848, 831 elected representatives marched to convene the Frankfurt Parliament in the Church of St Paul.
• The Objective: They drafted a constitution for a unified German nation to be headed by a monarchy that would be strictly subject to a parliament.
• The Failure: They offered the crown to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia. He rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.
• The End: Because the middle-class dominated the assembly, they ignored the demands of workers and artisans, losing their crucial support. Ultimately, troops were called in to disband the assembly.

Symbol of Failure

• The Visual: The painting depicts Germania (the allegory of the German nation) sitting slump-shouldered in a gloomy, melancholic landscape, with her crown and shield set aside on the ground.
• Historical Meaning: It powerfully represents the failure of the Liberal Revolution of 1848 and the crushing disbandment of the Frankfurt Parliament. The dream of a unified, liberal Germany had temporarily fallen.

Active Participation, Denied Rights

• Active Role: Women actively participated in the liberal movements. Guided by feminist ideals (the awareness of women’s rights based on political, social, and economic equality), they formed political associations, founded newspapers, and took part in demonstrations.
• Denied Suffrage: Despite their extensive involvement, women were denied suffrage (voting) rights during the election of the Assembly.
• The Humiliation: When the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul, women were admitted only as observers to stand in the visitor's gallery, highlighting the hypocrisy of the liberal men.

Otto von Bismarck

• The Architect: The Chief Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, led the process of national unification.
• The Method: Unlike the failed liberal attempt of 1848, Bismarck did not rely on democratic parliaments. He used the sheer power of the Prussian army and bureaucracy (a policy often referred to as 'Blood and Iron').
• The Process: He orchestrated three wars over seven years (against Austria, Denmark, and France). These ended in Prussian victories and successfully completed the process of unification.

The Versailles Proclamation

• The Date: January 18, 1871.
• The Place: An unheated Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles, France. (Choosing the defeated French palace was a deliberate show of power).
• The Emperor: The Prussian King, William I, was proclaimed German Emperor (Kaiser) by an assembly of princes, army representatives, and Otto von Bismarck.
• Significance: The new state demonstrated the absolute dominance of Prussian state power, emphasizing the modernization of currency, banking, and legal systems.

A Patchwork of Empires

• The Division: Italy had a long history of political fragmentation and was divided into seven distinct states.
• The North: Controlled by the multinational Austrian Habsburg Empire.
• The Centre: Ruled directly by the Pope (the Papal States).
• The South: Under the domination of the Bourbon kings of Spain.
• Indigenous Rule: Out of the seven, only one state, Sardinia-Piedmont, was ruled by an indigenous Italian princely house.

Diplomacy vs. Armed Volunteerism

• Count Cavour (The Diplomat): The Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont. He was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat. He forged a tactful diplomatic alliance with France, which allowed Sardinia-Piedmont to defeat the Austrian forces in the North (1859).
• Giuseppe Garibaldi (The Revolutionary): A passionate revolutionary who led a large number of armed volunteers (known as the Red Shirts). In 1860, they marched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, successfully driving out the Spanish rulers with the support of local peasants.

The Elite Unifier

• The Linguistic Reality: Like many other wealthy and educated members of the Italian elite, Chief Minister Cavour spoke French much better than he did Italian.
• The Implication: This fact highlights that the Italian unification was not a grassroots uprising of the common Italian-speaking masses. Instead, it was engineered from the top-down by an educated, diplomatic elite who were culturally closer to France than to the Italian peasantry.

Submitting to the Crown

• The Symbol (The Boot): The 'boot' is a literal geographic representation of the map of Italy, which is distinctly shaped like a boot. The word 'Italy' is written on it.
• The Action: Garibaldi, the radical revolutionary who conquered the south, is depicted kneeling and actively helping King Victor Emmanuel II wear the boot.
• The Meaning: It symbolizes Garibaldi voluntarily submitting his southern conquests to the King, sacrificing his own republican ideals to ensure the successful unification of a monarchical Italy.

Victor Emmanuel II

• The Ruler: He was originally the King of Sardinia-Piedmont, the only state ruled by an indigenous Italian house.
• The Proclamation: In 1861, after the successful campaigns in the north and south, he was officially proclaimed King of United Italy.
• The Elite Motive: For the ruling elites of this region, a unified Italy offered the possibility of accelerated economic development and political dominance.

Evolution, Not Revolution

• The Contrast: Unlike France or Germany, the formation of the nation-state in Britain was not the result of a sudden upheaval or bloody revolution.
• The Process: It was the result of a long-drawn-out evolutionary process.
• The Mechanism: The primary instrument of this change was the English Parliament. Having steadily seized power from the monarchy (culminating in the bloodless revolution of 1688), the parliament systematically forged a nation-state with England at its absolute center.

The Formation of Great Britain

• The Act: The Act of Union (1707) was an agreement between England and Scotland that resulted in the formation of the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain'.
• The Consequence for Scotland: It effectively meant that England was able to impose its political and cultural influence on Scotland. The British parliament became dominated by English members.
• Cultural Suppression: The distinctive culture of the Scottish Highlands was systematically suppressed. Catholic clans faced terrible repression, and the use of the Scottish Gaelic language and traditional national dress was heavily restricted.

The Forced Union of 1801

• The Religious Divide: Ireland was deeply divided between a Catholic majority and a Protestant minority.
• The British Strategy: The English deliberately supported the Protestants of Ireland, helping them establish dominance over the Catholic majority.
• The Resistance: Catholic revolts against British dominance were violently suppressed. After a major failed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen in 1798, the resistance collapsed.
• The Outcome: Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.

Forging British Identity

A new 'British nation' was actively forged through the propagation of a dominant English culture. The key symbols included:

1. The Flag: The Union Jack.
2. The National Anthem: 'God Save Our Noble King'.
3. The Language: The English language was heavily promoted over regional tongues.
   Note: Older nations like Scotland and Wales survived within this union merely as subordinate partners.

Personifying the Nation

• Definition: An allegory is when an abstract idea (such as freedom, liberty, envy, or greed) is expressed through a person or a physical thing.
• Nationalist Context: In the 18th and 19th centuries, artists sought to give the abstract concept of a 'Nation' a concrete form. They achieved this by personifying the nation, most commonly using female figures. These female figures did not stand for any particular real-life woman, but gave the nation a visible face.

The Allegory of France

• The Persona: The French nation was personified by the allegory of Marianne (a very popular Christian name in France, underlining the idea of a 'people’s' nation).
• The Attributes: Her characteristics were deliberately drawn from the symbols of Liberty and the Republic. These included the red cap, the tricolour flag, and the cockade.
• Public Promotion: Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares, and her image was stamped on coins and stamps to constantly remind the public of their national unity.

Decoding National Symbols

Visual allegories used specific objects to convey political messages:

• Broken Chains: Symbolized being freed from oppression or absolutist rule.
• Sword: Represented a readiness to fight and defend the nation.
• Olive Branch around the Sword: Indicated a willingness to make peace, despite being armed.
• Rays of the Rising Sun: Signified the beginning of a new era of liberty and nationalism.
  (Note: Additionally, a breastplate with an eagle symbolized the strength of the German Empire).

Europe's Powder Keg

• Geographic & Ethnic Complexity: The Balkans (comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, etc.) was a region of immense geographical and ethnic variation (ethnic refers to a community with a shared racial, tribal, or cultural origin). The inhabitants were broadly known as Slavs.
• The Triggers:
  1. The steady disintegration of the ruling Ottoman Empire left a power vacuum.
  2. The spread of Romantic Nationalism caused various Slavic ethnic groups to violently claim independence based on their history.
• Big Power Rivalry: European powers (Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary) intensely rivaled each other for trade, colonies, and naval influence in the region. This escalating conflict eventually exploded into the First World War.

The Imperialist Turn

• Loss of Idealism: By the late 19th century, nationalism lost its idealistic, liberal-democratic sentiments. It devolved into a narrow creed with limited ends, where nationalist groups became deeply intolerant of each other and eager for war.
• Imperial Manipulation: Major European powers began manipulating the nationalist aspirations of subject peoples (like in the Balkans) to further their own imperialist aims. Nationalism, aligned with imperialism, led Europe to disaster in 1914.

The Universal Nation-State

• Anti-Colonial Reactions: As European powers colonized the world, colonized nations began developing their own unique forms of anti-imperial nationalism. People everywhere opposed imperial domination.
• The Core Legacy: While the specific European models of nationalism were not directly replicated, the fundamental idea that societies should be organized into 'nation-states' came to be accepted as a natural, universal, and globally applicable concept.