The Rise of Nationalism in Europe Class 10 Notes and Questions

These Class 10 notes on The Rise of Nationalism in Europe follow the events and processes that replaced dynastic empires with nation-states in the 19th century. You will go through the chapter in order, learn the key terms, and finish with important questions, model answers and common mistakes.

Sorrieu's vision and the idea of a nation

In 1848, the French artist Frédéric Sorrieu imagined a world of democratic and social Republics. His prints show peoples of Europe and America marching towards the Statue of Liberty, who holds the torch of Enlightenment and the Charter of the Rights of Man. In front lie the shattered remains of absolutist institutions.

• Absolutist: a centralised, militarised and repressive monarchy with no limits on its power.
• Nation-state: a territory where most citizens, not only rulers, share a common identity and history. In 1848 this was still a utopian vision; the Germans, for example, were not yet unified.
• Ernst Renan said a nation is not made merely by common language, race or religion. It comes from a long past of effort, sacrifice and devotion, and a shared will to live together, which he called a daily plebiscite (a plebiscite is a direct vote on a proposal).

The French Revolution and Napoleon

The French Revolution of 1789 was the first clear expression of nationalism: sovereignty passed from the monarchy to the citizens.

Measures to build a collective identity:

• Ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen).
• A new tricolour flag replaced the royal standard; the Estates General became the National Assembly.
• Internal customs duties abolished; uniform weights and measures adopted.
• French encouraged as the national language over regional dialects.

French armies carried these ideas into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy in the 1790s, at first welcomed as a harbinger of liberty.

Napoleon ended democracy in France but kept useful reforms. His Civil Code of 1804 (Napoleonic Code):

Enthusiasm turned to hostility because of higher taxes, censorship and forced conscription into the French army.

Liberalism, the Zollverein and the Treaty of Vienna

Europe was made of dynastic empires; landed aristocrats held power, while industrialisation created an educated middle class. For them, liberalism meant individual freedom, equality before the law, government by consent and an end to clerical privileges. But voting rights in France were at first limited to property-owning men; women and poorer people were left out.

Economic liberalism meant free markets. In 1833 a merchant going from Hamburg to Nuremberg crossed 11 customs barriers and paid a 5% duty at each. Every state had its own weights and measures, like the elle for cloth. In 1834 Prussia led the formation of the Zollverein, a customs union that abolished tariff barriers and cut currencies from over thirty to two.

After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, conservatives, who valued monarchy, Church and gradual change, met at the Congress of Vienna, hosted by Duke Metternich (Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria). The Treaty of Vienna restored the Bourbons in France, set up states on France's borders to block expansion, and left the German confederation of 39 states in place. These regimes used censorship to silence talk of liberty.

Revolutionaries, 1830 and Romanticism

• Giuseppe Mazzini wanted a unified Italian republic and founded Young Italy and Young Europe. Conservatives feared such secret societies because they challenged dynastic power.
• July 1830: the French removed the Bourbons and set up a constitutional monarchy under Louis Philippe. Belgium broke away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• Greece: a struggle against Ottoman rule began in 1821, won support across Europe, and the Treaty of Constantinople (1832) recognised Greek independence.

Romanticism valued emotion and intuition over reason. Johann Gottfried Herder said the German spirit (volksgeist) lived in the folk songs, poetry and dances of the common people (das volk). The Grimm Brothers collected folktales and worked on a German dictionary to oppose French cultural domination. In partitioned Poland, Karol Kurpinski's operas celebrated the national struggle, and the clergy used Polish in church when Russia imposed its language; many were exiled to Siberia.

1848 and the two unifications

The 1830s were years of hunger and hardship: population growth, crop failures and cheap British machine goods. In 1848, food shortages in Paris made Louis Philippe flee, and a Republic was declared. In Germany, the Frankfurt Parliament met in the Church of St Paul and drafted a constitution for a united Germany under a constitutional monarchy. It failed: King Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia rejected the crown, workers did not support it, and the military suppressed it. Women were denied the vote and allowed only as observers in the gallery.

Germany: Otto von Bismarck, Prussia's Chief Minister, used the army and bureaucracy in three wars over seven years, against Austria, Denmark and France. On 18 January 1871, Kaiser William I was proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.

Italy: seven states; only Sardinia-Piedmont had an Italian ruling house. After Mazzini's failure, King Victor Emmanuel II and Chief Minister Cavour took over. Cavour allied with France to defeat Austria in 1859. Garibaldi led the Expedition of the Thousand in the south. Victor Emmanuel II became king of united Italy in 1861; Rome was taken in 1870 when French troops withdrew.

Britain, allegory and the Balkans

Britain formed slowly, not by sudden revolution. People saw themselves as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish. Parliament took power from the monarchy in 1688. The Act of Union (1707) created the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and England's influence suppressed Scottish culture. After a failed revolt in 1798, Ireland was forcibly joined to the UK in 1801. The Union Jack, the national anthem and English were promoted.

Allegory expresses an abstract idea through a person or thing. France's Marianne had the red cap, tricolour and cockade, and appeared on coins and stamps. Germany's Germania:

After 1871, the Balkans were the most explosive region: many Slav groups under the declining Ottoman Empire, jealous Balkan states, and rivalry among Russia, Germany, England and Austria-Hungary. This led to the First World War in 1914. Yet nationalism also inspired anti-colonial movements worldwide.

Remember this

• 1789 French Revolution; 1804 Civil Code; 1815 Vienna; 1834 Zollverein; 1848 revolutions; 1861 Italy; 1871 Germany.
• Bismarck: Germany. Cavour, Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel II: Italy. Mazzini: Young Italy.
• Marianne: France. Germania: Germany.

Important questions with answers

1. What does absolutist mean? A centralised, militarised and repressive monarchy that ruled without institutional limits.

2. List three measures French revolutionaries took to create collective identity. The ideas of la patrie and le citoyen; a new tricolour flag; uniform laws, weights and measures with a centralised administration.

3. Why did enthusiasm for Napoleon turn into hostility? People found that efficient administration did not bring political freedom; they faced higher taxes, censorship and forced military service.

4. What was the Zollverein and why did it matter? A customs union of 1834, led by Prussia, that abolished tariff barriers among German states and helped create one economic territory.

5. What was the main aim of the Treaty of Vienna (1815)? To undo the Napoleonic changes, restore monarchies and set up a conservative order.

6. Why did the Frankfurt Parliament fail? The Prussian king rejected the crown, workers did not support it, and the military suppressed it.

7. Compare Mazzini and Cavour. Mazzini gave the ideas and wanted a democratic republic through secret societies. Cavour used diplomacy and war to unify Italy under a monarchy.

8. How did the Act of Union (1707) affect Scotland? It formed the United Kingdom, let England dominate Parliament and led to the suppression of Scottish culture and institutions.

9. Why were the Balkans the most serious source of tension after 1871? Its many ethnic groups sought independence from the Ottoman Empire, and big European powers competed to control it.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Saying Napoleon brought democracy. He destroyed it in France but kept administrative reforms.
• Mixing up Mazzini (ideas, Young Italy) and Cavour (diplomacy, Sardinia-Piedmont).
• Writing that the Frankfurt Parliament united Germany. Bismarck did, through war, in 1871.

To revise these dates and leaders with quick practice, study this chapter with Joy.