THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

Table of Contents

THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

1. Explain the first painting of Frederic Sorrieu’s series ‘Democratic and social republic’?

Answer –

  • The first print of the series shows the peoples of Europe and America, men and women of all ages and social classes are marching in a long train and offering homage to the Statue of Liberty as they pass by it.
  • On the earth, in the foreground of the image, the shattered remains of the symbols of absolutist institutions are lying down.
  • In Sorrieu’s utopian vision, the peoples of the world are grouped as distinct nations, identified through their flags and national costume.
  • Leading the procession, the United States and Switzerland had already passed the Statue of Liberty as by that time they were already nation-states. France with their revolutionary tricolor has just reached the statue. She is followed by the peoples of Germany, bearing the black, red, and gold flag. Following the German peoples are the peoples of Austria, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lombardy, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary, and Russia.
  • From the heavens above, Christ, saints, and angels gaze upon the scene which symbolizes fraternity among the nations of the world.

2. Why did Frédéric Sorrieu present a utopian vision in his prints in 1848? Explain one reason. (1)

Answer –

Frédéric Sorrieu wanted the existence of a world where peoples should integrate themselves to form a nation-state and democracy should be established replacing the absolutist regime. So he presented the utopian vision as it was unlikely to exist at that time.

3. Examine the significance of the Statue of Liberty in Frédéric Sorrieu’s paintings, ‘The Dream of Worldwide Democratic and Social Republics’. (1)

Answer –

Here the Statue of Liberty holds a torch in one hand which shows the path to liberty and holds a Charter of Rights in the other which guarantees the Rights of Man in the dreamt democratic nation.

4. What is the difference between a modern state and a nation-state?

Answer –

In a modern state a centralised power exercised sovereign control over a clearly defined territory.

But in a nation-state, the majority of its citizens, and not only its rulers, came to develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent.

5. ‘‘The first clear expression of nationalism came with the ‘French Revolution’ in 1789.’’ Examine the statement.

Answer –

The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. France was a full-fledged territorial state in 1789 under the rule of an absolute monarch.
The political and constitutional changes that came in the wake of the French Revolution led to the
transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens. The revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny.

So the French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices that could create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people. They are the followings:

  • The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
  • A new French flag, the tricolor, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
  • The Estates-General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
  • New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.
  • A centralized administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory.
  • Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.
  • Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.

6. What were the measures and practices introduced by the French Revolutionaries to create a sense of collective identity amongst the people of France?

Answer –

The French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices that could create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people. They are the followings:

  • The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
  • A new French flag, the tricolor, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
  • The Estates-General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
  • New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.
  • A centralized administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory.
  • Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.
  • Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.

7. What was the Civil Code of 1804 or the Napoleonic Code?

Answer –

The Civil Code of 1804 – usually known as the Napoleonic Code did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law, and secured the right to property. This Code was exported to the regions under French control.

8. “Napoleon had destroyed democracy in France but in the administrative field he had incorporated revolutionary principles in order to make the whole system more rational and efficient”. Analyse the statement with arguments.

Or

How had Napoleonic code exported to the regions under French control? Explain with examples.

Answer –

Despite destroying the democracy in France he incorporated some of the revolutionary principles in the administrative field in order to make the whole system more rational and efficient. Like –

  • He introduced The Civil Code of 1804 which was usually known as the Napoleonic Code, did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law, and secured the right to property. This Code was exported to the regions under French control.
  • In the Dutch Republic, in Switzerland, in Italy, and in Germany, he simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system, and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.
  • In the towns too, guild restrictions were removed.
  • Transport and communication systems were improved.
  • The uniform laws, standardized weights, and measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another which would help the businessmen and small-scale producers.

9. How did ideas of national unity in early nineteenth-century Europe allied to the ideology of liberalism? Explain.

Answer –

Ideas of national unity in early-nineteenth-century Europe were closely allied to the ideology of liberalism.

  • For the new middle classes, liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law.
  • Politically, it emphasized the concept of government by consent.
  • Nineteenth-century liberals stressed the inviolability of private property.
  • Men without property and all women were excluded from political rights.
  • In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
  • In 1834, a customs union or Zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia and joined by most of the German states. The union abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two.
  • The creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility, harnessing economic interests to national unification. This wave of economic nationalism strengthened the wider nationalist sentiments growing at the time.

10. What was Zollverein?

OR

Explain the aim to form ‘Zollverein’, a Customs Union, in 1834 in Germany.

Answer –

In 1834, a customs union or Zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia and joined by most of the German states. The union abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two.

11. Write a short note on Treaty of Vienna, 1815.

Or

Why were big European powers met in Berlin in 1885?

Answer –

In 1815, representatives of the European powers – Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria – who had collectively defeated Napoleon, met at Vienna to draw up a settlement for Europe. The Congress was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich. The delegates drew up the Treaty of Vienna of 1815, with the object of undoing most of the changes that had come about in Europe during the Napoleonic wars.

12. What steps had been taken by the big powers after drawing the Treaty of Vienna, 1815?

Answer –

  • The Bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed during the French Revolution, was restored to power, and France lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon.
  • A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion in the future.
  • Thus the kingdom of the Netherlands, which included 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.
  • But the German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon was left untouched.
  • In the east, Russia was given part of Poland while Prussia was given a portion of Saxony.
  • The main intention was to restore the monarchies that had been overthrown by Napoleon and create a new conservative order in Europe.

13. Which one of the following was NOT the result of the Treaty of Vienna 1815? (1)

(a) The Kingdom of the Netherlands was set up in the North.
(b) Austria was given control of Northern Italy.
(c) Prussia was given important new territories on its western frontiers.
(d) Russia was given a German confederation of 39 states.

Answer – Option (d)

14. Write a short note on Giuseppe Mazzini.

OR

Explain the role of Giuseppe Mazzini in the Unification of Italy. (5)

Answer – Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian revolutionary born in Genoa in 1807. He became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari. At the young age of 24, he was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He subsequently founded two more underground societies, first, Young Italy in Marseilles, and then, Young Europe in Berne, whose members were like-minded young men from Poland, France, Italy, and the German states.

Mazzini believed that God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind. So Italy could not continue to be a patchwork of small states and kingdoms. It had to be forged into a single unified republic within a wider alliance of nations. This unification alone could be the basis of Italian liberty. Following his model, secret societies were set up in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Poland.

Mazzini’s relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of democratic republics frightened the conservatives. Metternich described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.

15. Describe the role of Romanticism in developing nationalist feelings among Europeans during the nineteenth century. (3)

Answer –

Romanticism was a cultural movement that sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment.

Romantic artists and poets generally criticized the glorification of reason and science and focused instead on emotions, intuition, and mystical feelings. Their effort was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage, a common cultural past, as the basis of a nation.

16. “Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments“. Explain with an example.

Answer –

After the Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools and the Russian language was imposed everywhere.

  • In 1831, an armed rebellion against Russian rule took place which was ultimately crushed.
  • Following this, many members of the clergy in Poland began to use language as a weapon of national resistance. Polish was used for Church gatherings and all religious instruction.
  • As a result, a large number of priests and bishops were put in jail or sent to Siberia by the Russian authorities as punishment for their refusal to preach in Russian.

The use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance. Thus we can say that language could be played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments.

17. “The decade of 1830 had brought great economic hardship in Europe”. Support the statement with arguments.

OR

Describe any three economic hardships faced by Europe in the 1830s.

Answer –

Some of the economics which were faced by the European countries during the 1930s are the followings:

  1. There were huge population increases all over Europe during the first half of the 19th century.
  2. Unemployment was the major problem in most countries.
  3. Population from rural areas migrated to the cities to live in overcrowded slums.
  4. Small producers in towns were often faced with stiff competition from imports of cheap machine-made goods from England, where industrialization was more advanced than on the continent.
  5. In those regions of Europe where the aristocracy still enjoyed power, peasants struggled under the burden of feudal dues and obligations.
  6. The rise of food prices or a year of bad harvest led to widespread pauperism in town and country.

18. The period of 1848 consider as phase of the Revolution of the Liberals in Europe. Explain. (5)

Answer –

  • Events of February 1848 in France had brought about the abdication of the monarch and a republic based on universal male suffrage had been proclaimed.
  • Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire – men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for constitutionalism with national unification.
  • They took advantage of the growing popular unrest to push their demands for the
    creation of a nation-state on parliamentary principles – a constitution, freedom of the press, and freedom of association.
  • In the German regions, a large number of political associations whose members were middle-class professionals, businessmen, and prosperous artisans came together in the city of Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly.
  • The middle classes resisted the demands of workers and artisans and consequently lost their support. In the end, troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.
  • The issue of extending political rights to women was a controversial one within the liberal movement, in which large numbers of women had participated actively over the years.
  • Women had formed their own political associations, founded newspapers, and taken part in political meetings and demonstrations.

19. How did Greece get their independence?

Answer –

  • Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century. The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for independence amongst the Greeks which began in 1821.
  • Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from many West Europeans who had sympathies for ancient Greek culture.
  • Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilization and mobilized public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire.
  • Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent nation.

20. How did the Greek war of independence mobilize nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe? Explain.

Answer –

  • The Greek war of independence mobilizes nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe. Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century.
  • The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for independence amongst the Greeks which began in 1821.
  • Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from many West Europeans who had sympathies for ancient Greek culture.
  • Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilization and mobilized public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire.
  • The English poet Lord Byron organized funds and later went to fight in the war, where he died of fever in 1824.
  • Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent nation.

21. Describe the unification of Germany.

Or

Explain the role of Otto Von Bismarck in the Unification of Germany. (5)

Answer –

  • In 1848, Middle-class Germans with nationalist feelings tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament.
  • This liberal initiative to nation-building was, however, repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia.
  • From then on, Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification. Its chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of this process carried out with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
  • Three wars over seven years – with Austria, Denmark, and France – ended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unification.
  • In January 1871, the Prussian king, William I, was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles.

22. Describe the unification of Italy.

Answer –

  • 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 north was under Austrian Habsburgs, the center was ruled by the Pope and the southern regions were under the domination of the Bourbon kings of Spain.
  • During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini had sought to put together a coherent program for the unitary Italian Republic. He had also formed a secret society called Young Italy for the dissemination of his goals.
  • The failure of revolutionary uprisings both in 1831 and 1848 meant that the mantle now fell on Sardinia-Piedmont under its ruler King Victor Emmanuel II to unify the Italian states through war.
  • Chief Minister Count Camillo de Cavour 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.
  • 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.
  • In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy.

23. Describe the unification of Great Britain.

OR

How did Britain come into existence as a nation-state? Explain. (3)

Answer –

  • There was no British nation prior to the eighteenth century. The primary identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles were ethnic ones – such as English, Welsh, Scot, or Irish.
  • All of these ethnic groups had their own cultural and political traditions. But as the English nation steadily grew in wealth, importance, and power, it was able to extend its influence over the other nations of the islands.
  • The English parliament, which had seized power from the monarchy in 1688 at the end of a protracted conflict, was the instrument through which a nation-state, with England at its center, came to be forged.
  • The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland that resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’ meant, in effect, that England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. The British parliament was henceforth dominated by its English members.
  • Ireland suffered a similar fate. It was a country deeply divided between Catholics and Protestants. The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic country.
  • Catholic revolts against British dominance were suppressed. After a failed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen (1798), Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.

24. Name the ‘Act’ which resulted in the formation of ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’. (1)

Answer –

The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’

25. What is an allegory?

Answer –

When an abstract idea (for instance, greed, envy, freedom, liberty) is expressed through a person or a thing it is known as an allegory.

26. Who were Marianne and Germania?

Answer –

Marianne was an allegory used to represent France. Her characteristics were drawn from those of Liberty and the Republic. She was shown wearing the red cap (which symbolizes liberty), the tricolor (color of the national flag of France), the cockade. Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public of the national symbol of unity and to persuade them to identify with it. Marianne’s images were marked on coins and stamps.

Similarly, Germania became the allegory of the German nation. In visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for heroism.

27. Which area was known as Balkans?

Answer –

The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, and Montenegro.

28. Who were Slavs?

Answer –

The inhabitants of the Balkan region were knowns as Slavs.

29. Describe the explosive conditions that prevailed in Balkans after 1871 in Europe?

Or

How did nationalism aligned with imperialism become the cause of the First World War? Explain. (5)

Answer –

  • A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The spread of the ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans together with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made this region very explosive.
  • One by one, its European subject nationalities of the Ottoman Empire broke away from its control and declared independence. The rebellious nationalities in the Balkans thought of their struggles as attempts to win back their long-lost independence.
  • As the different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity and independence, the Balkan area became an area of intense conflict.
  • The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the expense of the others.
  • During this period, there was intense rivalry among the European powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and military might.
  • Each power – Russia, Germany, England, and Austro-Hungary – was keen on countering the hold of other powers over the Balkans, and extending its own control over the area. This led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War.

30. Highlight the reasons for the growth of nationalist tensions in the Balkan region before the
First World War.

Answer –

i. The Balkan was a region of geographical and ethnic variations comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovin, Slovenia, Serbia, and Montenegro. The inhabitants were called Slavs
ii. The spread of romantic nationalism lead to its disintegration.
iii. Different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity
iv. Balkan region became a region of intense conflict over expansion of territory.
v. At the same time, the great European Powers –Russia, Germany, England, and Austro-Hungary were keen on taking the control of the Balkan region, since it was important from trade point of view.
vi. This led to the series of wars in the region and finally became the cause of the First World War.

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