CLASS X CHAPTER 01 - THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE NCERT SOLUTIONS

CHAPTER 01 - THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN
EUROPE
Question 1:
1. Write a note on:
a) Guiseppe Mazzini
b) Count Camillo de Cavour
c) The Greek war of independence
d) Frankfurt parliament
e) The role of women in nationalist struggles
(a) Guiseppe Mazzini: He was an Italian
revolutionary who played a significant role in
promoting the idea of a unified Italian state. He
believed that nations were the natural units
of mankind, and so Italy (which was then divided into
a number of small states and kingdoms) had to be
forged into a single unified republic. During the
1830s, he strived to put together a coherent
programme for such a unitary Italian Republic. He also
set up two secret societies, namely Young Italy and
Young Europe. These societies helped in the
dissemination of his ideas.
(b) Count Camillo de Cavour : Of the seven states of
Italy, only Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian
princely house. When the revolutionary uprisings of
1831 and 1848 failed to unite Italy, the responsibility
to establish a unified Italy fell upon this Italian
state. King Victor Emmanuel II was its ruler and
Cavour was the Chief Minister.  Cavour led the
movement to unite the separate states of nineteenth-
century Italy. He engineered a careful diplomatic
alliance with France, which helped Sardinia-Piedmont
defeat the Austrian forces in 1859, and thereby free
the northern part of Italy from the Austrian Habsburgs.
(c) The Greek war of independence : This was a
successful war of independence waged by Greek
revolutionaries between 1821 and 1829 against the
Ottoman Empire. The Greeks were supported by the
West European countries, while poets and artists
hailed Greece as the cradle of European civilisation.
Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832
recognised Greece as an independent nation.
(d) Frankfurt parliament : It was an all-German
National Assembly formed by the middle-class
professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans
belonging to the different German regions. It was
convened on 18 May, 1848 in the Church of St. Paul,
in the city of Frankfurt. This assembly drafted a
constitution for a German nation to be headed by a
monarchy subject to a parliament. However, it faced
opposition from the aristocracy and military. Also, as
it was dominated by the middle classes, it lost its mass
support base. In the end, it was forced to disband on
31 May, 1849.
(e) The role of women in nationalist struggles :
Artistic representations of the French Revolution show
men and women participating equally in the
movement. Liberty is personified as a woman; also,
liberal nationalism propounded the idea of universal
suffrage, leading to women’s active participation in
nationalist movements in Europe. Although women
had actively participated in nationalist struggles, they
were given little or no political rights; an example
being the Frankfurt parliament where women were
admitted only as observers to stand in the visitors’
gallery.
Question 2:
What steps did the French revolutionaries take to
create a sense of collective identity among the French
people?
The French revolutionaries took many important steps
to create a sense of collective identity among the
French people. Ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and
le citoyen (the citizen) popularised the notion of a
united community enjoying equal rights under a
constitution. A new French flag replaced the royal
standard. The Estates General was renamed the
National Assembly and was elected by a group of
active citizens. A central administrative system made
uniform laws for the entire nation, and regional
dialects were discouraged in favour of French as the
national language.
Question 3:
Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the
importance of the way in which they were portrayed?
Marianne and Germania were respective female
allegories for the French and the German nation. They
stood as personifications of ideals like 'liberty' and
'the republic'. The importance of the way in which
they were portrayed lay in the fact that the public
could identify with their symbolic meaning, and this
would instil a sense of national unity in them.
Question 4:
Briefly trace the process of German unification.
The process of German unification was continued by
Prussia after the defeat of the liberal, middle-class
Germans at the hands of the aristocrats and the
military in 1848. Its chief minister Otto von Bismarck
carried out this process with the help of the Prussian
army and bureaucracy. Over seven years, Prussia
fought three wars with Austria, Denmark and France.
These wars culminated in Prussian victory and German
unification. William I, the Prussian king,
was proclaimed German Emperor in January 1871, at
Versailles.
Question 5:
What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the
administrative system more efficient in the territories
ruled by him?
Napoleon introduced several changes to make the
administrative system more efficient in the territories
ruled by him. He formulated the Civil Code of 1804,
also known as the Napoleonic Code. It did away with
privileges based on birth. This law established equality
before law, and also secured the right to property.
Napoleon shortened administrative divisions,
abolished the feudal system, and freed peasants from
manorial dues and serfdom. Transport and
communications were improved too.
DISCUSS
Question 1:
Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the
liberals. What were the political, social and economic
ideas supported by the liberals?
The 1848 revolution of the liberals refers to the
various national movements pioneered by educated
middle classes alongside the revolts of the poor,
unemployed and starving peasants and workers in
Europe. While in countries like France, food shortages
and widespread unemployment during 1848 led
to popular uprisings, in other parts of Europe (such
as Germany, Italy, Poland and the Austro-Hungarian
Empire), men and women of the liberal middle classes
came together to voice their demands for the creation
of nation-states based on parliamentary principles. In
Germany, for example, various political associations
comprising middle-class professionals, businessmen
and prosperous artisans came together in Frankfurt to
form an all-German National Assembly. This Frankfurt
parliament drafted a constitution for a German nation
to be headed by a monarchy subject to a
parliament. Though such liberal movements were
ultimately suppressed by conservative forces, the old
order could never be restored. The monarchs realised
that the cycles of revolution and repression could only
be ended by granting concessions to the liberal-
nationalist revolutionaries.
The political, social and economic ideas supported by
the liberals were clearly based on democratic ideals.
Politically, they demanded constitutionalism with
national unification—a nation-state with a written
constitution and parliamentary administration. They
wanted to rid society of its class-based partialities and
birth rights. Serfdom and bonded labour had to be
abolished, and economic equality had to be pursued
as a national goal. The right to property was also
significant in the liberals’ concept of a nation based
on political, social and economic freedom.
Question 2:
Choose three examples to show the contribution of
culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe.
Apart from wars and territorial expansion, culture also
played a crucial role in the development of
nationalism. Romanticism was a European cultural
movement aimed at developing national unity by
creating a sense of shared heritage and common
history. The Romantic artists' emphasis on emotions,
intuition and mystical feelings gave shape and
expression to nationalist sentiments. The strength of
art in promoting nationalism is well exemplified in the
role played by European poets and artists in
mobilising public opinion to support the Greeks in
their struggle to establish their national identity.
Folk songs, dances and poetry contributed
to popularising the spirit of nationalism and patriotic
fervour in Europe. Collecting and recording the
different forms of folk culture was important for
building a national consciousness. Being a part of the
lives of the common people, folk culture enabled
nationalists to carry the message of nationalism to a
large and diverse audience. The Polish composer Karol
Kurpinski celebrated and popularised the Polish
nationalist struggle through his operas and music,
turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka
into nationalist symbols.
Language also played a distinctive role in developing
nationalist feelings in Europe. An example of this is
how during Russian occupation, the use of
Polish came to be seen as a symbol of struggle against
Russian dominance. During this period, Polish
language was forced out of schools and Russian
language was imposed everywhere. Following
the defeat of an armed rebellion against Russian rule
in 1831, many members of the clergy in Poland began
using language as a weapon of national
resistance. They did so by refusing to preach in
Russian, and by using Polish for Church gatherings
and religious instruction. The emphasis on the use of
vernacular language, the language of the masses,
helped spread the message of national unity.
Question 3:
Through a focus on any two countries, explain how
nations developed over the nineteenth century.
The development of the German and Italian
nation states in the nineteenth century
Political fragmentation: Till the middle of the
nineteenth century, the present-day nations of
Germany and Italy were fragmented into separate
regions and kingdoms ruled by different princely
houses.
Revolutionary uprisings: Nineteenth-century
Europe was characterised by both popular uprisings of
the masses and revolutions led by the educated, liberal
middle classes. The middle classes belonging to the
different German regions came together to form an all-
German National Assembly in 1848. However, on
facing opposition from the aristocracy and military,
and on losing its mass support base, it was forced to
disband.
In the Italian region, during the 1830s, revolutionaries
like Giuseppe Mazzini sought to establish a unitary
Italian Republic. However, the revolutionary uprisings
of 1831 and 1848 failed to unite Italy.
Unification with the help of the army: After the
failure of the revolutions, the process of German and
Italian unification was continued by the aristocracy
and the army. Germany was united by the Prussian
chief minister Otto von Bismarck with the help of the
Prussian army and bureaucracy. The German empire
was proclaimed in 1871.
The Italian state of Sardinia-Piedmont played a role
similar to that played by Prussia. Count Camillo de
Cavour (the Chief Minister) led the movement to unite
the separate states of nineteenth-century Italy with the
help of the army and an alliance with France. The
regions annexed by Giuseppe Garibaldi and his Red
Shirts joined with the northern regions to form a
united Italy. The italian nation was proclaimed in
1861. The papal states joined in 1870.
Question 4:
How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike
the rest of Europe?
The history of nationalism in Britain was unlike that in
the rest of Europe in the sense that it was forced
down upon the masses. There was no concept of a
British nation prior to the eighteenth century. The
region was in fact inhabited by different ethnic groups
(English, Welsh, Scot, Irish). Each group had its own
cultural and political tradition. However, as the English
state grew in terms of wealth, importance and power,
it was able to extend its influence over the other states
of the islands. The English parliament, which
had seized power from the monarchy, played a crucial
role in doing away with the ethnic distinctions and
uniting the different groups into a British nation-state,
with England at its centre. The ethinc nationalities
were, directly or indirectly, forced to join the English
state to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The
symbols of new Britain—the British flag, the national
anthem and the English language were widely
popularised, while the distinctive identities of
the other joining states were systematically
suppressed. English culture dominated the British
nation, while the other states became mere
subsidiaries in the Union. Thus, nationalism in Britain
did not come about as a result of the people’s desire
to unite or countrywide movements for the same, but
from the decisions of the people in power.
Question 5:
Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?
Nationalist tensions emerged in the Balkans because
of the spread of ideas of romantic nationalism as also
the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire that had
previously ruled over this area. The different Slavic
communities in the Balkans began to strive for
independent rule. They were jealous of each other and
every state wanted more territory, even at the expense
of others. Also, the hold of imperial power over the
Balkans made the situation worse. Russia, Germany,
England, Austro-Hungary all wanted more control over
this area. These conflicts ultimately led to the First
World War in 1914.