NCERT Explained: Class X History, Chapter 1 - The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

Introduction to the Topic

During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as a powerful force that dramatically transformed the political and mental world of Europe. The ultimate result of these changes was the emergence of the nation-state in place of the multi-dynastic empires of Europe. A nation-state was one in which the majority of its citizens, and not just its rulers, came to develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent. This commonness did not exist from time immemorial; it was forged through struggles, through the actions of leaders and the common people.

In Class X History, Chapter 1, The Rise of Nationalism in Europe, we trace the complex processes through which nation-states and nationalism came into being in nineteenth-century Europe. The chapter begins with the famous prints of Frédéric Sorrieu, moves through the impact of the French Revolution, analyzes the growth of liberal nationalism, details the unification of nations like Germany and Italy, and examines how nationalism eventually led Europe toward imperialism and the First World War.

Key Concepts Explained

To understand how Europe moved from absolute monarchies to sovereign democratic nation-states, we must break down the core themes of the chapter into structured sections.

1. Frédéric Sorrieu and His Utopian Vision

In 1848, Frédéric Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four prints visualizing his dream of a world made up of 'democratic and social Republics'. In the first print of the series, people of Europe and America—men and women of all ages and social classes—are seen marching in a long train and offering homage to the Statue of Liberty as they pass by it.

• Statue of Liberty: Personified as a female figure holding the Torch of Enlightenment in one hand and the Charter of the Rights of Man in the other.
• Shattered Symbols of Absolutism: On the earth in the foreground lie the shattered remains of the symbols of absolutist institutions (crowns, scepters, and royal seals).
• Utopian Vision: Sorrieu offered a vision of society so ideal that it was unlikely to actually exist. In his print, 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, which by this time were already nation-states, lead the parade, followed by France, Germany, Austria, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lombardy, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary, and Russia.

2. The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation

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.

To create a sense of collective identity (sentiment d'appartenance collective) among the French people, the revolutionaries introduced several measures:

• Ideas of La Patrie and Le Citoyen: The concepts of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
• New Symbols: A new French flag, the tricolor, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
• Estate General Reconstituted: The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
• Centralized Administration: New hymns were composed, oaths taken, and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation. A centralized administrative system was put in place, formulating uniform laws for all citizens within its territory.
• Uniform Weights and Measures: Internal custom duties and dues were abolished, and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.
• Standardized Language: Regional dialects were discouraged, and French, as spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.

The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and the destiny of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europe from despotism, helping other peoples of Europe to become nations.

3. Napoleon and the Civil Code of 1804

Although Napoleon Bonaparte destroyed democracy in France by re-establishing a monarchy, he incorporated revolutionary principles in the administrative field to make the whole system more rational and efficient. The Civil Code of 1804—usually known as the Napoleonic Code—was a landmark achievement.

• Privileges Removed: It did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law, and secured the right to property.
• Administrative Simplification: In the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany, Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system, and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.
• Guild Restrictions Removed: In towns, guild restrictions were lifted. Transport and communication systems were improved.
• Mixed Reactions: Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods began to realize that uniform laws, standardized weights, measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the movement of goods and capital from one region to another. However, in conquered territories, local populations had mixed reactions. Initial enthusiasm turned to hostility as it became clear that political freedom did not go hand in hand with administrative efficiency. Increased taxation, censorship, and forced conscription into the French armies overshadowed the administrative benefits.

4. The Making of Nationalism in Europe

In mid-eighteenth-century Europe, there were no 'nation-states' as we know them today. Regions like Germany, Italy, and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies, and cantons whose rulers had their autonomous territories. For example, the Habsburg Empire that ruled over Austria-Hungary was a patchwork of many different regions and peoples speaking various languages (German, Hungarian, Polish, Italian, and Romanian).

What tied these diverse groups together was simply a common allegiance to the emperor. How, then, did the idea of nationalism and the nation-state emerge?

A. The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class

• The Landed Aristocracy: Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class on the continent. They owned estates in the countryside and townhouses. They spoke French for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were often connected by ties of marriage. However, they formed a numerically small group.
• The Peasantry: The majority of the population was made up of the peasantry.
• The Industrial Middle Class: With the growth of industrial production and trade, new social groups came into being: a working-class population and middle classes made up of industrialists, merchants, and professionals (doctors, lawyers, teachers). It was among the educated, liberal middle classes that ideas of national unity following the abolition of aristocratic privileges gained popularity.

B. What Did Liberal Nationalism Stand For?

The term 'liberalism' derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free. For the new middle classes, liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law.

• Political Liberalism: It emphasized the concept of government by consent. Since the French Revolution, liberalism had stood for the end of autocracy and clerical privileges, a constitution, and representative government through parliament. However, equality before the law did not necessarily stand for universal suffrage. In revolutionary France, the right to vote was granted exclusively to property-owning men.
• Economic Liberalism: 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. During the early nineteenth century, this was a strong demand of the emerging middle classes. For example, Napoleon's administrative measures had created out of countless small principalities a confederations of 39 states, each with its own currency, weights, and measures. A merchant traveling from Hamburg to Nuremberg had to pass through 11 customs barriers and pay a duty of about 5% at each.
• Zollverein (1834): To remove these obstacles, a customs union or Zollverein was formed in 1834 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. A network of railways further stimulated mobility, harnessing economic interests to national unification.

5. A New Conservatism After 1815

Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European governments were driven by a spirit of conservatism. Conservatives believed that established, traditional institutions of state and society—like the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property, and the family—should be preserved.

However, most conservatives did not propose a return to the society of the pre-revolutionary days. They realized from the changes initiated by Napoleon that modernization could actually strengthen traditional institutions like the monarchy.

The Treaty of Vienna (1815)

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.

• Restoration of Dynasties: The Bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed during the French Revolution, was restored to power in France.
• Preventing French Expansion: A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion in the future. The kingdom of the Netherlands was set up in the north, and Genoa was added to Piedmont in the south.
• Prussia & Austria: Prussia was given important new territories on its western frontiers, while Austria was given control of northern Italy.
• German Confederation Untouched: The German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon was left untouched.
• Russia: 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. Conservative regimes set up in 1815 were autocratic. They did not tolerate criticism and dissent, and sought to curb activities that questioned the legitimacy of autocratic governments. Most of them imposed censorship laws to control what was said in newspapers, books, plays, and songs.

6. The Revolutionaries and Giuseppe Mazzini

During the years following 1815, the fear of repression drove many liberal-nationalists underground. Secret societies sprang up in many European states to train revolutionaries and spread their ideas. To be revolutionary at this time meant a commitment to oppose monarchical forms that had been established after the Vienna Congress, and to fight for liberty and freedom.

One of the most influential figures of this period was the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini.

• Born in Genoa in 1807, Mazzini became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
• As a young man of 24, he was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria.
• He subsequently founded two more underground societies: Young Italy in Marseilles and 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.
• Following his model, secret societies were set up in Germany, France, Switzerland, and Poland. Metternich described him as 'the most dangerous enemy of our social order'.

7. The Age of Revolutions: 1830–1848

As conservative regimes tried to consolidate their power, liberalism and nationalism came to be increasingly associated with revolution in many regions of Europe such as the Italian and German states, the provinces of the Ottoman Empire, Ireland, and Poland.

The July Revolution in France (1830)

The first upheaval took place in France in July 1830. The Bourbon kings who had been restored to power after 1815 were now overthrown by liberal revolutionaries who installed a constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe at its head. Metternich once remarked, 'When France sneezes, the rest of Europe catches cold.' The July Revolution sparked an uprising in Brussels which led to Belgium breaking away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The Greek War of Independence

An event that mobilized nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe was the Greek War of Independence. Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century. The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked a struggle for independence among 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 a sympathy 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.

Romanticism and National Identity

Nationalism did not develop only through wars and territorial expansion. Culture played a vital role in creating the idea of the nation: art and poetry, stories and music helped express and shape nationalist feelings.

Romanticism was a cultural movement which 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.

• German Philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803): Claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people—das Volk. It was through folk songs, folk poetry, and folk dances that the true spirit of the nation (Volksgeist) was popularized.
• Language as a Tool of Resistance: Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments. After 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. The use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance.

8. 1848: The Revolution of the Liberals & The Frankfurt Parliament

Parallel to the revolts of the poor, unemployed, and starving peasants and workers in many European countries in the year 1848, a revolution led by the educated middle classes was underway. 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.

In other parts of Europe where independent nation-states did not yet exist—such as Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire—men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for constitutionalism with national unification.

The Frankfurt Parliament

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.

• On 18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives marched in a joyful procession to take their seats in the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul.
• They drafted a constitution for a German nation to be headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament.
• When the deputies offered the crown on these terms to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, he rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.
• The opposition of the aristocracy and military became stronger, and the social basis of parliament eroded. The parliament was dominated by the middle classes, who 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.

9. The Unification of Germany and Italy

A. Germany: Can the Army be the Architect of a Nation?

After 1848, nationalism in Europe moved away from its association with democracy and revolution. Nationalist sentiments were often mobilized by conservatives for promoting state power and achieving political domination over Europe.

This can be seen in the process by which Germany was unified:

• 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 Denmark, Austria, and France—ended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unification.
• In January 1871, the Prussian king, Kaiser William I, was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles (in the Mirror Hall).
• The new state placed a strong emphasis on modernizing the currency, banking, legal, and judicial systems in Germany. Prussian measures and practices often became a model for the rest of Germany.

B. Italy Unified

Like Germany, Italy also had a long history of political fragmentation. Italians were scattered over several dynastic states as well as the multi-national Habsburg Empire. 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 unification of Italy was achieved through the combined efforts of three key leaders:

• Giuseppe Mazzini: Had provided a coherent program for a unified Italian Republic during the 1830s and created 'Young Italy'.
• Chief Minister Cavour: Led the movement to unify the regions of Italy. He was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat. Through a tactful diplomatic alliance with France engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859.
• Giuseppe Garibaldi: Apart from regular troops, a large number of armed volunteers under the leadership of 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. However, much of the Italian population, among whom rates of illiteracy were very high, remained blissfully unaware of liberal-nationalist ideology.

10. The Strange Case of Britain

The model of the nation or the nation-state, some scholars argue, is Great Britain. In Britain, the formation of the nation-state was not the result of a sudden upheaval or revolution. It was the result of a long-drawn-out process.

• 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.
• As the English nation steadily grew in wealth, importance, and power, it was able to \textend its influence over the other nations of the island.
• 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 resulted in the formation of the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain'. England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. The Catholic clans that inhabited the Scottish Highlands suffered terrible repression whenever they attempted to assert their independence.
• 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. After a failed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen (1798), Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.
• A new 'British nation' was forged through the propagation of a dominant English culture. The symbols of the new Britain—the British flag (Union Jack), the national anthem (God Save Our Noble King), and the English language—were actively promoted.

11. Visualising the Nation

Artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries found a way out by personifying a nation. In other words, they represented a country as if it were a person. Nations were then portrayed as female figures. The female form that was chosen to personify the nation did not stand for any particular woman in real life; rather, it sought to give the abstract idea of the nation a concrete form. That is, the female figure became an allegory of the nation.

• Marianne (France): In France, she was christened Marianne, a popular Christian name, which underlined the idea of a people's nation. Her characteristics were drawn from those of Liberty and the Republic—the red cap, the tricolor, the cockade. Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public of the national symbol of unity.
• Germania (Germany): 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.

12. Nationalism and Imperialism

By the quarter of the nineteenth century, nationalism no longer retained its idealistic liberal-democratic sentiment of the first half of the century, but became a narrow creed with limited ends. During this period, nationalist groups became increasingly intolerant of each other and ever ready to go to war.

The most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871 was the area called the Balkans.

• The Balkan Region: 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. The inhabitants were broadly known as the Slavs.
• Ottoman Disintegration: 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.
• Internal Rivalries: 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.
• Big Power Rivalry: Matters were further complicated because the Balkans also became the scene of big power rivalry among European powers over trade, colonies, and naval/military might. Powers like Russia, Germany, England, and Austro-Hungary were keen on countering the hold of other powers over the Balkans. This led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War in 1914.

Summary & Key Takeaways

Chapter 1 of Class 10 History summarizes the transformation of Europe from dynastic empires into modern nation-states. Here is a quick reference guide to remember for exams:

• 1789: French Revolution marks the first clear expression of nationalism.
• 1804: Napoleonic Code introduced, promoting administrative efficiency and equality before the law.
• 1815: Defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo; Treaty of Vienna signed; restoration of conservative order in Europe.
• 1830–1848: Age of Revolutions in Europe; July Revolution in France; Greek War of Independence (1821–1832).
• 1834: Formation of the Zollverein (Customs Union) initiated by Prussia to remove trade barriers.
• 1848: Revolutions of the liberals; Frankfurt Parliament convened in St Paul's Church.
• 1859–1870: Unification of Italy under Sardinia-Piedmont led by Cavour, Garibaldi, and Victor Emmanuel II.
• 1866–1871: Unification of Germany led by Otto von Bismarck; Kaiser William I proclaimed Emperor.
• Allegories: Marianne represented the French nation, while Germania represented the German nation.
• Balkans Conflict: Intense nationalist rivalry in the Balkans coupled with European big power competition triggered the First World War in 1914.