Discuss
1. Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the liberals. What were the political.se
and economic ideas supported by the liberals?
2. Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalis
in Europe.
3. Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations developed over the ninete
century.
4. How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe?
5. Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?
Answers
Answer:
1)By the 1848 Revolution of the Liberals, we mean, the revolution led by the educated middle classes of Europe. ... The social and economic ideas supported by the liberals are (i) Politically, it emphasised the concept of government by consent, abolition of autocracy and special privileges
3)Italy and Germany are two important European countries that developed a lot over the nineteenth century. ... As there were some mass revolutions in various parts of Europe in 19th century and people became more educated, the common people of all these states unified to form common governments.
4)The history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe because: 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.
5)Nationalist teneion emerged in the Balkans because the Balkan states were aspiring for nationalism. The Balkans was a region comprising modern day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, ... The rebellions nationalities in the Balkans thought that their struggle was the attempt to win back their long-lost independence.
Answer:
1) The 1848 revolution of the liberals refers to the discontent and 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. The political, social and economic ideas supported by the liberals were:
2) Politically, they demanded constitutionalism with national unification, a nation-state with a written constitution and parliamentary administration. They wanted to establish individual freedom and equality before the law and equal political rights.
Socially, they wanted to rid society of its class-based partialities and birthrights. Serfdom and bonded labour had to be abolished.The Issue of political rights to women also was a social issue. Liberal also stressed the inviolability of private property.
Economically they demanded freedom of markets and right to property. Abolition of state imposed restrictions on the movements of goods and capital.
3) 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. From then on Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification.
In the Italian region, during the 1830s, revolutionaries like Giuseppe Mazzini sought to establish the 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 and Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy. The papal states joined in 1870.
4) The history of nationalism in Britain was unlike the rest of Europe because:
In Britain, the formation of the nation-state was not the result of a sudden upheaval or revolution.
The primary identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles were ethnic ones - such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish.
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 centre, came to be forged.
The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in the formation of the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain' meant that England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. Scotland's distinctive culture and political institutions were systematically suppressed.
The Scottish Highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic language or wear their national dress and large numbers were forcibly driven out of their homeland.
The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic country. Catholic revolts against British dominance were suppressed. Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.
The symbols of the new Britain - the British flag, the national anthem, the English language were actively promoted and the older nations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.