notes for nationalism in Europe class 10th
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In 1848, Frederic Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four print visualizing his dream of a world made up of ‘democratic and social republic, as he called them.Artists of the time of the French Revolution personified Liberty as a female figure.According to Sorrieu’s utopian vision, the peoples of the world are grouped as distinct nations, identified through their flags and national costume.This chapter will deal with many of the issues visualized by Sorrieu.During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as a force which brought about sweeping changes in the political and mental world of Europe.The end result of these changes was the emergence of the nation-state in the place of the multi-national dynastic empires of Europe.A modern state, in which a centralized power exercised sovereign control over a clearly defined territory, had been developing over a long period of time in Europe.But a nation-state was one in which the majority of its citizens, and not only its rulers, came to develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent.This chapter will look at the diverse processes through which nation-states and nationalism came into being in nineteenth-century Europe.
The French Revolution and the idea of the Nation
The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789.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 ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.The Estates General was elected by the body of the active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and the destiny of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europe from despotism.Students and other members of educated middle classes began setting up Jacobin club.Their activities and campaigns prepared the way for the French armies which moved into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and much of Italy in the 1790’s.The French armies began to carry the idea of nationalism abroad.Through a return to monarchy Napoleon had, no doubt, 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.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.Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.Transport and communication systems were improved.Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods, in particular, began to realize that uniform laws, standardised weights and measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another.In many places such as Holland and Switzerland, Brussels, Mainz, Milan, Warsaw, the French armies were welcomed as harbingers of Liberty.It became clear that the new administrative arrangements did not go hand in hand with political freedom.Increased taxation, censorship, forced conscription into the French armies required to conquer the rest of the Europe, all seemed to outweigh the advantages of the administrative changes.
The Making of Nationalism in Europe
Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose rulers had their autonomous territories.They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identity or a common culture.The Habsburg Empire ruled over Austria Hungary.In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other half of the spoke a variety of dialects.Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived within the boundaries of the empire.The only tie binding these diverse groups together was a common allegiance to the emperor.
The French Revolution and the idea of the Nation
The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789.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 ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.The Estates General was elected by the body of the active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and the destiny of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europe from despotism.Students and other members of educated middle classes began setting up Jacobin club.Their activities and campaigns prepared the way for the French armies which moved into Holland, Belgium, Switzerland and much of Italy in the 1790’s.The French armies began to carry the idea of nationalism abroad.Through a return to monarchy Napoleon had, no doubt, 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.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.Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.Transport and communication systems were improved.Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods, in particular, began to realize that uniform laws, standardised weights and measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another.In many places such as Holland and Switzerland, Brussels, Mainz, Milan, Warsaw, the French armies were welcomed as harbingers of Liberty.It became clear that the new administrative arrangements did not go hand in hand with political freedom.Increased taxation, censorship, forced conscription into the French armies required to conquer the rest of the Europe, all seemed to outweigh the advantages of the administrative changes.
The Making of Nationalism in Europe
Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose rulers had their autonomous territories.They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identity or a common culture.The Habsburg Empire ruled over Austria Hungary.In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other half of the spoke a variety of dialects.Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived within the boundaries of the empire.The only tie binding these diverse groups together was a common allegiance to the emperor.
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