Chap1 History Notes
Chap1 History Notes
Chap1 History Notes
History Chapter-1
NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
1. Fredreric Sorrieu was a French artist who in 1848 prepared a series of four
prints visualizing his dream of a world made up of ‘Democratic & Social
Republics.’
2. The first print of the series, shows the people of Europe & America -men &
women of all ages & social classes -marching in a long train, & offering homage to
the Statue of Liberty as they pass by it which holds the torch of enlightenment in
one hand & the Charter of Rights of Man in the other.
3. On the Earth in the foreground of the image lie the shattered remains of the
symbols of absolutist institutions.
4. In Sorrieu’s Utopian vision, the people of the world are grouped as distinct
nations, identified through their flags & national costume.
5. Leading the procession, way past the Statue of Liberty, are the United States &
Switzerland, which by this time were already nation states. France has just
reached the statue & is followed by the people of Germany, people of Austria, the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, etc.
6. From the heavens above, Christ, Saints & angels gaze upon the scene which
symbolize fraternity among the nations of the world.
NATION STATE: It refers to a nation state in which the majority of its citizens along
with the rulers develop a sense of common identity & shared history.
1. The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) & le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized on
the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a Constitution.
2. A new tricolour French flag, was chosen to replace the royal flag.
3. The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens & renamed as the
National Assembly.
4. A Centralised administrative system was established & it made uniform laws for
all citizens within its territory.
5. French became the common language of the nation.
6. Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of
weights & measures was adopted.
ARISTOCRATS – They were the socially and politically dominant class. The members of
this class were united by a common way of life that cut across regional divisions. They
owned estates in the countryside and also town-houses. They spoke French for
purposes of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were often connected by ties
of marriage.
1. Western and Central Europe were more developed as compared to the Eastern
Europe due to Industrialisation.
2. Industrialisation began in England in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Came in France and Germany in 19th century.
3. It led to birth of NEW MIDDLE CLASS (industrialists, businessmen,
professionals).
LIBERAL NATIONALISM:
1. Ideas of national unity in early 19th century Europe were closely allied to the
ideology of liberalism. The term ‘Liberalism’ derives from the Latin word Liber,
meaning free.
1. For the new middle classes, liberalism stood for freedom of all individuals &
equality of all before the law.
2. Politically, it emphasized on the concept of government by consent.
3. Since the French Revolution, liberalism has stood for the end of autocracy &
clerical privileges.
4. In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets & the
abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods & capital.
ZOLLVEREIN:
BIRTH OF ZOLLVEREIN:
1. In 1834, a customs union or Zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia &
was joined by most of the German states.
1. The Union abolished tariff barriers & reduced the number of currencies from
over 30 to 2.
2. The creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility, harnessing
economic interests to national unification.
1. The Bourbon Dynasty, which had been deposed during the French Revolution,
was restored to power, & France lost the territories it had annexed under
Napoleon.
2. A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French
expansion in future.
3. Austria was given the control of northern Italy.
4. Russia was given a part of Poland.
5. Prussia was given a portion of Saxony.
6. But the German Confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon was
left untouched.
7. The main intention was to restore the monarchies that had been overthrown by
Napoleon & create a new conservative order in Europe.
THE REVOLUTIONARIES:
1. After 1815, many secret societies were formed by revolutionaries spread their
nationalist ideas.
2. Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian revolutionary.
1. Born in Genoa in 1807, he became a member of the Secret Society of Carbonari.
2. At the age of 24, he was sent into exile for attempting a revolution in Liguria.
3. He founded 2 underground societies –
a. YOUNG ITALY in Marseilles
b. YOUNG EUROPE in Berne.
4. Mazzini believed that God wanted nations to be the natural units of mankind.
5. Mazzini’s continuous opposition to monarchy & his vision of democratic
republics frightened the Conservatives.
6. DUKE METTERNICH described him as ‘THE MOST DANGEROUS ENEMY OF OUR
SOCIAL ORDER.’
REVOLT IN BELGIUM:
The July Revolution in France sparked a revolt in BRUSSELS which led to Belgium
breaking away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
1. Greece had been a part of the Ottoman Empire since the 15th century.
2. The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for
independence amongst the Greeks which began in 1821.
3. Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile & also from
many west Europeans who had sympathies for ancient Greek culture.
4. Poets & artists mobilized public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim
Empire.
5. The English poet Lord Byron organised funds and later went to fight in the war,
where he died of fever in 1824.
6. Finally, the TREATY OF CONSTANTINOPLE of 1832 recognised Greece as an
independent nation.
ROMANTICISM:
1. After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools & the
Russian language was imposed everywhere.
SILESIA REVOLT
1. In 1845, weavers in Silesia revolted against the contractors who supplied them
raw material & gave them orders for finished textiles but drastically reduced
their payments.
2. A large group of weavers marched towards the mansion of their contractor
demanding higher wages.
3. The contractor fled with his family to a neighbouring village which, however,
refused to shelter such a person.
4. He returned 24 hours later with the support of the army in which 11 weavers
were shot.
PARIS REVOLT
STRUGGLES OF GERMANY:
ROLE OF WOMEN:
1. Extending political rights to women was a controversial issue within the liberal
movement.
2. Despite active participation by women in political activities, including forming
associations and newspapers, they were denied suffrage rights during the
Assembly election.
3. Women were only allowed to observe the Frankfurt parliament from the visitors'
gallery in the Church of St Paul.
4. Women had played a significant role in the liberal movement over the years, but
their political inclusion was limited.
UNIFICATION OF GERMANY:
IMPACT/EFFECT:
UNIFICATION OF ITALY
REASONS/CAUSES:
1. During the mid-19th century, Italy was divided into 7 states of which only
one, SARDINIA PIEDMONT, was ruled by an Italian Princely house.
2. The north was under Austrian Habsburgs, the centre was ruled by the
Pope and the southern part was controlled by the Bourbon kings of Spain.
3. Even the Italian language did not have one common form and still
had many regional and local variations.
PROCESS:
Role of GIUSEPPE MAZZINI:
1. Chief Minister Count Cavour , who led the unification movement was neither a
revolutionary nor a democrat but he was known as the REAL MAKER OF ITALY.
2. He designed a tactful diplomatic alliance with France due to which Sardinia
Piedmont defeated Austrian forces in 1859.
1. In Britain the formation of the nation state was not the result of a sudden
revolution. It was the result of a long drawn out process. There was no British
nation prior to the 18th century.
2. There were ethnic groups that inhabited the British Isles such as English, Welsh,
Scot or Irish.
3. All these ethnic groups had their own cultural & political tradition. But as English
nation slowly grew in wealth, power & importance, it influenced the other nation
of the island.
4. The Act of Union 1707 between England & Scotland resulted in the formation of
the “United Kingdom of Great Britain “.
5. The growth of the Britain meant that Scotland’s distinctive culture & political
institution was systematically suppressed.
6. The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a
largely Catholic country.
7. Catholic revolt against British dominance were suppressed. After a failed revolt
led by WOLFE TONE & his United Irishmen, Ireland was forcibly incorporated
into the United Kingdom in 1801.
8. The symbol of the new Britain: -
a) The British flag (Union Jack)
b) The National Anthem (God save our Noble King)
c) The English language—were actively promoted &the older nation
survived only as subordinate partner in this union.
ALLEGORY:
THE BALKANS:
REGION:
The Balkans comprised modern day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia,
Croatia, etc. whose inhabitants were called SLAVS.
1. A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. But
with the weakening and disintegration of the Ottoman empire, nationalist
tensions emerged in the area.
2. Its European subject nationalities broke away and declared themselves
independent.
3. People of the Balkans argued that they were once independent before the foreign
powers controlled them. So they wanted to regain their lost independence.
4. Nationalist tensions emerged due to rivalries of the European powers i.e. Russia,
England, Austria, and Hungary.
5. All these powers wanted to establish their control for one reason or the other.
RESULT:
Rivalry among the European powers and the Balkan states led to a series of wars and
finally the First World War.