Write in brief
Question 1: Write a note on:
a) Giuseppe Mazzini
Answer-
Giuseppe Mazzini, born in Genoa in 1805, was a significant Italian revolutionary. He became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
He was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. Subsequently, he founded two more underground societies: Young Italy in Marseilles and Young Europe in Berne, whose members were like-minded young men from various European states.
Mazzini held the belief that God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind, and therefore, Italy could not remain a patchwork of small states but had to be forged into a single unified republic. His relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of democratic republics deeply frightened the conservatives, leading Metternich to describe him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.
b) Count Camillo de Cavour
Answer-
Count Camillo de Cavour was the Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont who led the movement to unify the regions of Italy.
Cavour was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat. He was a wealthy and educated member of the Italian elite who spoke French much better than Italian.
Through a tactful diplomatic alliance with France engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859. For the ruling elites of this region, a unified Italy represented the possibility of economic development and political dominance.
c) The Greek war of independence
Answer-
The Greek war of independence was an event that mobilized nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe. Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century.
The struggle for independence began in 1821, sparked by the growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe. Nationalists received support from Greeks living in exile and from many West Europeans who sympathized with ancient Greek culture.
Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilisation and mobilized public opinion against the Muslim empire. The English poet Lord Byron even organized funds and went to fight in the war, dying of fever in 1824. The war officially concluded with the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832, which recognized Greece as an independent nation.
d) Frankfurt parliament
Answer-
In the German regions in 1848, a large number of political associations, composed of middle-class professionals, businessmen, and prosperous artisans, came together in Frankfurt. They decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly.
On 18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives convened the Frankfurt parliament in the Church of St Paul. They drafted a constitution for a German nation, proposing a monarchy subject to a parliament.
However, the Prussian King, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, rejected the crown offered by the deputies and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly. The parliament's efforts were further undermined because it was dominated by the middle classes, who resisted the demands of workers and artisans, losing popular support. Eventually, troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.
e) The role of women in nationalist struggles
Answer-
Women actively participated in the liberal movement throughout the nineteenth century. They formed their own political associations, founded newspapers, and took part in political meetings and demonstrations.
Despite their participation, the issue of extending political rights to women was controversial within the liberal movement.
Women were denied suffrage rights during the election of the Assembly. When the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul, women were admitted only as observers, standing in the visitors’ gallery. Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, women and non-propertied men organized opposition movements specifically demanding equal political rights.
Question 2: What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective identity among the French people?
Answer-
From the very beginning, the French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices to create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people. These steps included:
The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) were emphasized, stressing the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly. New hymns were composed, oaths were taken, and martyrs were 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.
Internal customs duties and dues were abolished, and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.
Regional dialects were discouraged, and French, as spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.
Question 3: Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in which they were portrayed?
Answer-
Marianne and Germania were female allegories invented by artists in the nineteenth century to represent the abstract idea of the nation in a concrete form.
Marianne was the female allegory chosen in France, representing the idea of a people’s nation. Her characteristics—the red cap, the tricolour, and the cockade—were drawn from those of Liberty and the Republic.
Germania became the allegory of the German nation. In visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak symbolizes heroism.
Importance of Portrayal:
The importance of their portrayal was to personify the nation, giving the abstract idea a visual form.
These figures helped to express and shape nationalist feelings. Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares and images marked on coins and stamps to remind the public of the national symbol of unity and encourage them to identify with it.
Question 4: Briefly trace the process of German unification.
Answer-
The liberal initiative to unify Germany in 1848, led by middle-class Germans in the Frankfurt Parliament, was repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners (Junkers) of Prussia.
Following 1848, nationalism in Europe shifted away from its association with democracy. Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification.
Prussia’s Chief Minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of this process, carried out with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
Unification was achieved through three wars over seven years—with Austria, Denmark, and France—which ended in Prussian victory.
In January 1871, the process was completed when the Prussian king, William I, was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles. The new state demonstrated the dominance of Prussian state power and focused on modernizing its key systems, such as currency, banking, legal, and judicial structures.
Question 5: What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him?
Answer-
Though Napoleon destroyed democracy in France, he incorporated revolutionary principles in the administrative field to make the entire system more rational and efficient.
He introduced the Civil Code of 1804, usually known as the Napoleonic Code, which did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law, and secured the right to property.
In the territories under French control (like the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, and parts of Germany), he simplified administrative divisions and abolished the feudal system, freeing peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.
In towns, guild restrictions were removed. Transport and communication systems were also improved.
Businessmen benefited significantly from uniform laws, standardized weights and measures, and a common national currency, which facilitated the movement and exchange of goods and capital.
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?
Answer-
Meaning of the 1848 Revolution of the Liberals:
The 1848 revolution of the liberals occurred parallel to the revolts of the poor, unemployed, and starving peasants and workers. This revolution was led by the educated middle classes.
In France, the events of February 1848 resulted in the abdication of the monarch and the proclamation of a republic based on universal male suffrage (for adults above 21).
In other parts of Europe (like Germany and Italy), where nation-states did not yet exist, liberal middle classes combined their demands for constitutionalism with the goal of national unification. They utilized the growing popular unrest to push for the creation of a nation-state based on parliamentary principles. A major attempt was the convention of the Frankfurt Parliament to draft a constitution for a unified Germany.
Political, Social, and Economic Ideas Supported by Liberals:
Political Ideas:
Politically, liberalism emphasized the concept of government by consent.
Since the French Revolution, liberals had demanded the end of autocracy and clerical privileges, along with the establishment of a constitution and representative government through parliament.
They also demanded freedom of the press and freedom of association.
Social Ideas:
Socially, liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law.
However, this political equality was limited in practice; in revolutionary France, suffrage was initially granted exclusively to property-owning men, excluding men without property and all women.
Liberals also stressed the inviolability of private property.
Economic Ideas:
In the economic sphere, liberalism strongly advocated for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
The new commercial classes argued for the creation of a unified economic territory allowing the unhindered movement of goods, people, and capital. This demand was realized through the formation of the zollverein (customs union) in 1834, which abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies.
Question 2: Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe.
Answer-
Culture played a crucial role in the growth of nationalism by using art, poetry, stories, and music to shape and express nationalist feelings.
1. Romanticism and the Concept of Shared Heritage (Volksgeist):
Romantic artists and poets criticized the glorification of reason and science, focusing instead on emotions, intuition, and mystical feelings. Their aim was to foster a sense of a shared collective heritage or common cultural past as the foundation of a nation.
The German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people (das volk), popularizing the true spirit of the nation (volksgeist) through folk songs, folk poetry, and folk dances.
2. Music and Symbols (Karol Kurpinski):
Polish national feelings were kept alive through music and language even after Poland was partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
Karol Kurpinski celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music. He turned folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into powerful nationalist symbols, helping to maintain national identity despite the lack of political independence.
3. Language as a Weapon of National Resistance:
The emphasis on vernacular language was important for carrying the modern nationalist message to large, mostly illiterate audiences.
After Russian occupation imposed the Russian language and forced Polish out of schools, members of the clergy in Poland began to use Polish for Church gatherings and all religious instruction. The use of the Polish language came to be seen as a symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance, leading many priests and bishops to be imprisoned or sent to Siberia.
Question 3: Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth century.
Answer-
The emergence of nation-states in nineteenth-century Europe resulted from diverse processes, often involving war, diplomacy, and revolutionary struggle. The two prominent examples are Germany and Italy.
Country 1: Germany (Unification through State Power and Military)
The initiative for German nation-building was first attempted by liberal middle classes in 1848 through the Frankfurt Parliament, but this movement was suppressed by the combined power of the monarchy, military, and the Prussian aristocracy (Junkers).
Following this failure, Prussia, under its Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck, took the leadership of the unification movement. Bismarck was the architect of the process, which relied heavily on the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
Germany was unified through three strategic wars over seven years: against Austria, Denmark, and France. The process culminated in January 1871, when the Prussian King, William I, was proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles. The newly formed nation-state demonstrated the dominance of Prussian state power and proceeded to modernize key systems like currency, banking, legal, and judicial structures.
Country 2: Italy (Unification through Diplomacy and Popular Uprisings)
Italy, like Germany, had a long history of political fragmentation and was divided into seven states, with the north under the Austrian Habsburgs and the south under the Bourbon kings of Spain. Early revolutionary efforts by Giuseppe Mazzini (who founded Young Italy) failed in 1831 and 1848.
The responsibility of unification then fell upon the Italian princely house of Sardinia-Piedmont under King Victor Emmanuel II. Chief Minister Cavour skillfully led the movement, utilizing a tactful diplomatic alliance with France to defeat Austrian forces in 1859.
A large number of armed volunteers, notably the Red Shirts led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, supported the regular troops. In 1860, Garibaldi marched into South Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, winning the support of local peasants to expel the Spanish rulers. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy. The final territory, the Papal States, joined in 1870.
Question 4: How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe?
Answer-
The history of nationalism in Britain was unlike the rest of Europe primarily because the formation of the nation-state was not the result of a sudden upheaval or revolution, but rather a long-drawn-out process.
No Pre-existing Nation: Unlike unified nations forged through direct wars or revolutions, there was no "British nation" prior to the eighteenth century. The inhabitants of the British Isles had primary ethnic identities (English, Welsh, Scot, or Irish).
Growth of English Power: As the English nation steadily grew in wealth, importance, and power, it was able to extend its influence over the other nations. The English parliament, which seized power in 1688, became the instrument forging the nation-state with England at its center.
Act of Union (1707): The formation of the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain' through the Act of Union (1707) meant, in effect, that England could systematically impose its influence and suppress the distinctive culture and political institutions of Scotland. For example, Scottish Highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic language or wear their national dress.
Forced Incorporation of Ireland: Ireland, deeply divided between Catholics and Protestants, was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801 after the suppression of Catholic revolts.
The new 'British nation' was forged through the propagation of a dominant English culture, actively promoting symbols like the British flag (Union Jack), the national anthem, and the English language, making the older nations subordinate partners.
Question 5: Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?
Answer-
The Balkans region became the most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871, ultimately leading to the First World War.
1. Geographical and Ethnic Diversity: The Balkans was a region of great geographical and ethnic variation, comprising modern-day states like Romania, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, etc., whose inhabitants were broadly known as the Slavs.
2. Disintegration of the Ottoman Empire: A large portion of the Balkans was controlled by the Ottoman Empire. The spread of romantic nationalism combined with the gradual disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made the region extremely explosive. European subject nationalities broke away one by one, declaring independence.
3. Claims Based on Nationality and History: The Balkan peoples based their demands for independence on nationality, using history to claim that they had once been independent but were subsequently subjugated by foreign powers. They viewed their struggles as efforts to regain their long-lost independence.
4. Mutual Jealousy and Internal Conflict: As different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity, the Balkan area became one 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.
5. Big Power Rivalry: The situation was complicated by intense rivalry among the major European powers (Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary). Each power was keen on countering the influence of others over the Balkans and extending its own control. This rivalry over territory and influence led to a series of wars in the region and finally, the First World War.