Nationalism in Europe 2 Flashcards
europe lacked political unity. elucidate with examples
Germany, Italy and Switzerland were
divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose rulers had their
autonomous territories. Eastern and Central Europe were under
autocratic monarchies within the territories of which lived diverse
peoples. They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identity
or a common culture. Often, they even spoke different languages
and belonged to different ethnic groups. The Habsburg Empire
that ruled over Austria-Hungary, for example, was a patchwork of
many different regions and peoples. It included the Alpine regions
– the Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland – as well as Bohemia,
where the aristocracy was predominantly German-speaking. It also
included the Italian-speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia.
In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other
half spoke a variety of dialects. In Galicia, the aristocracy spoke
Polish. Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived within
the boundaries of the empire, a mass of subject peasant peoples –
Bohemians and Slovaks to the north, Slovenes in Carniola, Croats
to the south, and Roumans to the east in Transylvania. Such
differences did not easily promote a sense of political unity. The
only tie binding these diverse groups together was a common
allegiance to the emperor
describe the aristcrocay
Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class
on the continent. 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. This powerful aristocracy was,
however, numerically a small group. T
describe the peasants
The majority of the population
was made up of the peasantry. To the west, the bulk of the land
was farmed by tenants and small owners, while in Eastern and
Central Europe the pattern of landholding was characterised by
vast estates which were cultivated by serfs.
describe the emergence of middle class
In Western and parts of Central Europe the growth of industrial
production and trade meant the growth of towns and the emergence
of commercial classes whose existence was based on production
for the market. Industrialisation began in England in the second
half of the eighteenth century, but in France and parts of the German
states it occurred only during the nineteenth century. In its wake,
new social groups came into being: a working-class population, and
middle classes made up of industrialists, businessmen, professionals.
In Central and Eastern Europe these groups were smaller in number
till late nineteenth century. It was among the educated, liberal middle
classes that ideas of national unity following the abolition of
aristocratic privileges gained popularity
what was liberalism? what did it stand for
Ideas of national unity in early-nineteenth-century Europe were closely
allied to the ideology of liberalism. 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. Politically, it emphasised 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. Nineteenth-century
liberals also stressed the inviolability of private property.
was equality before law neceassaryily universal adult suffrage?
equality before the law did not necessarily stand for universal
suffrage. You will recall that in revolutionary France, which marked
the first political experiment in liberal democracy, the right to vote
and to get elected was granted exclusively to property-owning men.
Men without property and all women were excluded from political
rights. Only for a brief period under the Jacobins did all adult males
enjoy suffrage. However, the Napoleonic Code went back to limited
suffrage and reduced women to the status of a minor, subject to
the authority of fathers and husbands. Throughout the nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries women and non-propertied men
organised opposition movements demanding equal political rights.
what did liberalism stand for in the econmoic spehre
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 nineteenth century this was a strong
demand of the emerging middle classes. Let us take the example of
the German-speaking regions in the first half of the nineteenth
century. Napoleon’s administrative measures had created out of countless small principalities a confederation of 39 states. Each of
these possessed its own currency, and weights and measures. A
merchant travelling in 1833 from Hamburg to Nuremberg to sell
his goods would have had to pass through 11 customs barriers and
pay a customs duty of about 5 per cent at each one of them. Duties
were often levied according to the weight or measurement of the
goods. As each region had its own system of weights and measures,
this involved time-consuming calculation. The measure of cloth,
for example, was the elle which in each region stood for a different
length. An elle of textile material bought in Frankfurt would get you
54.7 cm of cloth, in Mainz 55.1 cm, in Nuremberg 65.6 cm, in
Freiburg 53.5 cm.
what led to the formation of zollverein what is zollverein
Such conditions were viewed as obstacles to economic exchange
and growth by the new commercial classes, who argued for the
creation of a unified economic territory allowing the unhindered
movement of goods, people and capital. In 1834, a customs union
or zollverein was formed 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. The
creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility,
harnessing economic interests to national unification. A wave of
economic nationalism strengthened the wider nationalist sentiments
growing at the time.
how did spirit of conservatism drive the european govt
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. Most conservatives, however, did not propose
a return to the society of pre-revolutionary days. Rather, they realised,
from the changes initiated by Napoleon, that modernisation could
in fact strengthen traditional institutions like the monarchy. It could
make state power more effective and strong. A modern army, an
efficient bureaucracy, a dynamic economy, the abolition of feudalism
and serfdom could strengthen the autocratic monarchies of Europe.
define conservatism
A political philosophy that
stressed the importance of tradition, established
institutions and customs, and preferred gradual
development to quick change
describe the treaty of vienna
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. The delegates
drew up the Treaty of Vienna of 1815 with the object of undoing
most of the changes that had come about in Europe during the
Napoleonic wars.
what were the features of the treaty of vienna
The Bourbon dynasty, which had been deposed
during the French Revolution, was restored to power, and France
lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon. A series of states
were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion
in future. Thus the kingdom of the Netherlands, which included
Belgium, was set up in the north and Genoa was added to Piedmont
in the south. Prussia was given important new territories on its western
frontiers, while Austria was given control of northern Italy. But the
German confederation of 39 states that had been set up by Napoleon
was left untouched. In the east, 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.
describe the revolutionaries in 1815
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. Most of these
revolutionaries also saw the creation of nation-states as a necessary
part of this struggle for freedom.
describe giuseppe mazzini
One such individual was the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini.
Born in Genoa in 1807, he 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, first, Young Italy in Marseilles,
and then, 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. This unification alone
could be the basis of Italian liberty. Following his model, secret
societies were set up in Germany, France, Switzerland and Poland.
Mazzini’s relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of
democratic republics frightened the conservatives. Metternich
described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.
