The Rise Of Nationalism

Question 1

What was the major change that occurred in the political and constitutional scenario due to the French Revolution in Europe? (2015 D)

Answer 1

It led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens. The revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny

Question 2

What was the main aim of the French revolutionaries? (2015 OD)

Answer 2

The main aim of the French revolutionaries was to create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people. They proclaimed that it was the people who would constitute the nation and shape its decisions.

Question 3

What is the meaning of concentration camps? (2015 OD)

Answer 3

Concentration camps are prisons where people are detained and tortured without due process of law

Question 4

Name the Treaty of 1832 that recognised Greece as an independent nation. (2016 D)

Answer 4

Treaty of 1832: Constantinople

Question 5

Name the event that mobilised nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe in 1830-1848? (2016 D)

Answer 5

The Greek War of Independence in 1821.

Question 6

What was the main aim of revolutionaries of Europe during the years following 1815? (2016 D)

Answer 6

The main aim of revolutionaries of Europe was to oppose monarchial forms of government.

Question 7

Who remarked “when France sneezes the rest of Europe catches cold”. (2016 OD)

Answer 7

Duke Metternich

Question 8

Who was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles in January 1871? (2016 OD)

Answer 8

Kaiser William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles in January 1871.

Question 9

Who was proclaimed the King of United Italy in 1861? (2016 OD)

Answer 9

Victor Emmanuel-II

Question 10

Explain any three beliefs of the conservatism that emerged after 1815. (2011 D)

Answer 10

Three beliefs of conservatism that emerged after 1815 were:

Established and traditional institutions of state and society like monarchy, the Church, property and family should be preserved.
They believed in the modernization of the traditional institution to strengthen them, rather than returning to the society of pre-revolutionary days.
Also they believed that abolition of feudalism and serfdom and replacing it with a modern army, an efficient bureaucracy and a dynamic economy could strengthen autocratic monarchies of Europe.

Question 11

Explain the contribution of Otto von Bismarck in German unification. (2011 D)

Answer 11

Contribution of Otto von Bismarck in German unification. Nationalist feelings started spreading amongst the middle class Germans, who in 1848, tried to unite different parts of German confederation into a nation state to have an elected parliamentarian government. However, this liberal movement was repressed by the combined forces of monarchy and military supported by Prussian landowners.

Prussian Chief Minister, Otto von Bismarck, took the responsibility of national unification with the help of Prussian army and bureaucracy. Under his leadership he fought three wars over seven years with Austria, Denmark and France. Prussia was victorious in all these wars and the process of unification of Germany was completed as a result of Prussia’s victory over France.

Question 12

Explain any three ways in which nationalist feelings were kept alive in Poland in the 18th and 19th centuries. (2011 OD)

Answer 12

The three ways in which nationalist feelings were kept alive in 18th and 19th centuries in Poland:
(i) Emphasis on vernacular language. Language played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments. The use of the Polish language came to be seen as a symbol of struggle against Russian dominance. For example, In Poland, following armed rebellion against Russian rule, Polish was used for church gatherings and religious instruction. As a result, a number of priests and bishops were put in jails or sent to Siberia as punishment for their refusal to preach in Russian.

(ii) Emphasis on collection of local folklore. It was not just to recover an ancient national spirit, but also to carry the modern nationalist message to the large audience who were mostly illiterate.

(iii) Use of music to keep the nationalist feeling alive. For example, Karol Kurpinski, celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music, turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.

Question 13

Explain the contribution of Giuseppe Mazzini in spreading revolutionary ideas in Europe. (2011 OD)

Answer 13

The year following 1815, was the period of revolutionaries. Most of the revolutionaries were committed to oppose monarchical forms and to fight for liberty and freedom

One such prominent revolutionary was “Giuseppe Mazzini”, an Italian revolutionary. Mazzini also saw the creation of nation-states as a necessary part in the struggle for freedom. Ele strongly believed in the unification of Italy as a single unified republic which could be the basis of Italian liberty.

Mazzini’s relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of a democratic republic frightened the Conservatives. His ideas also influenced the revolutionaries of Germany, France, Switzerland and Poland.

Question 14

Question 14. Describe any three reforms introduced by Napoleon in the territories he conquered.

Answer 14

Three reforms introduced by Napoleon in the territories he conquered were:

The Napoleonic Code —It finished all the privileges based on birth and established equality before law and secured the right to property.
He simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.
He introduced uniform laws, standardized weights and measures and common national currency to facilitate the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one place to another.

Question 15

Explain any three causes of conflict in the ‘Balkan area’ after 1871. (2011 OD)

Answer 15

The nationalist tensions emerged in the Balkans due to the following reasons:
(i) Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro whose inhabitants were known as the Slavs. A large part of Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman empire.

(ii) After the decline of the Ottoman empire and the growth of romantic nationalism in the Balkans, the region became very explosive. Its European subject nationalities broke away from its control and declared independence.

(iii) As the different nationalities struggled to define their identity and independence, the Balkan area became an area of intense conflict. The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the expense of others.

(iv) Balkan also became the scene of big power rivalry. Russia, Germany, England, Austria, Hungry — all big powers were keen in countering the hold of other powers. This ultimately turned Balkan into a war region which eventually provided a minor cause for the First World War.

Question 16

How did the local people in the areas conquered by Napoleon react to French rule? Explain.

Answer 16

The reactions of the local population to the French rule were mixed.

Initially, in many places such as Holland and Switzerland, as well as in cities like Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw, the French armies were welcomed as harbingers of liberty. As new administrative arrangements did not go hand in hand with political freedom, enthusiasm turned into hostility. Increased taxation, censorship, forced conscription into the French armies to conquer the rest of Europe, outweighed the advantages of the administrative changes.

Question 17

Explain the conditions that were viewed as obstacles to the economic exchange and growth by the new commercial classes during the nineteenth century in Europe.

Answer 17

In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on movement of goods and capital.

But in the 19th century Napoleon’s administrative measures had created out of countless small principalities a confederation of 39 states. Each possessed its own currency, and weights and measures.
A merchant travelling from Hamburg to Nuremberg had to pass through 11 custom barriers and pay 5% duty at each one of them.
As each region had its own system of weights and measures this involved time-consuming calculations.
Such conditions were viewed as obstacles to economic growth and exchange by the new commercial classes who argued for the creation of a unified economic territory allowing free movement of goods, people and capital.

Question 18

Describe the events of French Revolution which had influenced the people belonging to other parts of Europe.

Answer 18

The first clear-cut expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. In 1789, France was under the rule of an absolute monarch.
When the revolutionaries came to power in France, they were determined to create a new sense of unity and nationhood. For this, they emphasized the concept of France being the father land (La Patrie) for all French people, who were from now on addressed as citizens (citoyen). They were given the tri-colour flag, the three colours representing liberty, equality and fraternity.
French revolutionaries introduced various other measures such as:

The Estate General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated all in the name of the nation.
A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated 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 it was spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.
They further declared that it was the mission and the destiny of the French nation to liberate the people of Europe from despotism and help them to become nations.

Question 19

How did nationalism develop through culture in Europe? Explain.
Or
Describe the role of culture in shaping the feelings of nationalism in Europe from 1830 to the end of 19th century.

Answer 19

Culture, music, dance and religion played an important role in the growth of nationalism.
(i) Culture. Role of culture was important in creating the idea of the nation. Art, poetry, music etc. helped in developing and expressing nationalist feelings. Romanticism was a cultural movement that led to the development of nationalist sentiment. Romantic artists and poets criticized the glorification of reason and science and instead focussed on emotions and intuition.

(ii) Language. Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments. After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools and Russian language was imposed everywhere. In 1831, an armed rebellion against Russian rule took place which was ultimately crushed. Following this, many members of the clergy in Poland began to use language as a weapon of national resistance.

(iii) Music and Dance. Romantics such as the German philosopher Herder claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people —das volk. It was through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances that the true spirit of the nation was popularised.

Question 20

How had the female figures become an allegory of the nation during nineteenth century in Europe? Analyse.

Answer 20

Artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries portrayed nations as female figures. The female form, that was chosen to personify the nation, did not stand for any particular woman in real life. Rather it sought to give the abstract idea of the nation in concrete form. That is, the female figure became the allegory of the nation.

In France, she was named Marianne —a popular Christian name and in Germany, Germania. Germania wears a crown of oak leaves as the German oak stands for heroism. The characteristics of Marianne were drawn from those of Liberty and Republic —the red cap, the tricolour and cockade.

Question 21

Describe any three steps taken by the French revolutionaries to create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people.

Answer 21

The first clear-cut expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. In 1789, France was under the rule of an absolute monarch.
When the revolutionaries came to power in France, they were determined to create a new sense of unity and nationhood For this, they emphasized the concept of France being the father land (La Patrie) for all French people, who were from now on addressed as citizens (citoyen). They were given the tri-colour flag, the three colours representing liberty, equality and fraternity.
French revolutionaries introduced various other measures such as:

The Estate General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated all in the name of the nation.
A centralized administrative system was put in place and it formulated 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 it was spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.
They further declared that it was the mission and the destiny of the French nation to liberate the people of Europe from despotism and help them to become nations.

Question 22

Describe any three economic hardships faced by Europe in the 1830s.

Answer 22

Following are the causes of economic hardships in Europe during 1830s:

Europe had come under the grip of large scale unemployment. In most of the countries there were more seekers of jobs than employment. Cities had become overcrowded and slums had emerged as population from the rural areas migrated to the cities.
Small producers in towns were often faced with stiff competition from imports of cheap machine- made goods from England where industrialization was more advanced specially in the field of textile production.
In those regions of Europe, where aristocracy still enjoyed power, peasants struggled under the burden of feudal dues and obligations. The rise of food prices and bad harvests added to the hardships of the peasants.

Question 23

What did Liberal Nationalism stand for? Explain any four ideas of Liberal Nationalists in the economic sphere.

Answer 23

Liberalism or Liberal Nationalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law. Lour ideas of Liberal Nationalists in the economic sphere are:

Liberalism stood for freedom of markets and abolition of state imposed restriction. For example, Napoleon’s administration was a confederation of 29 states, each of these possessed its own currencies, weight and measures. Such conditions were viewed as obstacles to economic exchange.
Liberal Nationalists 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. The union abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from 30 to 2.
The creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility, harnessing economic interest to national unification.

Question 24

“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.” Support the statement. (2016 OD, 2014 OD, 2012 D)
Or
Explain any five social and administrative reforms introduced by Napolean in regions under his control.

Answer 24

Napoleon had brought revolutionary changes in the administrative field in order to make the whole system rational and efficient. The Civil Code of 1804 is usually known as the Napoleonic Code.

The first major change was doing away with all privileges based on birth, establishing equality before law and securing the right to property.
Administrative divisions were simplified.
Feudal system was abolished and peasants were freed from serfdom and manorial dues (abuse of manorial lords).
In towns, guild restrictions were removed.
Transport and communication systems were improved.
Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a new found freedom.
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.

Question 25

How did culture play an important role in creating the idea of the ‘nation’ in Europe? Explain with examples.

Answer 25

Culture, music, dance and religion played an important role in the growth of nationalism.
(i) Role of culture was important in creating the idea of the nation. Art, poetry, music etc. helped in developing and expressing nationalist feelings. Romanticism was a cultural movement that led to the development of nationalist sentiment. Romantic artists and poets criticized the glorification of reason and science and instead focussed on emotions and intuition.

(ii) Artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries portrayed nations as female figures. The female form, that was chosen to personify the nation, did not stand for any particular woman in real life. Rather it sought to give the abstract idea of the nation in concrete form. That is, the female figure became the allegory of the nation.
In France, she was named Marianne—a popular Christian name and in Germany, Germania.

(iii) Language too played an important role in developing nationalist sentiments. After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools and Russian language was imposed everywhere. In 1831, an armed rebellion against Russian rule took place which was ultimately crushed. Following this, many members of the clergy in Poland began to use language as a weapon of national resistance.

(iv) Romantics such as the German philosopher Herder claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people – das volk. It was through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances that the true spirit of the nation was popularized.

Question 26

Explain any five economic hardships that Europe faced in the 1830s.
Or
“The decode of 1830 has brought great economic hardship in Europe”. Support the statement with arguments.

Answer 26

Following are the causes of economic hardships in Europe during 1830s:

Europe had come under the grip of large scale unemployment. In most of the countries there were more seekers of jobs than employment.
Cities had become overcrowded and slums had emerged as population from the rural areas migrated to the cities.
Small producers in towns were often faced with stiff competition from imports of cheap machine-made goods from England where industrialization was more advanced specially in the field of textile production.
In those regions of Europe, where aristocracy still enjoyed power, peasants struggled under the burden of feudal dues and obligations.
The rise of food prices and bad harvests added to the hardships of the peasants.

Question 27

Describe any five measures which were introduced by the French Revolutionaries to create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people.

Answer 27

The first clear-cut expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. In 1789, France was under the rule of an absolute monarch.
When the revolutionaries came to power in France, they were determined to create a new sense of unity and nationhood. For this, they emphasized the concept of France being the father land (La Patrie) for all French people, who were from now on addressed as citizens (citoyen). They were given the tri-colour flag, the three colours representing liberty, equality and fraternity.
French revolutionaries introduced various other measures such as:

The Estate General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated all in the name of the nation.
A centralized administrative system was put in place and it formulated 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 it was spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.
They further declared that it was the mission and the destiny of the French nation to liberate the people of Europe from despotism and help them to become nations.

Question 28

How had revolutionaries spread their ideas in many European States after 1815? Explain with examples.

Answer 28

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. Revolutionary ideas were spread by opposing monarchical forms and to fight for liberty and freedom.
Most of the revolutionaries also saw the creation of nation-states as a necessary part of this struggle for freedom.
Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian revolutionary bom in Geneva in 1807. He was a member of the Secret Society of the Carbonari. He attempted a revolution in 1831 and was sent into exile.
He had set up two more underground societies, namely, Young Italy (1832) in Marseilles and then Young Europe in Berne. The members were like-minded young men from Poland, France, Italy and Germany.
He opposed monarchy and small states and kingdoms and dreamt of a Democratic Republic. He believed the unification of Italy alone could be the basis of Italian liberty.

Question 29

Describe the process of unification of Germany.

Answer 29

Unification of Germany:
In the 18th century, Germany was divided into a number of states. Some of these states ceased to exist during the Napoleonic wars. At the end of the war, there were still 39 independent states in Germany. Prussia was most powerful, dominated by big landlords known as Junkers.
(i) Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle class Germans who had tried to unite the different regions of the German federation into a nation-state governed by an elected Parliament.

(ii) In May 1848, a large number of political associations came together to vote for an All German National Assembly. Their representatives met at Frankfurt and the Frankfurt Assembly proposed the unification of Germany as a constitutional monarchy under the King of Prussia as emperor.

(iii) The King of Prussia rejected the offer and the liberal initiative of nation building was repressed by combined forces of the monarchy, the military and the ‘Junkers’.

(iv) Then on, Prussia under its Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck led the movement for unification of Germany. Bismarck carried out this process with the help of the Prussian army and the bureaucracy. He fought three wars over seven years with Denmark, Austria and France. Prussia was victorious in all these wars and the process of unification was completed as a result of Prussia’s victory over France.

(v) Consequently, on 18th January 1871, an assembly comprising of princes of German states, representatives of the army, important Prussian ministers and Bismarck gathered in the Palace of Versailes and proclaimed the Prussian King, Kaiser William, the new German Emperor.

Question 30

Explain the process of unification of Italy.

Answer 30

Italy too had a long history of political fragmentation. Italians were scattered over dynastic states and the multinationals Hamsburg Empire. Italy was divided into seven states. Italian language did not have one common form.
Guiseppe Mazzini had played an important role in the unification of Italy. He formed a secret society called ‘Young Italy’ in Marseilles, to spread his goals. He believed Italy could not continue to be a patchwork of small states and had to be forged into a single unified republic. During 1830s, Mazzini sought to put together a coherent programme for a unitary Italian Republic. As uprisings in 1831 and 1848 had failed, the mantle now fell on Sardinia-Piedmont under its ruler Emmanuel II to unify Italy.

Under Chief Minister Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859. He was the chief minister, who led the movement to unify Italy. He formed a tactful diplomatic alliance with France and defeated the Austrian forces. Even Guiseppe Garibaldi joined the fray. In 1860, they marched towards South Italy and the Kingdom of the two Sicilies, and with the help of the local peasants, drove out the Spanish rulers. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed as King of United Italy.

Question 31

Describe the process of Unification of Britain.
Or
How has Britain come into existence? Explain.

Answer 31

Nationalism in Britain was different from the rest of Europe.
(i) Nationalism in Britain was not the result of a sudden uprising or revolution. It was the result of a long drawn out process.

(ii) There was no British nation prior to 18th century. The inhabitants of British Isles were ethnic ones — English, Welsh, Scot or Irish. Though each had their own culture and political traditions, the English nation steadily grew in wealth, importance and power and expanded its influence over other nations, such as Scotland.

(iii) The British Parliament was dominated by its English members. They tried to suppress Scotland’s distinct culture and political institutions. They could neither speak their language nor could they wear their national dress. A large number of them were driven out of their homeland.

(iv) In 1688, through a bloodless revolution the English Parliament seized power from the monarchy and became the instrument to set up a nation-state at its centre.

(v) By the Act of Union in 1707, Scotland was incorporated in the United Kingdom. Though the Irish Catholics were against a union with England, Ireland was forcibly incorporated in United Kingdom in 1801.

(vi) Thus it was parliamentary action and not revolution or war that was the instrument through which the British nation was formed.

(vii) A new ‘British Nation’ was formed through propagation of English culture. The symbols of the New Britain—”the British Flag (Union Jack), National Anthem (God save our noble King) and the English language” were promoted, and the older nations became the subordinate partners in the Union.