What is nationalism?
Nationalism means people feel they belong to one nation and want their own state. A nation-state is a country where most people share a sense of common identity and history, and the state rules on their behalf.
In 1848 a French artist, Frédéric Sorrieu, drew a dream picture: people of many nations walk together towards a statue of Liberty. It showed a world of free democratic nations.
Absolutist means a king with unlimited power. Before 1789 most of Europe was absolutist.
The French Revolution and the idea of the nation
In 1789, the French Revolution moved power from the king to the people. New ideas made people feel like one family:
- Words like la patrie (fatherland) and le citoyen (citizen).
- A new tricolour flag replaced the royal flag.
- An elected assembly (National Assembly) made laws.
- Internal customs duties were removed; one system of weights and measures.
- French in Paris became the common language.
Napoleon and the Civil Code (1804)
Napoleon ended the republic and became emperor, but his Civil Code made everyone equal before law, protected property and removed privileges by birth. Farmers were freed from feudal dues; guilds lost control over trade; transport improved.
But people in conquered lands disliked higher taxes, censorship and being forced into his army. So support turned to anger.
Nationalism and social movements in Europe
Where Europe stood
Central Europe had many kingdoms and duchies. The Habsburg Empire ruled Austria-Hungary with people speaking German, Hungarian, Polish, Czech and more. A few land-owning aristocrats ruled over a big mass of peasants. A new middle class (factory owners, traders, professionals) grew with industry.
Liberalism
Liberal means "free". For the middle class it meant freedom for the individual, equality before law, a constitution and a parliament. But voting was often only for men with property. In the economy it meant free trade: the German Zollverein (1834) customs union removed tariff barriers among German states.
Conservatism after 1815
After Napoleon was defeated, the Congress of Vienna (1815), hosted by Austrian chancellor Metternich, brought back the old kings (the Bourbons in France) and made a chain of states to stop France. Conservatives believed in king, church and old order. They used censorship and spies.
Revolutionaries
Secret societies trained people to fight for liberty. Giuseppe Mazzini of Italy founded Young Italy (1831) and Young Europe. Metternich called him the most dangerous enemy of order.
Age of revolutions 1830–1848
- July 1830: France got a constitutional king (Louis Philippe). Belgium broke away from the Netherlands.
- Greece fought the Ottoman Empire and was recognised free by the Treaty of Constantinople, 1832.
- Romanticism: poets and thinkers praised folk songs, dances and language. Grimm brothers collected German folk tales. In Poland, after the Russian take-over, speaking Polish became a sign of resistance.
- Hunger: the 1830s had food shortages and jobless people. In 1845 Silesian weavers revolted against contractors who paid too little. In 1848, food shortage led to a revolt in Paris.
- 1848, liberals: in Germany an elected Frankfurt Parliament met in St Paul's Church and wrote a constitution. The Prussian king refused its crown; the army broke it up. Women were only allowed as observers.
The making of Germany and Italy
Germany: blood and iron
After 1848 the Prussian chief minister Otto von Bismarck used the army and officials. Three wars in seven years (with Austria, Denmark and France) ended in Prussian victory. In January 1871 the Prussian king William I was proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles. The new state modernised money, banking and law.
Italy: many states, one nation
Italy was split into seven states. Only Sardinia-Piedmont had an Italian royal house. Mazzini's revolts failed, so the job fell to King Victor Emmanuel II and his chief minister Count Cavour, who made a clever alliance with France and defeated Austria in 1859. In 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi and his volunteer Red Shirts marched into the South (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy. Most poor peasants in the South did not even know the word "Italia".
The strange case of Britain
Britain became a nation-state slowly, not by one revolution. The Act of Union 1707 joined England and Scotland; Ireland was forced in 1801. The English culture, the Union Jack and the English language were spread over the others.
Visualising the nation
Artists showed a nation as a woman (an allegory: an idea shown as a person). France was Marianne with a red cap, tricolour and cockade. Germany was Germania with an oak-leaf crown (the German oak means heroism). Symbols: broken chains = freedom, sword = ready to fight, olive branch = peace, rising sun = new age.
Nationalism and imperialism: the road to World War I
After 1871, nationalism lost its idealistic, liberal-democratic spirit and became narrow and aggressive. Big powers used it to grab land.
The Balkans (south-east Europe, around today's Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Serbia and others) were ruled by the weakening Ottoman Empire. Slav groups there wanted independence, and each tried to gain land at the cost of others. Russia, Germany, England and Austria-Hungary each wanted control there. This rivalry made the Balkans a "powder keg" and led to a series of wars and finally the First World War in 1914.
Later, people in colonies used the idea of nationalism to fight imperial rule and form their own nation-states.
Try it yourself
Draw your own allegory. Pick a symbol for India from the list (broken chains, olive branch, rising sun, sword) and explain in one line why you chose it. Then move the 3D year slider to 1848 and 1871 and say in your own words what changed.
Exam tips
This chapter is in Unit 1 (History, 20 marks). Common questions: measures of the French revolutionaries to create a collective identity (3 or 5 marks), role of Bismarck / Mazzini / Cavour / Garibaldi, why the Balkans were explosive, Napoleonic Code features, and the idea of allegory (Marianne, Germania). Write dates next to events.
Key formulas and definitions
- Nation-state = people with a shared identity + their own state
- Liberalism = individual freedom + equality before law + constitution
- Conservatism = king + church + old order (Vienna 1815)
- Italy 1861: Mazzini (idea) + Cavour (diplomacy) + Garibaldi (army) + Victor Emmanuel II (king)
- Germany 1871: Prussia + Bismarck + three wars → William I, Emperor
Worked examples
1. Name four steps the French revolutionaries took to make people feel like one nation.
1) Ideas of la patrie and le citoyen. 2) New tricolour flag. 3) Elected National Assembly. 4) One system of weights and measures and removal of internal customs duties. (Also: French as the common language, new hymns and oaths.)
2. Why did people in lands conquered by Napoleon first welcome and then oppose him?
First: his Civil Code ended feudal dues and privileges, and made trade easier. Later: he raised taxes, used censorship and forced men into his army. The loss of freedom outweighed the gains.
3. Compare the unification of Germany and Italy.
Germany: led by Prussia and Bismarck, through the army and three wars; emperor William I in 1871. Italy: led by Sardinia-Piedmont with Cavour's diplomacy, Garibaldi's volunteers and Victor Emmanuel II as king in 1861; Mazzini gave the idea. Both were led from above by a kingdom, not by the common people.
4. Why is the Balkan region called a powder keg?
It had many small Slav groups each wanting independence and more land, the Ottoman Empire was weak, and big powers (Russia, Germany, Britain, Austria-Hungary) competed for control there. A small spark could explode into a big war, which happened in 1914.
Common mistakes
- Saying Germany was unified in 1861 and Italy in 1871. It is the other way: Italy 1861, Germany 1871.
- Thinking the Frankfurt Parliament unified Germany. It failed in 1848; Prussia and Bismarck did it in 1871.
- Mixing Mazzini (idea, Young Italy), Cavour (minister, diplomacy) and Garibaldi (Red Shirts army).
- Thinking liberalism in 1800s meant votes for all. Mostly only men with property could vote; women were left out.