Class 10 Social Science Notes Chapter 1 (The rise of nationalism in Europe) – India and Contempory World-II Book

Alright class, let's get straight into the detailed notes for Chapter 1, 'The Rise of Nationalism in Europe,' from your NCERT Class 10 History book. This chapter is foundational for understanding modern world history and frequently features in government exams. Pay close attention to the key terms, events, and figures.

Chapter 1: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe - Detailed Notes

1. Introduction: Frédéric Sorrieu's Vision (1848)

• The Painting: The chapter begins with French artist Frédéric Sorrieu's print series depicting his dream of a world made up of 'democratic and social Republics'.
• Key Elements: Peoples of Europe and America marching in a procession, paying homage to the Statue of Liberty (personified as a female figure holding the torch of Enlightenment and the Charter of the Rights of Man). On the ground lie the shattered remains of absolutist institutions.
• Significance: Represents the utopian vision of a world of nation-states, replacing multinational dynastic empires. Shows nationalism associated with democracy and republicanism. Nations are identified through flags and national costumes.

2. The French Revolution (1789) and the Idea of the Nation

• Birthplace of Modern Nationalism: The French Revolution was the first clear expression of nationalism.
• Transfer of Sovereignty: Power transferred from the monarchy to a body of French citizens. The people constituted the nation and shaped its destiny.
• Creating Collective Identity: Revolutionaries introduced measures like:
  • Ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasizing a community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
  • New French tricolour flag replaced the royal standard.
  • The Estates General was renamed the National Assembly (elected by active citizens).
  • New hymns composed, oaths taken, martyrs commemorated.
  • A centralised administrative system with uniform laws for all citizens.
  • Internal customs duties and dues were abolished; uniform system of weights and measures adopted.
  • Regional dialects discouraged; French (as spoken in Paris) became the common national language.
• Mission: Revolutionaries declared it the mission of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europe from despotism.

3. Napoleon Bonaparte (Ruled 1799-1815)

• Spread of Ideas: Through wars, Napoleon carried revolutionary ideas abroad.
• Napoleonic Code (Civil Code of 1804):
  • Did away with privileges based on birth.
  • Established equality before the law.
  • Secured the right to property.
  • Simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system, freed peasants from serfdom.
  • Removed guild restrictions in towns.
  • Improved transport and communication.
• Mixed Reaction: Initially welcomed as liberators, French armies later seen as invaders due to increased taxation, censorship, and forced conscription. However, the administrative reforms were lasting.

4. The Making of Nationalism in Europe: Pre-18th Century Context

• No Nation-States: Mid-18th century Europe had autocratic monarchies ruling over diverse peoples who did not share a collective identity or common culture (e.g., Habsburg Empire ruling Austria-Hungary).
• Social Structure:
  • Aristocracy: Dominant, landed class, united by a common way of life and French language (diplomacy). Small in number.
  • Peasantry: Majority population, largely serfs or small tenants.
  • Rise of the Middle Class: Due to industrialisation (starting in England, later parts of Germany, France), new social groups emerged: working class and middle classes (industrialists, businessmen, professionals). It was among the educated, liberal middle classes that ideas of national unity gained popularity.

5. Liberal Nationalism

• Meaning: For the new middle classes, liberalism stood for:
  • Politically: Freedom for the individual, equality before the law, government by consent (end of autocracy and clerical privileges), constitution, representative government through parliament. However, suffrage (right to vote) was often limited to property-owning men.
  • Economically: Freedom of markets, abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
• Zollverein (1834): A customs union initiated by Prussia and joined by most German states.
  • Abolished tariff barriers.
  • Reduced the number of currencies from over 30 to 2.
  • Facilitated railway mobility, harnessing economic interests to national unification. Showed how economic nationalism strengthened wider nationalist sentiments.

6. A New Conservatism after 1815

• Defeat of Napoleon (1815): European powers (Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria) collectively defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.
• Congress of Vienna (1815): Hosted by Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich.
  • Objective: Restore the monarchies overthrown by Napoleon, create a new conservative order in Europe, undo most changes from Napoleonic wars.
  • Key Decisions: Bourbon dynasty restored in France; series of states set up on French boundaries to prevent future expansion; German Confederation (39 states set up by Napoleon) left untouched; Russia got part of Poland; Prussia got portions of Saxony. Main intention was to restore the balance of power.
• Conservative Regimes (Post-1815):
  • Autocratic, intolerant of criticism and dissent.
  • Imposed censorship laws to control media and suppress liberal/nationalist ideas.
  • Relied on secret police.
• The Revolutionaries: Fear of repression drove liberal-nationalists underground. Secret societies sprang up.
  • Giuseppe Mazzini (Italian Revolutionary): Born 1807. Member of the secret society of the Carbonari. Founded two underground societies: Young Italy (Marseilles) and Young Europe (Berne). Believed nations were the natural units of mankind. Fought for the unification of Italy into a republic. His relentless opposition to monarchy and vision of democratic republics frightened conservatives. Metternich described him as 'the most dangerous enemy of our social order'.

7. The Age of Revolutions: 1830-1848

• Trigger: Conservative regimes tried to consolidate power, but liberalism and nationalism continued to inspire revolutions. Led by educated middle-class liberals (professors, teachers, clerks, commercial middle classes).
• July Revolution (France, 1830): Bourbon kings overthrown; constitutional monarchy installed with Louis Philippe at its head. Metternich: 'When France sneezes, the rest of Europe catches cold.'
• Belgian Independence (1830): Broke away from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands.
• Greek War of Independence (1821-1832): Greece (part of Ottoman Empire since 15th century) fought for independence. Supported by West Europeans sympathetic to ancient Greek culture (cradle of European civilisation). Poets and artists mobilised public opinion (e.g., Lord Byron). Treaty of Constantinople (1832) recognised Greece as an independent nation.

8. The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling

• Role of Culture: Culture (art, poetry, stories, music) played a key role in shaping nationalist feelings.
• Romanticism: A cultural movement focused on emotions, intuition, mystical feelings. Criticised glorification of reason and science. Aimed to create a sense of shared collective heritage, a common cultural past, as the basis of a nation.
• Key Ideas/Figures:
  • Johann Gottfried Herder (German philosopher): Claimed true German culture (Volksgeist - true spirit of the nation) was discovered among common people (das Volk) through folk songs, poetry, dances.
  • Grimm Brothers (Jacob and Wilhelm): Collected German folk tales, contributing to the German national identity and language development.
  • Emphasis on Vernacular Language: Seen as crucial to national identity, especially in occupied territories (e.g., Poland under Russian dominance, where Polish language became a symbol of resistance).
  • Music: Composers like Karol Kurpiński (Poland) used folk dances (polonaise, mazurka) as nationalist symbols.

9. Hunger, Hardship, and Popular Revolt (1830s-1848)

• Economic Hardship: 1830s saw great economic hardship: population increase, unemployment, rural migration to overcrowded cities, stiff competition from machine-made goods (especially textiles), feudal dues (aristocracy still powerful), bad harvests leading to food shortages.
• 1848 Revolutions: Widespread food shortages and unemployment led to popular uprisings in many countries.
  • France (February 1848): Louis Philippe forced to flee. National Assembly proclaimed a Republic, granted suffrage to all adult males above 21, guaranteed the right to work, set up national workshops.
  • Silesian Weavers' Uprising (1845): Revolt against contractors who drastically reduced payments for finished textiles. Example of worker protest against exploitation.

10. 1848: The Revolution of the Liberals

• Parallel Revolt: Alongside the revolts of the poor, a revolution led by the educated middle classes was underway.
• Demands: Creation of nation-states based on parliamentary principles – constitution, freedom of the press, freedom of association.
• Germany: Middle-class professionals, businessmen, artisans came together in Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly.
  • Frankfurt Parliament (May 1848): 831 elected representatives drafted a constitution for a German nation headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament.
  • Failure: Offered the crown to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, who rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly. Parliament lost support (dominated by middle class who resisted workers' demands), troops called in, assembly disbanded.
• Significance Despite Failure: Conservative forces suppressed liberal movements but realised concessions were needed. Serfdom and bonded labour abolished in Habsburg dominions and Russia. Hungarians granted more autonomy (1867).
• Women's Role: Women participated actively (formed associations, founded newspapers, took part in demonstrations) but were denied suffrage rights during the election of the Assembly. They were admitted only as observers in the Frankfurt Parliament visitors' gallery.

11. The Making of Germany and Italy

• Shift in Strategy: After 1848, nationalism moved away from association with democracy and revolution. Conservatives often mobilised nationalist sentiments for state power and political domination.
• Germany:
  • Prussia takes the lead: Nationalist feelings widespread among middle-class Germans, but suppressed by monarchy and military, supported by large landowners (Junkers). Prussia, under Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck (architect of the process), took leadership.
  • Bismarck's Policy: "Blood and Iron" – unification through military power, not liberal ideals.
  • Three Wars (over 7 years): With Denmark (1864), Austria (1866), and France (1870-71). Prussian victory completed unification.
  • Proclamation (January 1871): Prussian King William I proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. Emphasised nation-building through Prussian state power, military, and bureaucracy. Modernising currency, banking, legal systems.
• Italy:
  • Fragmented: Mid-19th century Italy divided into 7 states. Only Sardinia-Piedmont ruled by an Italian princely house. North under Austrian Habsburgs, centre ruled by Pope, South under Bourbon kings of Spain. Italian language had many regional variations.
  • Early Attempts: Mazzini sought a unitary Italian Republic (Young Italy failed in 1830s).
  • Sardinia-Piedmont leads: After 1848 failures, responsibility fell on King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia-Piedmont to unify Italy through war. Ruling elites saw unification as offering economic development and political dominance.
  • Chief Minister Cavour: Led the movement. Neither revolutionary nor democrat. Spoke French better than Italian. Used tactful diplomacy (alliance with France) to defeat Austrian forces in 1859 (gained Lombardy).
  • Giuseppe Garibaldi: Joined the fray in 1860. Led armed volunteers (Red Shirts) to South Italy, won support of local peasants, drove out Spanish rulers.
  • Unification: In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II proclaimed King of United Italy. Rome (Papal State) annexed in 1870, completing unification. Note: Much of the population (illiterate peasants) remained unaware of liberal-nationalist ideology.
• The Strange Case of Britain:
  • Model Nation-State? Often cited, but its formation was not sudden upheaval but a long process.
  • No 'British Nation' prior to 18th C: Primary identities were ethnic (English, Welsh, Scot, Irish). English Parliament seized power from monarchy (1688).
  • Act of Union (1707): Between England and Scotland, formed 'United Kingdom of Great Britain'. Meant England imposed influence on Scotland. Scottish culture/institutions systematically suppressed.
  • Ireland: Deep divisions between Catholics and Protestants. English helped Protestants establish dominance. Catholic revolts suppressed. Ireland forcibly incorporated into UK in 1801.
  • Forging British Identity: New 'British nation' forged through propagation of English culture. Symbols: British flag (Union Jack), national anthem (God Save Our Noble King), English language promoted. Older nations survived only as subordinate partners.

12. Visualising the Nation

• Personification: Artists in 18th/19th C represented nations as female figures (allegories). Not real women, but abstract ideas given concrete form. Became symbols of unity.
• Marianne (France): Allegory of the French nation. Characteristics drawn from Liberty and Republic (red cap, tricolour, cockade). Statues erected in public squares, image marked on coins/stamps.
• Germania (Germany): Allegory of the German nation. Wears a crown of oak leaves (German oak stands for heroism). Often depicted with sword, shield, flag. Sometimes shown fallen/dejected (e.g., after Frankfurt Parliament failure), later triumphant (after unification).

13. Nationalism and Imperialism (Late 19th Century)

• Shift in Nationalism: By the last quarter of the 19th century, nationalism lost its idealistic liberal-democratic sentiment. Became a narrow creed with limited ends, often intolerant and leading to war. Major European powers manipulated nationalist aspirations of subject peoples to further their own imperialist aims.
• The Balkans: Most serious source of nationalist tension after 1871.
  • Region: Geographical/ethnic variation (modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro). Inhabitants broadly known as Slavs. Largely under Ottoman Empire control.
  • Disintegration of Ottoman Empire: Spread of romantic nationalism + Ottoman decline made the region explosive. Subject nationalities declared independence or sought autonomy based on history/nationality.
  • Intense Rivalry: Balkan peoples fiercely jealous, hoped to gain territory at others' expense.
  • Big Power Rivalry: Situation complicated by rivalry among European powers (Russia, Germany, England, Austro-Hungary) over trade, colonies, naval/military might. Each power keen on countering others' hold and extending its own control.
• Path to WWI: Series of wars in the region, finally leading to the First World War (1914).
• Global Impact: Nationalism aligned with imperialism led Europe to disaster. Meanwhile, anti-imperial movements developed elsewhere (colonies), inspired by a collective national unity forged in confrontation with imperialism. European ideas of nationalism were replicated, but often with specific anti-colonial variations.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)

1. Who painted the series of four prints visualising a world of 'democratic and social Republics' in 1848?
   (a) Duke Metternich
   (b) Giuseppe Mazzini
   (c) Frédéric Sorrieu
   (d) Napoleon Bonaparte

2. The Napoleonic Code (Civil Code of 1804) primarily aimed to:
   (a) Restore privileges based on birth
   (b) Establish equality before the law and secure property rights
   (c) Grant voting rights to all adult males
   (d) Abolish the monarchy in France

3. What was the main objective of the Zollverein, initiated by Prussia in 1834?
   (a) To form a political alliance against Austria
   (b) To create a customs union and abolish internal tariff barriers
   (c) To promote German language and culture
   (d) To establish a unified military command for German states

4. Which treaty recognised Greece as an independent nation in 1832?
   (a) Treaty of Vienna
   (b) Treaty of Versailles
   (c) Treaty of Constantinople
   (d) Act of Union

5. The Frankfurt Parliament, convened in 1848, primarily aimed to:
   (a) Declare war on Austria
   (b) Draft a constitution for a unified German nation under a constitutional monarchy
   (c) Abolish serfdom in Habsburg lands
   (d) Proclaim Giuseppe Garibaldi as the leader of Germany

6. Who was proclaimed the first German Emperor in 1871 at Versailles?
   (a) Otto von Bismarck
   (b) Friedrich Wilhelm IV
   (c) Victor Emmanuel II
   (d) William I of Prussia

7. Which Italian revolutionary founded the secret societies 'Young Italy' and 'Young Europe'?
   (a) Count Cavour
   (b) Giuseppe Garibaldi
   (c) Giuseppe Mazzini
   (d) Victor Emmanuel II

8. The Act of Union (1707) led to the formation of the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain' by uniting which two entities?
   (a) England and Ireland
   (b) England and Wales
   (c) England and Scotland
   (d) Britain and Hanover

9. Marianne and Germania were respective female allegories for which two nations?
   (a) Britain and Germany
   (b) France and Italy
   (c) Italy and Germany
   (d) France and Germany

10. The most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871, often referred to as the 'powder keg' of Europe, was the region of:
    (a) The Italian Peninsula
    (b) The Iberian Peninsula
    (c) The Balkans
    (d) Scandinavia

Answer Key for MCQs:

1. (c)
2. (b)
3. (b)
4. (c)
5. (b)
6. (d)
7. (c)
8. (c)
9. (d)
10. (c)

Study these notes thoroughly. Focus on understanding the sequence of events, the key ideologies (liberalism, conservatism, nationalism, romanticism), and the roles played by important personalities and specific events like the Congress of Vienna or the unification processes. Good luck with your preparation!