nationalism in eu

• At the end of the war many regions gained its independence
• A nation state is defined as a political entity where people living in a particular region develop an identity, with definite boundary, common ruler and common culture.
• A nation-state was one in which the majority of its citizens, and not only its rulers, came to develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent.
• The commonness in a nation-state did not exist from time immemorial; it was forged through struggles, through the actions of leaders and the common people.
• Nationalism is the love and patriotic feeling for one’s own country, promoting a sense of belongingness and unity amongst people.
• Liberalism is a political philosophy that stressed the importance of tradition, established institutions and customs, and preferred gradual development to quick change.
• A plebiscite is a direct vote by which all the people of a region are asked to accept or reject a proposal.
• 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 19th century, the emerging middle classes argued for the creation of a unified economic territory allowing the unhindered movement of goods, people, and capital.
• In Europe in the 18th century, aristocracy was the dominant class united by a common way of life, with rich people owning estates in the countryside and town houses, and speaking French for diplomacy.
• A wave of economic nationalism strengthened the wider nationalist sentiments growing at the time.
• The creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility, harnessing economic interests to national unification.
• Utopian refers to a vision of a society that is so ideal that it is unlikely to actually exist.
• Liberal Nationalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law, government by consent, the end of autocracy and clerical privileges, a constitution and representative government through parliament, and the inviolability of private property.
• The rise of a new middle class in Western and parts of Central Europe helped in the emergence of nationalist sentiments, with industrialisation beginning in England in the second half of the 18th century, but in France and parts of the German states only during the 19th century.
• In 1834, a customs union, or Zollverein, was formed at the initiative of Prussia and joined by most of the German states, abolishing tariff barriers and reducing the number of currencies from over thirty to two.
• The term 'liberalism' derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free.
• Conservatives were those who believed that established, traditional institutions of state and society like the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property and the family should be preserved.
• Conservatism is a political philosophy that stressed the importance of tradition, established institutions and customs, and preferred gradual development to quick change.
• The first clear expression of nationalism was the French Revolution, which marked the transfer of power from monarch to a body of French citizens.
• The new middle class in 1848 comprised industrialists, businessmen, professionals such as professors, school teachers, clerks, etc.
• Mazzini had sought to put together a coherent programme for a unitary Italian republic during the 1830’s.
• Prussia took on the leadership for the movement for national unification.
• Women had formed their own political associations, founded newspapers, took part in political meetings and demonstrations.
• In other parts of Europe where independent nations did not exist, men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for constitutionalism with national unification.
• The issue of extending political rights to women was controversial within the liberal movement, in which large number of women had participated actively over the years.
• When the parliament convened at St. Paul’s Church, they were admitted only as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.
• The Frankfurt parliament drafted a constitution based on the system of constitution monarchy.
• These demands were taken advantage of by the growing popular unrest to push their demands for the creation of a nation-state on parliamentary principles.
• On 18th May - 1848, 831 elected representatives marched in a festive procession to take their places in the Frankfurt parliament convened at St. Paul’s Church.
• In the end, troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.
• Its chief minister Otto von Bismarck was the architect of the process of unification.
• The movement for national unification was repressed by combined forces of monarchy and military supported by large land-owners called as Junkers.
• The parliament was dominated by the middle-classes who resisted the demands of artisans and workers and finally lost their support.
• A large number of political associations comprising of professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans decided to vote for all German National Assembly of Frankfurt.
• Events of February 1848 in France had brought about the abdication of the monarch Louis Philippe and a republic based on universal male suffrage was proclaimed.
• The middle-class Germans in 1848 tried to unite different units of the German confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament called Frankfurt Parliament.
• During the middle of the 19th century, Italy was divided into 7 states, of which only one, Sardinia-Piedmont, was ruled by an Italian princely house.
• Despite all this, they were denied suffrage right during election of Frankfurt assembly.
• When the deputies offered the crown to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, he rejected and joined with other monarchs.