RISE OF NATIONLISM IN EUROPE

• Frédéric Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four prints visualising a world made up of 'democratic and social Republics'
• First print of the series shows peoples of Europe and America marching in a long train, offering homage to the statue of Liberty
• Statue of Liberty personified as a female figure with a torch of Enlightenment and the Charter of the Rights of Man
• Peoples of the world grouped as distinct nations, identified through flags and national costume
• Leading the procession are the United States and Switzerland, followed by France, Germany, Austria, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lombardy, Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary, and Russia
• Christ, saints, and angels gaze upon the scene symbolising fraternity among nations
• Nationalism emerged as a force in the 19th century, leading to the emergence of nation-states in place of multi-national dynastic empires in Europe
• Modern state with centralised power and sovereign control over a defined territory
• Nation-state where citizens develop a sense of common identity and shared history through struggles and actions of leaders and common people
• Ernst Renan's attributes of a nation: common glories in the past, common will in the present, performed great deeds together, wish to perform more, large-scale solidarity
• Nations important for liberty, guaranteeing freedom, and preventing a world with only one law and master
• French Revolution in 1789 marked the first clear expression of nationalism
• Transfer of sovereignty from monarchy to French citizens, proclaiming people as the nation
• Introduction of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) to create a sense of collective identity
• New French flag, tricolour, chosen to replace royal standard
• Centralised administrative system, uniform laws, and common language of French promoted
• French mission to liberate peoples of Europe from despotism, spreading nationalism abroad
• New social groups that emerged during the nineteenth century: working-class population and middle classes consisting of industrialists, businessmen, and professionals
• In Central and Eastern Europe, these social groups were smaller in number until the late nineteenth century
• Ideas of national unity in early-nineteenth-century Europe were closely linked to the ideology of liberalism
• Liberalism stood for freedom for the individual, equality of all before the law, and government by consent
• Nineteenth-century liberals emphasized the end of autocracy, clerical privileges, a constitution, representative government through parliament, and the inviolability of private property
• Equality before the law did not always mean universal suffrage
• Liberalism in the economic sphere advocated for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital
• In the German-speaking regions in the first half of the nineteenth century, the creation of a customs union (zollverein) by Prussia and other German states aimed to unify economic territories and promote economic growth
• Conservatism after 1815 emphasized preserving traditional institutions like the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property, and the family
• Conservative regimes set up after 1815 were autocratic and imposed censorship laws to control dissent and criticism
• The Congress of Vienna in 1815 aimed to restore monarchies, undo changes from the Napoleonic wars, and create a new conservative order in Europe
• The Age of Revolutions (1830-1848) saw liberalism and nationalism associated with revolutions in various European regions led by the educated middle-class elite
• The July Revolution in France in 1830 led to the overthrow of the Bourbon kings and the establishment of a constitutional monarchy with Louis Philippe as the monarch
• The Greek war of independence in 1821 mobilized nationalist feelings and support for Greece's struggle against the Ottoman Empire
• Culture played a significant role in creating the idea of the nation, with art, poetry, stories, and music shaping nationalist sentiments
• Romanticism, a cultural movement, focused on emotions, intuition, and mystical feelings to develop nationalist sentiment
• The Grimm Brothers collected folktales and believed that folk culture was essential for nation-building and developing a national identity
• In Poland, national feelings were kept alive through music and language despite the country being partitioned by Russia, Prussia, and Austria at the end of the eighteenth century
• Karol Kurpinski celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music, turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols
• After Russian occupation, the Polish language was forced out of schools and the Russian language was imposed everywhere
• In 1831, an armed rebellion against Russian rule in Poland took place, which was ultimately crushed
• Members of the clergy in Poland began to use language as a weapon of national resistance, leading to priests and bishops being punished by the Russian authorities for refusing to preach in Russian
• The 1830s in Europe were years of great economic hardship with a significant increase in population