History 1

• 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 holding the torch of Enlightenment and the Charter of the Rights of Man
• Peoples of the world grouped as distinct nations, identified through their 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 developed with centralised power over a defined territory and citizens developing a sense of common identity and shared history
• Nation is a large-scale solidarity based on common glories, will, and deeds
• Renan criticises the notion that a nation is formed by common language, race, religion, or territory
• Nations important for liberty, daily plebiscite, and guarantee of freedom
• French Revolution in 1789 marked the first clear expression of nationalism
• France transitioned from a territorial state under an absolute monarch to a nation where people constituted the nation and shaped its destiny
• Introduction of measures and practices to create a sense of collective identity among French people
• Ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasised a united community with equal rights under a constitution
• French revolutionaries introduced new hymns, oaths, martyrs commemorations, and a centralised administrative system
• French mission to liberate peoples of Europe from despotism, spreading the idea of nationalism abroad
• Napoleon introduced reforms in regions under French control, simplifying administrative divisions and abolishing feudal systems
• Initial enthusiasm towards French rule turned to hostility due to increased taxation, censorship, and forced conscription
• Mid-18th century Europe had no nation-states; regions divided into kingdoms, duchies, and cantons with autonomous rulers
• Eastern and Central Europe under autocratic monarchies with diverse peoples, languages, and ethnic groups
• Habsburg Empire ruled over diverse regions and peoples with a common allegiance to the emperor
• Aristocracy was the dominant class in Europe, united by a common way of life and French language
• Majority of the population made up of peasantry, with landholding patterns varying across regions
• Industrialisation led to the growth of towns and emergence of commercial classes in Western and parts of Central Europe
• New social groups emerged: working-class population and middle classes of industrialists, businessmen, and professionals
• 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 unified economic territory was demanded by the emerging middle classes to allow the unhindered movement of goods, people, and capital
• In 1834, a customs union or zollverein was formed by Prussia and joined by most German states to abolish tariff barriers and reduce the number of currencies from over thirty to two
• The creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility, harnessing economic interests to national unification
• Following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, European governments were driven by a spirit of conservatism
• Conservatives believed in preserving established traditional institutions of state and society, such as the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property, and the family
• Conservative regimes set up in 1815 were autocratic and imposed censorship laws to control dissent and criticism
• The Congress of Vienna in 1815 aimed to restore monarchies that had been overthrown by Napoleon and create a new conservative order in Europe