• A cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment, criticized the glorification of reason and science and focused instead on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings.
• German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder tried to discovered culture among common people, through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances.
Hunger, Hardship and Popular Revolt
• In most countries there were more seekers of jobs than employment.
• Population from rural areas migrated to the cities to live in overcrowded slums.
• The rise of food prices or a year of bad harvest led to widespread pauperism in town and country.
• In 1848, the Population of Paris came out on the roads and Louis Philippe was forced to flee and National Assembly proclaimed a Republic.
• In 1845, weavers in Silesia led a revolt against contractors.
1848: The Revolution of the Liberals
• The revolution was led by educated middle classes who combined their demands for constitutionalism with national unification.
Frankfurt Parliament
• On 18 May 1848, members of political association’s elected 831 representatives who took their places in the Frankfurt Parliament convened in the Church of St. Paul and drafted a Constitution for the German nation.
• It was opposed by King of Prussia and also lost its social basis as no rights were given to workers and women.
• It forced the autocratic monarchs to introduce some changes – serfdom and bonded labour was abolished
• Hungarians were granted more autonomy.
The Making of Germany and Italy
Germany
• Otto Van Bismarck with the help of Prussian army and bureaucracy took on the leadership of the movement for national unification.
• Three war over seven years ended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unification.
• Kaiser William I of Prussia headed the new German Empire.
Italy
• Italy was divided into seven states of which only Sardinia Piedmont was ruled by an Italian Princely state.
• Initially a unification programme was initiated by Giuseppe Mazzini, but it failed.
• Chief Miniser Cavour led the movement, with the help of Giuseppe Garibaldi.
• In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of united Italy.
The Strange Case of Britain
• In 1688, England established as a nation state.
• English parliament seized power from the monarchy.
• The Act of Union 1707 resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’.
• In 1801, Ireland was forcibly taken by the British after the failed revolution.
• A new ‘British Nation’ was founded through the propagation of a dominant English culture.
Visualising the Nation
• Nations were portrayed as female figure (Allegory).
• The female form that was chosen to personify the nation did not stand for any particular woman in real life, rather it sought to give the abstract idea of the nation a concrete form.
• In France the allegory was christened as Marianne, in Germany – Germania became the allegory.
Nationalism and Imperialism
• The Balkans comprised modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.
• Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation was under the control of the Ottomon Empire.
• The idea of Romantic nationalism made this region very explosive.
• The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the expense of each other.
• European powers were also looking for the extend their control over the area.
• This led to a series of wars in the region and finally resulted in the First World War.