Chapter 1
The Rise of Nationalism in Europe
Write in brief
চমুকৈ লিখক
1. Write a note on:
(এইবোৰৰ ওপৰত এটা টোকা লিখক)
a) Guiseppe Mazzini
Ans:
1. Giuseppe Mezzini (1807-1872) was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy and led the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about an independent and united Italy in place of several separate kingdoms, many dominated by foreign powers.
2. He helped define the modern European movement for popular democracy in a democratic state.
3. Mezzini was a keen advocate of democracy and envisioned a unified, free and independent Italy.
4. Unlike his contemporary Garibaldi, also a Republican, Mazzini never compromised his democratic ideals and refused to swear allegiance to the House .
5. Mazzini was the spiritual force of the Italian resurrection. He joined the Carbonari, a revolutionary organisation and was arrested in 1830. He was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He subsequently founded two more underground societies, first – Young Italy in Marseilles and then Young Europe in Berne, whose members were like- minded young men from Poland, France, Italy and the German states.
6. Mazzini believed that God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind. So Italy could not continue to be a patchwork of small states and kingdoms. It had to be forged into a single unified republic within a wider alliance of nations. This unification alone could be the basis of Italian liberty. Mazzini was in favour of a republic because he thought sovereignity resides essentially in the people and can only completely express itself in that form. Mazzini’s relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of democratic republics frightened the conservatives. Metternich described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.
7. Young Italy’ attempted many insurrections but were unsuccessful. Mazzini failed in his objects because he himself lacked some of the qualities of practical leadership. He underestimated the strength of the opposition. But in spite of these drawbacks he is one of the chief makers of Italy. He was responsible for the growth of patriotism for a country that existed as yet only in the imagination.
b) Count Camillo de Cavour
Ans:
1. Kevour was a realist who practiced real politics. He allied with France when necessary, and it was necessary to ally with France's chief enemy, Prussia.
2. Kevour used international forces to achieve his domestic goals.
3. He devoted himself to the liberation of northern Italy from Austrian domination. A brilliant and determined diplomat, he played a leading role in the unification of Italy.
4. He was distrustful of the reactionary politics in force throughout Europe, especially their expression in the repressive Austrian rule over a large part of Italy.
5. He became Prime Minister of Piedmont in He reorganized its troops and it achieved rapid development in physical prosperity. Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859 through an ingenious diplomatic alliance with France.
6. In addition to regular troops, a large number of armed volunteers, led by Giuseppe Garibaldi, joined the fighting. In 1860, they traveled to southern Italy and the two Sicilian kingdoms and, with the support of local peasants, drove out the Spanish rulers. Hence, Cavour was eventually successful in the unification of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel II. However, he died on June 6, 1861, before the unification of Italy was completed in Although Cavour was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat he played an important role in the unification of Italy.
c) The Greek war of independence
Ans:
1. The Greek War of Independence, also known as the Greek Revolution, was a successful~ war of dependence waged between 1821 and 1832 by Greek revolutionaries against the Ottoman Empire. The Greeks were later aided by the Russian Empire, Great Britain, France, and several other European powers, while the Ottomans were aided by their vassals, Egypt, and Algeria.
2. Events: Greece was part of the Ottoman Empire from the 15th century. The development of revolutionary nationalism in Europe triggered the struggle for independence among the Greeks, which began in
3. The object of the struggle was to expel the Turks from Europe and to establish the old Greek Eastern Empire.
4. Greek nationalists were supported by other Greeks in exile and many Western European countries.
5. Poets and artists hailed Greece as the cradle of European civilization. They mobilized public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire. The English poet Lord Byron organized the fund and later went on to fight in the war.
6. Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent state. Its independence was guaranteed by Russia, England and France.
d) Frankfurt parliament
Ans:
1. The Frankfurt Parliament (1848-49) was convened in Frankfurt on 18 May 1848 as a result of the liberal revolution in the German states.
2. Parliament was convened by the primary meeting of the German Liberals in March 1848 and its members were elected by direct manhood suffrage. They represented the entire political sphere and included the most German personalities of the time.
3. Its purpose was to plan the unification of Germany.
4. Clashes between traditionally separate German states, especially Austria and Prussia, made progress difficult.
5. In March 1849, Parliament adopted a federal constitution of the German states, with the exception of Austria, which had a parliamentary government and a hereditary emperor. Frederick William IV of Prussia was chosen as emperor but he refused to accept the crown from the popularly elected assembly and the whole scheme failed.
6. Most of the delegates withdrew and the rest dispersed. Therefore, Parliament accomplished nothing as the soldiers were called in and the Assembly was forced to dissolve.
e) The role of women in nationalist struggles
Ans:
2. What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective identity among the French people?
(ফৰাচী বিপ্লৱীসকলে ফৰাচী লোকসকলৰ মাজত সামূহিক পৰিচয়ৰ অনুভূতি সৃষ্টি কৰিবলৈ কি পদক্ষেপ লৈছিল?)
Ans: From the beginning, French revolutionaries introduced various systems and practices that could create a sense of collective identity among French people. The concepts of la patrie (fatherland) and le citoyen (citizens) emphasized the idea of a unified community enjoying equal rights under the constitution. A new French flag, the tricolor, was chosen to replace the previous royal standard. The Estates General was elected by a body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly. New hymns were composed, oaths were taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the state. A centralized administrative system was established and it developed uniform laws for all citizens within its territory. Inland duties and duties were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures adopted. Regional dialects were discouraged, and French, spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the state.
3. Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in which they were portrayed?
( মাৰিয়েন আৰু জাৰ্মানিয়া কোন আছিল? তেওঁলোকক কেনেদৰে চিত্ৰিত কৰা হৈছিল তাৰ গুৰুত্ব কি আছিল? )
Ans:
1. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, artists represented the country as if it were a person.
2. States were portrayed as female individuals who wanted to give a firm form to the abstract concept of the state.
3. The female form chosen to personify the nation did not stand for any specific woman in real life.
4. She was therefore given Marienne, a popular Christian name in France, indicating the idea of a tribe.
5. Her specialties were taken from liberty and the Republic – the red cap, the tricolor, the cockade.
6. Statues of Marianne were placed in public circles to remind the public of the national symbols of unity and to motivate them to identify with them
7. Marian’s images were also marked on coins and stamps.
8. Similarly, Germania became a metaphor for the German state. In the visual representation, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak means bravery.
4. Briefly trace the process of German unification.
(চমুকৈ জাৰ্মান একত্ৰীকৰণৰ প্ৰক্ৰিয়াটো অনুসৰণ কৰক)
Ans: Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class Germans, who in 1848 sought to unite the various regions of the German Confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament. Of course, this liberal initiative in state-building was suppressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by Prussia's large landowners (called Junkers). Since then, Prussia has taken the lead in the movement for national unification. Its chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of the process, accomplished with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy. Three wars in seven years with Austria, Denmark and France ended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unification. In January 1871, the Prussian King William I was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony at Versailles.
5. What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him.
(৫. নেপোলিয়নে তেওঁৰ দ্বাৰা শাসিত অঞ্চলসমূহত প্ৰশাসনিক ব্যৱস্থাক অধিক দক্ষ কৰি তুলিবলৈ কি পৰিৱৰ্তনৰ পৰিচয় দিছিল।)
Ans: The following changes were introduced by Napoleon to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him :
1. The Civil Code of 1804, or Napoleonic Code, was issued. It abolished all privileges based on birth. It established equality before the law and protected property rights.
2. Napoleon simplified administrative divisions in the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, Italy, and Germany. , 1999 .
3. The feudal system was abolished and the peasants were freed from serfdom and human rights.
4. Guild restrictions were lifted in the cities.
5. Transport and communication systems were improved.
6. Uniform laws, standard weights, and systems, and a common national currency were introduced. It facilitated the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another. Given the above reforms, Napoleon no doubt destroyed democracy in France through his return to the monarchy, but administratively, he included revolutionary policies to make the whole system more rational and efficient.
Discuss
1. Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the liberals. What were the political, social and economic ideas supported by the liberals?
(উদাৰবাদীসকলৰ ১৮৪৮ চনৰ বিপ্লৱৰ অৰ্থ কি বৰ্ণনা কৰক। উদাৰবাদীসকলে কি ৰাজনৈতিক, সামাজিক আৰু অৰ্থনৈতিক ধাৰণাসমৰ্থন কৰিছিল?)
Ans: Since the French Revolution, Liberalism stood for a constitution and representative government through Parliament and the end of autocracy and clerical privilege. Nineteenth-century liberals also emphasized the inviolability of private property. The memory of the French Revolution nevertheless continues to inspire liberals. One of the major issues taken up by liberal-nationalists who criticized the new conservative system was freedom of the press.
In 1848, in many European countries, a revolution led by an educated middle class was underway alongside an uprising of poor, unemployed and starving peasants and workers. Events in France in February 1848 brought the abdication of the monarchy and the proclamation of a republic based on universal male suffrage. In other parts of Europe where independent nation-states did not yet exist – such as Germany, Italy, Poland, the Austro-Hungarian Empire – liberal middle-class men and women combined their demands for constitutionalism with state unification. They took advantage of the increasing popular unrest to demand the creation of a nation-state on parliamentary principles – a constitution, freedom of the press and freedom of association.
2. Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe.
(ইউৰোপত জাতীয়তাবাদৰ বিকাশত সংস্কৃতিৰ অৱদান দেখুৱাবলৈ তিনিটা উদাহৰণ বাছনি কৰক।)
Ans: In Britain, nation-state formation is not the result of sudden upheavals or revolutions. This was the result of a long term process. Before the eighteenth century there was no British state. The primary identity of people living in the British Isles was ethnic - such as English, Welsh, Scots or Irish. All these ethnic groups had their own cultural and political traditions. However, as the English state gradually increased in wealth, importance, and power, it was able to extend its influence over the other states in the islands. The English Parliament, which seized power from the monarchy in 1688 at the end of a long-term conflict, was the tool through which a nation-state at the center of England was forged.
The Act of Union between England and Scotland (1707) which resulted in the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain' meant that England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. The British Parliament was henceforth dominated by its English members. The development of British identity has meant that Scotland’s distinctive culture and political institutions were systematically suppressed. Catholic clans living in the Scottish Highlands met with terrible repression whenever they tried to assert their independence. Scottish Highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic or wear their national dress, and large numbers were forcibly deported from their motherland
3. Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth century.
( যিকোনো দুখন দেশৰ ওপৰত গুৰুত্ব দি, ঊনবিংশ শতিকাত ৰাষ্ট্ৰসমূহৰ বিকাশ কেনেদৰে হৈছিল বৰ্ণনা কৰক।)
Ans:
4. How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe?
( ব্ৰিটেইনত জাতীয়তাবাদৰ ইতিহাস বাকী ইউৰোপৰ বিপৰীতে কেনে আছিল?)
Ans:
5. Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?
( বলকান দেশত কিয় জাতীয়তাবাদী উত্তেজনাৰ সৃষ্টি হৈছিল?)
Ans: After 1871, the most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe was a region called the Balkans. The Balkans were the inhabitants of modern Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegrowhich were widely known as Slavs. A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The division of the Ottoman Empire with the spread of ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans made the region very explosive.
Throughout the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire sought to strengthen itself through modernization and internal reforms but with little success. One by one, the nationalities of its European subjects withdraw from its control and declare independence. The Balkan people based their claim to independence or political rights on nationality and used history to prove that they were once independent but later subjugated by foreign powers. Hence, the rebel nations of the Balkans thought of their struggle as an attempt to win back their long-lost independence.
