
Nationalism in Europe – History – Class 10
Nationalism in Europe is the first chapter of the history for class 10 CBSE students. In this post, you will find the
Textbook questions with answers. At the end of this post, you can download a PDF.
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Define
- Absolutist: A government or system of rule that has no restraints on power exercised.
- Utopian: A vision of a society that is so ideal that it is unlikely to actually exist.
- Plebiscite: A direct vote by which all the people of a region are asked to accept or reject a proposal.
- Suffrage: The right to vote.
- Feminist: Awareness of women’s right and interests based on the belief of the social, economic and political equality of the gender.
- Ideology: System of ideas reflecting a particular social and political vision.
- Conservatism: A political philosophy that stressed the importance of tradition, established institutions and customs, and preferred gradual development to quick change.
- Ethnic: It relates to a common racial, tribal, cultural origin, or background that a community identifies with claims.
- Allegory: When an abstract idea is expressed through a person or a thing.
NCERT Textbook Questions
1. Write a short note on the following:
Guiseppe Mazzini:
Answer:
- Guiseppe Mazzini was an Italian revolutionary.
- He was born in Genoa in 1807. He became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari.
- As a young man of 24, he was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria.
- He subsequently founded two more underground societies – Young Italy in Marseilles and Young Europe in Berne.
- Mazzini believed that God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind.
Count Camillo de Cavour
- He was the chief minister of Sardinia-Piedmont state.
- He led the movement to unify the regions of Italy.
- He was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat.
- Like many other wealthy and educated members of the Italian elite, he spoke French much better than he did Italian.
- He engineered a careful diplomatic alliance with France with the help of which Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859. This, consequently helped to free the northern part of Italy from the Austrian Habsburgs.
The Greek war of independence
- It was an event that mobilised nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe.
- Greece had been a part of the Ottoman Empire since the 15th century.
- The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for independence amongst the Greeks which began in 1821.
- Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from many Western Europeans who had sympathies for the ancient Greek culture.
- Poets and artists mobilised public opinion to support this struggle against the Muslim Empire.
- Finally, the treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent nation.
Frankfurt parliament
- All those political associations existing in the German region whose members were middle-class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans, formed an all-German National Assembly.
- On Its first meeting was held on 18 May 1848 in the Church of St. Paul at Frankfurt where 831 elected representatives marched in a festive procession to take their places.
- They drafted a constitution for a German nation
- This German nation was to be headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament.
- When the deputies offered the crown on these terms to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, he rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.
The role of Women in Nationalist Struggles
- Women also participated in large numbers in the liberalism movement.
- In spite of that, they were denied the voting rights during the election of the assembly.
- When the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St. Paul, women were allowed only as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.
2. What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective identity among the French people?
Answer:
The French revolutionaries took many important steps to create a sense of collective identity among the French people. These were:
- The French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices that could create a sense of collective identity amongst the French people. The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
- A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
- The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
- New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.
- A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory.
- Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.
- Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.
3. Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in which they were portrayed?
Answer:
Marianne was the name given to the French nation, which was projected as a female figure. Similarly, Germania was the name given to the German motherland.
- Their characteristics were drawn from those of liberty and Republic; the red cap, the tricolour, the cockade.
- Their statues were standing in public squares and their images were marked on coins and stamps.
- Germania wears a crown of oak leaves which represents heroism.
4. Briefly trace the process of German Unification.
Answer:
- During the Vienna congress in 1814, Germany was identified as a loose confederation of 39 states.
- This confederation was earlier set by Napolean.
- In May 1848, various political associations convened the Frankfurt parliament.
- They drafted a constitution for a German nation, which was to be headed by a Monarchy subject to a parliament.
- Otto Von Bismark was the Chief Minister of Prussia and he was the main architect of German unification.
- He took the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
- Three wars were fought over 7 years, with Austria, Denmark and France.
- The war ended in Prussia victory and completed the process of unification.
- The Prussian king, William I was proclaimed as the German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles in January 1871.
5. What changes did Napolean introduced to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him?
Answer:
Napolean brought the following changes to make an efficient administrative system:
- The civil code of 1804, which is known as the Napoleonic code abolished all privileged based on birth.
- It also established equality before the law and secured the rights to the property.
- Even in those territories which came under his control, he started introducing many reforms.
- He abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom.
- Guild restrictions were removed in towns. Transport and communication system were improved.
6. Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the liberals. What were the political, social and economic ideas supported by liberals?
Answer:
- Ideas of national unity in early nineteenth century in Europe were closely related to the ideas of liberalism.
- For the new middle classes, liberalism means freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law.
- Political and Social ideas: From political point of view the idea of liberalism emphasized the concept of Government by consent.
- Liberalism also meant an end of autocracy and clerical privileges.
- Further the need arise for a constitution and a representative government.
- Economic ideas: Economic liberalisation was another hallmark of the Napoleonic code.
- Emerging middle class was also in favour of economic liberalisation.
- Multiple currencies, units of weight and measurement and tariff barriers worked as obstacles for economic activities.
- The new commercial class was demanding a unified economic territories so that there could be smooth movement of goods and services.
7. Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe.
Answer:
The following are the examples that show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe:
- In case of France, promoting a single language helped in creating a sense of common identity among people of France.
- In case of Poland, use of Polish language was a means to show resistance towards Russian domination.
- In Germany, the revolutionaries promoted to the folk culture to create a sense of common identity among the people.
8. Through a focus on any 2 countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth century.
Answer:
- Italy became a nation because of the efforts of Cavour.
- He made strategic alliances with France to defeat the Austrian forces.
- After several wars, the unification of Italy could become a possible and it emerged as a nation state.
- Greece proclaimed independence from Ottoman Empire by citing its ancient culture which was entirely different from the Muslim Ottoman Empire.
- Many Greeks who were in exile also supported this movement.
- These examples show that various factors were at work towards development of nation states over the nineteenth century.
9. How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe?
Answer:
- The British Isles were divided into four main ethnic nationalities; the English, the Scottish, the Welsh and the Irish.
- England was emerging as an economic powerhouse because of industrialization.
- Since England was financially powerful, therefore it was able to dominate the other nationalities of the British Isles.’
- This resulted in the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in which England was the dominant partner and people of other ethnicities were subdued by the English culture.
10. Why did nationalist tensions emerged in the Balkans?
Answer:
- A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
- This was the period of disintegration of the Ottoman Empire and the spread of the ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans.
- These development made this region very explosive.
- All through the 19th century, the Ottoman Empire tried to strengthen itself through modernisation and internal reforms.
- But it could not achieve much success.
- Its European subject nationalities broke away from its control one by one and declared independence.
- The Balkans used history and national identity to claim their rights of independence.
- While the Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity and independence, the Balkans area became an area of intense conflicts.
You can also check my YouTube channel, created a sample lecture on this topic.
Feel free to join my Facebook group made for Social Studies and you can also subscribe to my website to receive a monthly mail on all the collated posts. Also, subscribe to my YouTube channel to get video explanations of the topics.
Take a look at the previous blog posts on resources and development.
- Resources and Development (Part-1)
- Resources and Development (Part-2)
- Resources and Development (Part-3)
- Resources and Development (Part-4)
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