The Rise of Nationalism in Europe Class 10 Important Questions with Answers

 The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

1. Write three features about the painting of Frederic Sorrieu.

Answer: 

• (i) Men and women walking across the statue of liberty offering homage.

•  (ii) Statue of liberty has a torch of enlightenment and Charter of the Rights of Man. 

• (iii) On the Earth lie the shattered remains of the symbols of absolutist institutions.
  

2. How did the local people in the areas conquered by Napoleon react to French rule? Explain. 

                                                                 OR

“The initial enthusiasm towards French armies soon turned to hostility after Napoleon's takeover of France". Give Reasons

Answer: The reactions of the local populations to French rule were mixed.

i) Initially, in many places such as Holland and Switzerland, as well as in cities like Brussels, Mainz, Milan and Warsaw, the French armies were welcomed as harbingers of liberty.

ii) But the initial enthusiasm soon turned to hostility, as it became clear that the new administrative arrangements did not go hand in hand with political freedom.

iii) Increased taxation, censorship, forced conscription into the French armies to conquer the rest of Europe, these all seemed to outweigh the advantages of administrative changes.

3. “Napoleon had, no doubt, destroyed democracy in France, but in the administrative field he had incorporated revolutionary principles in order to make the whole system more rational and efficient.” Support the statement.

                                                              OR

Explain any five social and administrative reforms introduced by Napolean in regions under his control.

Answer: Napoleon had brought revolutionary changes in the administrative field in order to make the whole system rational and efficient. The Civil Code of 1804 is usually known as the Napoleonic Code.

1. The first major change was doing away with all privileges based on birth, establishing equality before law and securing the right to property.
2. Administrative divisions were simplified.
3. Feudal system was abolished and peasants were freed from serfdom and manorial dues (abuse of manorial lords).
4. In towns, guild restrictions were removed.
5. Transport and communication systems were improved.
6. Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen enjoyed a new found freedom.
7. Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods in particular began to realize that uniform laws, standardised weights and measures and a common national currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another.

4. What did the French revolutionaries aim for?

Answer: The French revolutionaries aimed for:  

(i) transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens

(ii) Creating a sense of collective responsibility. 

(iii) Establishing republic. 

(iv) Equal rights for all.

5. What does the term ‘absolutist’ refer to?

Answer: Absolutist is a form of government or system of rule that has no restraints on the power exercised. In history, the term refers to a form of monarchical government that was centralised, militarised and repressive.

6. What is a Utopian?

Answer: Utopian is a vision of a society that is so ideal that it is unlikely to actually exist.

7. Distinguish between the Modern state and the Nation-state in Europe. 

 Answer: Modern State 

 • Modern state had been developing in Europe for a long period before the 19th century. 

 • They were multi-national dynastic empires that had a centralized power exercising sovereign control over a clearly defined territory. 

 • E.g.: Kingdom of Austria 

 Nation-State 

 • Nation state came into being through diverse processes in 19th century Europe.

 • It included the majority of its citizens and its rulers who came to develop a sense of common identity and shared history. 

 • This was forged through struggles, through the actions of leaders and the common people.

 E.g.: Germany, Italy

8. “The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789”. Evaluate the statement. 

                                                         OR 

 What steps did the French Revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective identity among the French people?

Answer: • The French Revolution shifted power from the monarchy to the people, who would henceforth shape the nation’s future. 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 tricolor, 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 centralized administrative system was put in place and it made 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 spoken in Paris became the common language of the nation.

9. Briefly describe the concept of liberalism which developed in Europe in the 18th Century.

Answer: • The term ‘liberalism’ derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free. 

 • For the new middle classes liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the law. 

 • Politically, it emphasised the concept of government by consent. 

 • It stood for the end of autocracy and clerical privileges, a constitution and representative government through parliament. 

 • In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.

10. Explain the conditions that were viewed as obstacles for the economic exchange and growth by the new commercial classes. How did it come to an end?

                                                                                   OR 

 What was Zollverein? What were its provisions?

Answer: • The presence of a large number of regions created problems in Germany. Each region followed its own system of weights and measures and currencies, which required more time for calculation. For example-Elle, the measure of cloth, stood for different length in each region 

 • Duties were often levied according to the weight or measurement of the goods 

 • There was an absence of freedom of markets’ and state-imposed many restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.

 • In 1834, a customs union or Zollverein was formed at the initiative of Prussia and joined by most of the German states.

 • The union abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to only two. The development of railways played a crucial role in enhancing movement and connectivity and also brought together economic interests, contributing to the unification of nations .

11. Explain the features of the Conservative regimes set up in Europe, following the defeat of Napoléon in 1815.

Answer: • The conservatives held the belief that established, traditional institutions of state and society like monarchy, church, social hierarchies, property and family must be protected and preserved.

 • They never proposed a return to the pre-revolutionary period but they knew that as Napoleon had carried out changes, modernisation would contribute to a strong monarchy. They believed that it would strengthen the power of the state and make it much more effective. 

 • For them it was a firm belief that aristocratic monarchies of Europe would gain much from a modern army, an efficient bureaucracy, a dynamic economy, and the abolition of feudalism and serfdom. 

 • Conservative regimes were autocratic and did not allow criticism and attempted to suppress any activities that challenged their authority.

 • They also imposed censorship laws to control newspapers, books, plays etc.

12. Explain the changes brought in Europe by the Treaty of Vienna (1815).

Answer: • Napoleon was defeated in 1815 by collective European powers i.e. Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The representatives of European powers drew up the Treaty of Vienna at a congress hosted by Austrian Chancellor Duke Metternich to undo the changes that had come about the Europe during the Napoleonic wars. Following changes were brought about in Europe by this treaty 

 • The Bourbon dynasty that was destroyed during the French Revolution was restored. France lost the territories it had annexed under Napoleon. A series of states were set up on the boundaries of France to prevent French expansion in the future. 

 • The Netherlands which included Belgium was set up in the north. Genoa was added to Piedmont in the south. Prussia was given important new territories on its western frontiers. Austria was given control of northern Italy.

 • The German confederation of 39 states set up by Napoleon was left untouched. Russia was given part of Poland and Prussia was given part of Saxony.

 • Monarchy was restored and a new conservative order was created in Europe.

13. During the years following 1815, the fear of repression drove many liberal-nationalists to underground. Explain.

                                                              OR 

 How had revolutionaries spread their ideas in many European states after 1815? Explain with special reference to the activities of Mazzini?

Answer: • After the Congress of Vienna in 1815 when conservative regimes were restored to power, many liberal-minded people went underground because of the fear of repression. Secret societies sprang up in European states to train the revolutionaries and spread their ideas. 

 • Many revolutionaries opposed monarchial rule and fought for liberty and freedom of their respective states. One such revolutionary was Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian patriot, who was sent to exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He became a member of a secret society Carbonari. 

 • He founded two underground societies, first Young Italy in Marseilles and the other Young Europe in Berne. The society had members from Poland, France, Italy, Germany, etc. The members believed in the formation of nation-states and they were liberal-minded people.

 • 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 but it should be a single unified republic

 • Mazzini’s opposition to monarchy and his vision of democratic republic frightened the conservatives and Metternich described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.

14. Explain the Greek War of Independence.

Answer: • Greece had been 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.

 • Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilization and mobilized public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire.

 • Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from West Europeans. The English poet Lord Byron organized funds and later went to fight in the war.

 • Finally, The Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognized Greece as an independent nation.

15. ‘Culture played an important role in the development of nationalism in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries. Support the statement with examples. 

                                                               OR 

 ‘Nationalism did not come about only through wars and territorial expansion’. Justify

Answer: Art, poetry, stories and music helped express and shape nationalist feelings. 

 ROMANTICISM 

 • Romantics like the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder held the view that true German culture could be discovered only among the common people, the das volk. 

 • Glorification of reason and science was criticised by the romantic artists, rather they favoured emotions, intuitions and mystical feelings. 

 LANGUAGE 

 • Language too boosted nationalism. The Polish people opposed the Russian occupation and the ban on the Polish language, by using it in the Church gathering for all religious ceremonies and religious instruction. The Polish language became a weapon of the nationalists. 

 FOLK CULTURE 

 • Two Germans, the Grimm Brothers, used stories and folktales written in German to promote the German spirit against the domination of the French. 

 • Operas and music, like that of Karol Kurpinski, kept alive the national spirit. 

 • Folk dances like the polonaise and mazurki became national symbols. 

16. ‘The decade of 1830 had brought great economic hardships in Europe’. Support the statement with arguments.

Answer: The 1830s were years of great economic hardship in Europe because: 

 • The first half of the nineteenth century saw an increase in population, all over Europe. Jobs were scarce and few employment opportunities.

• Population from rural areas migrated to the cities in search of jobs. They lived in overcrowded slums.

 • Small producers in towns faced stiff competition from imports of cheap machine goods from England. 

 • In those parts of Europe where aristocracy was strong and enjoyed enormous powers, the peasants groaned under the burden of feudal dues and taxation. 

 • The rise of food prices or a year of bad harvest, added to the miseries of the common man. 

17. What were the causes of the weaver's revolt in Silesia in 1845?

Answer: • In 1845 the Silesian weavers revolted against contractors who supplied them raw material and gave them orders for finished textiles but drastically reduced their payments. 

 • Dissatisfied and resented weavers emerged from their homes and marched in pairs up to the mansion of their contractors demanding higher wages. 

 • When the contractor showed reluctance, a group of them forced their way into the house and smashed its elegant window panes, furniture, porcelain, etc. Another group broke into the storehouse and plundered it of supplies of cloth which they tore to shreds.

 • The contractor fled with his family to a neighbouring village which ultimately refused to shelter such a person. He returned 24 hours later having requisitioned the army. In the exchange that followed, eleven weavers were shot.

18. Explain the features of the Frankfurt Parliament.

Answer:  •It was an all-German National Assembly formed by middle-class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans belonging to different German regions.

 • It was convened on 18th May 1848 in the church of St. Paul in the city of Frankfurt. This assembly drafted a constitution for a German nation to be headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament. 

 • The King of Prussia-Frederic Wilhelm IV, rejected the Frankfurt Parliament deputies offer of the crown. 

 • It faced opposition from the aristocracy and military. Since it was dominated by the middle classes, it also lost its support from workers and artisans. 

 • In the end, it was forced to disband on 31st May 1849. 

19. ‘Women played an important role in the struggle of Nationalism’ Justify. 

 Answer: • A large number of women had participated actively over the years but political rights to them were a controversial one within the liberal movement. 

 • Women had formed their political associations, founded newspapers and taken part in political meetings and demonstrations. 

 • Despite this they were denied suffrage rights during the election of the Assembly.

 • When the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul, women were admitted only as observers to stand in the visitors’ gallery.

20. Describe the process of the Unification of Germany. 

 Answer: • In 1848, the middle-class Germans tried to unite the different regions of the German Confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament.

 • They were repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia.

 • Prussia soon became the leader of the German unification movement. Its chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of this process carried out with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy. 

 • Three wars over 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 held at Versailles.

21. Briefly trace the process of the Unification of Italy.

Answer: • Italians were scattered over several dynastic states as well as the multi-national Habsburg Empire. During the middle of the 19th century, Italy was divided into seven states of which only Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian princely house 

 • The unification process was led by three revolutionaries –Giuseppe Mazzini, Count Camillo de Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi. As early as 1830 s Giuseppe Mazzini sought to put together a coherent programme for a unitary Italian Republic. He organized a secret society called ‘Young Italy’ 

 • With the failure of revolutionary uprisings both in 1831 and 1848, the responsibility fell on Sardinia-Piedmont under its ruler King Victor Emmanuel 2nd, to unify the Italian states through war 

 • Cavour the Chief Minister of King Victor Emmanuel 2nd, through a tactful diplomatic alliance with France and by defeating Austrian forces in 1859, acquired the north under Austrian Habsburgs. 

 • Giuseppe Garibaldi, with armed volunteers, acquired the Southern Kingdom of Italy and two Sicilies by driving out the Spanish rulers. In1861 Victor Emmanuel 2nd was proclaimed as the king of united Italy.

22. How was the history of nationalism in Britain, unlike the rest of Europe? 

                                                                  OR 

 Describe in brief the process by which the British nation came into existence.

 Answer: • Unlike the rest of Europe, nationalism in Britain was not a result of sudden upheaval or revolution. It was a result of long drawn process forged through the participation of the dominant English culture

 • Symbols like the British flag and the national anthem were actively promoted 

 • The English Parliament seized the power of monarchy and by the Act of Union between England and Scotland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain was formed 

 • In Ireland, the English supported the protestant Irish against the Catholics and incorporated Ireland into the United Kingdom. 

 • Scotland and Ireland survived only as subordinate partners in the British nation and it was through parliamentary action and not using war that the UK was forged into a nationalist state.

23. Explain the significance of portraying nations as female figures by the European artists of the 18th and 19th centuries. 

                                                                 OR

 How were different nations visualized by the European artists of the 18th and 19th centuries?

 Answer: • Artists in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries found a way out by personifying a nation. In other words, they represented a country as if it were a person. Nations were then portrayed as female figures.

• 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. That is, the female figure became an allegory of the nation. 

 • In France the female figure was Marianne, a popular Christian name, which underlined the idea of a people’s nation. Her characteristics were drawn from those of Liberty and the Republic – the red cap, the tricolor, the cockade.

 • Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public of the national symbol of unity and to persuade them to identify with it. Marianne images were marked on coins and stamps.

 •Similarly, Germania became the allegory of the German nation. In visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for heroism.

24. The Balkan issue was one of the major factors responsible for the First World War. Explain.

                                                            OR

 Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans? 

Answer:  • A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire for a long time.

 • Despite attempts for modernization and internal reforms, the 19th century saw the weakening of the Ottoman Empire. 

 • Thus, nationalist tensions emerged in the Balkans because of the spread of ideas of romantic nationalism and also the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire that had previously ruled over this area.

 • The different Slavic communities in the Balkans began to strive for independent rule. They were jealous of each other and every state wanted more territory, even at the expense of others. 

 • Moreover, this was a period of intense rivalry among the European powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and military might. The hold of imperial power over the Balkans made the situation worse. Russia, Germany, England, Austria-Hungary all wanted more control over this area. These conflicts ultimately led to First World War in 1914.