THE RISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

Some Important definitions

Absolutist – Literally, a 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

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

Conservatism – A political philosophy that stressed the importance of tradition, established institutions and customs, and preferred gradual development to quick change

Feminist – Awareness of women’s rights and interests based on the belief of the social, economic and political equality of the genders

Ideology – System of ideas reflecting a particular social and political vision

Ethnic – Relates to a common racial, tribal, or cultural origin or background that a community identifies with or claims

Allegory – When an abstract idea (for instance, greed, envy, freedom, liberty) is expressed through a person or a thing. An allegorical story has two meanings, one literal and one symbolic

Balkans – The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro whose inhabitants were broadly known as the Slavs

Romanticism – A cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiment. Romantic artists and poets generally criticised the glorification of reason and science and focused instead on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings.

Ideology – System of ideas reflecting a particular social and political vision

Liberalism – 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. Since the French Revolution, liberalism had stood for the end of autocracy and clerical privileges, a constitution and representative government through parliament. Nineteenth-century liberals also stressed the inviolability of private property.

All the topics cover in Notes

• Introduction
• The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation
• The Making of Nationalism in Europe
• The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class
• What did Liberal Nationalism Stand for?
• A New Conservatism after 1815
• The Revolutionaries
• The Age of Revolutions: 1830-1848
• The Romantic Imagination and National Feeling
• Hunger, Hardship and Popular Revolt
• 1848: The Revolution of the Liberals
• The Making of Germany and Italy
• Germany – Can the Army be the Architect of a Nation?
• Italy Unified
• The Strange Case of Britain
• Visualising the Nation 
• Nationalism and Imperialism