The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

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1. In 1848, Frederic Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four print visualizing his dream of a world made up of ‘democratic and social republic, as he called them. 2. Artists of the tim... e of the French Revolution personified Liberty as a female figure. 3. According to Sorrieu’s utopian vision, the peoples of the world are grouped as distinct nations, identified through their flags and national costume. 4. This chapter will deal with many of the issues visualized by Sorrieu. 5. During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as a force which brought about sweeping changes in the political and mental world of Europe. 6. The end result of these changes was the emergence of the nation-state in the place of the multi-national dynastic empires of Europe. 7. A modern state, in which a centralized power exercised sovereign control over a clearly defined territory, had been developing over a long period of time in Europe. 8. But a nation-state was one in which the majority of its citizens, and not only its rulers, came to develop a sense of common identity and shared history or descent. 9. This chapter will look at the diverse processes through which nation-states and nationalism came into being in nineteenth-century Europe. The French Revolution and the idea of the Nation 1. The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. 2. The political and constitutional changes that came in the wake of the French Revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens. 3. 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. 4. The Estates General was elected by the body of the active citizens and renamed the National Assembly. 5. Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted. [Show More]

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