French Nationalism Research Paper

The French Revolution directly affected the nineteenth century through the creation of many ideologies, one important one being nationalism. Nationalism is a very controversial ideology because of the many diverse approaches towards its true definition. A broad definition of nationalism could be perceived as a strong devotion towards the culture and identity of a nation. As well as the idea that nations will benefit more from acting as an independent nation opposed to multiple states working together as a collective. Its emergence completely changed the political map of Europe and resulted in the birth of many new nations. There are many different views towards the true reason for the emergence of Nationalism in Europe. Many historians believe the emergence can be credited to the French Revolution and later the continuation of ideas under Napoleon Bonaparte. While others believe the Industrial Revolution held more importance for the widespread arrival of nationalism. It seems better to encompass both and argue that the emergence of nationalism in Europe was caused by the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule, and the Industrial Revolution.

Nationalism is the idea that a people who have much in common, such as language, culture and geographic proximity ought to organize in such a way that it creates a stable and enduring state. Nationalism is tied to patriotism, and it is the driving force behind the identity of a culture. Nationalism had many effects in Europe from 1815, The Congress of Vienna and beyond. In the following essay I will describe many of the consequences of nationalism on European identity, as well as some of the conflicts that it created.

The political and social conditions of Europe before the onset of the World War I were extremely unstable and undergoing a rapid transition that was driven by national interests of different nations living in the region. Nationalism was endorsed to promote patriotism among masses and to achieve political objectives that were in alignment with the national or political interests of countries. As the time passed, the growing influence of imperialism and the ideology of nationalism manifested multifaceted

Nationalism was formed with the idea that a nation is made up of people who are joined together by common language, customs, cultures and history. It held the belief that one should be loyal to the people of their nation, not a king or empire. Nationalists believed that people of a single nationality should unite under a single government. The concept of Nationalism emerged in the French Revolution and was spread to the rest of Europe by Napoleon’s conquests.

Nationalism was coined back in the 1770’s it has a major role in the shaping many nations throughout the world. Nationalism has many positive and negative aspects to it. Nationalism has the strength to unify people despite their classes. It also has the ability to united people to lead movements against oppressive governments. There is a downside Nationalism can as method to evoke fear. The biggest negative is that most nationalism movement’s inevitably led to some form of conflict. Nationalism is a dangerous movement that can lead to oppression of opposition groups and lead to conflicts.

Nationalism: is a strong feeling of pride in one’s country and believing that one’s country is better than other country and this aggressive nationalism in the early 1900’s was a source of tension in Europe, which fueled the war. Nationalism was very strong in France and Germany; it unified the Germans, as they were proud of their growing military and industrial strength. While, France wanted to regain its position as a leading European power. Similarly, Russia had encouraged a form of nationalism in Eastern Europe called Pan Slavism. It drew all Slavic people and Russia was the largest Slavic country ready to defend small Serbia. Multinational Austria Hungary opposed Slavic national movements. After Napoleon’s exile to Elba congress of Vienna was held and it tried to solve the problem in Europe. Delegates of Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia agreed upon a new Europe whereas Germany and Italy were left as divided states. So there

Nationalism can be traced to the nineteenth century, European peoples came to identify strongly with communities they called nations. Members of a nation considered themselves a distinctive people that spoke a common language, observed common customs, inherited common cultural conditions, held common values, and shared common

Nationalism started with the revolution of France and England with the Enlightenment principle after the defeat of Napoleon. This created a ripple down effect on the people of Germany, Italy, and other eastern European countries to gains its independence who were groups of people unified by a common language. Both Germany and Italy wanted to embrace Nationalist ideals to strive for European power like England, France, Russia, Austrian Empire and the Ottoman Empire. But in order to gain European power, Germany and Italy had to build industrially and expand territorially. Germany expanded territorially by taking land from Denmark while Italy took land Austria.

By the end of Napoléon’s reign nationalism transformed, encompassing not only the ideas of loyalty and culture devotion but liberalism and ethnic pride. The violence that spurred as a result of the French Revolution and Napoléon’s reign instilled fear in the minds of the allied monarchies. The allies became fully aware of the devastating powers radical and progressive nationalism possessed, thus they formed the Holy Alliance. The Holy Alliance consisted of Russia, Prussia, and Austria. The alliance was a call upon Christian leaders to call off war and acted mostly as a gentlemen’s agreement. For most of the 19th century Britain aspired to not be restricted by any outside alliances or agreements; therefore, Britain did not partake in the alliance. The Holy Alliance formed in direct response to nationalism, for nationalism threatened their countries’ unities; they did not want control of their country to slip out of their hands. Another fear of those members involved in the Holy Alliance, was the nationalist uprising of the Poles. The Polish partition in the end of the 18th century between Prussia, Austria, and Russia, caused many of the Poles to form distaste against their conquerors. Since nationalism was linked with

Nationalism became so popular because the middle-class was rising in numbers and they realised that they should take the crap of the government and would support their country and mold it into what they want as a people. It was appealing because it offered a way of getting more for yourself and others and breaking away from the grasp of tyranny. The goals of nationalism in Europe was to better society for the people and make the government based off what the people want and not a few higher up aristocrats. France excelled with the empowerment of Napoleon the 3rd due to his adding of male suffrage and better city infrastructure. The French only prospered more when he became the Emperor of France and got away from the church and became a more

The emergence of Italian nationalism began in the Renaissance Era and was then encouraged by key Italian figures, leading to the unification of Italy which was overall beneficial for the country.

A third incentive of European colonialism was nationalism. Europe wanted to prove its superiority by colonizing and being in control of as much land as possible. “During the period 1850 to 1871, the nation-state achieved its mature status in Europe.  Nationalism clearly became the principal basis for the organization of western civilization. This fact had earlier been demonstrated in England and in France during the course of their political revolutions. In this period, it became manifest throughout Europe. Nationalism is a primary motivating element, which determined the course of events in France during the regime of Napoleon III, Italy where unification was achieved, Germany, where unification was achieved, Russia where important steps towards modernization were taken, and the United States, which experienced the Civil War, a war to preserve the union.” [7] Nationalism is the equivalent of American Patriotism and in the same way creates a sense of unification. It appeals to every member of a nation and regardless of race, gender, social class; it was the promise of benefitting the entire nation.

Nationalism was a growing forces throughout all nations. But, it wasn't always unifying. It was especially strong in Austria-hungry, Serbia, Russia, Balkans, Germany, Europe it's self, and in the ottoman empire. All of these groups had dislikes and likes of each other. Serbia, for example, had a large Slavic population and wanted to gain all the slabs on the Balkan peninsula. Russia liked this too but Austria-hungry did not at all. Austria-Hungry thought that the

Nationalism became almost a new religion in Europe and the United States as countries fought to become the greatest military and economic power in the world. Nationalism grew out of a deep pride for the language, traditions, and geography. These feelings of pride intensified into militant feelings to dominate the world. The characteristic that was so appealing was the unity that was expressed with nationalism. The goals of nationalism were to unite a group of people and spread reach in order to gain power and dominate.

Although Napoleon’s idea of nationalism was that oneself should be proud in their country, this spread of ideology later led to troubled relationships and wars. In Napoleon’s expanding of the French Empire inspired the countries he now ruled to also have this mindset of “nationalism.” However, in doing so, Napoleon insisted the Germans, Italians, etc, to prevent other countries from coming in which led to revolts and conflicts. Germany no longer allowed the Jewish or Gypsies in their country because of this new structure they had emplaced. Napoleon’s idea of nationalism sought benefit for ones country, and no contact with that of another. This state of nationalism inspired countries to develop their own sense of what true citizenship and was,