NCERT Solutions for Class 10 History Chapter 1 The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

In this article, you will get NCERT Solutions for Class 10 History Chapter 1 The Rise of Nationalism in Europe that will useful in passing examination with good marks. These Chapter 1 Class 10 History NCERT Solutions are accurate and detailed so you can easily clear your doubts and boost your preparation speed. It is an excellent tool to enrich knowledge and make lessons for learners more exciting. Now, let’s move to the NCERT Solutions for Class 10 History Chapter 1 The Rise of Nationalism in Europe.

Chapter 1 The Rise of Nationalism in Europe Class 10 History NCERT Solutions

Write in Brief

1. Write a note on:
(a) Giuseppe Mazzini
(b) Count Camillo di Cavour
(c) The Greek war of independence
(d) Frankfurt Parliament
(e) The role of women in nationalist struggles

Solution

(a) Giuseppe Mazzini: Giuseppe Mazzini was a politician and revolutionary. He was born in Genoa in 1807. As a young man of 24, he was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He then 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. Despite many insurrections, Mazzini failed in his objectives but has been regarded as one of the chief makers of Italy. Mazzini believed that God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind, and despite many insurrections, he is regarded as one of the chief makers of Italy.

(b) Count Camillo di Cavour: He was the Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont. He led the unification movement to unite Italy’s many regions. 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 and succeeded in defeating the Austrian forces with the help of which Sardinia-Piedmont succeeded in freeing the north of Italy from the Austrian Habsburgs.

(c) The Greek war of independence: The Greek war of independence mobilized nationalist feelings among the educated elite across Europe. 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. They mobilized public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire. Lord Byron, an English poet, collected funds for the war and later travelled to fight in the war. Ultimately, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 guaranteed Greece’s independence from Ottoman rule. The independence was achieved with help from Russia, England and France.

(d) Frankfurt Parliament: The Frankfurt Parliament was formed by a large number of associations. The members were middle class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans. They met in Frankfurt on May 18th, 1848 where 831 elected representatives marched in celebration to take their seats at the church of St. Paul. They drafted a constitution for the German nation 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.

(e) The role of women in nationalist struggles: Artistic representations of the French Revolution show men and women participating equally in the movement. Liberty was personified as a woman. Liberal nationalism propounded the idea of universal suffrage, leading to women’s active participation in nationalist movements in Europe. Women had formed their own political associations and founded newspapers. They took part in political meetings and demonstrations. In France, about sixty women’s clubs came up in different French cities. The most famous was the society of Revolutionary and Republican women. One of their main demands was to have the same rights as men had. They were, however, denied suffrage rights during the election to the Assembly.

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

Solution

The following steps were taken by the French revolutionaries to create a sense of collective identity among the French people:
• The ideas of the fatherland (la Patrie) and the citizen (le Citoyen) were introduced.
• A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the earlier royal standard.
• The Estates-General was renamed as National Assembly.
• New hymns were composed, oaths were taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.
• A centralized administrative system was established and uniform laws for all citizens were formulated.
Internal custom duties and dues were abolished. A uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.
• French, as it was written and spoken in Paris, became the common language of the nation. Regional dialects were discouraged.

3. Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in which they were portrayed?

Solution

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, artists portrayed nations as female figures. Thus the female figure became an allegory of the nation. In France, Marianne, a popular Christian name – 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. Similarly, Germania became the allegory of the German nation. In visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, because the German oak stands for heroism.

The importance of the way in which they were portrayed was to remind the public of their national symbols of unity and to persuade them to identify with them.

4. Briefly trace the process of German unification.

Solution

• 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, however, repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners of Prussia.
• From then onwards, Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification. Its chief minister Otto von Bismarck was the architect of this process 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.

5. What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him?

Solution

There were several changes introduced by Napoleon in the administrative system, to make it more efficient which are:

• He established the Civil Code also known as the ‘Napoleonic Code’ in 1804. Due to this, privileges based on birth were abolished. The civil code also established equality before the law and secured the right to property.

• He also simplified the administrative division. There was the abolishment of the feudal system and peasants were freed from serfdom and manorial dues.

• In towns, the guild system was removed. Transport and communication systems were improved.

Discuss

1. Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the liberals. What were the political, social and economic ideas supported by the liberals?

Solution

The 1848 revolution was led by the educated middle class and the poor, unemployed starving peasants and workers in Europe. In parts of Europe such as Germany, Italy, Poland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, men and women of the liberal middle classes took advantage of the growing popular unrest to push their demands for the creation of nation-states based on parliamentary principles. The political, social and economic ideas supported by the liberals were:

• Politically, they demanded constitutionalism with national unification. They wanted the creation of a nation-state with a written constitution and parliamentary administration.

• Socially, they wanted to rid society of its class-based partialities and birthrights. Serfdom and bonded labor had to be abolished.

• Economically, they wanted freedom of markets and the right to property, abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movements of goods and capital.

2. Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe.

Solution

Three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe were:

• Romanticism: The Romantic movement is a cultural movement that aims to develop national unity. It uses feelings, intuition, and mystical feelings to promote a sense of shared heritage and history.  The Romantic artists used the expressions of emotions, intuition, and mystical feelings to try to emphasize on national sentiments of the people.

• Folk songs, dances and poetry: They helped popularize nationalist and patriotic fervor throughout Europe during the time of folk culture. As a major part of the lives of people, folk culture carried a message of nationalism to a diverse and large population. Polish composer Karol Kurpinski romanticized and popularized the Polish nationalist struggle through his music, turning folk dances into symbols for nationalism.

• Language: During the Russian occupation, the use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of struggle against Russian dominance. In this period, the Russian language was imposed everywhere and Polish was even taken out of schools. After the 1831 rebellion against the Russians, many Polish clergy started using language as a weapon of national resistance. They did this by meeting in Polish and refusing to speak Russian during religious instructions and church gatherings.

3. Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth century.

Solution

Germany: In 1848, an attempt was made to unify the different regions of the German Confederation into one state governed by a parliament elected by the people. This liberal initiative was repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, who were supported by the large landowners of Prussia. Thereafter, Prussia took on leadership of democracy and national unification. Its Chief Minister, Otto von Bismarck with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy in the process. Three wars over seven years with Austria, Denmark and France ended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unification. In January I 871, William I was proclaimed as the German Emperor at a ceremony held at Versailles.

Italy: During the 1830s, Mazzini wanted to unify Italy. The secret society that he had created, Young Italy, had failed. Hence, the responsibility fell on Sardinia-Piedmont’s ruler King Victor Emmanuel II to unify Italian states through war. In 1859, Austria’s forces were defeated. Under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi, a volunteer army was formed from Sardinia-Piedmont as well as other Italian states. In 1860, they marched south and managed to defeat the Spanish rulers. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed as king of Italy.

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

Solution

• In Britain, the formation of the nation-state was not the result of a sudden upheaval or revolution. No British nation existed prior to the 18th century. The British Isles consisted of different ethnic groups like the English, Welsh, Scot and Irish.

• The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britian’ meant that England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. Scotland’s distinctive culture and political institutions were systematically suppressed.

• The Scottish highlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic language or wear their national dress and large numbers were forcibly driven out of their homeland.

• The English helped the Protestants of Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic country. Catholic revolts against British dominance were suppressed. Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.

• The symbols of the new Britain – the British flag, the national anthem, the English language were actively promoted and the older nations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.

5. Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?

Solution

• During the 19th century, a major portion of the Balkans was under the Ottoman Empire. They tried to adopt modern techniques like industrialization to make changes in the internal backwardness of the state but they did not succeed.

• The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variations comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro. Their inhabitants were known as Slavs.

• A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans together with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made this region very explosive.

• The Balkan peoples based their claims for independence or political rights on nation. They used history to prove that they had once been independent.

• There was jealousy among the Balkan states and each hoped to expand their boundaries at the expense of others.

• Russia, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Britain, the European powers were interested in expanding their own imperialism. They were all very keen on controlling the hold of the other powers and extending their own.