SS Nationalism in Europe

 Nationalism in Europe

7/4/21

Unification of Germany

1.      In 1848Germans tried to unitethe different regions of the German confederation into a nation-stategoverned by an elected parliament. This liberal initiative to nation-buildingwas, however, repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy andthe military, supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia.

2.      Prussia’s chief minister, Otto vonBismarck, was the architect of unification process the help of the Prussian army andbureaucracy.

3.      Three wars over seven years – withAustria, Denmark and France – ended in Prussianvictory and completed the process of unification.

4.      In January 1871, the Prussian king, William I,was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremonyheld at Versailles.

5.      The nation-building process in Germany haddemonstrated the dominance of Prussian statepower. The new state placed a strong emphasison modernising the currency, banking, legaland judicial systems in Germany. Prussianmeasures and practices often became a model forthe rest of Germany.

Unification of Italy

1.       Italy was divided into seven states, of whichonly one, Sardinia-Piedmont, was ruled by an Italian princely house.The north was under Austrian Habsburgs, the centre was ruled bythe Pope and the southern regions were under the dominationof the Bourbon kings of Spain.

2.      During the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini formed a secret society called Young Italy and organized two revolutions for the unification of Italy but failed.

3.      Sardinia-Piedmont underits ruler King Victor Emmanuel II took initiative to unify the Italian states throughwar. Cavour, the Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont led the movement to unify the regionsof Italy was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat.

4.      Through a tactful diplomaticalliance with France engineered by Cavour, Sardinia-Piedmontsucceeded in defeating the Austrian forces in 1859 and captured north.

5.       Apart from regulartroops, a large number of armed volunteers under the leadership ofGiuseppe Garibaldi joined the fray. In 1860, they marched into SouthItaly and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and succeeded in winningthe support of the local peasants in order to drive out the Spanishrulers. In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of unitedItaly.

Unification of Britain and its strange way for unification

1.       There was no British nationprior to the eighteenth century. The primary identities of the peoplewho inhabited the British Islands were ethnic ones – such as English,Welsh, Scot or Irish. All of these ethnic groups had their own culturaland political traditions. But the English nation was wealthy and powerful.

2.      The English parliament, whichhad seized power from the monarchy in 1688 at the end of aprotracted conflict, was the instrument through which a nation-state,with England at its centre, came to be forged.

3.      The Act of Union(1707) between England and Scotland that resulted in the formationof the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’. England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. English members dominated the Britishparliament, Scotland’s distinctive cultureand political institutions were systematically suppressed, Catholicclans of Scottish Highlands suffered terrible repression, ScottishHighlanders were forbidden to speak their Gaelic language or wear their national dress and large numbers were forcibly drivenout of their homeland.

4.      Ireland suffered a similar fate. It was a country deeply dividedbetween Catholics and Protestants. The English helped the Protestantsof Ireland to establish their dominance over a largely Catholic country.Catholic revolts against British dominance were suppressed.

5.      After afailed revolt led by Wolfe Tone and his United Irishmen (1798),Ireland was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.A new ‘British nation’ was forged through the propagation of adominant English culture. The British flag,the national anthem, the English language – were actively promoted and the oldernations survived only as subordinate partners in this union.