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Contents

xiSection I: Events and Processes

I. The Rise of Nationalism in Europe 3

II. The Nationalist Movement in Indo-China 25

III.Nationalism in India 4

9

Section II: Livelihoods, Economies and Societies

IV. The Making of a Global World 77

V.The Age of Industrialisation 97

V

I. Work, Life and Leisure 117

Section III: Everyday Life, Culture and Politics

VII. Print Culture and the Modern World 141

VIII. Novels, Society and History 159

Foreword iii

Introduction ix In 1848, Frédéric Sorrieu, a French artist, prepared a series of four

prints visualising his dream of a world made up of ‘democratic

and social Republics’, as he called them. The first print (Fig. 1) of theseries, shows the peoples of Europe and America – men and women

of all ages and social classes – marching in a long train, and offering

homage to the statue of Liberty as they pass by it. As you wouldrecall, artists of the time of the French Revolution personified Liberty

as a female figure – here you can recognise the torch of Enlightenment

she bears in one hand and the Charter of the Rights of Man in theother. On the earth in the foreground of the image lie the shattered

remains of the symbols of absolutist institutions. In Sorrieu’s

utopian vision, the peoples of the world are grouped as distinct

nations, identified through their flags and national costume. Leading

the procession, way past the statue of Liberty, are the United States

and Switzerland, which by this time were already nation-states. France,

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

Fig. 1 — The Dream of Worldwide Democratic and Social Republics – The Pact Between Nations, a print prepared by

Frédéric Sorrieu, 1848.

Chapter I

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

New words

Absolutist – Literally, a government or

system of rule that has no restraints onthe 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

In what way do you think this print (Fig. 1)

depicts a utopian vision?ActivityIndia and the Contemporary World

4identifiable by the revolutionary tricolour, has just reached the statue.

She is followed by the peoples of Germany, bearing the black, redand gold flag. Interestingly, at the time when Sorrieu created this

image, the German peoples did not yet exist as a united nation – the

flag they carry is an expression of liberal hopes in 1848 to unify thenumerous German-speaking principalities into a nation-state under

a democratic constitution. Following the German peoples are the

peoples of Austria, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Lombardy,Poland, England, Ireland, Hungary and Russia. From the heavens

above, Christ, saints and angels gaze upon the scene. They have

been used by the artist to symbolise fraternity among the nations ofthe world.

This chapter will deal with many of the issues visualised by Sorrieu

in Fig. 1. During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as aforce which brought about sweeping changes in the political and

mental world of Europe. The end result of these changes was the

emergence of the nation-state in place of the multi-national dynastic

empires of Europe. The concept and practices of a modern state, in

which a centralised power exercised sovereign control over a clearlydefined territory, had been developing over a long period of timein Europe. But a nation-state was one in which the majority of its

citizens, and not only its rulers, came to develop a sense of commonidentity and shared history or descent. This commonness did notexist from time immemorial; it was forged through struggles, through

the actions of leaders and the common people. This chapter will

look at the diverse processes through which nation-states andnationalism came into being in nineteenth-century Europe.Ernst Renan, ‘What is a Nation?’

In a lecture delivered at the University of

Sorbonne in 1882, the French philosopher ErnstRenan (1823-92) outlined his understanding ofwhat makes a nation. The lecture wassubsequently published as a famous essay entitled‘Qu’est-ce qu’une nation?’ (‘What is a Nation?’).In this essay Renan criticises the notion suggestedby others that a nation is formed by a commonlanguage, race, religion, or territory:

‘A nation is the culmination of a long past ofendeavours, sacrifice and devotion. A heroic past,great men, glory, that is the social capital uponwhich one bases a national idea. To havecommon glories in the past, to have a commonwill in the present, to have performed great deedstogether, to wish to perform still more, theseare the essential conditions of being a people. Anation is therefore a large-scale solidarity … Itsexistence is a daily plebiscite … A province is its

inhabitants; if anyone has the right to beconsulted, it is the inhabitant. A nation neverhas any real interest in annexing or holding on toa country against its will. The existence of nationsis a good thing, a necessity even. Their existenceis a guarantee of liberty, which would be lost ifthe world had only one law and only one master.’

SourceSource A

Summarise the attributes of a nation, as Renan

understands them. Why, in his view, are nations

important?DiscussNew words

Plebiscite – A direct vote by which all the

people of a region are asked to accept or reject

a proposal5

Nationalism in Europe1 The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation

The first clear expression of nationalism came with

the French Revolution in 1789. France, as you

would remember, was a full-fledged territorial state

in 1789 under the rule of an absolute monarch.The political and constitutional changes that came

in the wake of the French Revolution led to the

transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to abody of French citizens. The revolution proclaimed

that it was the people who would henceforth

constitute the nation and shape its destiny.

From the very beginning, the French revolutionaries

introduced various measures and practices that

could create a sense of collective identity amongstthe French people. The ideas of la patrie (the

fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasised

the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under aconstitution. A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace

the former royal standard. The Estates General was elected by the

body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly. Newhymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated,

all in the name of the nation. A centralised administrative system

was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizenswithin its territory. Internal customs duties and dues were abolished

and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.

Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spokenand written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.

The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and the

destiny of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europefrom despotism, in other words to help other peoples of Europe

to become nations.

When the news of the events in France reached the different cities

of Europe, students and other members of educated middle classes

began setting up Jacobin clubs. Their activities and campaigns

prepared the way for the French armies which moved into Holland,Belgium, Switzerland and much of Italy in the 1790s. With the

outbreak of the revolutionary wars, the French armies began to

carry the idea of nationalism abroad.

Fig. 2 — The cover of a German almanac

designed by the journalist Andreas Rebmann in1798.The image of the French Bastille being stormedby the revolutionary crowd has been placednext to a similar fortress meant to represent thebastion of despotic rule in the German provinceof Kassel. Accompanying the illustration is theslogan: ‘The people must seize their ownfreedom!’ Rebmann lived in the city of Mainzand was a member of a German Jacobin group.India and the Contemporary World