Aadishesh/ncerts · Datasets at Hugging Face

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6Within the wide swathe of territory that came under his control,
Napoleon set about introducing many of the reforms that he had
already introduced in France. Through a return to monarchyNapoleon had, no doubt, destroyed democracy in France, but in
the administrative field he had incorporated revolutionary principles
in order to make the whole system more rational and efficient. TheCivil Code of 1804 – usually known as the Napoleonic Code –
did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality
before the law and secured the right to property. This Code wasexported to the regions under French control. In the Dutch Republic,
in Switzerland, in Italy and Germany, Napoleon simplified
administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system and freedpeasants from serfdom and manorial dues. In the towns too, guild
restrictions were removed. Transport and communication systems
were improved. Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen
Fig. 3 — Europe after the
Congress of Vienna, 1815.ICELAND
(DENMARK)
NORWAY
(SWEDEN)
SWEDEN
DENMARK
HABOVER
(G.B.)
NETHERLANDSENGLANDWALESIRELAND GREAT
BRITA NSCOTLAND
FRANCE
SPA N
PORTUGAL
MOROCCOALGERIATUNIS
EGYPTPALEST NESYRIA
CYPRUSMESOPOTAMIAARMENIAOTTOMAN EMPIRE
CRETEGREECEBULGARIAROMANIA
SERBIAHUNGARYAUSTRIAN EMPIRE
AUSTRIAGALICIA
BAVARIA
SWITZERLANDPRUSSIA
POLANDRUSSIAN EMPIRE
SARDINIACORSICASMALL
STATES
KINGDOM
OF THE
TWO
SIC L ESGEORGIA
PERSIA
MEDITERRANEAN SEAATLANTIC SEA7
Nationalism in Europeenjoyed a new-found freedom. Businessmen and small-scale
producers of goods, in particular, began to realise that uniform
laws, standardised weights and measures, and a common national
currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of goodsand capital from one region to another.
However, in the areas conquered, the reactions of the local
populations to French rule were mixed. Initially, in many places suchas Holland and Switzerland, as well as in certain cities like Brussels,
Mainz, Milan and Warsaw, the French armies were welcomed as
harbingers of liberty. But the initial enthusiasm soon turned to hostility,as it became clear that the new administrative arrangements did not
go hand in hand with political freedom. Increased taxation,
censorship, forced conscription into the French armies required toconquer the rest of Europe, all seemed to outweigh the advantages
of the administrative changes.
Fig. 4 — The Planting of Tree of Liberty in Zweibrücken, Germany.
The subject of this colour print by the German painter Karl Kaspar Fritz is the occupation of the town of Zweibrückenby the French armies. French soldiers, recognisable by their blue, white and red uniforms, have been portrayed asoppressors as they seize a peasant’s cart (left), harass some young women (centre foreground) and force a peasant
down to his knees. The plaque being affixed to the Tree of Liberty carries a German inscription which in translation
reads: ‘Take freedom and equality from us, the model of humanity.’ This is a sarcastic reference to the claim of theFrench as being liberators who opposed monarchy in the territories they entered.
Fig. 5 — The courier of Rhineland loses all that
he has on his way home from Leipzig.Napoleon here is represented as a postman onhis way back to France after he lost the battle ofLeipzig in 1813. Each letter dropping out of hisbag bears the names of the territories he lost.India and the Contemporary World
8If you look at the map of mid-eighteenth-century Europe you will
find that there were no ‘nation-states’ as we know them today.
What we know today as Germany, Italy and Switzerland were
divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose rulers had theirautonomous territories. Eastern and Central Europe were under
autocratic monarchies within the territories of which lived diverse
peoples. They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identityor a common culture. Often, they even spoke different languages
and belonged to different ethnic groups. The Habsburg Empire
that ruled over Austria-Hungary, for example, was a patchwork ofmany different regions and peoples. It included the Alpine regions
– the Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland – as well as Bohemia,
where the aristocracy was predominantly German-speaking. It alsoincluded the Italian-speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia.
In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other
half spoke a variety of dialects. In Galicia, the aristocracy spokePolish. Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived within
the boundaries of the empire, a mass of subject peasant peoples –
Bohemians and Slovaks to the north, Slovenes in Carniola, Croatsto the south, and Roumans to the east in Transylvania. Such
differences did not easily promote a sense of political unity. The
only tie binding these diverse groups together was a commonallegiance to the emperor.
How did nationalism and the idea of the nation-state emerge?
2.1 The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class
Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class
on the continent. The members of this class were united by a
common way of life that cut across regional divisions. They ownedestates in the countryside and also town-houses. They spoke French
for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were
often connected by ties of marriage. This powerful aristocracy was,however, numerically a small group. The majority of the population
was made up of the peasantry. To the west, the bulk of the land
was farmed by tenants and small owners, while in Eastern andCentral Europe the pattern of landholding was characterised by
vast estates which were cultivated by serfs.2 The Making of Nationalism in Europe
Some important dates
1797
Napoleon invades Italy; Napoleonic warsbegin.
1814-1815
Fall of Napoleon; the Vienna PeaceSettlement.
1821
Greek struggle for independence begins.
1848
Revolutions in Europe; artisans, industrialworkers and peasants revolt againsteconomic hardships; middle classesdemand constitutions and representativegovernments; Italians, Germans, Magyars,Poles, Czechs, etc. demand nation-states.
1859-1870
Unification of Italy.
1866-1871
Unification of Germany.
1905
Slav nationalism gathers force in theHabsburg and Ottoman Empires.9

6Within the wide swathe of territory that came under his control,

Napoleon set about introducing many of the reforms that he had

already introduced in France. Through a return to monarchyNapoleon had, no doubt, destroyed democracy in France, but in

the administrative field he had incorporated revolutionary principles

in order to make the whole system more rational and efficient. TheCivil Code of 1804 – usually known as the Napoleonic Code –

did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality

before the law and secured the right to property. This Code wasexported to the regions under French control. In the Dutch Republic,

in Switzerland, in Italy and Germany, Napoleon simplified

administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system and freedpeasants from serfdom and manorial dues. In the towns too, guild

restrictions were removed. Transport and communication systems

were improved. Peasants, artisans, workers and new businessmen

Fig. 3 — Europe after the

Congress of Vienna, 1815.ICELAND

(DENMARK)

NORWAY

(SWEDEN)

SWEDEN

DENMARK

HABOVER

(G.B.)

NETHERLANDSENGLANDWALESIRELAND GREAT

BRITA NSCOTLAND

FRANCE

SPA N

PORTUGAL

MOROCCOALGERIATUNIS

EGYPTPALEST NESYRIA

CYPRUSMESOPOTAMIAARMENIAOTTOMAN EMPIRE

CRETEGREECEBULGARIAROMANIA

SERBIAHUNGARYAUSTRIAN EMPIRE

AUSTRIAGALICIA

BAVARIA

SWITZERLANDPRUSSIA

POLANDRUSSIAN EMPIRE

SARDINIACORSICASMALL

STATES

KINGDOM

OF THE

TWO

SIC L ESGEORGIA

PERSIA

MEDITERRANEAN SEAATLANTIC SEA7

Nationalism in Europeenjoyed a new-found freedom. Businessmen and small-scale

producers of goods, in particular, began to realise that uniform

laws, standardised weights and measures, and a common national

currency would facilitate the movement and exchange of goodsand capital from one region to another.

However, in the areas conquered, the reactions of the local

populations to French rule were mixed. Initially, in many places suchas Holland and Switzerland, as well as in certain cities like Brussels,

Mainz, Milan and Warsaw, the French armies were welcomed as

harbingers of liberty. But the initial enthusiasm soon turned to hostility,as it became clear that the new administrative arrangements did not

go hand in hand with political freedom. Increased taxation,

censorship, forced conscription into the French armies required toconquer the rest of Europe, all seemed to outweigh the advantages

of the administrative changes.

Fig. 4 — The Planting of Tree of Liberty in Zweibrücken, Germany.

The subject of this colour print by the German painter Karl Kaspar Fritz is the occupation of the town of Zweibrückenby the French armies. French soldiers, recognisable by their blue, white and red uniforms, have been portrayed asoppressors as they seize a peasant’s cart (left), harass some young women (centre foreground) and force a peasant

down to his knees. The plaque being affixed to the Tree of Liberty carries a German inscription which in translation

reads: ‘Take freedom and equality from us, the model of humanity.’ This is a sarcastic reference to the claim of theFrench as being liberators who opposed monarchy in the territories they entered.

Fig. 5 — The courier of Rhineland loses all that

he has on his way home from Leipzig.Napoleon here is represented as a postman onhis way back to France after he lost the battle ofLeipzig in 1813. Each letter dropping out of hisbag bears the names of the territories he lost.India and the Contemporary World

8If you look at the map of mid-eighteenth-century Europe you will

find that there were no ‘nation-states’ as we know them today.

What we know today as Germany, Italy and Switzerland were

divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose rulers had theirautonomous territories. Eastern and Central Europe were under

autocratic monarchies within the territories of which lived diverse

peoples. They did not see themselves as sharing a collective identityor a common culture. Often, they even spoke different languages

and belonged to different ethnic groups. The Habsburg Empire

that ruled over Austria-Hungary, for example, was a patchwork ofmany different regions and peoples. It included the Alpine regions

– the Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland – as well as Bohemia,

where the aristocracy was predominantly German-speaking. It alsoincluded the Italian-speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia.

In Hungary, half of the population spoke Magyar while the other

half spoke a variety of dialects. In Galicia, the aristocracy spokePolish. Besides these three dominant groups, there also lived within

the boundaries of the empire, a mass of subject peasant peoples –

Bohemians and Slovaks to the north, Slovenes in Carniola, Croatsto the south, and Roumans to the east in Transylvania. Such

differences did not easily promote a sense of political unity. The

only tie binding these diverse groups together was a commonallegiance to the emperor.

How did nationalism and the idea of the nation-state emerge?

2.1 The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class

Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class

on the continent. The members of this class were united by a

common way of life that cut across regional divisions. They ownedestates in the countryside and also town-houses. They spoke French

for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were

often connected by ties of marriage. This powerful aristocracy was,however, numerically a small group. The majority of the population

was made up of the peasantry. To the west, the bulk of the land

was farmed by tenants and small owners, while in Eastern andCentral Europe the pattern of landholding was characterised by

vast estates which were cultivated by serfs.2 The Making of Nationalism in Europe

Some important dates

1797

Napoleon invades Italy; Napoleonic warsbegin.

1814-1815

Fall of Napoleon; the Vienna PeaceSettlement.

1821

Greek struggle for independence begins.

1848

Revolutions in Europe; artisans, industrialworkers and peasants revolt againsteconomic hardships; middle classesdemand constitutions and representativegovernments; Italians, Germans, Magyars,Poles, Czechs, etc. demand nation-states.

1859-1870

Unification of Italy.

1866-1871

Unification of Germany.

1905

Slav nationalism gathers force in theHabsburg and Ottoman Empires.9