The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

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The rise of nationalism in Europe resulted from cultural, ethnic, as well as political policies that led to the formation of nation-states and new national identities in place of the former multiethnic empires. It began in the mid-18th century with the age of the Enlightenment. It gained momentum early in the 19th century as a product of the Industrial Revolution and the consequent rise of the middle class. As a result of these developments, the nation-state replaced Europe’s multinational dynastic empires. Let’s go through the effects of Nationalism in Europe, the factors that led to the making of nationalism in Europe, the intertwining of nationalism and imperialism, and Introduction to Nationalism by Ernst Renon and Frédéric Sorrieu.

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What is Nationalism?

Nationalism was an ideology used to drive and unite the population to form a unified state where members of a country shared the same cultural and linguistic background. Different countries adopted this ideology in Europe to fight for their independence from the imperialism of the German and the Russian Empire. Several factors that led to nationalism in Europe included the rise of the middle class, the Industrial Revolution, and the spread of the ideas of the Enlightenment.

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The Rise of Nationalism in Europe

The making of nationalism and its subsequent rise in Europe was encouraged by the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. “Nationalism requires individuals to identify with their national group’s interests and support the formation of a state – a nation-state – to promote those interests,” says Leon Baradat, a political science professor in the United States. 

Self-determination and newly formed national governments superseded monarchical power and foreign control of the land. Some nations, such as Germany and Italy, were founded through the union of several regional republics with a shared “national character.” Like Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, and Poland, others sprang through revolts against the Ottoman and Russian empires. Romania is an outlier, having been created in 1859 from the merger of Moldavian and Wallachian principalities and winning independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878.

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Factors That Led to Nationalism in Europe

There are several factors that led to Nationalism in Europe. Some of them were assisted by the following causes.

• The feudal system was a significant impediment to nationalism.
• The church was influential throughout the Middle Ages, wielding immense control over the globe.
• Many conflicts have also elicited patriotic sentiments from the general populace.
• Foreign rulers often decided to oppress their subjects, contributing to the rise of nationalism.
• Reactions drove the nationalist feeling about injustice and the arbitrary reign of unjust kings.
• Famous poets, politicians, and philosophers like Machiavelli, Mills, Mazzini, and Garibaldi contributed significantly to the public’s political awareness and national pride.

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Introduction to Nationalism by Ernst Renon and Frédéric Sorrieu

Introduction to Nationalism by Ernst Renon and Frédéric Sorrieu (2011, Manchester University Press) is an exhaustive survey of the diverse ways that nationalism has been studied and refined over the past two centuries. The book is written in an engaging style, rich in historical detail and replete with scholarly insight. But the authors’ purpose is not to present a survey but to define a consensus definition of nationalism. They do not get around to representing nationalism until page 180, about halfway into the book.

After rejecting several earlier definitions, including the simple definitional scheme that `Nationalism is a political doctrine or ideology’ (1), they finally settled on the following definition: `Nationalism is a social, political, and cultural ideology that considers the nation, in its cultural, linguistic, and political dimensions, as the most important primary group of human identity and loyalty. The book makes an excellent contribution to the study of nationalism for several reasons. It emphasises the diversity of nationalism, particularly the varieties of radical and conservative nationalism. It also explains how different definitions of nationalism have served other political functions.

Conclusion 

The Rise of Nationalism in Europe in 19th century Europe, a feeling of nationalism radically transformed countries, leading to radical changes in political and social scenarios. Until the nineteenth century, before the rise of nationalism in Europe, there were no distinct nations. At the same time, the nation-state concept is the modern outcome of the rise of nationalism in Europe. The ideas of nation-unity in Europe at the beginning of the nineteenth century were strongly associated with ideologies of liberalism. During the nineteenth century, nationalism emerged as the force that brought sweeping changes in Europe’s political and intellectual world.