1. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow.
The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. The political and constitutional changes that came in the wake of the French Revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body 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 amongst the French people. The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasized the notion of a united commmunity enjoying equal rights under a constitution. A new French flag, tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard. New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation. Regional dialects were discouraged and French. as it was spoken and 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 Europe from despotism, in other words to help other peoples of Europe to become nations.
Q.1 Name two symbols introduced during the French Revolution to promote a sense of national unity. (1)
Q.2 What was the main political shift brought about by the French Revolution in 1789? (1)
Q.3 How did the French Revolution aim to spread the idea of nationalism to other parts of Europe? (2)
2. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow. (Previously asked question)
What we know today as Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies and cantons whose rulers had their autonomous 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 identity or 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 of many 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 also included 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 spoke
Polish. 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, Croats
to the south, and Roumans to the east in Transylvania.
Q.1 Why were Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, and a nation-state? (1)
Q.2 Explain the meaning of collective identity. (1)
Q.3 Describe the Habsburg Empire. (2)
3. Read the passage given below and answer the following questions. (Previously asked question)
During the French Revolution artists used the female allegory to portray ideas such as Liberty, Justice and the Republic. These ideals were represented through specific objects or symbols. As you would remember, the attributes of Liberty are the red cap, or the broken chain, while Justice is generally a blindfolded woman carrying a pair of weighing scales. Similar female allegories were invented by artists in the nineteenth century to represent the nation. In France she was christened Marianne, a popular Christian name, which underlined the idea of a people’s nation. Her characteristics were drawn from those of Liberty and the Republic – the red cap, the tricolour, the cockade. Statues of Marianne were erected in public squares to remind the public of the national symbol of unity and to persuade them to identify with it. Marianne images were marked on coins and stamps. Similarly, Germania became the allegory of the German nation. In visual representations, Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for heroism.
Q.1 Who became the female allegory of the France? (1)
Q.2 What does blindfolded women carrying a pair of weighing scales signify? (1)
Q.3 How were the ideas of Liberty, Justice and the Republic represented by French artists during the French Revolution? (2)
4. Read the passage given below and answer the following questions.
The primary identities of the people who inhabited the British Isles were ethnic ones – such as English, Welsh, Scot or Irish. All of these ethnic groups had their own cultural and political traditions. But as the English nation steadily grew in wealth, importance and power, it was able to extend its influence over the other nations of the islands. The English parliament, which had seized power from the monarchy in 1688 at the end of a protracted conflict, was the instrument through which a nation-state, with England at its centre, came to be forged. The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland that resulted in the formation of the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’ meant, in effect, that England was able to impose its influence on Scotland. The British parliament was henceforth dominated by its English members. The growth of a British identity meant that Scotland’s distinctive culture and political institutions were systematically suppressed. The Catholic clans that inhabited the Scottish Highlands suffered terrible repression whenever they attempted to assert their independence. 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.
Q.1 What was the primary identity of the people in the British Isles before the rise of a British identity? (1)
Q.2 Which Act led to the formation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain? (1)
Q.3 How did the formation of the United Kingdom affect Scotland’s culture and political institutions? (2)
5. Read the passage given below and answer the following questions.
After 1848, nationalism in Europe moved away from its association with democracy and revolution. Nationalist sentiments were often mobilised by conservatives for promoting state power and achieving
political domination over Europe. This can be observed in the process by which Germany and Italy came
to be unified as nation-states. As you have seen, nationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class Germans, who in 1848 tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state
governed by an elected parliament. This liberal initiative to nation-building was, however, repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia. From then on, Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification. Its chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of this process carried out 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.
Q.1 Who led the movement for the unification of Germany? (1)
Q.2 In which year was the Prussian king, William I, proclaimed German Emperor? (1)
Q.3 How did Otto von Bismarck contribute to the unification of Germany? (2)