Luis Allenspach | University of Kent, Canterbury (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Luis Allenspach

Explain the changing characters of the nationalism between 1848 and 1918 The following academic w... more Explain the changing characters of the nationalism between 1848 and 1918 The following academic work was written in autumn 2015 during a two hours exam exercise for a seminary called « History of Europe from the XIXth to XX century: Nations and Nationalisms ». Therefore, there will not be any references, footnotes and bibliography as it was a written exercise under exam conditions, with only our actual knowledge of the subject. Furthermore, as most of the courses were given in form of lecture courses, with a written exam at the semester end, this work is the only one I could present to you. The requested task was to write an essay explaining the changing characters of nationalisms between 1848 and 1918. In 1848, Europe found itself at a major key point in its history. In fact, numerous heterogeneous peoples were locked in a few states following the realignment of the European borders as per the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (also known as the Treaty of Vienna of 1815) based on the balance of the major powers. The peoples gathered either in multinational states as it was the case of the Austrian Empire reaching from Italy to Hungary, or separated in different states as it was the case of the Germans, some of them belonging to the Austrian Empire, some to the Kingdom of Prussia and others were dispersed over several small principalities originating from the dissolution of the Holy Roman Germanic Empire. The Industrial Revolution was booming for over half a century already; the growth of the European economy leads us to subsequent thoughts. Not only economic issues but also political and geopolitical matters were sources of the upcoming national transformations. As a matter of fact, the development of the transport sector and the communication channels as a result of the Industrial Revolution led to a fast diffusion of ideologies and information. The subsequent thoughts will mainly focus on the question of nation, on national identity. Every European player of the 19th century, whether its form is an empire, a state or people will be affected by the rise of the issue of national affiliation either as claimant of an identity or as a « victim » of this nationalistic phenomenon. This era of change in Europe brings us therefore to our subject of questioning. Hence, it appears interesting to us to study the incentives and motivations that drove the different players towards idea of nationalism, as well as to reflect on how they achieved or not to unify under one and only banner. For this purpose we will systematically analyse origins and conception of nationalism, followed by the revolutions of 1848 and the unification process of Germany and Italy. We will pursue with a study of the different cases of imperialism from 1871 to 1914 where foreign policy becomes a mean of nation glorification as well as competition between states. Finally, the First World War and the game of alliances leading to the globalisation of war will conclude our analysis of the movements of nationalism between 1848 and 1918. The national movements can be traced to two different sources. The first one is the French Revolution that is built upon the right of peoples to self-determination, leading to a strong wish of independence, especially among peoples living under the authority of an empire. The second source inspiring a national feeling concerns the rediscovery of the peoples past. The latter was often reshaped and glorified in order to give it more impact. It relies upon

Explain the changing characters of the nationalism between 1848 and 1918 The following academic w... more Explain the changing characters of the nationalism between 1848 and 1918 The following academic work was written in autumn 2015 during a two hours exam exercise for a seminary called « History of Europe from the XIXth to XX century: Nations and Nationalisms ». Therefore, there will not be any references, footnotes and bibliography as it was a written exercise under exam conditions, with only our actual knowledge of the subject. Furthermore, as most of the courses were given in form of lecture courses, with a written exam at the semester end, this work is the only one I could present to you. The requested task was to write an essay explaining the changing characters of nationalisms between 1848 and 1918. In 1848, Europe found itself at a major key point in its history. In fact, numerous heterogeneous peoples were locked in a few states following the realignment of the European borders as per the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (also known as the Treaty of Vienna of 1815) based on the balance of the major powers. The peoples gathered either in multinational states as it was the case of the Austrian Empire reaching from Italy to Hungary, or separated in different states as it was the case of the Germans, some of them belonging to the Austrian Empire, some to the Kingdom of Prussia and others were dispersed over several small principalities originating from the dissolution of the Holy Roman Germanic Empire. The Industrial Revolution was booming for over half a century already; the growth of the European economy leads us to subsequent thoughts. Not only economic issues but also political and geopolitical matters were sources of the upcoming national transformations. As a matter of fact, the development of the transport sector and the communication channels as a result of the Industrial Revolution led to a fast diffusion of ideologies and information. The subsequent thoughts will mainly focus on the question of nation, on national identity. Every European player of the 19th century, whether its form is an empire, a state or people will be affected by the rise of the issue of national affiliation either as claimant of an identity or as a « victim » of this nationalistic phenomenon. This era of change in Europe brings us therefore to our subject of questioning. Hence, it appears interesting to us to study the incentives and motivations that drove the different players towards idea of nationalism, as well as to reflect on how they achieved or not to unify under one and only banner. For this purpose we will systematically analyse origins and conception of nationalism, followed by the revolutions of 1848 and the unification process of Germany and Italy. We will pursue with a study of the different cases of imperialism from 1871 to 1914 where foreign policy becomes a mean of nation glorification as well as competition between states. Finally, the First World War and the game of alliances leading to the globalisation of war will conclude our analysis of the movements of nationalism between 1848 and 1918. The national movements can be traced to two different sources. The first one is the French Revolution that is built upon the right of peoples to self-determination, leading to a strong wish of independence, especially among peoples living under the authority of an empire. The second source inspiring a national feeling concerns the rediscovery of the peoples past. The latter was often reshaped and glorified in order to give it more impact. It relies upon