Visualising the Nation Class 10 History Chapter 1Notes Part-6 || Nationalism And Imperialism

Easy and Quick Notes

Chapter – 1: Rise of Nationalism in Europe

Part – 6

Visualising the Nation

• Artists in the 18th and 19th centuries portrayed the Nations as female figures.
• Allegory – When an abstract idea is expressed through a person or thing.
• Germania represented Germany.
• Marianne represented the Republic of France.

Meanings of the Symbols

• Broken Chains – Freedom
• Breastplate with Eagle – Strength of German Empire
• Crown of Oak Leaves – Heroism
• Sword – Preparedness to fight
• Olive Branch around Sword – Desire for peace
• Black, Red & Gold Tricolour – Flag of 1848 liberals (banned by Dukes)
• Rays of Rising Sun – Start of a new era

Nationalism and Imperialism – The Balkan Issue

• By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, nationalism lost its idealistic, liberal, democratic sentiments.
• Nationalist groups became intolerant of each other.
• They wanted to take over the territories of other nations.
• After 1871, the Balkans became the most serious source of nationalist tension.
• The Balkans was a region of ethnic and geographical variations.
• It was inhabited by Slavs and was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.
• Ideas of nationalism swept over the entire Balkan region.
• With the spread of romanticism and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, Slavic nationalists struggled to define their identity.
• Each Balkan state developed jealousy and tried to gain more territory at the expense of the others.
• European powers further complicated the situation.
• Each power—Russia, Germany, England, Austria-Hungary—sought to counter others’ influence and extend its own control over the area.

• Nationalism aligned with imperialism led to a series of conflicts in the region and finally dragged Europe into the First World War in 1914.