How Important Was Nationalism as a Cause of Revolution in 1848 - Essay Example

?Introduction The political disorder in Europe in the 19th century was a reflection of persistent conflicts and struggle between well-established conservative order in the society and the desires of a variety of liberals and radicals, eager to change and challenge the existing system (Burke, 1987). In most European countries ideologies such nationalism combined with liberalism to confront the established conservative order. In profound political transformations in Europe such as the unification of Germany, nationalism played a major role. In other Europeans countries, the conservatives became cognizant of the futility of holding onto the status quo, and embraced liberal ideologies, forming new political realignments. This paper explores the role of nationalism in causing the 1848 revolution in France and the Habsburg Empire. According to Whitaker (1960: 41), development of nationalism in the 19th century in Europe originated from people in a specific region sharing similar culture, history and language. Eric (1990) argued that the existing nationalists in Europe seized the similar cultural background of people to establish a political identity, which was defined by geographical boundaries, marking areas where people shared similar cultures, history and language lived. These developments were unique because during the period, established empires such the Ottoman Empire and other countries such as Austria and Russia controlled vast regions with diversified populations. Therefore, the nationalism presented a new phenomenon that was not only confusing but also potentially threatening to the existing highly diversified societies. During the period, nationalism was considered similar to liberalism because the latter emphasized on liberty and self-rule (Anthony, 1983:172). One of the major weaknesses of the nationalism movement during the 19th century in Europe was that some leaders emphasized much on the differences between people, a situation that created tensions and conflict between the once harmonious societies. Tackett (2003) attributes the development and the subsequent justification of genocide and racial superiority in the 20th century to the effects of nationalism in the 19th century. The effects of genocide and justification of racial superiority in Europe became evident in 20th century, when millions of Jews were massacred in German anti Semitism campaign and the Holocaust (Tackett, 2003). It is apparent that conservatism caused social and political challenges in Europe. Consequently, other ideologies developed as suitable alternatives in the 19th century. Some of the ideologies included socialism, trade union movements and democracy. Karl Marx and Friendrich Engels are the pioneers of socialism. Socialism was the direct opposite of nationalism and liberal ideologies and it emphasized on the collective community wellbeing rather than individualism advocated by the nationalistic and liberal movements. To ensure existence of collective communism in society, socialists advocated for proactive and planned state initiated policies to bring the desired social change. In Europe, socialists opposed capitalist and laissez- faire economics vehemently. Regarding economics, socialists supported state ownership of all means of production and distribution (Periwal, 1995: 76-81). In 1848, Karl Marx and Engels published the Communists Manifesto one of the most revolutionary writings of the century produced during a period of profound economic and political changes in the European continent. The two authors argued that human existence was characterised by perpetual struggle between the existing classes of people. At every stage of human development, each ruling class was replaced by another (Marx and Engels 1998). In European context, three classes had already ruled the region, beginning with monarch that had been replaced by aristocrats. In the 19th century, socialists argued that the middle class also referred as bourgeoisie replaced aristocrats. Therefore, socialists predicted that the time for the working class to replace the middle class was overdue in Europe. The only way through which the working class, whom the socialists regarded as “propertyless” could seize power was through violence (Smith and Hutchinson 2000:83) Marx and Engels (1998:64) argued that the value of a product was determined by the “labour input and hence labourers added value to the commodities but not the factory owners”. Therefore, Marx predicted a shift of all factors of production to a few members in the society, a situation that would increase the number of poor people, leading to social and economic revolution. After revolution, the socialist argued that a classless society would result, where workers would govern themselves, marking the end of the nation state. Therefore, communisms became antithesis of other major ideologies at the time including nationalism, conservatism and capitalism (Eric, 1975). The mid nineteenth century was also characterised by rapid growth of trade union movement, which offered alternative to liberalism. Calhoun (1982) argued that trade unions originated from the effects of industrial revolution. Industrial revolution introduced the need for regulating the labour market, largely characterized by exploitation of the workers in the factories. Therefore, unionist increasingly advocated for organization of the workers into trade unions to enhance their bargaining power for better wages and improved working conditions. To achieve their objectives, trade unions resorted to organization of strikes, demonstrations, picketing and other non-violent methods to achieve their objectives (Calhoun 1982:118). However, trade unionists possessed radical ideals, which were mainly inclined towards communisms. Consequently, industrialists and conservatives, who viewed the unions as threat to the existing economic and social order, vehemently opposed trade unions in the 19th century. Therefore, trade unions were outlawed in most European countries but in Britain, unionization was legalised in 1871. France was another European country that violently suppressed trade unions but in 1884, the government gave in and legalised the movements. Consequently, the number of trade unions increased in Europe, a phenomenon that continued in the 20th century (Calhoun 1982). Several factors played a major role in the spread of nationalism in France. After defeat of France Empire in the Napoleonic wars in 1815, Russian, Austria and Britain emerged the most powerful states in Europe. The four powers formed an alliance intended to last for two decades and with the mandated preserving peace and control the French aggression (Craig 1997). Eric (1996) argues that the four powers were motivated by self-interests, and consequently they formulated goals that strategically served their short-term and long-term objectives. These goals included creation of lasting peace, establishment of a balanced military and political system that would guarantee their security and dominance in Europe. In addition, the four powers resolved to establish permanent and sacrosanct state boundaries that would ensure healthy distribution of power in Europe and avoid dominance of Europe by other powers as France had done earlier. The four powers had long-standing monarch political system that had served the population for long period effectively. Therefore, the four powers intended to retain and perpetuate monarchical system in Europe (Burke, 1987:57-68). The resolutions had profound effect on France political and economic environment. For instance, the boundaries that had defined France in 1790 were restored, and the territories that the French empire had acquired were taken away (Craig 1997). Mistrust among the four powers was prevalent but they had no choice but to unite and establish a powerful system, which would safeguard their interests in Europe. Three basic principles including compensation, legitimacy and containment informed the alliance agreement (Eric, 1990). Legitimacy entailed the reinstatement of “lawful “monarchical systems in various countries in Europe (Periwal 1995:85) Compensation aimed at recouping the losses to particular powers for the various loses they had experienced during the period of French domination. Finally, the powers committed to surround France with powerful nations with the intention of preventing the country from engaging in cross border aggression (Periwal 1995). In France, legitimacy was restored that resulted to reinstatement of Bourbon Monarchy and Louis XVIII was deposed. However, the legitimacy of Roman Empire was not reinstated but Germany confederation was formed which distributed power between Prussia and Austria. The geographical boundaries were not altered and France retained its former territory. However, Prussia was allocated a disputed frontier in Rhineland, located on the eastern part of the French boundary. In addition, Prussia received territorial compensation for losing the Polish territory. Denmark, which formerly supported France, lost Norway to Sweden (Anthony 1983). The containment of France was a key agenda among the four powers. After acquiring, Rhineland a former France territory, Prussia became the guard of the Rhine, protecting it from future French attacks. Kingdom of Netherlands was formed, which comprised of Luxembourg, Belgium and Holland. The newly formed Netherlands was more powerful in opposing France than the formerly smaller and weaker Holland. During this period, there was a growing sense of nationalism and liberalism in Europe. Attempts to form a common international peace keeping force in Europe to balance the power among the various countries in Europe failed (Whitaker, 1960). Burke (1987) attributed mistrust among the four superpowers in Europe and the increased demands for political expression in European countries to the eventual disintegration of the alliance. In 1820, various political revolutions took place in various European countries including Spain, Naples and Portugal. Other countries including Italy, Germany, Belgium and Poland followed suit. These series of revolutions stretched the capacity of the four great powers and caused serious disagreements among them. The rebellions threatened the existence of legitimate governments and conflicts emerged on the best ways of containing the rebellion. Military intervention was opposed by major powers including Britain and France. According to Eric (1975), Britain opposed military intervention because it intended to open up new trade relations with the radical governments. By 1848, liberal revolutions intensified. Calls for liberal political reforms and uprisings motivated by nationalism accelerated but the revolts were often violently suppressed by the conservatives. Nonetheless, liberalism started initiating changes in several political frameworks in Europe. Various factors contributed to increased calls for liberal reforms in European countries including France. These factors included deteriorating economic state and increased dissatisfaction with the existing political structures. A combination of these factors increased the popularity of the liberals across several European countries causing revolutions. By 1948, virtually all countries in Europe were affected by the revolutions except Britain and Russia (Burke, 1987). Just like other countries in Europe, France was ruled by Louis Philip monarchy. His administration demonstrated remarkable business acumen, but the resulting economic benefits were not evenly distributed among the French citizens. According to Burke (1987:39), the upper middle class was the major beneficiary of economic development, while the labourers who were the majority did not benefit. At the time, nationalism was a growing ideology, which fought for economic and social reforms in France. Due to economic marginalization of the labourers, Calhoun (1982) notes that they became important followers of nationalism. At the beginning of 1848, the critics of the monarchy began organizing banquets to exert more pressure on the administration to allow parliamentary reforms. However, the king responded by banning banquets, a directive that instigated mass demonstrations and violence in Paris. Eventually, the rebellion led to the overthrow of King Louis Philip and he fled to England (Tackett 2003). The new French administration led by the revolutionaries commenced on the challenging task of drafting new constitution for the country. However, the ideological disparities involving liberals, socialists and radicals made the task more challenging. High unemployment rate was one of the major causes of controversies among the various ideological factions. According to Tackett (2003: 68), socialists wanted creation of permanent cooperative workshops fully supported by the government, form new social and economic order in the country and replace the oppressive capitalism. However, other groups opposed socialist propositions. For a short period, the socialist propositions were implemented and majority of jobless people in France got jobs in government sponsored workshops. However in June 1848, France parliament dominated by moderates and conservatives opposed the government-sponsored workshops and were abolished in Paris in the same month. The government action triggered unprecedented mass protests in Paris that resulted to the deaths of over 3000 people in the month of June 1848. France was in a political crisis and the conservatives who formed the majority in the government attempted to form a republican type of government to solve the immediate problems and satisfy other parties with diverse ideological inclinations (Eric 1975:53-59). This was reflected in the new constitution that was promulgated in June 1848, creating provisions for a powerful president and one house legislative authority consisting of elected representatives (Anthony, 1983). At the end of the year, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became of president of France. However, the new powerful presidency caused conflicts with the legislature. According to Whitaker (1960), Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became increasingly dictatorial, increasing his tenure against the constitution. In 1852, the French president declared himself emperor Napoleon III. The effects of French revolution in 1848 spread to various parts of European continent including the Habsburg Empire (Calhoun 1982). During the period of the French uprising, the Habsburg ruled the Austrian empire. Nationalism ideologies started in Hungary where demands for sovereignty within the precincts of liberalism reigned supreme. During the period, the Habsburg Empire was characterised by oppressive practices including compulsory serfdom. The persistent calls for political reforms prompted the emperor to initiate some political changes, including the abolition of serfdom. However, lack of unity among the various opposing factions hindered a concerted effort for comprehensive demands for reforms. In addition, Habsburg Empire comprised of diverse populations a situation that hindered unity of purpose and nationalism (Eric 1990). According to Calhoun(1982), Hungarian minority groups opposed unification but in spite of the largely divided reformists, revolution continued in Austria for over one year until Russian forces came to the rescue of the empire in mid 1849. In October 1848, emperor Ferdinand of Austria dissolved Hungarian parliament and ordered violent military crackdown on the revolting Hungarians. Vienna, an epicentre of the revolution in Habsburg Empire witnessed the most bloody confrontations between the nationalist and conservatives. In Czechoslovakia, nationalistic rebellion failed because of ethnic divisions among the Germans and the Czech (Whitaker 1960). Conclusion’ It is apparent that nationalism was one of the most influential ideologies in 19th century. Although other ideologies especially socialism became popular, the triumph of revolutionary concept of nationalism ensured its entrenchment in the European continent for many years. The success of nationalism in France and Habsburg Empire demonstrated that national awareness is more influential in any society than the class-consciousness advocated by socialists. However, in 20th century, some political leaders, who propagated for racist nationalism for selfish political interests, misused classical nationalism that advocated for self-determination and freedom. This resulted to occurrence of serious crimes against humanity such as genocide. Bibliography Anthony, S.(1983). Theories of nationalism. 2nd ed. London: Duckworth. Burke, E.(1987). Reflections on the revolutions in France 1790: Indianapolis: Hackett. Calhoun, C.(1982). The question of class struggle: Social foundation of popular radicalism in industrializing England. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Craig, C. (1997). Classical social theory and the French revolution of 1848. [Online]. Available from http://www.ssrc.org/calhoun/wp-content/uploads/articles/Classical_Sociological_Theory.pdf Eric, H. (1975). The age of capital 1848-1875. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Eric, H. (1990). Nations and nationalism since 1780. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Eric, H.(1996). The age of revolution 1789-1848. New York: Random House. Marx, K., and Engels, F.(1998). The communist manifesto 1848. New York: Signet Classic ed. Periwal, S.(1995). Notions of nationalism. London: Central European University Press. Smith, A., and Hutchinson, J. (2000). Nationalism; Critical concepts in political science, volume 4. New York: Routledge. Tackett, T.(2003). When the king took flight. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Whitaker, U. (1960). Nationalism and international progress. San Francisco: Howard Chandler. Read More