Revolutions and Nationalism
Introduced| English |
|---|
| liberalism |
| Nationalism/ˈnæʃənəlɪzəm/ |
An age of revolution
- The 18th century marked the beginning of an intense period of revolution and rebellion against existing governments, leading to the establishment of new nation-states around the world.
- Discontent with monarchist and imperial rule encouraged the development of systems of government and various ideologies, including democracy and 19th-century liberalism 自由主义.
- So the revolutions produced not only new states but new arguments about how states should work.
Select all the revolutionary documents the CED names.
Smith is an economic theorist, in subtopic 5.7.
Documents carried the ideas
- The ideas of Enlightenment philosophers, as reflected in revolutionary documents, influenced resistance to existing political authority, often in pursuit of independence and democratic ideals.
- The CED names three: the American Declaration of Independence, the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and Bolívar's Letter from Jamaica.
- Each states a principle before a state exists to enforce it — which is what makes a document a cause and not a record.
Select all the bases of national commonality the CED names.
Territory completes the CED's list.
The Americas: three linked movements
- Colonial subjects in the Americas led a series of rebellions inspired by democratic ideals.
- The American Revolution, and its successful establishment of a republic, the United States of America, was a model and inspiration for a number of the revolutions that followed.
- The American Revolution, the Haitian Revolution, and the Latin American independence movements facilitated the emergence of independent states in the Americas.
Document, American movement, or nationalism?
Sort each item in the revolutionary age.
Nationalism in this period always worked to unify states.
Nationalists also challenged boundaries — the Balkan cases against a large empire.
Nationalism 民族主义 unified some states and broke others apart. The CED's sentence covers both: nationalists sought unification of fragmented regions (German, Italian) and challenged boundaries (Balkan). Treating nationalism as always unifying misses half of what it did in this period.
The CED says the American Revolution served as...
Its successful establishment of a republic is what made it a model.
Nationalism: a new sense of commonality
- People around the world developed a new sense of commonality based on language, religion, social customs and territory. This was sometimes harnessed by governments to foster a sense of unity.
- Nationalism also became a major force shaping the historical development of states and empires.
- Note sometimes harnessed by governments: nationalism could come from below or be encouraged from above.
A new sense of commonality was sometimes ____ by governments to foster unity.
So nationalism could come from below or be encouraged from above.
Identity and borders
- Newly imagined national communities often linked this new national identity with borders of the state, and in some cases, nationalists challenged boundaries or sought unification of fragmented regions.
- The CED's examples span the globe: the Propaganda Movement in the Philippines, Maori nationalism and the New Zealand wars, the writings of Lola Rodríguez de Tió in Puerto Rico, German and Italian unifications, Balkan nationalisms, and Ottomanism.
- Two opposite projects sit in one sentence: unifying fragments, and breaking a large state into national parts.
German unification gathers many small states into one on the argument that they share a language and customs. Balkan nationalisms use the same argument to take territories out of a large empire. One principle, two opposite outcomes — which is why the CED's sentence names both, and why nationalism is a force rather than a policy.
An intense period of revolution against existing governments produced new nation-states and new ideologies including democracy and 19th-century liberalism. Revolutionary documents carried Enlightenment ideas. The American, Haitian and Latin American movements produced independent states in the Americas. Nationalism built a sense of commonality from language, religion, customs and territory, sometimes harnessed by governments, and could unify fragments or challenge boundaries.