National Identity: c. 1750 - c. 1900

AP Concept: 5.3 Nationalism, Revolution, and Reform
Key Concepts
  • Spread of European thought and rebellion led to new solidarities
  • Groups developed national identities based on shared religion, culture, language, and land
Nationalism
  • European powers continued to assert imperial strength in the 19th century, which encouraged groups within these empires to break away
    • Britain continued to rise as a powerful military and commercial base
    • Russia and Austria showed their weaknesses as tension rose within
  • Nationalism grew as specific ethnic and religious groups identified themselves as separate communities began to try to form their own nations
  • Unified through a common language, customs, cultural traditions, values, experiences, and occasionally religion
Italy
  • Italian nationalism grew despite the continuing influence of the Roman Catholic Church
  • The pope held large estates in Italy and discouraged nationalism
  • Led by Garibaldi in the south, Italians fought a military campaign to unite their people behind the idea of an Italian nation
  • Count Camillo di Cavour, prime minister to the king of Sardinia, allied with France to expel Austria from northern Italy
  • Proclaimed the nation of Italy in 1870
Germany
  • Chancellor of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck, envisioned a unified Germany and launched a series of wars with Denmark and Austria to gain and consolidate territory
  • Final war between Prussia and France allowed Bismarck to unify all the German domains against a common enemy with their victory in the war, Germany became a separate nation
  • Emergence of Germany as a unified nation profoundly changed the balance of power in Europe
  • As France declined, Germany began to rival Britain as an industrial, military, and technological power
Zionism
  • Many newly-formed nations and nationalist movements did not account for minority groups, including the Jews, who lived as minorities in many nations
  • Anti-Semitism rose in the 19th century as a part of nationalism, since their religion set Jews apart from their Christian neighbors
  • As a result, the Zionist movement rose in an attempt to establish a Jewish state in Palestine, led by Theodor Herzl


Related Links:
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Enlightenment and Rebellion: c. 1750 - c. 1900