Nationalism
Chapter 8
Section 3
Main Idea
Nationalism
contributed to the
formation of two new
nations and a new
political order in Europe.
 Nationalism is the basis
of world politics today
and has often caused
conflicts and wars.

Background
Nationalism…
 Was the most powerful idea of
the 1800s.
 Created some new countries,
but also divided old countries.
 Upset the balance of power
created by the Congress of
Vienna.
 Fed the desire of most of those
groups to be free of the rule of
empires and govern
themselves in their traditional
lands.

Nationalism:
A Force for Unity or Disunity
1800s – Nationalism fueled
efforts to build nationstates.
 Nationalists were not loyal
to kings, but to their
people.
 Nationalists believed that a
single “nationality,” or
ancestry, should unite
under a single government.

Unity
Authoritarian rulers
began to see that
nationalism could also
unify masses of people.
 Used nationalist feelings
for their own purposes.
 Built nation-states in
areas where they
remained firmly in
control.

Types of Nationalist Movements
TYPE
CHARACTERISTICS
Unification Mergers of politically
divided but culturally
similar lands
Separation Culturally distinct group
resists being added to a
state or tries to break
away
Statebuilding
Culturally distinct groups
form into a new state by
accepting a single
culture
EXAMPLES
19th
century
Germany
19th century Italy
Greeks in the
Ottoman Empire
French-speaking
Canadians.
The
United
States
Turkey
Nationalism Shakes Aging Empires







Three aging empires:
The Austrian Empire of the
Hapsburgs
The Russian Empire of the
Romanovs
The Ottoman Empire of the
Turks
All contained a mixture of ethnic
groups.
Control of land and ethnic groups
shifted between these empires.
Nationalism led to the end of
these empires.
The Breakup of the Austrian Empire
1866 – Prussia defeated Austria in the
Austro-Prussian War.
 Prussia gained control of the newly
organized North German Confederation.
– Union of Prussia and 21 German
political units.
 Hungary pressured Emperor Francis
Joseph of Austria to split his empire in
half.
– Austria and Hungary became
independent states.
 Empire became Austria-Hungary or
the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Breakup (cont.)
Nationalists disputes
continued to weaken
the empire for more
than 40 years.
 After WWI, AustriaHungary split into
several separate
nation-states.

The Russian Empire Crumbles

Nationalism also helped break up the 370
year old empire of the czars in Russia.
Russification




Romanovs were determined to
keep control of their area.
They instituted a policy called
Russification, forcing Russian
culture on all ethnic groups in
the empire.
– Ended up helping to disunify
Russia.
Russia could not hold up against
the shock of WWI and the
communist revolution.
Last czar gave up power in
1917.
The Ottoman Empire Weakens


1856 – Due to pressure from
the British and French, the
Ottomans granted citizenship
to all the people under their
rule.
– Greeks, Slavs, Arabs,
Bulgarians and
Armenians.
Conservative Turks did not
agree with the new
citizenship laws.
Armenians


In response to nationalism in
Armenia, the Ottomans
massacred and deported
Armenians from 1894-1896.
– This happened again in
1915.
Like Austria-Hungary, the
Ottoman Empire broke
apart right after WWI.
Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What did nationalist believe should unite
people?
How did authoritarian leaders use
nationalism to their advantage?
What are the three types of nationalist
movements?
What did the Austrian Empire become?
What is Russification?