Chapter 2
Factors of Nationalism
 Many historians believe the French
Revolution marked the turning
point in the history of European
nationalism.
 The French Revolution and the
events that followed was an
eruption that shows how
nationalism can be shaped by
external factors.
 No single event caused the French
Revolution.
1. Peasants lost half their income in
taxes. They paid feudal dues to
nobles, tithes to the church and
royal taxes to the kings agents. In
addition, they paid a land tax
called the taille and performed
forced labor called the corvee.
2. Grain shortages led to sharp
increases in the price of bread
(major cause of discontent)
1. The first estate: the clergy
 The Catholic Church held about 20 percent
of the land.
 The French clergy paid no direct taxes.
Instead, they gave the government a ‘free
gift’ of about 2% of their income
2. The second estate: the nobility
 Nobles comprised 2 to 4% of the
population
 Nobles owned about 25% of the land
3. The third estate: everyone else
 the third estate comprised 95% of the
population
 It included a diverse group of peasant
farmers, urban workers, middle-class
shopkeepers, wealthy merchants, and
successful lawyers.
 those in their group resented aristocratic
privileges.
 1. Louis XIV’s spending left a
massive public debt that consumed
half the nation’s tax revenues.
 2. The cost of fighting the Seven
Years’ War and financing the
American War for Independence
worsened the fiscal crisis.
 The Bastille was a Paris prison
where it was rumored the king
locked up people who spoke out
against him.
 In 1789 Parisians successfully
attacked the Bastille and took
control of the symbol of Tyranny.
 As news spread about the fall of
the Bastille it inspired many French
to take up arms against the regime.
 They came together under a
collective consciousness an
internal awareness that this
moment was a turning point for
the French way of life.
 Who is considered important?
 Who should lead and who should
follow?
 Who should be included and
excluded?
In the old French Regime there was a
strict social structure where people
were categorized very much on their
birth and wealth.
 At this time France was the center
for new ideas and development.
 The start of philosophical thinking.
 Voltaire was a free thinker who
was thrown into Bastille for
speaking out against the regime.
What is tolerance? It is the
consequence of humanity. We are
all formed of frailty and error; let
us pardon reciprocally each
other's folly - that is the first law
of nature.
 The common people of France who
usually lived in towns and cities,
where they had become
prosperous in business and
practicing professions.
 Well traveled
 Well educated
 They were aware that the British
crown had been limited due to
parliament.
 They became the starters of
conversation calling for a
parliament in France.
FRANCE HAD SPENT SO MUCH TIME
FIGHTING WITH ITS CURRENT RIVAL
BRITIAN.
FRANCE RACKED UP A LARGE DEBT.
THIS ON TOP OF KING LOUIS
SPENING PUT FRANCE IN A VERY
TOUGH SPOT FINANCIALLY.
 France was hit with severe
weather.
 This mixed with starvation.
 Hatred of the King helped fuel the
fire of nationalism that was
spreading through France.
 The national assembly in France
put the finishing touches on the
“Declaration of the Right of Man
and of the Citizens.”
 This political actions limited the
power of the monarch.
 This document became the
foundation for the new French
Constitution.
 Loyalists were fleeing to other
countries as support for a Free
France was growing.
 For a long time people of British
heritage formed the dominant
cultural group in Canada.
 We were a European colony and
our constitution was built on the
British model.
 Immigrants and people who were
not European began to challenge
the current values that made
Canadian Nationalism.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrMRmEeCfJM
 In the 20th century Duncan
Campbell Scott headed the federal
Department of Indian Affairs.
 His idea was complete Aboriginal
Assimilation.
 Many Aboriginal people resisted
this idea and proposal.
 Creating a stronger bond amongst
the collective.