5.2: Nationalism and Revolutions

The American Revolution

• The British levied taxes on the colonists, which angered many because these actions were imposed by the British without any input or say from the colonists
• Colonists had no representation in British Parliament for example

Declaration of Independence

• Declared by colonists on July 4, 1776

• Significance is that this document was infused with Enlightenment ideals
• Ex: Declaration of Independence talks about “unalienable rights,” a phrase from John Locke
• Ex 2: Declaration of Independence also says that people have the right to vote out the current government if they are bad, a nod to the social contract

The French Revolution

• Lasted from 1789 to 1799

• Due to financing a series of wars, France had spent a lot of money (one of these wars was the American Revolution)

• To address this financial situation, the king called a meeting of the Estates-General in 1789
• Official body that represented the three classes of French society: the nobles, clergy, and commoners
• Even though commoners made up 90% of the population, their vote was equal to the clergy and the nobles

• Third Estate broke away and formed the National Assembly

• Peasants all over France rise up in rebellion, forcing the king to abdicate his power to the National Assembly

• Revolutionaries chanted, “liberty, equality, and fraternity”

Declaration of the Rights of Man

• A document created by the National Assembly

• Infused with Enlightenment values
• Included protections for basic human rights
• Abolished feudalism
• Established a limited monarchy

• Monarchy was not happy with their limited power, which led to a period of the revolution called the Reign of Terror, which led to the beheading of the king

The Haitian Revolution

• Haiti was a colony of France

• Two groups made up the island
• French plantation owners, who were the minority
• Enslaved African slaves; made up the majority

• Haiti saw the French Revolution and thought it was a good idea, so they too revolt against their French masters

• In 1791, Toussaint L’Ouverture led an organized rebellion against the French, won, and established an independent Haitian government
• Was heavily inspired by Enlightenment values

• Was the first successful revolution of enslaved people

Comparing the Haitian and French Revolutions

• Both revolutions were heavily inspired by Enlightenment values

• However, in Haiti, the rebellion was led by people with no rights at all, while the peasants in France at least had some rights

Creole Revolutions in Latin America

• Creoles (Europeans born in Americas) didn’t like their inferior status compared to the Iberians

• Reasons for discontent amongst the creoles
• Even though creoles were wealthy, because of the mercantilist policies of Spain, the Europeans took away a lot of their wealth
• Positions of authority were often only given to peninsulares, not creoles

The Bolivar Revolutions

• Under the leadership of Simon Boliviar, the creoles rose up against Spain

• Was able to gain a huge amount of territory called Gran Colombia

• The values of Boliviar and the Gran Colombia too were fused with Enlightenment ideals
• Boliviar argued for democracy and natural rights

• Women however were still not allowed to vote

Nationalism and Unification in Europe

• Nationalism led to the unifications of Italy and Germany

• Weren’t caused by large scale revolutions but rather fervent nationalist sentiments

Italian Unification

• Since fall of Rome, Italian Peninsula was divided into several independent and competing states

• Through strategic alliances and some battle the House of Savoy was able to unite all of Italy in 1861

German Unification

• In 1848, Otto von Bismarck engineered three wars that united the German people against an enemy

• In 1871, he unified the German people again, this time through the creation of a German Empire

Nationalism within the Ottoman Empire

Balkan Nationalism

• Greece, part of the Ottoman Empire, gained exposure to European Enlightenment ideals

• This stoked Greek cultural pride and rise of Greek nationalism

• Greece was able to gain independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821

• These nationalist movements also spread to Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania

Ottoman Nationalism

• In 1870s and 1880s, Ottomanism movement rose
• Aimed to promote a sense of unity and loyalty among the diverse ethnic and religious groups within the empire
• Did NOT want to “re-Turkify” the empire - they wanted to promote cultural unity
• (example of movement that wanted to re-turkify the Ottoman Empire is the Young Turks, not part of this time period)