The print shows an ideal world in which different peoples of Europe and America live as separate nations but move together in peace and unity. They carry their national flags and pay respect to Liberty. The broken symbols of old absolutist rule lie on the ground. The picture therefore imagines a perfect world of democratic and social republics, which was not yet a reality in 1848.

According to Ernst Renan, a nation is built from a shared past, common sacrifices, common achievements and a common desire to live together in the present and future. A nation is a large community based on solidarity and the free will of its people. He did not say that a nation must simply have the same language, race, religion or territory. Nations are important because they give people liberty and a sense of common identity.

Nationalism developed through many changes in nineteenth-century Europe. The French Revolution introduced the idea that the people, not the monarch, formed the nation. Liberal middle classes demanded freedom, equality before law, constitutions and representative government. Economic unity, cultural traditions, folk songs and languages also helped create national feelings. Revolutions, wars and the work of leaders such as Mazzini, Bismarck and Cavour helped turn these feelings into nation-states.

List believed that economic unity could help create political unity. He wanted the Zollverein to remove economic barriers, connect the German states, increase trade and production, and create a common German national feeling. In this way, economic cooperation would help the German people become a united nation.

The Vienna Congress of 1815 restored many old monarchies and changed the map to prevent future French expansion. France lost territories taken by Napoleon. The Kingdom of the Netherlands was created in the north, Genoa was added to Piedmont, Prussia received new territories, Austria received control of northern Italy, Russia received part of Poland, and Prussia received part of Saxony. The German Confederation of 39 states was retained.

The caricature shows that conservative governments were trying to stop people from thinking, speaking and criticising them. The members are shown with muzzles, and the rules demand silence. It represents censorship and the suppression of freedom of expression after 1815.

Language and popular traditions helped people feel that they belonged to one common nation. Folk songs, poems, dances, stories and local languages preserved memories of a shared culture. The Grimm Brothers collected German folktales and worked on the German language to strengthen German identity. In Poland, Polish language, music and religious activities kept national feelings alive even when Poland had been divided among other powers.

The Silesian weavers were suffering because contractors reduced the payments for the textiles they produced. They were already facing extreme poverty and a shortage of jobs. They therefore demanded higher wages. The journalist Wilhelm Wolff describes their misery strongly and gives details of their march, anger and violence. His account clearly shows sympathy for the suffering workers and criticises the exploitation by contractors.

I saw many weavers come out of their homes and march towards the contractor's house. They demanded higher wages because their payments had been reduced. The contractor first threatened and insulted them. Some angry weavers entered the house and damaged property and took cloth from the storehouse. The contractor later returned with soldiers. In the fighting, eleven weavers were shot.

The sources show two different views. Carl Welcker argued that men and women had different roles, so women should remain mainly in the home and should not have equal political rights. Louise Otto-Peters and the other writer argued that liberty must belong to everyone, including women. They criticised the unfair denial of women's political rights even when women owned property and contributed to society.

Welcker supported traditional gender roles and did not accept political equality for women. Louise Otto-Peters argued that liberty cannot be divided and that women must also be free. The anonymous writer argued that it was unjust to deny political rights to women who owned property and contributed to the state. Together, the sources show that liberal ideas of liberty and equality were not always applied equally to women.

The caricature presents Bismarck as a powerful figure standing over or dominating the elected deputies. It suggests that Bismarck and the Prussian government had greater practical power than the elected parliament. The artist is showing that formal elections and a parliament did not necessarily mean that political power was fully controlled by elected representatives.

Not all people in the regions shown in Fig. 14(a) would necessarily have thought of themselves as Italians because Italy was divided into different states and regional identities were strong. From Fig. 14(b), Sardinia-Piedmont was the starting base of unification. The Papal States, including Rome, were among the last major areas to join, in 1870. The largest expansion shown took place in 1860, when Garibaldi's campaign brought much of southern Italy into the unification process.

Italy is shown as a boot-shaped country. Garibaldi is shown helping to bring the southern part into the hands of Victor Emmanuel II. The caricature suggests that Garibaldi's military campaign in the south helped Victor Emmanuel II and Sardinia-Piedmont complete the unification of Italy.

Veit's Germania has several symbols. The broken chains represent freedom from oppression. The breastplate with the eagle represents the strength of the German Empire. The oak-leaf crown represents heroism. The sword shows readiness to fight. The olive branch around the sword shows willingness to make peace. The black, red and gold flag represents liberal-nationalist hopes, and the rising sun represents the beginning of a new era. Together, these symbols present Germany as a strong, free and united nation.

The change from the Kaiser's crown to the broken chain shows a change in the idea being represented. The crown represented monarchy and the power of the ruler. The broken chain represented freedom from oppression. It therefore reflected the growing importance of liberty and national freedom in the nationalist movement.

Fig. 18 shows a fallen and lifeless Germania, suggesting that the hopes represented by Germania had suffered a defeat. The image can be linked to the failure of the 1848–49 liberal-nationalist movement in Germany, especially the failure of the Frankfurt Parliament to create a united German nation through a liberal constitution.

As a man sitting in the hall, I would see Germania as a symbol of the hope for a united and free Germany. I would connect her with the work of the Frankfurt Parliament and the idea of a national constitution. As a woman watching from the gallery, I would also feel connected to the national hope, but I would notice the contradiction that women were allowed only to observe and were denied political rights. The banner would therefore represent both national unity and the unfinished struggle for equality.

The 1848 revolution of the liberals was a movement led mainly by educated middle-class people who wanted constitutional government, national unity and political freedoms. Politically, liberals supported constitutions, representative government, freedom of the press and freedom of association. Socially, they opposed old privileges and supported equality before law. Economically, they supported free markets and the removal of state restrictions on the movement of goods and capital. In places such as Germany and Italy, they also wanted national unification.

1. The Grimm Brothers collected German folktales and worked on the German language, helping build German national identity. 2. In Poland, Polish language, music and folk dances such as the polonaise and mazurka kept national feelings alive under foreign rule. 3. Romantic artists and poets used art, poetry and stories to create feelings of shared cultural heritage; for example, Delacroix's painting of the Greek struggle created sympathy for the Greeks.

Germany developed from many German states into a united nation mainly under Prussian leadership. Bismarck used the Prussian army, bureaucracy and three wars against Denmark, Austria and France. In 1871, William I was proclaimed German Emperor. Italy also developed from several separate states into a united kingdom. Sardinia-Piedmont led the process; Cavour used diplomacy and war, while Garibaldi led volunteers in the south. Victor Emmanuel II became king of united Italy in 1861, and Rome joined in 1870.

Britain did not become a nation-state through one sudden revolution. It developed through a long process in which England became more powerful and extended its influence over Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Act of Union of 1707 joined England and Scotland, and Ireland was incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801. A British identity was promoted through English culture, the Union Jack, the national anthem and the English language. The process also involved suppression of some distinctive cultures and political movements.

Nationalist tensions grew because the Balkans contained many different peoples and nationalities, and much of the region was under the Ottoman Empire. As the Ottoman Empire weakened, different nationalities demanded independence and used history to support their claims. The Balkan states also competed with one another for territory. At the same time, major European powers such as Russia, Germany, Britain and Austria-Hungary competed for influence in the region. These conflicts led to wars and helped create the conditions that finally contributed to the First World War.

Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian revolutionary born in Genoa in 1805. He joined the Carbonari and was sent into exile in 1831. He founded Young Italy and later Young Europe. He believed nations were the natural units of mankind and wanted Italy to become a single unified republic. His ideas inspired nationalist movements in several European countries.

Count Camillo de Cavour was the Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont and an important leader of Italian unification. He was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat. He used diplomacy and formed an alliance with France. This helped Sardinia-Piedmont defeat Austria in 1859. His leadership helped move the Italian states towards unification.

The Greek struggle for independence from the Ottoman Empire began in 1821. Greek nationalists received support from Greeks living abroad and from many West Europeans who admired ancient Greek culture. Poets and artists helped create sympathy for the Greek cause. Lord Byron collected funds and joined the struggle. The Treaty of Constantinople in 1832 recognised Greece as an independent nation.

The Frankfurt Parliament was formed in 1848 when German political associations came together to create an all-German National Assembly. On 18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives met in St Paul's Church in Frankfurt. They prepared a constitution for a German nation headed by a monarchy under a parliament. Friedrich Wilhelm IV of Prussia rejected the offered crown. The assembly later lost support and was forced to disband.

Women took an active part in nationalist and liberal movements. They formed political associations, founded newspapers, attended meetings and took part in demonstrations. However, they were usually denied political rights and were not allowed to vote in the Frankfurt Parliament elections. Women such as Louise Otto-Peters demanded political freedom and equality. Thus, women contributed to nationalist struggles while also fighting for their own rights.

The French revolutionaries introduced the ideas of la patrie (fatherland) and le citoyen (citizen), stressing a united community with equal rights. They adopted the tricolour flag in place of the royal flag. The Estates General was renamed the National Assembly. They composed new hymns, took oaths and commemorated martyrs in the name of the nation. They created a centralised administrative system, made uniform laws, abolished internal customs duties, introduced uniform weights and measures, and promoted French as the common language.

Marianne was the female allegory of the French nation, while Germania was the female allegory of the German nation. They gave an abstract idea—the nation—a human form that people could recognise. Marianne was shown with symbols such as the red cap, tricolour and cockade. Germania wore a crown of oak leaves and carried other symbols of German strength, freedom and national unity. These images helped people identify with the nation and its ideals.

In 1848, German middle-class nationalists tried to unite Germany through an elected parliament, but the attempt failed. After this, Prussia took the lead. Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian Chief Minister, used the army and bureaucracy to achieve unification. Prussia fought three wars in seven years against Denmark, Austria and France and won them. In January 1871, William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles. A united German Empire was created under strong Prussian leadership.

Napoleon introduced the Civil Code of 1804, known as the Napoleonic Code. It ended privileges based on birth, established equality before law and protected the right to property. In areas under French control, he simplified administrative divisions, abolished feudalism, freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues, removed guild restrictions, and improved transport and communication. Uniform laws, weights and measures also helped trade and movement.

Example: In India, the national flag, the image of Bharat Mata in some historical nationalist art, and patriotic songs such as 'Vande Mataram' have been used as symbols of national identity. In Japan, the national flag and the anthem 'Kimigayo' are national symbols. Like the European examples in the chapter, these symbols can represent national unity and shared identity. The difference is that each country developed symbols from its own history, culture, political experience and traditions.