(a) Describe the role of Balkans in the outbreak of World War - I.

(i) The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation comprising modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro whose inhabitants were broadly known as the Slavs.

(ii) A large part of the Balkans was under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

(iii) The spread of the ideas of romantic nationalism in the Balkans together with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made this region very explosive.

(iv) One by one, European subject nationalities of ottoman Empire broke away from its control and declared independence.

(v) The Balkan peoples based their claims for independence or political rights on nationality and used history to prove that they had once been independent but had subsequently been subjugated by foreign powers.

(vi) As the different Slavic nationalities struggled to define their identity and independence, the Balkan area became an area of intense conflict.

(vii) The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other and each hoped to gain more territory at the expense of the others.

(viii) There was intense rivalry among the European powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and military might in this region.

(ix) Each power – Russia, Germany, England Austro-Hungary – was keen on countering the hold of other powers over the Balkans, and extending its own control over the area.

(x) This led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War.

OR 7.(b) Describe the role of European artists in promoting nationalism during nineteenth century.

(i) Artists played an important role in creating the idea of the nation through art and poetry, stories and music.

(ii) Romantic artists and poets generally criticised the glorification of reason and science and focused instead on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings.

(iii) Their effort was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage, a common cultural past, as the basis of a nation.

(iv) Romantics such as the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder ($\displaystyle 1744$-$\displaystyle 1803$) claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people – das volk.

(v) Folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances were popularized as the true spirit of the nation (volksgeist).

(vi) Collecting and recording these forms of folk culture was essential to the project of nation-building.

(vii) They emphasised on vernacular language and the collection of local folklore was not just to recover an ancient national spirit, but also to carry the modern nationalist message to large audiences who were mostly illiterate.

(viii) Karol Kurpinski of Poland celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music, turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.

(ix) The Grimm Brothers of Germany collected folk tales and published them as they wanted to develop German language to oppose French domination.