(a) Why is the French Revolution of 1789 considered the first clear expression of nationalism? Explain with examples.

(i) France was a full-fledged territorial state in $\displaystyle 1789$ under the rule of an absolute monarch.

(ii) The French Revolution brought political and constitutional changes.

(iii) The French Revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from monarchy to a body of French citizens.

(iv) The revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation, and shape the destiny of France.

(v) The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasised the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a Constitution.

(vi) A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.

(vii) The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.

(viii) New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.

(ix) A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory.

(x) Internal customs duties and dues were abolished.

(xi) A uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.

(xii) Regional dialects were discouraged and French became the common language of the nation.

(b) How did nationalism, aligned with imperialism, lead Europe to disaster in $\displaystyle 1914$? Explain with examples.

(i) Many countries in the world which had been colonised by the European powers in the 19th Century began to oppose imperial domination.

(ii) The anti-imperial movements that developed everywhere were nationalist.

(iii) They all struggled to form independent nation states.

(iv) They were inspired by a sense of collective national unity.

(v) European ideas of nationalism were nowhere replicated, for people everywhere developed their own specific variety of nationalism.

(vi) 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.

(vii) The inhabitants of Balkans were known as the Slavs.

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

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

(x) One by one, its European subject nationalities broke away from its control and declared independence.

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

(xii) During this period, there was intense rivalry among the European powers over trade and colonies as well as naval and military might.

(xiii) 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.

(xiv) This led to a series of wars in the region and finally the First World War broke out in 1914.