NCERT NOTES
FOR HISTORY
10th Standard
India and the Contemporary World- II
,CONTENTS
Crafts Heritage ................................................................................................................................ 1 - 8
Nationalism in India ..................................................................................................................... 9 - 15
The Making of a Global World ............................................................................................... 16 - 22
The Age of Industrialisation ................................................................................................... 23 - 25
Everyday Life, Culture and Politics ....................................................................................... 26 - 31
, THE RAISE OF NATIONALISM
1 IN EUROPE
During the 19th century, nationalism emerged as a force which brought about sweeping changes in the
political and mental world of Europe. The end result of these changes was the emergence of the nation-
state in the place of the multi-national dynastic empires of Europe. The first clear expression of nationalism
came with the French Revolution in 1789.
The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation:
● France was a full-fledged territorial state in 1789 under the rule of an absolute monarch.
● The French revolution made political and constitutional changes which led to the transfer of
sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens.
● The French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices that could create a sense of
collective identity amongst the French people and thus bolster the feeling of French-nation.
● The revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and
shape its destiny.
● The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) were introduced that emphasised
the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
● A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
● The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
● New hymns were composed, oaths taken, and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.
● A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens
within its territory.
● Internal customs duties and dues were abolished, and a uniform system of weights and measures
was adopted.
● Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in Paris, became the
common language of the nation.
The Civil Code of 1804:
THE RAISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
● It is also known as the Napoleonic Code.
● It abolished all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law and secured the right
to property.
● This Code was exported to the regions under French control i.e. the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, in
Italy and Germany.
● Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system, and freed peasants from
serfdom and manorial dues. In the towns too, guild restrictions were removed. Transport and
communication systems were improved.
● Transport and communication systems were improved. Peasants, artisans, workers and new
businessmen enjoyed a new-found freedom.
● Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods, in particular, began to realise that uniform laws,
standardised weights and measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the movement
and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another.
1
, The Making of Nationalism in Europe:
● Till mid-eighteenth century in Europe there were no 'nation-states'.
● Modern day states such as Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies and
cantons whose rulers had their autonomous territories.
● The Habsburg Empire that ruled over Austria-Hungary, was a patchwork of many different regions
and peoples.
⮚ It included the Alpine regions, the Tyrol, Austria, and the Sudetenland as well as Bohemia, where
the aristocracy was predominantly German speaking.
⮚ It also included the Italian-speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia. The only tie binding
these diverse groups together was a common allegiance to the emperor.
The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class:
● Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class, they were united by a common
way of life that cut across regional divisions.
● They spoke French for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were often connected
by ties of marriage.
● This powerful aristocracy was, however, numerically a small group. The majority of the population was
made up of the peasantry.
● Industrialisation began in England in the second half of the eighteenth century, but in France and parts
of the German states it occurred only during the nineteenth century.
● In its wake, new social groups such as a working-class population, and middle classes made up of
industrialists, businessmen, professionals came to existence.
● It was among the educated, liberal middle classes that ideas of national unity following the abolition of
aristocratic privileges gained popularity.
Liberal Nationalism:
● The term 'liberalism' derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free.
THE RAISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
● For the new middleclass liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the
law.
● In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-
imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
⮚ In 1834, a customs union was formed, which abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of
currencies from over thirty to two.
⮚ The creation of railway networks further stimulated mobility, harnessing economic interests to
national unification.
A New Conservatism after 1815:
Collectively, Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria defeated Napoleon in 1815. Following this the European
governments were driven by a spirit of conservatism. Conservatives believe that traditional institutions of
state and society – like the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property, could be strengthen by
modernisation.
2
FOR HISTORY
10th Standard
India and the Contemporary World- II
,CONTENTS
Crafts Heritage ................................................................................................................................ 1 - 8
Nationalism in India ..................................................................................................................... 9 - 15
The Making of a Global World ............................................................................................... 16 - 22
The Age of Industrialisation ................................................................................................... 23 - 25
Everyday Life, Culture and Politics ....................................................................................... 26 - 31
, THE RAISE OF NATIONALISM
1 IN EUROPE
During the 19th century, nationalism emerged as a force which brought about sweeping changes in the
political and mental world of Europe. The end result of these changes was the emergence of the nation-
state in the place of the multi-national dynastic empires of Europe. The first clear expression of nationalism
came with the French Revolution in 1789.
The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation:
● France was a full-fledged territorial state in 1789 under the rule of an absolute monarch.
● The French revolution made political and constitutional changes which led to the transfer of
sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens.
● The French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices that could create a sense of
collective identity amongst the French people and thus bolster the feeling of French-nation.
● The revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and
shape its destiny.
● The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) were introduced that emphasised
the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.
● A new French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the former royal standard.
● The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
● New hymns were composed, oaths taken, and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.
● A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens
within its territory.
● Internal customs duties and dues were abolished, and a uniform system of weights and measures
was adopted.
● Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in Paris, became the
common language of the nation.
The Civil Code of 1804:
THE RAISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
● It is also known as the Napoleonic Code.
● It abolished all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law and secured the right
to property.
● This Code was exported to the regions under French control i.e. the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, in
Italy and Germany.
● Napoleon simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system, and freed peasants from
serfdom and manorial dues. In the towns too, guild restrictions were removed. Transport and
communication systems were improved.
● Transport and communication systems were improved. Peasants, artisans, workers and new
businessmen enjoyed a new-found freedom.
● Businessmen and small-scale producers of goods, in particular, began to realise that uniform laws,
standardised weights and measures, and a common national currency would facilitate the movement
and exchange of goods and capital from one region to another.
1
, The Making of Nationalism in Europe:
● Till mid-eighteenth century in Europe there were no 'nation-states'.
● Modern day states such as Germany, Italy and Switzerland were divided into kingdoms, duchies and
cantons whose rulers had their autonomous territories.
● The Habsburg Empire that ruled over Austria-Hungary, was a patchwork of many different regions
and peoples.
⮚ It included the Alpine regions, the Tyrol, Austria, and the Sudetenland as well as Bohemia, where
the aristocracy was predominantly German speaking.
⮚ It also included the Italian-speaking provinces of Lombardy and Venetia. The only tie binding
these diverse groups together was a common allegiance to the emperor.
The Aristocracy and the New Middle Class:
● Socially and politically, a landed aristocracy was the dominant class, they were united by a common
way of life that cut across regional divisions.
● They spoke French for purposes of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were often connected
by ties of marriage.
● This powerful aristocracy was, however, numerically a small group. The majority of the population was
made up of the peasantry.
● Industrialisation began in England in the second half of the eighteenth century, but in France and parts
of the German states it occurred only during the nineteenth century.
● In its wake, new social groups such as a working-class population, and middle classes made up of
industrialists, businessmen, professionals came to existence.
● It was among the educated, liberal middle classes that ideas of national unity following the abolition of
aristocratic privileges gained popularity.
Liberal Nationalism:
● The term 'liberalism' derives from the Latin root liber, meaning free.
THE RAISE OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE
● For the new middleclass liberalism stood for freedom for the individual and equality of all before the
law.
● In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-
imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
⮚ In 1834, a customs union was formed, which abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of
currencies from over thirty to two.
⮚ The creation of railway networks further stimulated mobility, harnessing economic interests to
national unification.
A New Conservatism after 1815:
Collectively, Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Austria defeated Napoleon in 1815. Following this the European
governments were driven by a spirit of conservatism. Conservatives believe that traditional institutions of
state and society – like the monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property, could be strengthen by
modernisation.
2
