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Nationalism Spreads

Driving Question: What caused nationalism to spread around the world in the nineteenth century?

Discover how people around the world started to embrace nationalism for a variety of reasons, among them a growing sense of ethnic pride, a response to multiethnic regionality, or because they saw it as a pathway toward economic and political independence.

Learning Objectives:

  1. Analyze the causes and consequences of world revolutions such as those in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East to understand the growth and spread of nationalism.
  2. Evaluate the reasons behind the successes and failures of the revolutions of 1848.
  3. Use the historical thinking practice of change and continuity over time to evaluate how the world changed after 1750.
STEP 2

Ethnicity and Nationality

The revolutionary ideas of this period got their start around the Atlantic Ocean, but they didn’t stay there. Soon, a new sort of identity—one based on ethnic identification—emerged in some of Europe’s old empires.

STEP 3

Springtime of Nations

The revolutions of 1848 were a flame that spread across Europe—and beyond. In this article, you’ll read about the dozens of countries where revolts erupted, and in the activity that follows you’ll consider why they failed.

STEP 4

Connecting Revolutionary Movements

The transoceanic connections forged before 1750 helped lay some of the groundwork for the revolutionary movements that emerged later. In this activity, you’ll trace what changed and what stayed the same.

STEP 5

Closer: Nationalism Spreads

Nationalism emerged from the ideas that were born of the Enlightenment and political revolutions. Together, these forces reshaped our world. How have they reshaped your thinking?

Extension Materials
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The materials below will help you dig deeper into two specific examples of successful nationalist movements.
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Forging Nations

Nationalist movements in Germany and Italy forged powerful nation-states from divided and decentralized regions. Compare the strategies they used to achieve their ends.