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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, and a pathway for 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. Compare the emergence of nationalist movements in Italy, Germany, and Japan.

Vocab Terms:

  • commerce
  • ethnic nationalism
  • ideology
  • nation-state
  • propaganda
  • social mobility
  • unification
STEP 1

Opener: Nationalism Spreads

Art was an important tool for supporting the ideas of nationalism. Nationalist artists worked hard to kindle pride in the nation.

STEP 2

Springtime of Nations

Teaching Tools

This informal writing activity challenges students to use evidence to support their arguments. Explore this blog post External link to dive deeper into this and other essential writing skills.

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 3

Forging Nations

Teaching Tools

Our Reading Guide walks you through the Three-Step Reading approach—a useful strategy for helping students make sense of articles like these!

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

In the mid-nineteenth century, Japan transformed from an isolated, feudal state into a modern, empire-building nation-state...in a few short decades.

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 4

Closer: Nationalism Spreads

Teaching Tools

Our Openers and Closers Guide will provide more information about these short-but-important activities at the beginning and end of each lesson.

Nationalism emerged from ideas 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 graphic biography below will help you extend what you’ve learned by showing how Enlightenment ideas made their way from France to Egypt.
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Spreading Revolutionary Ideas

Teaching Tools

We have a Three-Step Reading Tool just for graphic bios! It’ll guide your students to observe, understand, and connect.

Nationalism and political liberalism first emerged around the Atlantic world but quickly spread to new places. In each new place, people adapted the ideas to their local conditions.