5.3 Nationalism and Revolutions in the Period from 1750 to 1900

Nationalism as a revolutionary force

Nationalism is the belief that people sharing language, culture, religion, or history form a distinct group deserving self-governance. Enlightenment ideas about sovereignty and popular consent fused with this identity, fueling revolutions and independence movements. Nationalism could unify fragmented states or fracture multiethnic empires, reshaping political maps across the 18th and 19th centuries.

Unification movements

Italy unified (1859–1871) through the efforts of Giuseppe Garibaldi (military conquest) and Count Cavour (diplomacy), centered on Piedmont-Sardinia. Germany unified (1871) under Otto von Bismarck, Prussia's chancellor, using realpolitik and wars against Denmark, Austria, and France to unite German states under Prussian leadership and Kaiser Wilhelm I.

Nationalism against empires

Nationalism also drove independence and separatist movements within multiethnic empires like Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, as groups such as Greeks, Serbs, and Hungarians sought self-rule. In Latin America, Creole elites used nationalist ideas to justify independence from Spain and Portugal, blending Enlightenment ideals with local identity to challenge colonial rule.

Key terms

Nationalism

Belief that people sharing language, culture, or history form a distinct group deserving self-governance.

Otto von Bismarck

Prussian chancellor who used realpolitik and war to unify Germany by 1871.

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Italian nationalist leader whose military campaigns helped unify southern Italy.

Realpolitik

Pragmatic, power-based politics prioritizing practical outcomes over ideology; used by Bismarck.

Creole elites

American-born descendants of Europeans in Latin America who led independence movements using nationalist and Enlightenment ideas.

Try an AP-style question

The Haitian Revolution was unique because it…

1. expanded slavery on Haiti's plantations
2. was led by the formerly enslaved and ended slavery
3. ended by restoring French colonial rule
4. was led by French nobles who kept slavery