Nations and Nation Building

The Americas

Europe

New Technologies

1850-1914

Nation building

• The second half of the 19th century witnessed the expansion and development of modern nation-states around the world

• There were various and sometimes-conflicting motivations for defining a nation

• Some nation builders focused on nations as an expression of nature, while others promoted the idea of nation to execute their own expansionist claims

The United States

• Although the mythology of the American Revolution helped to foster a unified nation – it obscured deep tensions within the republic (slavery, relations with natives and Mexico, power of central government)

• These tensions were heightened as settlers pushed Westward during the nineteenth century

The acquisition of vast tracts of land led to the creation of a ‘frontier society’ as immigrants from around the world flocked to find a new life

Civil War

• By 1860, however, the tensions between North and South rose to the surface and erupted into Civil War

• The North’s victory in the War signalled the triumph of a strong central government committed to national unification

• It also signalled a commitment to making the United States into a global industrial power

While in the industrial economy in the northern states boomed, the southern states remained essentially agrarian

In terms of race the scars of slavery were still very fresh and policies of racial segregation were established

Many freed slaves moved to the northern cities in search of jobs and to escape the poverty of the south

After the Civil War, settlers continued to move Westward, displacing the natives along the way

Settlers cleared land for farming export crops which helped to fuel the expanding American economy

Canada

• Though Canada was granted its independence in 1867, it was still closely tied to Britain through the Commonwealth

• The leaders of the new nation believed that national unity would be the key to their success

• The diversity of the new Canadian population made it difficult to tie it all together into a single nation

The driving of the “Last Spike” in Craigellachie, B.C. in 1885 was a material witness to the expansion of Canada from coast to coast

The uprising of Métis in Manitoba in 1885, led by Louis Riel (1844-1885) and his execution for treason showed that national unity was not as strong as its promoters believed.

Latin America

• Spurred on by capitalist ideology, liberal governments emerged in the last quarter of the 19th century, eager to bring progress and economic profit to their countries

• Set up export economies – often based on a single commodity – which led to great profits

• It also tied the economies of these countries to the world market, and relied heavily on European investment

Nationalism in Europe

• Of course, national sentiment had existed for centuries in Europe – but it takes on a new urgency in the 19th century

• One of the main issues driving nationalism is the wealth and power of Britain – all other European nations want to catch up to Britain’s wealth and military power

The German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744-1803) popularized the idea that nations were organic creations that followed a life-cycle (birth-adolescence-adulthood-death)

He also believed that every nation contained its own particular genius and that they should be judged on their own merits and not a universal standard. This approach is known as historicism

The Italian Guiseppe Mazzini (1803-1870) fused liberalism and nationalism together in a movement known as ‘Young Italy’ in the 1830s

This type of nationalism appealed to the idea of a national destiny, and formed the basis of a strong nationalist sentiment in Italy

Revolutions of 1848

• The tensions between conservatives, liberals, and socialists exploded into open warfare throughout Europe

• Nationalism proved to be an elastic ideology which all factions could use to their advantage

• Although the revolutions were quickly suppressed there was a growing sentiment in Europe that nationalism provided the key to competing economically and militarily with Britain

Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of the Prussian State, pursued German unification to strengthen Prussia’s position against Austria

Count Camillo di Cavour of Peidmont channelled Italian nationalism into the creation of an Italian state dominated by the North

Both of these statesmen used nationalism to create nation states that preserved traditional elites but made some concessions to liberal demands

Unification of Germany

• Prussia began in 1861 a series of small military campaigns to expand their territory

• Victory over France in 1871 gave the impetus for German unification under Prussian leadership

• In order to get the support of the people he enacted policies, like a minimum wage and welfare, in order to “eliminate the causes of socialism”

Realpolitik and international relations

• to unify Germany under Prussian control Bismarck needed to eliminate Austria from a position of trying to command the German Confederation

• tensions with Austria over provinces of Holstein and Schleswig that were acquired by Austria and Prussia from Denmark in 1864 war against Denmark

• Bismarck then moved to isolate Austria by forming North German Confederation of German states

Italian Unification

• Italian peninsula was divided into many small states; Austria occupied the most prosperous and urbanized states--Lombardy and Venetia

Acceleration of the economy

• Historians label the period after 1870 as a “Second industrial revolution”– steel, electricity and chemicals dominate the

new industrial landscape, outpacing in scope and scale the industries fueled by steam and coal

– Heavy industries also produce products that can be used to manufacture consumer goods

– Scope and scale of manufacturing increases exponentially

Steel• Steel is stronger than iron and before the

1870s it was expensive and time consuming to make

• New processes make it easier and more cost-effective to produce on a mass scale– Can be used to make ships, skyscrapers,

machines – which accelerates production– Costs of production soar – but so do profits

for the owners

Scene from an steel works in France c. 1885

Darwin’s theory of evolution• Darwin is an excellent example of an

amateur naturalist in the 19th century

• He had the financial resources to devote time to his research on the HMS Beagle

• In 1859 he published On the Origin of Species, and in 1871, The Descent of Man

• The idea of evolution had been around for some time; Darwin’s breakthrough was to give proof of evolution be natural selection

• Though the theory of evolution was complex, its implications were quickly grasped by the public, challenging traditional religious teaching

Implications of evolution

• Some Christians argued (and continue to argue today) that the theory of evolution contradicts Holy Scripture and was thus wrong

• Made the claim that the earth was much older than people had before accepted – opening new avenues of research

• What reason was there for moral values if everything was determined by genetics

Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)• Coined the term ‘survival

of the fittest’ and applied it to the social world

• Believed that in social progress there would be winners and losers – but that progress itself was more important than humanitarian concerns

Conclusion

• Nation building was promoted as the best way to build a society upon rational principles

• The elasticity of this term meant it could be used by people of different ideological strains

• By the end of the century, there was a strong sentiment that only those countries which industrialized could survive on the world stage