Nationalism was formed with the idea that a nation is made up of people who are joined together by common language, customs, cultures and history. It held the belief that one should be loyal to the people of their nation, not a king or empire. Nationalists believed that people of a single nationality should unite under a single government. The concept of Nationalism emerged in the French Revolution and was spread to the rest of Europe by Napoleon’s conquests. Nationalism was used by Napoleon to make France a great power in Europe. Nationalism helped France to develop a national language which was taught in schools to replace local dialects. This unification of language helped the people of France to feel closer to each other, with …show more content…

Soon the movement of Nationalism re-emerged to blur the lines that separated the conservatives, liberals and radicals. After the defeat of Napoleon, Greece became the first people to attempt Nationalism in 1821 and in 1830 a treaty was signed guaranteeing an independent kingdom of Greece. By the 1830’s the order arranged by the Congress of Vienna was breaking down and revolutionary zeal swept across Europe. Liberals and nationalists throughout Europe were revolting against conservative governments. Many riots broke out among the individual nations. Metternich sent in troops to Italy to restore order and the Poles living under the rule of Russia staged a revolt. It took the Russian armies an entire year to crush the Pole uprising and by the mid 1830’s it looked as if the old order has reestablished itself. In 1848 ethnic uprisings erupted throughout Europe and Metternich resigned. European politics continued to change. In one country after another the revolutionaries failed to unite themselves causing conservatives to regain their power. However it was in France again were a Paris mob in 1848 overturned a monarch and established a republic. The new republican government was spit into different parts almost immediately. One side wanted only political reform, another wanted social and economic reform. The differences caused bloody battles to break out