NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Social Science (India and the Contemporary World II) Chapter 1: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe
These Class 10 History Chapter 1 solutions cover The Rise of Nationalism in Europe from India and the Contemporary World II, the NCERT History textbook for the 2026–27 session. The chapter traces how, during the nineteenth century, nationalism transformed Europe — from Frédéric Sorrieu’s 1848 dream of democratic republics, through the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Code, the Congress of Vienna and the revolutions of 1830–1848, to the unification of Italy and Germany and the tensions in the Balkans that led towards the First World War. Below you get step-by-step answers to every Write in brief and Discuss question, key terms, extra practice, 10 MCQs, Assertion–Reason questions and FAQs.
Class: 10Subject: Social Science (History)Book: India and the Contemporary World IIChapter: 1Topic: The Rise of Nationalism in EuropeSession: 2026–27
The chapter opens with Frédéric Sorrieu’s 1848 print of a world of ‘democratic and social Republics’ and asks how the modern nation-state replaced the multi-national dynastic empires of Europe. The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution (1789), which transferred sovereignty to the people and spread ideas of la patrie and le citoyen. Napoleon carried these reforms abroad through the Civil Code of 1804. After his defeat, the Congress of Vienna (1815) restored a conservative order, but liberal-nationalists — led by figures like Giuseppe Mazzini — kept the dream alive. The chapter explains liberal nationalism, the economic unity of the zollverein, the role of Romanticism and language, the revolutions of 1830 and 1848, the unification of Germany under Bismarck and of Italy under Cavour and Garibaldi, the strange case of Britain, the female allegories Marianne and Germania, and finally how nationalism, aligned with imperialism and the Balkan crisis, led Europe to war in 1914.
Key Concepts & Terms
Nation-state: a state in which the majority of citizens, and not only the rulers, develop a sense of common identity and shared history — an identity forged through struggle rather than inherited from time immemorial.
Absolutist: a form of monarchical government that is centralised, militarised and repressive, with no restraints on the power exercised.
Liberalism: from the Latin liber (free); for the middle classes it meant freedom of the individual, equality before the law, government by consent, a constitution and representative government, and the inviolability of private property. In the economic sphere it meant free markets and the abolition of state restrictions on the movement of goods and capital.
Conservatism: a philosophy that stressed tradition and established institutions (monarchy, Church, social hierarchy, property, family) and preferred gradual change to quick change.
Suffrage: the right to vote. Early liberalism granted it only to property-owning men; women and non-propertied men organised for equal political rights.
Plebiscite: a direct vote by which all the people of a region are asked to accept or reject a proposal.
Zollverein: a customs union formed in 1834 at Prussia’s initiative that abolished tariff barriers among the German states and reduced currencies from over thirty to two, binding the Germans economically.
Romanticism: a cultural movement that focused on emotions, intuition and folk culture (das volk, volksgeist) to create a sense of a shared collective heritage as the basis of a nation.
Allegory: the expression of an abstract idea (such as Liberty or the Republic) through a person or thing. Nations were personified as female figures — Marianne in France and Germania in the German lands.
Ideology: a system of ideas reflecting a particular social and political vision.
The Balkans: a region of ethnic variation (Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro), inhabited by Slavs, that became the most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871.
“Write in brief” & “Discuss” — Full Solutions
All questions below are reproduced verbatim from the NCERT textbook’s end-of-chapter Write in brief and Discuss sections. Answers are original, written in exam-ready style.
Write in brief
1. Write a note on:
a) Guiseppe Mazzinib) Count Camillo de Cavourc) The Greek war of independenced) Frankfurt parliamente) The role of women in nationalist struggles
ANSWERa) Giuseppe Mazzini: An Italian revolutionary born in Genoa in 1805, he became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari and at the age of 24 was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He founded two underground societies — Young Italy in Marseilles and Young Europe in Berne — whose members were like-minded young men from Poland, France, Italy and the German states. He believed God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind, so Italy had to be forged into a single unified republic. His relentless opposition to monarchy frightened the conservatives, and Metternich described him as ‘the most dangerous enemy of our social order’.b) Count Camillo de Cavour: The Chief Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont who led the movement to unify Italy. He was neither a revolutionary nor a democrat, and like many wealthy Italian elites spoke French better than Italian. Through a tactful diplomatic alliance with France that he engineered, Sardinia-Piedmont defeated the Austrian forces in 1859, a key step towards the unification of Italy.c) The Greek war of independence: Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century. The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked a Greek struggle for independence that began in 1821. Nationalists received support from other Greeks living in exile and from many West Europeans who admired ancient Greek culture. The English poet Lord Byron organised funds and went to fight, dying of fever in 1824. Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognised Greece as an independent nation.d) Frankfurt parliament: On 18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives of the German states marched in a festive procession to the Church of St Paul in Frankfurt to convene an all-German National Assembly. They drafted a constitution for a German nation headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament. When they offered the crown to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, he rejected it and joined the other monarchs against the assembly. As the parliament was dominated by the middle classes who resisted workers’ and artisans’ demands, it lost popular support, and troops were finally called in to disband it.e) The role of women in nationalist struggles: Women participated actively in nationalist movements over the years. They formed their own political associations, founded newspapers and took part in political meetings and demonstrations. Despite this, they were denied suffrage rights during the election of the Frankfurt Assembly and were admitted only as observers in the visitors’ gallery. Liberal women such as Louise Otto-Peters argued that ‘Liberty is indivisible’ and that political rights could not be granted to men alone.
2. What steps did the French revolutionaries take to create a sense of collective identity among the French people?
ANSWERFrom the beginning the French revolutionaries introduced several measures to build a sense of collective identity, or a common nation:• The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasised a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution.• A new French flag, the tricolour, replaced the former royal standard.• The Estates General was elected by active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.• New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated in the name of the nation.• A centralised administrative system formulated uniform laws for all citizens.• Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.• Regional dialects were discouraged and French as spoken in Paris became the common national language.
3. Who were Marianne and Germania? What was the importance of the way in which they were portrayed?
ANSWERMarianne and Germania were female allegories of the nation — Marianne personified the French nation and Germania the German nation. They did not stand for any real woman but gave the abstract idea of the nation a concrete, recognisable form.Marianne was given a popular Christian name to underline the idea of a people’s nation. Her characteristics were drawn from Liberty and the Republic — the red cap, the tricolour and the cockade. Her statues were erected in public squares and her image marked on coins and stamps.Germania wears a crown of oak leaves, as the German oak stands for heroism. Other symbols included broken chains (being freed), a breastplate with an eagle (strength of the empire), a sword (readiness to fight), an olive branch (willingness to make peace), the black-red-gold tricolour and rays of the rising sun (a new era).Importance: by giving the nation a human face through these allegories and their symbols, artists made the abstract idea of the nation visible and emotionally powerful, helping ordinary people identify with it and reminding them of national unity.
4. Briefly trace the process of German unification.
ANSWERNationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class Germans, who in 1848 tried to unite the regions of the German confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament. This liberal initiative was repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners (Junkers) of Prussia.From then on Prussia led the movement for national unification. Its chief minister, Otto von Bismarck, was the architect of the process, carried out with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.Three wars over seven years — with Austria, Denmark and France — ended in Prussian victory and completed unification. On 18 January 1871, the Prussian king William I was proclaimed German Emperor (Kaiser) in a ceremony in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The new German state placed a strong emphasis on modernising its currency, banking, and legal and judicial systems.
5. What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him?
ANSWERAlthough Napoleon had destroyed democracy in France, he incorporated revolutionary principles in the administrative field to make the system more rational and efficient:• The Civil Code of 1804 (the Napoleonic Code) did away with all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law and secured the right to property. This code was exported to the regions under French control.• He simplified administrative divisions in the Dutch Republic, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.• He abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues.• In the towns, guild restrictions were removed.• Transport and communication systems were improved, and uniform laws, standardised weights and measures and a common currency made the movement and exchange of goods and capital easier for businessmen and producers.
Discuss
1. Explain what is meant by the 1848 revolution of the liberals. What were the political, social and economic ideas supported by the liberals?
ANSWERThe 1848 revolution of the liberals refers to the revolution led by the educated middle classes that ran parallel to the revolts of the poor, unemployed and starving peasants and workers in 1848. In regions where independent nation-states did not yet exist — such as Germany, Italy, Poland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire — men and women of the liberal middle classes combined their demands for constitutionalism with national unification, taking advantage of popular unrest. The Frankfurt parliament was a key product of this movement.Political ideas: the end of autocracy and clerical privileges, government by consent, a constitution, representative government through parliament, freedom of the press and freedom of association.Social ideas: equality before the law for all citizens; though notably the right to vote was, in practice, limited to property-owning men, and women’s political rights remained a controversial issue within the movement.Economic ideas: the freedom of markets and the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and capital — a unified economic territory such as the zollverein created.
2. Choose three examples to show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe.
ANSWERCulture — art, poetry, stories and music — played an important role in shaping nationalist feelings. Three examples:1. Romanticism and folk culture: The German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people (das volk), through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances that expressed the true spirit of the nation (volksgeist). The Grimm Brothers collected folktales as expressions of an authentic German spirit and opposed French domination.2. Language in Poland: After the partition of Poland, Russian was imposed and Polish forced out of schools. The clergy used Polish for Church gatherings and religious instruction; many priests were jailed or sent to Siberia for refusing to preach in Russian. The use of Polish became a symbol of the struggle against Russian dominance. Karol Kurpinski celebrated the national struggle through operas and music, turning folk dances like the polonaise and mazurka into nationalist symbols.3. Art and the Greek cause: The French Romantic painter Eugene Delacroix’s painting The Massacre at Chios (1824) dramatised the suffering of Greeks under the Turks and created sympathy for the Greek struggle, while poets such as Lord Byron mobilised public opinion in its support.
3. Through a focus on any two countries, explain how nations developed over the nineteenth century.
ANSWERTaking Germany and Italy as examples:Germany: The liberal middle-class attempt of 1848 to build a nation through an elected parliament was repressed by the monarchy and military. Leadership then passed to Prussia, whose chief minister Bismarck achieved unification through ‘blood and iron’ — three wars over seven years with Austria, Denmark and France. In January 1871 the Prussian king William I was proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles, and the new state demonstrated the dominance of Prussian state power.Italy: Italy too had a long history of fragmentation, divided into seven states with only Sardinia-Piedmont under an Italian ruler. Mazzini sought a unitary republic, but after the failures of 1831 and 1848 the task fell on Sardinia-Piedmont under King Victor Emmanuel II. Chief Minister Cavour defeated Austria in 1859 through an alliance with France, while Garibaldi and his Red Shirts won southern Italy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. In 1861 Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed king of a united Italy.
4. How was the history of nationalism in Britain unlike the rest of Europe?
ANSWERIn Britain the nation-state was not the result of a sudden upheaval or revolution but of a long-drawn-out process. There was no British nation before the eighteenth century; the primary identities of the people were ethnic — English, Welsh, Scot or Irish.As the English nation grew in wealth and power, it extended its influence over the others. The Act of Union (1707) between England and Scotland formed the ‘United Kingdom of Great Britain’, with the parliament dominated by English members; Scotland’s distinctive culture was suppressed, the Highlanders forbidden to speak Gaelic or wear their dress. Ireland was similarly divided between Catholics and Protestants, and after a failed revolt led by Wolfe Tone (1798) it was forcibly incorporated into the United Kingdom in 1801.Thus, unlike the rest of Europe where nations emerged from popular revolutions, the British nation was forged through the steady expansion and imposition of a dominant English culture — its symbols (the Union Jack, ‘God Save Our Noble King’, the English language) actively promoted, with older nations surviving only as subordinate partners.
5. Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans?
ANSWERThe Balkans — a region of geographical and ethnic variation inhabited by the Slavs — was the most serious source of nationalist tension after 1871, for several reasons:• The spread of romantic nationalism together with the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made the region explosive; one by one its subject nationalities broke away and declared independence.• The Balkan peoples based their claims on nationality and history, arguing they had once been independent but were later subjugated, so their struggles were attempts to win back lost independence.• The Balkan states were fiercely jealous of each other, each hoping to gain territory at the others’ expense.• Matters were worsened by big-power rivalry: Russia, Germany, England and Austro-Hungary each wanted to counter the others and extend control over the area. This led to a series of wars in the region and, finally, the First World War.
Extra Practice Questions
Short Answer Type Questions
Q1. Who was Frederic Sorrieu and what did he visualise in his 1848 prints?
ANSWERFrédéric Sorrieu was a French artist who, in 1848, prepared a series of four prints visualising his dream of a world made up of ‘democratic and social Republics’. The first print shows the peoples of Europe and America — of all ages and classes — marching to offer homage to the statue of Liberty, grouped as distinct nations identified by their flags and national costumes, with the shattered remains of absolutist institutions on the ground.
Q2. What was the Treaty of Vienna of 1815?
ANSWERDrawn up at the Congress of Vienna hosted by the Austrian Chancellor Metternich, the Treaty of Vienna (1815) aimed to undo most of the changes of the Napoleonic wars. The Bourbon dynasty was restored, France lost the territories it had annexed, and a ring of states was set up on France’s borders to prevent future expansion. The main intention was to restore monarchies and create a conservative order in Europe.
Q3. What was the zollverein and why was it important?
ANSWERThe zollverein was a customs union formed in 1834 at the initiative of Prussia and joined by most German states. It abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from over thirty to two. By creating a unified economic territory, it bound the Germans economically and strengthened wider nationalist sentiments — a wave of economic nationalism.
Q4. Who was Giuseppe Garibaldi?
ANSWERGiuseppe Garibaldi (1807–82) was the most celebrated of Italian freedom fighters. A sailor who met Mazzini and joined Young Italy, he led the famous Expedition of the Thousand to South Italy in 1860. His volunteers, popularly known as the Red Shirts, won the support of local peasants and helped drive out the Spanish rulers, advancing Italian unification.
Q5. What does the term ‘allegory’ mean, and how was it used to represent nations?
ANSWERAn allegory is when an abstract idea (such as liberty or freedom) is expressed through a person or thing, carrying both a literal and a symbolic meaning. In the nineteenth century artists personified nations as female figures — Marianne for France and Germania for the German nation — giving the abstract idea of the nation a concrete form people could identify with.
Long Answer Type Questions
Q1. Explain how the French Revolution was the first clear expression of nationalism.
ANSWERThe first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution of 1789. France was a territorial state under an absolute monarch, but the political and constitutional changes of the revolution transferred sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens, proclaiming that the people would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny. The revolutionaries built a collective identity through the ideas of la patrie and le citoyen, a new tricolour flag, the National Assembly, new hymns and oaths, a centralised administration with uniform laws, the abolition of internal customs duties, a uniform system of weights and measures, and the spread of French as the common language. They further declared it the mission of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europe from despotism. When the news reached other cities, students and middle classes set up Jacobin clubs, and with the revolutionary wars the French armies began to carry the idea of nationalism abroad.
Q2. Describe the relationship between liberalism and the new conservatism after 1815.
ANSWERAfter Napoleon’s defeat in 1815, European governments were driven by conservatism, the belief that traditional institutions — monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property and family — should be preserved. Most conservatives did not want a return to pre-revolutionary society; rather, they realised that modernisation could actually strengthen traditional institutions like the monarchy by making state power more effective. The conservative regimes set up at Vienna in 1815 were autocratic: they did not tolerate criticism or dissent and imposed censorship laws to control newspapers, books, plays and songs. Liberalism, by contrast, stood for the end of autocracy and clerical privileges, a constitution, representative government and individual freedom. The memory of the French Revolution continued to inspire liberals, and one of the major issues taken up by liberal-nationalists who criticised the conservative order was the freedom of the press. Fear of repression drove many liberal-nationalists underground into secret societies.
Q3. How did nationalism change in character by the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and how did it lead Europe to disaster in 1914?
ANSWERBy the last quarter of the nineteenth century, nationalism no longer retained the idealistic, liberal-democratic sentiment of the first half of the century. It became a narrow creed with limited ends: nationalist groups grew intolerant of each other and ready to go to war, while the major European powers manipulated the nationalist aspirations of subject peoples to further their own imperialist aims. The most serious tension lay in the Balkans, where the spread of romantic nationalism and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire made the region explosive. The Balkan states were jealous of one another, and big-power rivalry among Russia, Germany, England and Austro-Hungary — over trade, colonies and military might — turned the region into a scene of intense conflict. This led to a series of wars and finally to the First World War in 1914. Meanwhile, colonised peoples elsewhere began to oppose imperial domination, developing their own varieties of nationalism, so that the idea of organising societies into nation-states came to be accepted as natural and universal.
MCQs & Assertion–Reason
1. Who prepared the 1848 series of prints visualising a world of ‘democratic and social Republics’?
(a) Eugene Delacroix (b) Frédéric Sorrieu (c) Philip Veit (d) Andreas Rebmann
2. The first clear expression of nationalism came with:
(a) the Congress of Vienna (b) the unification of Germany (c) the French Revolution of 1789 (d) the Greek war of independence
3. The Civil Code of 1804 introduced by Napoleon is also known as the:
(a) Treaty of Vienna (b) Napoleonic Code (c) Act of Union (d) zollverein
4. The Congress of Vienna (1815) was hosted by the Austrian Chancellor:
(a) Bismarck (b) Cavour (c) Metternich (d) Mazzini
5. Giuseppe Mazzini founded which two secret societies?
(a) Carbonari and Red Shirts (b) Young Italy and Young Europe (c) Jacobin Club and Zollverein (d) United Irishmen and Carbonari
6. The customs union zollverein was formed in 1834 at the initiative of:
(a) Austria (b) France (c) Prussia (d) Britain
7. In which year was the Prussian king William I proclaimed German Emperor at Versailles?
(a) 1848 (b) 1861 (c) 1871 (d) 1832
8. Marianne and Germania were:
(a) revolutionary leaders (b) female allegories of the nation (c) secret societies (d) treaties of 1815
9. The Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognised the independence of:
(a) Poland (b) Italy (c) Greece (d) Belgium
10. The most serious source of nationalist tension in Europe after 1871 was the region called the:
(a) Rhineland (b) Balkans (c) Alpine region (d) Sudetenland
For each Assertion–Reason question, choose: (A) Both true and the Reason correctly explains the Assertion; (B) Both true but the Reason is not the correct explanation; (C) Assertion true, Reason false; (D) Assertion false, Reason true.
A-R 1. Assertion: The French Revolution transferred sovereignty from the monarchy to the people.
Reason: The revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny.
A-R 2. Assertion: Napoleon destroyed democracy in France.
Reason: The Civil Code of 1804 did away with all privileges based on birth and established equality before the law.
A-R 3. Assertion: The conservatives of 1815 wanted a complete return to pre-revolutionary society.
Reason: Conservatives realised that modernisation could strengthen traditional institutions like the monarchy.
A-R 4. Assertion: The Frankfurt parliament eventually lost popular support.
Reason: The parliament was dominated by the middle classes who resisted the demands of workers and artisans.
A-R 5. Assertion: The Balkans became an explosive region in the late nineteenth century.
Reason: The spread of romantic nationalism and the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire fuelled rival claims and big-power rivalry.
Answer key: 1-(A), 2-(B), 3-(D), 4-(A), 5-(A).
Exam Tips & Common Mistakes
How to score full marks in this chapter
Memorise the key dates as a timeline (1789 French Revolution, 1804 Napoleonic Code, 1815 Congress of Vienna, 1821 Greek struggle, 1830 July Revolution, 1848 revolutions, 1859–70 unification of Italy, 1871 unification of Germany). For ‘write a note’ questions, give the person/event, the dates and one clear point of significance. Learn the difference between liberalism and conservatism and the three spheres (political, social, economic) of liberal ideas. Use the textbook’s own examples — the zollverein, Mazzini’s Young Italy, the Grimm Brothers, Delacroix’s Massacre at Chios, the Frankfurt parliament and Germania’s symbols — to prove you have studied the chapter.
Common mistakes to avoid
Confusing the leaders of Italian unification — Mazzini (idealist, Young Italy), Cavour (diplomat, Sardinia-Piedmont) and Garibaldi (soldier, Red Shirts) play different roles.
Mixing up Marianne (France) with Germania (the German nation) and their symbols.
Writing that Britain became a nation through revolution — it was a long-drawn-out process of English expansion.
Forgetting that early liberalism gave the vote only to property-owning men, not all adults.
Confusing the Congress of Vienna (1815) with the revolutions of 1848.
Misdating German unification — the proclamation at Versailles was in January 1871, not 1848.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Chapter 1 of Class 10 History about?
Chapter 1, The Rise of Nationalism in Europe, explains how nationalism emerged in nineteenth-century Europe — through the French Revolution, the Napoleonic Code, the Congress of Vienna, the revolutions of 1830 and 1848, the unification of Italy and Germany, the female allegories Marianne and Germania, and the Balkan tensions that led towards the First World War.
What is the difference between liberalism and conservatism in this chapter?
Liberalism stood for individual freedom, equality before the law, government by consent, a constitution and representative government, and free markets. Conservatism stressed preserving traditional institutions — monarchy, the Church, social hierarchies, property and family — and preferred gradual change, as seen in the order set up by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
How many exercise questions does Class 10 History Chapter 1 have?
The end-of-chapter exercise has two sections — Write in brief with 5 questions (the first having five sub-parts a–e) and Discuss with 5 questions — all answered step by step on this page, along with extra practice, MCQs and Assertion–Reason questions.
