(i) They are the land owning class

(ii) They were small in numbers, but dominated Europe both socially and politically.

(iii) They spoke French which was considered the language of high society.

(iv) Their families were connected through marriage.

Revolutionaries spread their ideas in European States through following methods. 
1. They established many secret societies to train revolutionaries and spread their ideas. 
2. They opposed monarchical forms of governments that were established after the Vienna Congress. 
3. They fought for liberty and freedom and thought the creation of nation-state as a necessary part of their struggle for freedom. 
4. Giuseppe Mazzini founded secret societies like Young Italy and Young Europe for the Unification of fragmented Italy. 
5. Following Mazzini's model, secret societies were set up in Germany, France, Switzerland and Poland. 
6. Liberalism and nationalism brought revolution in many regions of Europe like the provinces of Ottoman Empire, Ireland, Poland besides Italy and Germany.

(i) The first clear-cut expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789. In 1789, France was under the rule of an absolute monarch.
(ii) When the revolutionaries came to power in France, they were determined to create a new sense of unit and nationhood. For this, they emphasized the concept of France being the father land (La Patrie) for all French people, who were from now on addressed as citizens (citoyen). They were given the tri-colour flag, the three colours representing liberty, equality and fraternity.
French revolutionaries introduced various other measures such as:
(a) The Estate General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly.
(b) New hymns were composed, oaths taken and martyrs commemorated all in the name of the nation.
(c) A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory.
(d) Internal customs, duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measures was adopted. (e) Regional dialects were discouraged and French, as it was spoken and written in Paris, became the common language of the nation.
(f) They further declared that it was the mission and the destiny of the French nation to liberate the people of Europe from despotism and help them to become nations.

The decade of 1830 had brought great economic hardship or crisis in Europe in the following ways 
1. There was an enormous increase in population all over Europe. As a result, unemployment became a common feature in most of the countries. 
2. Migration of rural people to the cities further made the situation worse. Small scale producers in towns sometimes faced with stiff competition from rural areas where production was carried out mainly in homes or small workshops. These products imported from rural areas were obviously cheaper than the town-made products. 
3. Due to population, the demand of foods increased. It led to the rise of food prices. This increased price along with a year of bad harvests led to widespread pauperism in town and whole country.

(a) Enormous increase in population leading to unemployment.

(b) Migration of people from rural areas to urban area for job.

(c) Products of small producers engaged in textile production from homes were displaced due to imports of cheap machine-made textile goods.

(d) Peasants struggled due to feudal dues and obligations.

(e) Bad harvests and rising of food prices added to poverty in towns.

(i) The Revolution of the Liberals (1848) was led by the educated middle class.

(ii) In France it brought about the abdication of the monarch and a republic based on universal male suffrage had been proclaimed.

(iii) In Germany, Italy, Poland and Austro-Hungarian empire, the liberal middle class demanded constitutionalism with national unification.

After 1848, nationalism in Europe moved away from its association with democracy and revolution, Nationalist sentiments were often mobilised by conservatives for promoting state power and achieving political domination over Europe. Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class Germans. Middle class German tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament. However, liberal initiative to nation-building was repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by toe large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia. Prussia with its chief minister, Otto von Bismarck took on the leadership of the movement for national unification with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy. Prussia emerged victorious after fighting three wars over seven years against the combined forces of Austria, Denmark and France and the process of unification of Germany was completed. In January 1871, the Prussian king, Kaiser William I, was proclaimed German Emperor in a ceremony held at Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles. The nation -building process in Germany had demonstrated the dominance of Prussian state power. The new state placed a strong emphasis on modernising the currency, banking, legal and judicial systems in Germany. Prussian measures and practices often became a model for the rest of Germany.

The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation.  It includes Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia, Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.  The people of this region were called Slavs.  A large part of the Balkans was under the control of Ottoman Empire.  In 19th century it was collapsed.  there were revolts by various nationalities for independence.  The imperial powers of Europe competed with one another to extend control over Balkan region because of its strategic position.  Due to this there arouse an intense rivalry among the powers.  the people of Balkan regions were separated from each other due to the domination of other powers.  The spread of nationalist ideas among Slavs, made this region very explosive.  Balkan area thus became an area of intense conflict leading to wars resulting to wars resulting in the First World War [1914].

The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation.  It includes Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Bosnia, Croatia, Herzegovina, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro.  The people of this region were called Slavs.  A large part of the Balkans was under the control of Ottoman Empire.  In 19th century it was collapsed.  there were revolts by various nationalities for independence.  The imperial powers of Europe competed with one another to extend control over Balkan region because of its strategic position.  Due to this there arouse an intense rivalry among the powers.  the people of Balkan regions were separated from each other due to the domination of other powers.  The spread of nationalist ideas among Slavs, made this region very explosive.  Balkan area thus became an area of intense conflict leading to wars resulting to wars resulting in the First World War [1914].

The growth of nationalism did not come only through wars but also through the different forms of culture such as art, poetry, dance, music tic contributed to the growth of nationalism. The following three examples will show the contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe: -
Example 1 - Romanticism - It is a cultural movement which developed nationalist sentiment through creative works like painting, poetry, literature, folk songs, dances etc. It focused on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings. They aimed to create a sense of collective heritage as the basis of a nation.
Example 2 - Emphasis on Vernacular Language - It carried the modern nationalist message to people who were illiterate. Though Poland is no longer existed as an independent nation, national feelings were kept alive through music and language. Karol Kurpinski celebrated the national struggle through music, folk dances into nationalist symbols.
Example 3 - Johann Gottfried Herder - According to him, German culture was inculcated to the common people through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dances. So collecting and recording these forms of folk culture was essential to the nation - building.

Romanticism referred to a cultural movement which sought to develop a particular form of national sentiment in the following ways
1. Romantic artist and poets generally criticised the glorification of reason and science.
2. They focussed on emotions, intuition and mystical feelings
3. Their effort was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage, a common cultural past as the basis of a nation.
4. Some German romantics like Johann Gottfried Herder thought that through folk songs, folk poetry and folk dance, the true spirit of the nation could, be popularised. He claimed that true German culture was to be discovered among the common people.

Examples of contribution of culture to the growth of nationalism in Europe are
(i) The idea of a nation can be created through stories, poems and writings. Music too can help in expressing nationalist feelings or sentiments. Collecting and recording the different forms of folk culture was important for building a national consciousness. Being a part of the lives of the common people, folk culture enabled nationalist to carry the message of nationalism to a large and diverse audience. For example, Karol Kurpinski celebrated the national struggle through his operas and music turning Folk dances like the Polonaise and Mazurka into nationalist symbol.
(ii) Romanticism, a cultural movement which emerged in Europe, sought to develop a particular form of nationalist sentiments or national feelings. The main aim of Romantic artists was to create a sense of a shared collective heritage and a common cultural past.
(iii) Language also played an important role in developing the national sentiments or nationalist feeling. For example, in Poland, language began to be used as a weapon of national resistance. The wide scale use of Polish language came to be seen as a symbol of struggle against national dominance.

The 1848 revolution is a revolution led by the educated middle classes of Europe.  The liberals supported political, social and economic ideas.
Political, Social and Economic Ideas supported by the Liberals
(a) Politically it stressed on the concept of representative government based on the approval of the people.
(b) Liberalism ended the autocracy and clerical privileges and encouraged supremacy of the people.
(c) Socially, it stressed equality of all before law and individual freedom.
(d) Economically it stood for freedom of markets and abolition of state imposed restriction on the goods and capital and inviolability of private property.

The 1848 revolution is a revolution led by the educated middle classes of Europe.  The liberals supported political, social and economic ideas.
Political, Social and Economic Ideas supported by the Liberals
(a) Politically it stressed on the concept of representative government based on the approval of the people.
(b) Liberalism ended the autocracy and clerical privileges and encouraged supremacy of the people.
(c) Socially, it stressed equality of all before law and individual freedom.
(d) Economically it stood for freedom of markets and abolition of state imposed restriction on the goods and capital and inviolability of private property.