Comparing The French Revolution And The Failure Of Nationalism

The French Revolution first invoked the idea of a sovereign ‘nation’ and nationalism as a political force. “Not only could the Revolution not be unmade, but Revolution as a possible kind of political action would henceforth always be present in the European consciousness as a promise and a threat.”(Kedourie,1993) While the nationalism that emerged in France was liberal, it was the failure of liberal nationalism and the re-emergence of jingoism that finally led to German unification.

While the Napoleonic rule’s work to restrain the tide of the Revolution was seen as positive, it kept a degree of liberalisation and political change the French Revolution had brought about. In 1806, during the Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon dissolved the Holy Roman

Yet, the 39 German states remain untouched but renamed themselves to the ‘German Confederation’. While Europe moved towards the more conservative governments, the liberals continued to be inspired by the French Revolution. In 1848, the liberals made the first serious attempt at German unification, although they eventually failed. In many ways similar to the one that had occurred in France in 1789, the revolution of 1848 was an uprising of lower and middle class Europeans against what was viewed as the oppressive elite, particularly royalty. Nationalism and the unification of the states presented a way to overcome these absolute monarchs. (Ozment, 2004) But unlike the French Revolution, the Frankfurt Parliament was not keen on guillotining their king and instead offered him a seat at the head of the drafted constitutional monarchy, which wad done over the course of a year. William IV refused, the assembly lost its momentum and finally disbanded by June. (Feuchtwanger, 2002) This did not, however, mean that the desire for a unified Germany had subsided. The failure of the Frankfurt Assembly was mainly due to the belief that sweeping liberal reforms would launch German lands into catastrophic disorder. (Ozment,