Influence of Nationalism on Revolutions

All right, get your party pants on y'all because it's time to talk about revolutions. And we ain't got no time to waste, so if you're ready to get them brain cows milked... Let's get to it. Now before we get cozy with the major revolutions you need to know, we need to explore the three main factors that got everyone whipped up into a revolutionary fervor. And the first cause, and maybe the most important, was the rise of nationalism, which describes a sense of commonality among a people based on a shared language, religion, social customs, and it's often linked with a desire for territory. And this was a new development during this period. Like for most of human history, as you've seen in previous units, large states incorporated many diverse peoples within their borders. Like the Ottoman Empire, or the Mongol Empire, or, you know, insert empire name here, none of those those empires were associated with a singular people that shared an ethnicity or a language or whatever. However, during this period, the notion that a people who shared a culture and a history and ethnicity ought to dwell in their own territory and rule themselves was becoming increasingly strong. Oh, and by the way, if you want note guides to follow along with this video and all my videos, check that link below. Anyway, some states actually tried to use this growing nationalistic fervor to their advantage in order to foster a sense of unity among their people. And they did this by injecting nationalist themes into their schools and emphasizing public rituals that glorified the nation and its culture and by pushing people into military service. For example, Russian leaders required the Russian language to be spoken throughout their territorial holdings in order to create a sense of unity among the various ethnicities under the authority of the state. However, that attempt at nationalistic unity through language backfired in places like Ukraine and Poland and Finland. Each place had their own languages that identified them as a people, and the imposition of Russian only created a more powerful counter-nationalism against Russian authority in those places. So, you know. Nationalism failed. Okay, now the second cause of revolutions was a widespread discontent with monarchist and imperial rule. I mean, as a general rule of history, that ain't nobody likes getting squashed under the thumb of Big Daddy Governor. And although we're gonna focus in this video on the major Atlantic revolutions, it's gonna be important to know that these revolutions took place in the context of a much more generalized rejection of authority across the world. For example, the Safavid Empire tried to impose harsh new taxes and was met with rebellion from various militaristic nomadic groups on the edges of the empire. And that resistance led to the weakening of the Safavid state, so much so that in the early 18th century outside invaders officially put an end to the Safavids. Or you had the Wahhabi movement, which sought to reform the corrupted form of Islam endemic in the Ottoman Empire, and that, combined with plenty of other problems, contributed to the long decline of the Ottomans. And the third cause of revolution was the development of new ideologies and systems of government. Recall from the last video that Enlightenment thinkers like Locke and Rousseau and Montesquieu whipped their thinky-thinky parts into a fury and conceived of a new kind of governmental structure. At the center of all of it was the concept of popular sovereignty, which argued that the power to govern was in the hands of the people themselves. And that naturally meant that government should be characterized by democracy, since, in order to exercise that power, people must have the right to vote and influence the policies of the government. And then came the idea of liberalism, which was an economic and political ideology that emphasized the protection of civil rights. rights, the necessity of a representative government, the protection of private property, and economic freedom. Okay, now you've got the causes down, so let's get to know the major Atlantic revolutions themselves, all of which were inspired by democratic ideals. First is the American Revolution, which began in 1776, and the short story goes like this. The British had established 13 colonies in North America on the Atlantic coast. And because Britain was so far removed from these colonies by this giant honking ocean right here, those colonies pretty much developed a culture, a system of government, and an economic framework without interference from Big Mama Britain. Not after the Seven Years War, part of which was the first of its kind, was the Great was fought on the North American continent, Britain's war debts were substantial. And that's when Britain decided to clamp down on those colonies and get them to help pay for that war with a flurry of new taxes. And so because of the stiff imposition of new taxes, the curtailment of various freedoms that the colonists had previously enjoyed, and a widespread adoption of Enlightenment principles of government, the American Revolution began. And those Enlightenment principles are on full display in the Declaration of Independence, which is positively overflowing with ideas of popular sovereignty, natural rights, and the social contract. Anyway, with substantial help from France, the Americans won the war. won the war, and the United States was born in 1783. And this victory was a real big deal because it provided the template for other nations throughout the world for a successful overthrow of oppressive... power and the establishment of a Republican-style government. Okay, the second revolution to know is the French Revolution, which began in 1789. Remember that France played a big part in the American Revolution, and as French soldiers returned home from war, many of them were inflamed with ideals of democracy and started looking at their own stupid absolutist king with suspicion. And so when Louis XVI attempted to tighten his control over France in order to pay his own enormous war debts, the people of France rebelled. rebelled, went ahead and overthrew the government, and established a republic. And Enlightenment principles likewise undergirded the main document of this revolution, namely the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which elegantly championed the ideas of natural rights and popular sovereignty. And then the third revolution to know is the Haitian Revolution, which began in 1791. Now here's where I tell you that Haiti was the colonial property of France, and it happened to be the most prosperous colony in the whole dang world. And so when the island's majority enslaved black population heard about French revolutionaries calling for liberty and equality, they were like, uh, yeah. that sounds kinda nice. And so under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, the enslaved Haitians revolted and eventually defeated the French, establishing the second republic in the Western Hemisphere after the United States and the first black government in the- And the fourth revolution you need to know is actually many revolutions, but we'll combine them under the heading of Latin American Revolutions. So Spanish and Portuguese colonies throughout Central and South America were similarly influenced by Enlightenment ideas and began to resent the increasing control their Imperial parents were exerting upon them. Huh, we sensing a theme here? Anyway, this resentment was especially present in the Creole class, which was made up of those who were of European heritage but were born in the Americas. And on the racial hierarchy in the Americas, that put them in the second position below the peninsula raise who are European also, but were. born in Europe. So the Creoles were kind of like the Kirkland's brand of colonial authority, and they were none too happy about peninsulares getting most of the political power. And so in 1808, Napoleon's invasion of Spain and deposition of the Portuguese Monarch created an unstable political situation in the American colonies, and that created the occasion for the revolution in Latin America. And so Creole military leaders like Simón Bolívar appealed to colonial subjects across racial lines with Enlightenment ideals, which he summarized in his letter from Jamaica. And that document, just like the other revolutionary documents we consider, contained appeals to popular sovereignty and the right to self-rule among the various Spanish colonies. And so through a series of long and protracted wars, one Latin American colony after another won its independence and many of them formed Republican governments in its wake. Okay, now let's finish by talking about a couple other nationalist movements during this period and what happened as a result. And here you just need to understand that while nationalism was a prime factor in the full-blown revolutions we just talked about, there were also many other nationalist movements that resulted not in revolution but for calls for a higher degree of self-rule in some cases and national unification in other cases. So first let's talk about the propaganda movement. movement in the Philippines. Now this was also a Spanish colony, and they imposed a similar racial hierarchy here as they did in their American colonies. I mean, you can't say they weren't consistent. Anyway, the Spanish tightly controlled opportunities for education in this colony, and that meant that many of the wealthier Creoles and Mestizos traveled to Europe for a university education. And when they got there, Europe was awash in nationalist and Enlightenment ideas, and some of those Filipino students absorbed those ideas and brought them right on home. And so they started publishing these ideas like mad, and even though they weren't calling for independence from Spain, the Spanish authorities knew where that kind of thinking could fall. And so they sought to suppress the movement, and as a result, the Philippine Revolution broke out at the end of the century. And then second, nationalism played a major role in the unification of Italy and Germany. So before and during this period, both Italy and Germany were made up of dozens of fragmented states. But under the influence of nationalism, military leaders from both nations inspired their respective populations to come together and unify each place under a single government. And so through a combination of diplomacy and deft military tactics, this nationalist fervor resulted in the unification of these fragmented regions. Okay, click here to keep reviewing for Unit 5. and click here if you want to grab my video note guides, which are great for students who hate reading their textbook but still want to get the content of this course firmly crammed into their brain folds. I appreciate you hanging out, and I'll catch you on the flip-flop. Heimler out.

All right, get your party pants on y'all because it's time to talk about revolutions. And we ain't got no time to waste, so if you're ready to get them brain cows milked... Let's get to it.

Now before we get cozy with the major revolutions you need to know, we need to explore the three main factors that got everyone whipped up into a revolutionary fervor. And the first cause, and maybe the most important, was the rise of nationalism, which describes a sense of commonality among a people based on a shared language, religion, social customs, and it's often linked with a desire for territory. And this was a new development during this period.

Like for most of human history, as you've seen in previous units, large states incorporated many diverse peoples within their borders. Like the Ottoman Empire, or the Mongol Empire, or, you know, insert empire name here, none of those those empires were associated with a singular people that shared an ethnicity or a language or whatever. However, during this period, the notion that a people who shared a culture and a history and ethnicity ought to dwell in their own territory and rule themselves was becoming increasingly strong.

Oh, and by the way, if you want note guides to follow along with this video and all my videos, check that link below. Anyway, some states actually tried to use this growing nationalistic fervor to their advantage in order to foster a sense of unity among their people. And they did this by injecting nationalist themes into their schools and emphasizing public rituals that glorified the nation and its culture and by pushing people into military service.

For example, Russian leaders required the Russian language to be spoken throughout their territorial holdings in order to create a sense of unity among the various ethnicities under the authority of the state. However, that attempt at nationalistic unity through language backfired in places like Ukraine and Poland and Finland. Each place had their own languages that identified them as a people, and the imposition of Russian only created a more powerful counter-nationalism against Russian authority in those places. So, you know.

Nationalism failed. Okay, now the second cause of revolutions was a widespread discontent with monarchist and imperial rule. I mean, as a general rule of history, that ain't nobody likes getting squashed under the thumb of Big Daddy Governor.

And although we're gonna focus in this video on the major Atlantic revolutions, it's gonna be important to know that these revolutions took place in the context of a much more generalized rejection of authority across the world. For example, the Safavid Empire tried to impose harsh new taxes and was met with rebellion from various militaristic nomadic groups on the edges of the empire. And that resistance led to the weakening of the Safavid state, so much so that in the early 18th century outside invaders officially put an end to the Safavids. Or you had the Wahhabi movement, which sought to reform the corrupted form of Islam endemic in the Ottoman Empire, and that, combined with plenty of other problems, contributed to the long decline of the Ottomans.

And the third cause of revolution was the development of new ideologies and systems of government. Recall from the last video that Enlightenment thinkers like Locke and Rousseau and Montesquieu whipped their thinky-thinky parts into a fury and conceived of a new kind of governmental structure. At the center of all of it was the concept of popular sovereignty, which argued that the power to govern was in the hands of the people themselves. And that naturally meant that government should be characterized by democracy, since, in order to exercise that power, people must have the right to vote and influence the policies of the government. And then came the idea of liberalism, which was an economic and political ideology that emphasized the protection of civil rights.

rights, the necessity of a representative government, the protection of private property, and economic freedom. Okay, now you've got the causes down, so let's get to know the major Atlantic revolutions themselves, all of which were inspired by democratic ideals. First is the American Revolution, which began in 1776, and the short story goes like this. The British had established 13 colonies in North America on the Atlantic coast.

And because Britain was so far removed from these colonies by this giant honking ocean right here, those colonies pretty much developed a culture, a system of government, and an economic framework without interference from Big Mama Britain. Not after the Seven Years War, part of which was the first of its kind, was the Great was fought on the North American continent, Britain's war debts were substantial. And that's when Britain decided to clamp down on those colonies and get them to help pay for that war with a flurry of new taxes. And so because of the stiff imposition of new taxes, the curtailment of various freedoms that the colonists had previously enjoyed, and a widespread adoption of Enlightenment principles of government, the American Revolution began.

And those Enlightenment principles are on full display in the Declaration of Independence, which is positively overflowing with ideas of popular sovereignty, natural rights, and the social contract. Anyway, with substantial help from France, the Americans won the war. won the war, and the United States was born in 1783. And this victory was a real big deal because it provided the template for other nations throughout the world for a successful overthrow of oppressive...

power and the establishment of a Republican-style government. Okay, the second revolution to know is the French Revolution, which began in 1789. Remember that France played a big part in the American Revolution, and as French soldiers returned home from war, many of them were inflamed with ideals of democracy and started looking at their own stupid absolutist king with suspicion. And so when Louis XVI attempted to tighten his control over France in order to pay his own enormous war debts, the people of France rebelled. rebelled, went ahead and overthrew the government, and established a republic. And Enlightenment principles likewise undergirded the main document of this revolution, namely the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, which elegantly championed the ideas of natural rights and popular sovereignty.

And then the third revolution to know is the Haitian Revolution, which began in 1791. Now here's where I tell you that Haiti was the colonial property of France, and it happened to be the most prosperous colony in the whole dang world. And so when the island's majority enslaved black population heard about French revolutionaries calling for liberty and equality, they were like, uh, yeah. that sounds kinda nice. And so under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, the enslaved Haitians revolted and eventually defeated the French, establishing the second republic in the Western Hemisphere after the United States and the first black government in the- And the fourth revolution you need to know is actually many revolutions, but we'll combine them under the heading of Latin American Revolutions.

So Spanish and Portuguese colonies throughout Central and South America were similarly influenced by Enlightenment ideas and began to resent the increasing control their Imperial parents were exerting upon them. Huh, we sensing a theme here? Anyway, this resentment was especially present in the Creole class, which was made up of those who were of European heritage but were born in the Americas.

And on the racial hierarchy in the Americas, that put them in the second position below the peninsula raise who are European also, but were. born in Europe. So the Creoles were kind of like the Kirkland's brand of colonial authority, and they were none too happy about peninsulares getting most of the political power.

And so in 1808, Napoleon's invasion of Spain and deposition of the Portuguese Monarch created an unstable political situation in the American colonies, and that created the occasion for the revolution in Latin America. And so Creole military leaders like Simón Bolívar appealed to colonial subjects across racial lines with Enlightenment ideals, which he summarized in his letter from Jamaica. And that document, just like the other revolutionary documents we consider, contained appeals to popular sovereignty and the right to self-rule among the various Spanish colonies. And so through a series of long and protracted wars, one Latin American colony after another won its independence and many of them formed Republican governments in its wake. Okay, now let's finish by talking about a couple other nationalist movements during this period and what happened as a result.

And here you just need to understand that while nationalism was a prime factor in the full-blown revolutions we just talked about, there were also many other nationalist movements that resulted not in revolution but for calls for a higher degree of self-rule in some cases and national unification in other cases. So first let's talk about the propaganda movement. movement in the Philippines.

Now this was also a Spanish colony, and they imposed a similar racial hierarchy here as they did in their American colonies. I mean, you can't say they weren't consistent. Anyway, the Spanish tightly controlled opportunities for education in this colony, and that meant that many of the wealthier Creoles and Mestizos traveled to Europe for a university education.

And when they got there, Europe was awash in nationalist and Enlightenment ideas, and some of those Filipino students absorbed those ideas and brought them right on home. And so they started publishing these ideas like mad, and even though they weren't calling for independence from Spain, the Spanish authorities knew where that kind of thinking could fall. And so they sought to suppress the movement, and as a result, the Philippine Revolution broke out at the end of the century. And then second, nationalism played a major role in the unification of Italy and Germany. So before and during this period, both Italy and Germany were made up of dozens of fragmented states.

But under the influence of nationalism, military leaders from both nations inspired their respective populations to come together and unify each place under a single government. And so through a combination of diplomacy and deft military tactics, this nationalist fervor resulted in the unification of these fragmented regions. Okay, click here to keep reviewing for Unit 5. and click here if you want to grab my video note guides, which are great for students who hate reading their textbook but still want to get the content of this course firmly crammed into their brain folds. I appreciate you hanging out, and I'll catch you on the flip-flop. Heimler out.

Transcript for:Influence of Nationalism on Revolutions

Transcript for:
Influence of Nationalism on Revolutions