Geopolitical Problems in 19th Century Europe Essay

Geopolitical Problems in 19th Century Europe - Essay Example The French Revolution has announced not only the individuals right to freedom and equality but also the right of nations to determine their own status. Wherever human rights and privileges were endangered under foreign rule, the requirement for freedom implied protection of national freedom from such foreign domination. The concept of the right to self-determination for the nations was served to justify the demands of stateless Eastern nations, including Poland, which lost its political freedom in the earlier centuries. This right should help to organize separate nation-states with their own governments including all their subjects. By 1815, nationalism has become one of the leading ideologies in the world. It was able to mobilize society in the transition to a capitalist economy, which led to an increase in the effectiveness of national states and the growth of their economic power. Young nations have also shown high efficiency with the military side. A professional army, consisting of subjects monarchs often suffered defeat from an untrained civilian militia. In the 19th century, the supporters of ethnic nationalism believed that national unity must be based on a common ethnic origin, also it was believed that those who have a different origin, by definition, cannot be part of the national culture . Europe in the 19th century had several large multinational empires such as Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Empire, Czarist Russia, and Imperial Germany. Within these empires were existed numerous national minorities that feel oppressed, exploited and abused. Their reaction was resistance to a stronger and more powerful nationalism. However, in most countries of Central and Eastern Europe nationalism arose as a reaction to the French occupation and initially wore an expression of cultural-ethnic character. In particular, the revolutionary wave of 1848 originated pan-Slavism.