The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789

"The first clear expression of nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789." Examine the statement.

Answer

The first clear expression of Nationalism came with the French Revolution in 1789:

1. The political and constitutional changes that came in the wake of the French revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens.
2. Formation of National Assembly.
3. Hymns were composed and oaths were taken.
4. Centralised and uniform laws were introduced.
5. French became the common language of the nation.
6. Sense of collective belonging with La Patrie (the fatherland) and Le Citoyen (the citizen).
7. Internal customs duties and dues were abolished and a uniform system of weights and measure were adopted.
8. With the outbreak of the revolutionary wars, the French armies began to carry the idea of nationalism abroad.

France was a full-fledged territorial state in 1789 under the rule of an absolute monarch. The political and constitutional changes that came in the wake of the French Revolution led to the transfer of sovereignty from the monarchy to a body of French citizens. The revolution proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny.

The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed the National Assembly. A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all citizens within its territory.

The revolutionaries further declared that it was the mission and the destiny of the French nation to liberate the peoples of Europe from despotism, in other words to help other peoples of Europe to become nations.