Class 10 History Chapter 1, The Rise of Nationalism in Europe, opens India and the Contemporary World II (2026-27) with Frédéric Sorrieu’s 1848 utopian print and traces how the French Revolution (1789), Napoleon’s Civil Code of 1804, liberal nationalism, the 1815 Treaty of Vienna, Romanticism, the 1848 revolutions, and the unifications of Germany, Italy and Britain forged the modern European nation-state.
What Class 10 Social Science (History) Chapter 1 Covers
1. The French Revolution and the Idea of the Nation & 2. The Making of Nationalism in Europe shows how the French revolutionaries created collective identity (la patrie, le citoyen, the tricolour flag, the Estates General renamed National Assembly, uniform laws and weights/measures) and how the Napoleonic Code (Civil Code of 1804) abolished privileges based on birth, established equality before the law, secured the right to property, abolished the feudal system and freed peasants from serfdom, before examining the Aristocracy, the new middle class, Liberal Nationalism (Zollverein customs union of 1834), Conservatism after 1815 (Treaty of Vienna hosted by Duke Metternich), and Giuseppe Mazzini (Young Italy in Marseilles and Young Europe in Berne).
3. The Age of Revolutions: 1830–1848 & 4. The Making of Germany and Italy covers the July 1830 upheaval in France, the Greek War of Independence (Treaty of Constantinople, 1832), Romanticism (Johann Gottfried Herder’s das Volk and volksgeist, Karol Kurpinski’s polonaise and mazurka, language in Poland), the 1848 Frankfurt Parliament, the Unification of Germany led by Prussia’s Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck through three wars over seven years culminating in Kaiser William I’s proclamation at Versailles (Jan 1871), the Unification of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel II, Chief Minister Cavour, Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi (1861), and the ‘strange case of Britain’ (Act of Union 1707, incorporation of Ireland in 1801).
5. Visualizing the Nation & 6. Nationalism and Imperialism compares the female allegories Marianne (France, with the red cap, tricolour and cockade) and Germania (Germany, wearing a crown of oak leaves for heroism), and explains how nationalist tensions in the Balkans after 1871 combined with big-power imperial rivalry to trigger the First World War in 1914.
Exercises in Chapter 1
- Write in Brief & Discuss (9 Questions) cover notes on Giuseppe Mazzini, Count Camillo de Cavour, the Greek war of independence, the Frankfurt parliament and the role of women in nationalist struggles, steps taken by French revolutionaries to create collective identity, who Marianne and Germania were, the process of German unification, changes introduced by Napoleon, and why nationalist tensions emerged in the Balkans.
Read Class 10 Social Science (History) Chapter 1 Online
More Chapters
- Next: Chapter 2: Nationalism in India
- Hindi medium: Class 10 History Chapter 1 PDF in Hindi (Bharat aur Samakalin Vishwa II)
- All Social Science (History) chapters and the other Class 10 books: Class 10 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
What changes did Napoleon introduce to make the administrative system more efficient in the territories ruled by him?
Through the Civil Code of 1804 (Napoleonic Code), Napoleon abolished all privileges based on birth, established equality before the law and secured the right to property. He simplified administrative divisions, abolished the feudal system, freed peasants from serfdom and manorial dues, removed guild restrictions in towns, improved transport and communication systems, and introduced uniform laws, standardised weights and measures, and a common national currency.
Why did nationalist tensions emerge in the Balkans after 1871?
The Balkans was a region of geographical and ethnic variation (Slavs) largely under the disintegrating Ottoman Empire. As romantic nationalism spread and Balkan nationalities struggled to win back their independence, they were fiercely jealous of each other and hoped to gain more territory. At the same time, the region became the scene of intense big-power rivalry among Russia, Germany, England and Austro-Hungary, leading to a series of wars and finally the First World War.