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The Rise of Nationalism and Romanticism
Though Napoleon’s empire remained politically intact, cracks began to show. His conquest of Europe, the burdens of the Continental System and the British blockade, and the high taxes he levied outside of France led to resentment and resistance in many regions of the Empire. People were becoming tired of seeing their nations used as pawns against the British. Thus, nationalism developed in reaction to Napoleon’s imperial reign.
The main site of anti-Napoleonic nationalism was in the German states, some of which had been absorbed by France, but most of which were contained within the Confederation of the Rhine. The German nationalist movement rebelled not only against French rule, but also against the entire French intellectual tradition. The years of French domination saw a remarkable flowering of thought and art in Germany, with philosophers and artists such as Goethe, Schiller, Herder, Kant, Hegel, and Beethoven rising to the forefront.
Johan Gottfried von Herder and Volksgeist
German intellectuals now began a revolution in thought called Romanticism, which challenged nearly every aspect of French Rationalism, and thus the policies of the empire based upon it. Romanticism and German Nationalism both have their roots in the work of Johan Gottfried von Herder. In 1784, he published Ideas on the Philosophy of the History of Mankind, in which he suggested that every nation was different, and thus, that every nation had its own particular specialty. By this logic, Germany should not copy France, but pursue its own particular national genius and identity. Herder invoked the Volk (the people) as the root of the true national culture and special nature (Volksgeist) which every nation should try to express. Herder’s ideas were radically at odds with ideas of Enlightenment philosophes like Voltaire, who believed that all nations would follow similar paths of progress from barbarity to civilization, though at different rates. In this way, Romanticism challenged Napoleon’s cherished Enlightenment ideal of universal laws.
Johann Gottlieb Fichte
Johann Gottlieb Fichte, who drew on the work of Herder, was a German philosopher and Romantic who argued that each person’s inner self determined their morality. In 1800, Fichte proposed a “Closed Commercial State,” advocating a centralized state that could isolate itself from the world to develop its own volksgeist. When Germany fell under French domination, Fichte argued, like Herder, that there was a special German “spirit,” but unlike Herder, Fichte claimed that the German spirit was better than that of other nations. For that reason, it needed to be carefully protected from being corrupted by contact with outside influences, including French influence.
Types of Nationalism in the Napoleonic Era
The nationalism that developed in reaction to Napoleon usually took one of two tracks. In some cases, it was a conservative nationalism, a desire to go back to the old ways that prevailed before Napoleon took over and started making reforms. On the other hand, there was also a liberal nationalism. Napoleon brought European countries some of the fruits of the French Revolution, but some people wanted more—they wanted true self-government. Amazingly, opposite approaches, liberal and conservative, worked in tandem to oppose Napoleon’s rule.
German Nationalism in the Napoleonic Era
Before the Napoleonic era, Germany had never had much of a national identity. It consisted of a loose grouping of states united only by a common language, vague cultural ties, and the weak government of the Holy Roman Empire. Inspired by the French, Germans desired to revitalize their own political system and to gain a unifying national consciousness. Politically, the French Revolution demonstrated to the Germans the power of nationalism to mobilize people as its liberal reforms led to a more efficient French system and a more patriotic French population, and thus the Germans followed suit. However, French domination of culture and thought led Germans to desire a nationalism of their own. Many Germans emerged from Napoleonic rule tired of the petty kingdoms and principalities that made up the Holy Roman Empire, hoping instead for a unified state
British Nationalism in the Napoleonic Era
Britain was also strongly swept by anti-Napoleonic nationalism. While the years of Napoleonic rule were crucial years in the development of British manufacturing, British workers were still being horribly exploited, working long hours at monotonous and dangerous jobs for little pay. On top of this, unemployment was high, and a workers’ revolt might well have happened if the British people hadn’t had Napoleon to rally against. This unifying opposition to Napoleon may be one factor explaining why workers didn’t revolt against the factory system in this early and oppressive stage of the Industrial Revolution.
Lack of Anti-Napoleonic Nationalism
Two exceptions to the general rule of French dominance creating local nationalism were Italy and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw. The Italians, lacking a unified history and broken into several states under Napoleon, never developed a strong anti-Napoleon nationalist movement. The Poles, meanwhile, were also quite happy with their new, restored state. Even if it wasn’t really independent, they at least they had a single territory now, rather than being split up and controlled by Russia, Prussia, and Austria, which was what likely would have happened if Napoleon hadn't been supporting the Grand Duchy.
