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= Era 7: Nationalism, Final Exam Essay = " But the Divine design will infallibly be realized ... The map of Europe will be redrawn.” -- Giuseppe Mazzini. Between the mid-1800s and the beginning of World War I, nationalism became a catalyst for extreme change. Nationalism is “advocacy for political independence of a particular country.” It shaped the development of an entire continent, evolved into a powerful force in many places almost simultaneously, and elicited some strong reactions and serious consequences during this period of almost 75 years.

Throughout this part of Era 7, the outcome of events had to do with nationalism. Mazzini founded Young Italy, a nationalist society, Garibaldi led the Red Shirts, and the Italian states were unified by 1871. Austria and Hungary set up a dual Monarchy, nationalist groups grew restless, and the Empire was weakened. In the 1830s, the Serbians and the Greeks achieved autonomy and independence. Not only did nationalism shape the development of the European continent, it evolved into a powerful force throughout the area nearly concurrently.

In 1776, the Colonial States of Americ a declared their independence from Britain. This set an example for the rest of the world. If a bunch of farmers could beat //the // //greatest // //military threat in existence // , then //anything //  was possible. In 1844, Giuseppe Mazzini address workingmen about the duties of Man, trying to rally the country’s nationalism. Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, because of nationalism. And in 1916, the Provisional Government of the Irish Republic went so far as to call their national freedom and sovereignty “august destiny.” The thing that rattled up the cartographic elements of the globe: a simple, nationalistic snowball.

Simple -- or arguably complex -- as this figurative, spherical formation of frozen precipitation was, it was still able to to elicit some pretty extreme reactions and consequences. The Austro-Prussian War was waged, because Prussia experienced an extreme form of this patriotic feeling, and wished to establish their superiority by way of assumption of power over Austria. The Hungarian declaration of independence was drawn up as a way of advocating their independence; the Austrian government ended this effort by enlisting Russia’s aid. Giuseppe Mazzini declared peace to come after and upon “the ruins of the countries of kings and privileged castes. . . ”

Nationalism did something more than shape the develop of a continent, evoke strong emotion, and break the laws of Physics by manifesting itself in several places at once. It was much more than that. The seed was planted in 1776, and grew like a a super-weed after it was finally germinated. It gave cartographers something to fret over, got a man assassinated, caused a large amount of guns to be drawn, pulled the triggers on those same guns -- this verdure changed the //entire course of history.

-- Cody Carter, Era 4, Head Author //