Origins of Nationalism in France

In terms of the origins of national identity element in France it is agreed that the french variation was the single most important period of radical social and semipolitical upheaval and was henceforth a catalyst for the spread of nationalism in France aswell as through with(predicate)out the rest of Europe. Despite the fact the cut vicissitude occurred over 200 years ago, in present day France, at that place remain various symbols of the whirling which have become deeply enter in the national identity of the country.One of which being the tricolore ease up which was fixd to oppose the flag of the top executive, which itself was a symbol of the Ancient Regime. Pre-revolutionary France was characterised by a social building found on class and tradition, but more importantly, it was ground on inequalities which were sanctioned by the force of law. The Ancient regime in France had been based on the division of society into legal categories. Membership of the first and plump for estates (clergy and nobility) conferred legal and social entitlements that were not available to the Third Estate.The idea of authoritarianism meant that the Monarchy was entitled to expect the obedience of the quite a little on the grounds that the King was the agent of Gods purpose. The French change was the turning excite in modern history. It was the first manifestation of nationalism in the westbound world it abolished the ancient regime and thus the absolute monarchy, giving acquit to the French nation in a sudden burst of enthusiasm. In 1790 all the communities of France erected an altar to the fatherland with the inscription The citizen is born, lives and dies for the fatherland. The revolution began a newfound age in French political life, the old political station in France was destroyed and replaced by a new order that was based on individual rights, representative institutions and loyalty to the nation as contend to the Monarch. This new era fostered n ew political ideals summarised in the French guide word Liberte, Egalite et Fraternite which is still to this day a symbol of French nationalism. One of the primaeval events in the development of nationalism in France which arose with the French Revolution was The resolving power of the rights of man of the citizen in 1789.This fundamental document harboured fervour that France belonged to its people, not Louis 16 and defined the individual and collective rights of all the estates of the realm as universal. It created share values such as liberty, property, security, resistance to oppression and civil comparison which bought the French people together as nation. Napoleon Bonaparte overly had a significant role in creating a national identity in France. He was considered by some to be the preserver of the French Revolution as he introduced the Napoleonic Code which attempted to yoke the country by making everyone equal before the law.It spread the ideals of the revolution inc luding legal equality and economic freedom and thitherfore a suasion of nationalism through France and the rest of Europe. However, often the nationalism that developed in reaction to Napoleon took one of two tracks. In some cases, it was a conservative nationalism, a desire to go back to the old ship canal that prevailed before Napoleon took over and started making reforms. On the other hand, there was liberal nationalism. Napoleon continued to spread some of the fruits of the French Revolution but some people wanted more they wanted sure self-government.As a result of the French Revolution and Napoleon, French people started taking great pride in the history, language, culture and religion of their country which helped create a strong French national identity. During the French Revolution, the National fiction decreed that the Louvre should be used as a museum, to ostentation the nations masterpieces. Napoleon inspired national pride by reopening the Louvre in 1801 and bring ing hundreds of famous paintings and other works of art to the nations attention.The French nation-state unified the French people in particular through the consolidation of the use of the French language. The French language has been essential to the thought of France even though in 1789 only 50% of French people spoke it. Conscription, invented by Napoleon mixed the various groups of France into a patriot mould which created the French citizen and his consciousness of membership to a common nation, era the various patois were progressively eradicated.Secularism in France is a fundament of the French nation. It is important when considering the national identity of France as it stems from the sense of ghostlike freedom which was a principle laid down by the French Revolution. It too emphasises the fact that the Republic has always recognised individuals, rather than groups and that a French citizen owes allegiance to the nation, and has no officially sanctioned ethnic or relig ious identity.