Tutorial 1/ 07.11.23
Father/Motherlands
Primary Source Analysis
Renan E. “What is a nation?”
Content
● Lecture given at the Sorbonne University by Ernest Renan, a philosopher, and French historian of the
19th century with an audience of male university students
○ Pro-nationalist: French created nationality, it is the glory of France
● Text divided in 3 parts:
○ 1st part
■ History of nations will disappear and become a United States of Europe
○ 2nd part
■ Proving wrong other theories on what constitutes a nation and language, ethnicity,
geography
○ 3rd part
■ Own definition of a nation
■ Daily plebiscite : people “choose” national identity
■ Will to belong to a community
■ Common historical legacy, forgetting past divisions/conflicts
● The main subject is the nation, the importance for us to know and remember what it is, the idea of
nationalism, nationhood, national identity
● Nation :
○ He claims that nations had existed for a long time and will continue to exist
○ He claims nations developed through the common need of the people, and that different groups
of people search for a “collective identity” and search for a “national unity”
○ Historical context of nations and how they’re different based on location and past origins
○ Used as a tool of identification
○ The essence of it is having a lot in common (history/legacy) but also forgetting internal issues
and conflicts
● He has a theory about the race being the basis for unification of people because neither the language
nor religion unite them “It invites them but doesn’t force them” (-othering)
● The “Spiritual Principle” -“a nation is a soul, a spiritual principle” → a nation is based on the past and the
present, people have in common a rich legacy of memories, and the present consent, the desire to live
together and invest in the heritage
● Theories defending nation
○ Language: some countries have multiple languages
○ Religion: uniting in past, now: personal choice
○ Geography: not absolute divisions
Context
● Ernest Renan
○ Very important French philosopher with a huge public influence and exposure
○ Administrator of College de France and a member of the Academie Francaise
● Source produced in the 19th century
○ When “nationalism” and the new “nation state” are emerging as a new political ideology
■ The emergence of nationalism is an important link because of a new relation between
the state and the people began to emerge
○ Link with the continuity of the 1848 revolution → European Spring Revolution against European
monarchies
● 19th century - characterized by the desire to form nations
● 1880s - France characterized by the emergence and implementation of a republican regime, with more
political liberty
, ● He tries to find an argumentation that would return Lorraine to France on the basis of a nationalist theory
○ Leerssen:
■ Context of Alsace-Lorraine annexation in 1870
■ Germany annexed A-L, claiming it’s culturally German
○ Renan:
■ Against German A-L
■ Needed other way to explain a nation that didn’t match the Germans’ and people choose
nation, not ethnicity/language
Research Value
● Significant because it shows the importance of the nation as a tool for national identification
○ People at this time wanted to find this national unification
● The notion of a “collective identity” is essential in the reconstruction of nation after war or revolution
○ The relation between the state and citizens changed throughout history and the desire to have
common memories and shared values beyond christianity was essential
● It gives an overall definition, context, and history of nations which can still be used today
○ Critique of other past and ethnic forms of nationalism that can still be used today
● He gives examples which are helpful for researchers - concrete ideas
● Shows how rulers use nationalism to legitimize their own regimes
● A historian could use this text to learn about:
○ Opinions on A-L in the late 19th century (from a French scholar)
○ Reactions to German nationalism
○ Link French Revolution - civic nationalism
Tutorial .11.23
Industralizations and Ideology
Primary Source Analysis
Marx, Engels , “The Communist Manifesto”
Content:
● Structure of the text:
○ Bourgeoisie and proletariat (formation of the bourgeoisie, description of the proletariat)
○ Different stages of the proletariat
○ Changes and needs for the future (solutions)
● Published in 1848 by Karl Max and Friedrich Engels (two German philosophers)
● Formed the basis for the modern communist movement, often characterized as one of the most
influential political documents
● An analytical approach to class struggle, and criticism of capitalism
● Main themes:
○ Class struggle
○ Bourgeoisie
○ Proletariat
● Marx and Engels claim that the world is divided into 2 classes of people and conflict between them is
inevitable
○ The Bourgeois - who controls the means of production
○ The Proletariat - the one who produces goods
● Marx: most historical change is caused by friction between the two → revolution in order to have reform
○ Marx claims that the only real revolutionary class is the proletariat because the others are just
conservative
● They claim that in all society is under the form of oppressed majority (proletariat) who are exploited by
the oppressive minority (bourgeoisie)
○ As the Bourgeoisie exploit the labor, the proletariat will inevitably become conscious and will
revolt in order to overthrow the bourgeoisie
○ Relationship between the oppressor and the oppressed
○ The rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer
, ● Communism is seen as a negative thing throughout Europe
● Marx and Engels provide an actual explanation of their ideology
● The bourgeoisie made changes that led to changes in society as a whole (changes that others have to
adapt to)
● Paradox of over production as critique of the new system of society
○ Too much production → loss of the value of the things, wide change of prices, loss of
possibilities to compete, economic, and social crises
○ Too much capitalism → Extension of the middle class
● Stages that proletariat has to gone through
○ Birth of the proletariat in the struggle with the bourgeoisie
■ Protests of the workers to their rights and conditions
● Not organized, not united
● Sabotage, vandalize
○ Creation of organized, concrete, and compact groups of workers against the bourgeoisie →
Trade Unions
■ Unable to create anything bigger than that
■ Working class was so diverse, too much competition between workers, difficult to
organize or unite
■ Hard to create a coherent social class ; competition between workers
● Working class was so diverse so it was difficult to organize in one group
○ Union is using the means of communication to share and spread “struggles” and values
→national struggle
■ Small part of the bourgeoisie was allied with the proletariat
■ One the top of society : bourgeoisie / elites are becoming smaller and richer
■ On the bottom: proletariat is growing and becoming bigger; more allies
■ The elites can’t stand that much power
● What proletariats need to do:
○ Change the system → revolutionary communism
○ Violently rise against the system (first at national level)
○ Usually minorities against majorities; by that time, the proletariat was the majority fighting
against the minority of the bourgeoisie
● Lower middle class
○ They fight to maintain their existence
○ They protest because they fear what will come (poorer)
● The impact of industrialization, the exploitation of labor, and the revolutionary potential of the working
class
○ It also critiques the societal changes brought about by the bourgeoisie, such as the
transformation of family relations and the commodification of labor
Context:
○ Written in 1847 and published in 1848 in London during the time of the Industrial Revolution
(18-19th centuries) - a time when labor was replaced by machine labor (capitalist farms) and
when solutions for the political system and society were needed
■ This period of industrialisation and urbanization creates a context where workers
suffered → this is where an underclass worker emerged
○ The Communist manifesto was written just before the fail of the German revolution of 1848
against republican monarchy, which ended the repression
○ Originally written as a political brochure for the political organization of revolutionary socialists of
the Communist League to articulate their goals and perspectives
○ It aimed to rally the working class and promote the principle of communism, and to inspire and
guide the proletariat towards a class-conscious revolution
○ It was a response to the social and economic changes of the time
■ Particularly the rise of industrial capitalism
● b.Who is the author? (Background, Ideologies, Social Status)
, ○ Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels - were part of the “Communist league” (associated with the
socialist and communist movements)
■ Marx: academic pursuits in philosophy and economics
■ Engels: businessman and self-taught scholar
■ Their collaboration resulted in significant contributions to socialist theory
○ Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, German philosophers, economists, and political theorists,
belonging to the bourgeoisie, that promoted the new model of society with a new economic
system too: communism
○ Marx didn’t think about the failure of the revolution
○ They tried to influence all this upheaval and unrest in European politics, and tried to stir it into a
certain direction - they propose one particular solution to the problems there are - influence this
mood of change
Research Value
● The authors show that the solution may be a society without class because they argue a conflict
between the Proletariat and Bourgeoisie is inevitable
● The Industrial revolution at this time put the social question at the heart of the society
○ It highlights that industrialization led to the emergence of new classes and ideologies
● It shows how, at this time of economic change, the relationship between politics and workers, or between
rulers and ruled, were handled
● It’s significant to understand that the Communist Manifesto was one of the most influencing political
document - it can be viewed as the base of the first communist idea, which was spread all over the world
- seen as a guide of communist idea
○ The manifesto has inspired social and political movements worldwide and remains a cornerstone
of Marxist theory
■ Serves as a foundational document for understanding Marxist theory
● It’s a call of revolution for workers
● They describe the political and economic system; they give a possible solution to the unrest that was
happening at that time
● Having one clear document of what communism was about ease the understanding of the characteristics
and bases of the communist ideology
● Representative of a really small group of social activists
● Researchers would gain insights into the historical materialist perspective of Marx and Engels,
understanding their analysis of class struggle, capitalism, and the potential for proletarian revolution
● It offers a lens through which to analyze societal structures and envision alternatives
Learning Goals
The development and impact of industrialisation
● The old aristocratic was swept away, and a newly emerging working class was ready to confront the
industrial bourgeoisie
● Recent findings in economic history :
○ Indicate that even in Britain, industrialisation was such a gradual and fragmented process that it
would have been unable to produce a clear cut polarization of society into a dominant
bourgeoisie and a subordinate working class
○ Britain was the “birthplace” of industrialization, but it spread all over Europe
● The new system of industrialisation was having a disastrous effect on the moral and material condition of
labor,
○ Shift on the moral and material condition of labor
○ Shift from the old problem of poverty to the new one of pauperism
● There were new areas of regional developments in Europe
○ Britain being the main territory where this industrialization took place
○ North/east France
○ Some regions in Germany [this decision can be explained with Prussia’s aim for new weapons]
● The way the means of production were distributed changed
