Essay on Global History from the 15th Century

Liberalism, in general, was an ideological movement that emerged out of the ideas of the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century. It embraced the ideas of individualism which were established in the Renaissance and Reformation era. The Renaissance period sparked a belief in the importance of the individual in society. It helped promote the beliefs of classical liberalism which gradually formed into the liberal ideology of the 19th century. Individuals that were waiting to get their individual rights and freedoms were allowed to finally gain liberty and power through this period of time. Classical liberalism developed

Despite the fact that there were countless enlightenment thinkers, there are still many identifiable similarities between various of them. For example Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rousseau both believed in the need for a social contract, and in individualism. They both disagreed on how to go about these things. Thomas Hobbes described an absolute monarchy with limited rights. Jean Jacques Rousseau on the other hand described an democracy with unalienable rights. These two thinkers are a perfect example who thought of different ideals, practiced them in different ways, but nonetheless helped shape the world we live in today.

Classical Liberalism is an ideology with its focus on individual liberty with a limited government. The belief that an individual should have the freedom to pursue and be responsible for their own life. It stems from an idea that humans, as a whole, are generally good in nature, and that people should have rights apart from the government. These rights include the right to pursue happiness, the right to financial success, or even failure, and the right to free speech and freedom of religion. Individuals have equal opportunities in life, but not equal materialistic beginnings or gains. You had the right to own land, but it was up to the individual to obtain it.

Liberalism is an ideology that invoked upon the ideals and fundamentals of the enlightenment period as well as the French Revolution. Liberals opposed conservatism which boasted heeding to “the dominance of politics and society by monarchs, aristocrats, and clergy and the government's’ arbitrary interference with individual liberty. [Therefore], to the extent that these elements of the traditional order remained in place, liberals demanded reform and fought resisting conservatives” (582). Fighting for what would appear to be present day democracy, liberals fought for:

Classical liberalism is the transition from focusing on government to focusing on the rights of individuals. This transition came about during the time of the Enlightenment in the eighteenth century. The Enlightenment period was when man started to have more faith in his own reasoning. People began to look for evidence on their beliefs themselves and to find proof on these beliefs, so that they could come up with their own opinions on things. One way that they did this was by going back and rereading Roman and Greek texts and retranslating these texts. This new way of thinking also caused the Protestant Reformation to occur. Some of the most influential Enlightenment writers were John Locke, Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, and the people of France’s National Constituent Assembly.

Political liberalism, another ideology that originated during the Age of Enlightenment and gained momentum during the French Revolution centered around the idea that individual’s civil liberties must be protected. These civil liberties included freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of religion, and freedom from arbitrary arrest. Theses liberals also encouraged peaceful opposition of government and the ability for elected officials to legislate. Though promoting religious beliefs was encouraged, political liberals urged for the state to remain separate from the church. The foundation of political liberalism was based primarily on the protecting and enhancing political rights.

Nationalism represents a political creed in which the people offer their supreme allegiance to a nation-state. It underlies the cohesion of modern societies and legitimizes a nation's assertions of authority over the lives of its inhabitants (encyclopedia.com). This definition clarifies how the nationalist ideologies were a reaction

Nationalism became almost a new religion in Europe and the United States as countries fought to become the greatest military and economic power in the world. Nationalism grew out of a deep pride for the language, traditions, and geography. These feelings of pride intensified into militant feelings to dominate the world. The characteristic that was so appealing was the unity that was expressed with nationalism. The goals of nationalism were to unite a group of people and spread reach in order to gain power and dominate.

Nationalism can be defined as  having a sense of belonging and loyalty to one's country or nation.Nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism and loyalty to one’s country. Nationalists place the interests of their own country above the interests of other countries. Nationalism was prevalent in early 20th century Europe and was a significant cause of World War I. Most pre-war Europeans believed in the cultural, economic and military supremacy of their nation.

Today’s society would be different if it weren’t for the four French philosophers for the individual freedom, freedom in government, religion, economy, and gender equality. The four great philosophers were John Locke, Voltaire, Adam Smith, and Mary Wollstonecraft who changed our society and shaped the capitalistic democratic world that we live in today. These philosophers lived in a time of new ideas, known as the Age of Enlightenment. These are the main ideas of the enlightenment.

Where does nationalism come from? This question has puzzled scholars since the study's inception and is also of vital importance. One only needs to examine modern history to grasp the overarching influence nationalism has had throughout history, especially during the twentieth century. It has sparked conflict and genocide, military campaigns, and civil unrest. Nationalism claims to be of a long heritage, culture, religion (usually at least), and history shared among a specific people group with specific territorial boundaries. However, nations and nationalism as we think of them today did not exist prior to the French Revolution. This dichotomy has led to a polarization of ideas on the subject of nationalism. Primordialism and Modernism are

Nationalism is defined as spirit or aspirations common to the whole of a nation; devotion and loyalty to one's own country; patriotism; excessive patriotism. In 1848, Europe experienced back to back revolutions in different countries led by rebels and nationalists who wanted constitutional and democratic governments to replace the monarchies that ruled. Although these revolutions were unsuccessful in achieving their goals of turning their country into a new,stronger nation, they did have significant impacts in Italy, France, Austria and Germany, where they influenced the course of future political change.

The countries in Europe were not always the way they are today. Before about the middle of the nineteenth century Europe consisted of various regions ruled by dynastic empires. These monarchies had absolute power over their subjects and there was no sense of nationalism or the idea of betterment of the general population. Various social and technological changes helped pave the way for ideas of nationalism. Although the idea of the creation of the nation state began with the advent of the French Revolution but it took more than a century for the ideas of nationalism to become concrete enough to form the independent national state of France. the concept of Nationalism spread throughout Europe and slowly led to the creation of the modern democratic systems that we see around the world today, in the early 20th century. After the French revolution, feudalism and liberalism fell away paving the way for nationalism.

Nationalism is sovereignty of people and emotional attachment to the nation. Nationalism stands for loyalty to a nation through collective consciousness of shared history, language, race, values, culture and traditions. Nationalism has five stages and the second stage is unification i.e. people united in a nation.

The concept of Nationalism started in Europe, due to the war that was getting aggravated day by day due to the assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian Archduke Ferdinand and his wife Sophia. The popular understanding of the word nationalism, refers to strong love, or affection toward a