THE RISE

OF
NATIONALS
IM
IN EUROPE

In 1848, Frederic Sorrieu made his utopian visionary (something that is not
realistic) painting, symbolising the fraternity and liberty along with change of
multinational dynastic empire to nation states. The countries here are marching
in a long train towards the statue of liberty which is holding the torch of
enlightment (awareness) in one hand and charter of rights of man in other hand.
The symbols that define monarch and absolutist institutions like crown are
shattered on the ground which shows that monarchy is soon coming to end. The
countries that have passed (i.e, Switzerland and USA) have already became
nation states while the countries heading towards statue shows that they are on
their way to became republic, with Jesus Christ, angels and saints gaze upon the
scene. The march is being leaded by France followed by Germany and Italy are
in process of becoming nation state and heading towards the idea of liberty and
‘democratic and social republics’ was the idea of Sorrieu.

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 FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE IDEA OF
NATION
Idea of nationalism sparked from the french revolution.
Q. The sense of creating collective identity was a major challenge.
A. Idea of La Patrie (fatherland) and Le Citoyen (citizen) were spread along
with the replacement of royal standard flag with tricolour (blue, white and red)
The estate generals were elected by active citizens and was renamed as
“National Assembly” and new hymns and oaths were composed (written) in the
name of one nation. Centralised administrative system was introduced ( all
power lies within the central govt.) to formulate unform laws for all citizens
within the country. All the internal customs duties ( transport tax ) and dues
were abolished and a uniform system of weight and measures were introduced.
French became the common national language, also after Napoleon becoming
king in 1804, he introduced some reforms which also helped in creating a sense
of collective identity in France. All this was done to understand the sense of
creating collective identity. Thus, it sparked the idea of nationalism.
The cover of German
almanac designed by
Andreas Rebmann in 1798
This cover was designed by a
journalist, Andreas Rebmann in 1798
to promote the slogan “people must
seize their own freedom” by putting
the phot of bastille fortress being
stormed by the revolutionary crowd
while placed the other image next to
it to show similar despotic power of German provinces and wanted to say that
the people themselves need to raise their voice to “seize their own freedom”.

Role of Napoleon Bonaparte

After the revolution of 1789, Napoleon introduced monarchy back and declared
himself king in 1804. Napoleon was a conqueror. Through a return to monarchy,
no doubt destroyed monarchy.

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Napoleonic code OR civil code ( 1804 )
 The following are the things introduced by Napoleon in 1804-
 Established equality before law by abolishing privilege based on birth.
 Granted right to property to the french citizens.
 Improved transportation and business travel.
 He also simplified administration which helped in making it more
efficient.
 Freed peasantry by abolishing serfdom (feudal loads) and manorial
(estate tax) dues.
 Guild restrictions were removed from the towns too.
 Standardised weights and measures.
LIMITATIONS OF CIVIL CODE OF 1804
(important)–
 New administration system did not go hand to hand ( the system was not
much effective), with political freedom.
 Increased Taxation.
 Increased censorship (controlling the information).
 Forced Conscription (people were forced to join military or compulsory
military service).

Changes after French revolution – 1789

 Transfer of power from King Louis XVI to the national assembly.
 Development of collective identity in French people.
 Jacobin clubs were set up for the propagation of liberal thoughts.
 Sparked the idea of nationalism.
 Helped other European colonies to became nations.

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 Europe After
congress of Vienna
(IMPORTANT)

In 1815, at the battle of

waterloo, Prussia, Russia
and Britian, together
defeated Napoleon , met at
Vienna to draw up a
settlement for Europe.

Under this, Bourbon

Dynasty restored its power,
France was taken away the
colonies it has captured in the rule of Napoleon, many states were set up at the
boundaries of France to prevent future expansion. Thus, the kingdom of the
Netherlands (Belgium included) was settled up in the North and the Genoa was
added to Piedmont in the south. Prussia was given important new territories on
western frontiers and Russia was given Poland. Thus, the monarchy overthrown
by Napoleon was restored and idea of nationalism was tried to supress by the
treaty of Vienna.

THE MAKING OF NATIONALISM IN EUROPE

Around the mid – eighteenth century of Europe there were no nation states as
we know them today. They were divided into different – different colonies,
territories, and kingdoms. They did not see themselves as sharing a collective
identity or a common culture.
1. German speaking – the Tyrol, Austria, and Sudetenland as well as
Bohemia.
2. Italian speaking – Lombardy and Venetia region.
3. In Hungary – 50% population spoke Magyar.
4. In Galicia – Autocracy spoke polish.

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5. Peasants group – Bohemians, Slovaks, Croats, Slovenes, in Carniola,
Romans in Transylvania.
All these different groups were not united politically but they were loyal to
the emperor only.
Factor led to the rise of nationalism –
 The rise of new middle class
 The spread of ideology of liberalism
 The new spirit of conservatism.
 The rise of revolutionaries.

The aristocracy and the new middle class.

 Aristocracy (wealthy people of the society)

 Aristocracy was a dominant class in Europe both socially and politically,

but was in very small numbers.
 They owned estates in countryside and also owned town – house
 They spoke french for the purpose of diplomacy (negotiations, or
international relations).
 They were often connected by the ties of marriage. (the aristocrats
usually marry their child to other aristocrat to remain in power)
 While the aristocrats made up a very small number of populations, the
peasants formed the majority of the population.
 The peasants were majority still they were among the poorest of the
society.
 Peasants didn’t owned much land; they worked under the other
landowners.

 The New Middle Class

 The growth of industrial production and trade meant the growth of the
towns and emergence of commercial classes (trading and business class),
whose existence was based on the production of market.
[ Explanation : the industrial and trading growth took place in Europe
which gave opportunities for working – class people, so that when that

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 people who got opportunities started to migrate to towns, there was a rise of
commercial classes (trading and business class) whose existence was
possible from production of market which gave them money for their
survival.]
 They were businessman, industrialists, professionals.
 They were small in number in central and eastern Europe until late 19 th
CE.
 Ideas of national unity following the abolition of aristocratic privileges
gained popularity among the educated liberal middle class.
[Explanation – during that time when the abolition of aristocrat’s privileges
was done, the idea of national unity spread among the middle class and
believed that a country should not be ruled by king and nobles, but should
be united and run by citizens]
Aristocrats Middle – class Peasants
They were wealthy They were neither poor They were poor
nor rich
They were powerful They were depend on They were working
industrial production under the landowners
and the market
They had their own land they were mainly – They didn’t own lands
businessman,
industrialists and
professionals

They were in little They were also in little they were in majority
number number
They were mainly They were educated They were uneducated
nobles.

What did liberal nationalism stands for ??

 Liberalism is an ideology, where the liberal word came from latin word
‘liber’ which means free.
 It stood for freedom for individual and equality before law.
 They wanted to stress the inviolability(protection) of private property.

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 Yet, the equality before law does not necessarily stand for the right to
vote.
 The right to vote was only given to the prosperous land owners and high
tax payers of that time.
 Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries women and non-
propertied men organised opposition movements demanding equal
political rights.
 In the economic sphere, liberalism stood for the freedom of markets and
the abolition of state-imposed restrictions on the movement of goods and
capital. During the nineteenth century this was a strong demand of the
emerging middle classes.

 In 1834, a custom union or Zollverein was formed by Prussia and most of

the states of Germany.
 The main aim of the Zollverein was to bind the Germany economically
into a nation.
 Merchants travelling from Hamburg to Nuremberg had to cross 11
custom barriers and had to pay 5% at every barrier.
 It abolished tariff barriers and reduced the number of currencies from 30
to 2.
 The creation of a network of railways further stimulated mobility,
harnessing economic interests to national unification. A wave of
economic nationalism strengthened the wider nationalist sentiments
growing at the time.
[explanation : the liberalism means freedom and they were equal before the
law but still they did not have the right to vote, right was only acquired by
the people who owned land and the other landless men and women were not
given the right, while from the economic aspect, liberals didn’t wanted the
govt. to regulate the business, control prices, or restrict trades, and also they
wanted the state imposed taxes (like tariff) on goods and capital to be
abolished, which was later abolished by a union group of Prussia and 39
states of Germany called Zollverein which wanted to bind Germany
economically into a nation]

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 A New Conservatism After 1815
Conservatism- don’t want change.
 After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the spirit of liberalism gave a way
to conservatives.
 They favoured Monarchy, Church and social hierarchies (political order).
 They believed that traditional institutions must be preserved.
 However, they still retained many of the changes initiated by napoleon
such as – modernization of army, abolition of serfdom and feudal dues
because it actually favours and strengthens the autocratic monarchies of
Europe.
 Napoleon was defeated by Britain, Prussia, Russia, Austria, together at
waterloo in 1815.

The Age of Revolution (1830 – 48)

 Around the years of 1815, the liberalism and nationalism were
increasingly associated with revolution in many regions, i.e, Italy,
German states, the provinces of Ottoman empire, etc.
 These revolutions were held by the educated elite middle class.
 The first upheaval (outbreak) happened in France in July 1830 when the
bourbon dynasty’s power was overthrown by the liberal revolutionary
who installed constitutional monarchy with Louis Phillipe as its leader.
 Metternich once remarked “When France sneezes, the rest of Europe
catches cold”.

The Greek war of independence

An event that mobilised nationalist feelings among the educated elite across
Europe was the Greek war of independence. Greece had been part of the
Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century. The growth of revolutionary
nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for independence amongst the
Greeks which began in 1821. The European countries like Britain, France and
Russia supported Greek for the independence and finally the treaty was signed
between Ottoman empire and European powers and Russia, the treaty was
called the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognised Greece as an
independent nation.

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Romantic Imagination and national feeling.

 Culture, language and art played an important role in creating the idea of
the nation. Romanticism, became a cultural movement to awake
nationalism feeling.
 Romanticism was a movement that celebrated emotions, nature, folk
culture of an individual, and helped grow the feeling of nationalism in
Europe.

1. Art, poetry, stories and music influenced nationalist sentiments.

2. Romantic artists criticized the reason and science while promoting

emotions, intuition and mystical feelings.

3. It helped in creating a sense of a shared collective heritage (common

cultural identity), as the basis of the nation

4. They collected and spread folklore (traditional stories) in vernacular

(native language) even amongst the illiterate.

5. Art, poetry, music and stories of rich heritage shaped nationalistic

feelings. Romantics such as German philosopher Johann Gottfried
Herder claimed that the true German culture was to be discovered
among the common people.

Hunger Hardship and revolts

 The 1830s were the years of great economic depression all over the
Europe.
 The population had risen and it led to unemployment.

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  The rise of population led to the food shortages.
 Food shortage means the rise in food prices.
 There was a competition between handmade goods and cheaper
machine-made goods because of the industrial revolution in England
during 1830s.
 Due to unemployment scenario, people started migrating to urban areas.
 Peasants were over – burdened with feudal loads due to bad harvests.
 Therefore, they went to cities, and cities were now overcrowded

The revolution of liberals ( 1848 )

 At that time independent countries in Europe didn’t even existed –

Germany, Italy , Poland etc.
 In 1848, the liberal middle class aspired (wanted) to have constitution and
wanted unified nation states.
 In Frankfurt parliament on 18 may 1848, 831 representatives were elected
and therefore sat in the Frankfurt parliament.
 The king of Prussia King Wilhem IV, rejected the proposal and joined
other monarch and opposed the elected assembly.
 In the end troops were called in and the assembly was forced to disband.

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Struggle in Poland.

Poland had been divided and shared into Russia, Prussia and Austria. The
sentiments of national struggle were kept alive.

The polish language was forced out of the schools and Russian was implied.
The armed rebellion against Russia in 1831 was brutally crushed. But still, in
the churches the polish language was used due to which they were put in jail on
refusing to preach in Russian.

Therefore, the use of polish language was came to be seen as a symbol of

struggle against the Russians.

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 THE MAKING OF GERMANY & ITALY

The unification of Germany

 First attempt was done by Frankfurt parliament in 1848 but failed to do

so.
 Around 1848, when there were liberal’s revolutions, the Germany was
divided into 39 provinces.
 The middle class wanted to unify the nations and wanted constitutional
monarchy but were suppressed by the combined forces of military of
monarchs.
 Later they tried to seek help of Junkers (Prussian rich landowners) which
they accepted and notified the Chief minister Otto van Bismark.
 He led the unification and was given the title “Iron Chancellor”
 His famous words – “Blood and iron” shows his ruthlessness and
merciless nature.
 He fought 3 wars in 7 years with (Austria, Denmark and France)

 He won all the wars and gifted the united Germany to king Kaiser
Williams I on 18th January 1871, in the palace of Versailles.

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 Unification of the Italy

 In the middle of the 19th century, Italy was divided into 7 states, of only
which Sardinia – Piedmont was ruled by an Italian Prince. (Victor
Emmanuel II)
 The north was ruled by Austrian Habsburg, middle by (Pope) papal states
and the southern regions by the kingdom of two sicilies (bourbon kings of
Spain), and Sardinia Piedmont in north west.
 Even the Italian language had not acquired one common form and still
had many regional and local variations.
 Leaders – Cavour (Chief minister of Sardinia Piedmont)
Garibaldi (strong revolutionary)
Giuseppe Mazzini
Victor Emmanuel II (king of Sardinia piedmont)
 Revolutionaries like Giuseppe Mazzini and Garibaldi had their secret
society (young Italy)
 Giuseppe Mazzini first tried to unify Italy in 1830s by a coherent
programme and also formed a secret society called “Young Italy”.
 He failed to unify Italy because he was suppressed by the Monarchies and
was sent to exile out of Italy.
 Though he failed he made a huge impact on the youth of Italy and laid
down the foundation for the unification of Italy.
 Therefore, the responsibility fell on King Victor Emmanuel’s shoulders to
unify the nation.
 King gave Cavour the responsibility of unifying the nation.
 Count Cavour (CM of SP) was not democrat nor revolutionary, he spoke
good french than Italian. (speaking french had 2 benefits – good
relationship with France and also speaking french was a sign of royalty)
 Cavour formed a diplomatic alliance with France and defeated the
Austrian Habsburg and captured the north area along with Sardinia
Piedmont.
 Now Giuseppe Garibaldi had a full army of armed volunteers which then
they marched to the south and won the support of the local peasants and
won the war to kick out the bourbon family of Spain out of Italy, and
captured southern area.
 The central are ruled by Pope, joined Italy without any war because they
feared them as they were surrounded by all sides.

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 King Victor Emmanuel II was declared as the king of Unified Italy.
 People were illiterate and didn’t know what was happening they thought
that “Italia” meant “La Talia” who was king victor’s wife and they
thought she was kidnapped and Italy was fighting to save her, they were
unaware of the situation.

Strange Case of Britian

 British was not unified by a short - term upheaval or sudden nationalism

feeling, it was a long - term process.
 There were different ethnical identities – Welsh, Scot, Irish, English etc.
 England was already wealthy and had immense power so they started
making their empire.
 In 1688 they first seized power from monarchy.
 In 1707 ‘Act of Union’ was signed between England and Scotland
 The United Kingdom of Britain was formed.
 Ireland was having two big social groups – catholics (majority) and
protestants (minority).
 They always rise tensions within each other, while United Kingdom of
Britain took advantage of it and supported Protestants.

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 UK supported protestants so they agreed to unify with them and then
finally in 1801, Ireland was forcibly taken in the part of UK
 The symbols of new Britain – new flag (union jack), a national anthem
(God Save Our Noble King) and official lang.-English.

Visualising the nation

 Artisans, started to represent countries as if it was a person.

 Nations were portrayed as female figures as an allegory.
 It was used to show the ideas of Justice, Republic, and liberty.
 The female form that was used to personify a nation was used to give the
abstract idea of nation a concrete form
 That is the female figure became an allegory of the nation.
 In France the female figure used to personify the nation was called
Marianne which underlined the idea of people’s nation.
 Marianna wears red cap, tricolor, and cockade (badge).
 Similarly in Germany allegory was named Germania which wears a
crown of oak leaves, holds a sword and tricolor flag.

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 Germania


Marianne


Common symbols Their

used meanings
Broken chains Freedom or being freed

Breastplate with eagle German empire strength

Crown of oak leaves Heroism, triumph or national glory

Sword Readiness to fight

Olive branch around sword Willingness to make peace

Black, red, gold tricolour flag of liberal nationalists – 1848,

banned by Dukes of German states

Rays of rising sun Beginning of new era

blindfolded woman carrying a pair of Justice, and fairness
weighing scales

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 Nationalism and imperialism

 By the end of 19th century nationalism feelings were converted into

Imperialism (capturing territories).
 There was a specific region called – Balkans which included Romania,
Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, Albania, Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia etc.
were known as Slavs.
 A large part of Balkan was under control of Ottoman Empire.
 There was a severe decline in Ottoman empire so many of the
countries of Balkans wanted to make independent nation state
 The Balkan were fiercely jealous of each other, and hoped to gain
more and more territory.
 Thus, war broke out between them.
 Big European countries like France, Germany, UK and Russia
involved in this war.
 These big giants just wanted a spark to fight with each other (to
conquer big lands), which they got from Balkans.
 Thus, these wars in several different regions led to the devastating
World War I. (1914 – 1918).
 Meanwhile, many countries in the world which had been colonised by
the European powers in the nineteenth century began to oppose
imperial domination.
 Therefore, these countries opposed imperialism and got independence
(for example – India).

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 Important years

French Revolution and the idea of the nation

1789 – French Revolution
1797 – Invasion of Italy by Napoleon
1804 – Napoleon became king and civil code was implied
1814-15 – Defeat of Napoleon at waterloo, and congress of Vienna
1830 – French revolution by overthrowing bourbon dynasty and declaring Louis
Phillipe as its new leader

Greece independence
1821 – Greek struggle for independence began
1832 – Treaty of Constantinople

The Making of Nationalism in Europe

1815 - Congress of Vienna
1815 - 1848 – Period of conservatism across Europe (monarchs restored).
1830 – Overthrow of the Bourbon king (Charles X), coming of Louis Phillipe
1830 – Belgium breaks away from the Netherlands and becomes independent.
1831 – Giuseppe Mazzini founds Young Italy movement.

The Age of revolutions

1830–1831 — Revolution in Poland against Russia (unsuccessful).
1848 — Revolutions of 1848 across Europe:

Italy Unification
1830 – Coherent programme by Mazzini (failure)
1831 – Mazzini establishes Young Italy (failure)

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1859 – Italy Austrian war
1860 – Italy and Garibaldi war with kingdom of two sicilies.
1861 – Italy unified & Victor Emmanuel II was declared official king
1870 – France left Rome and then Rome became part of Italy

Germany Unification
1848 — Frankfurt Parliament convened (gathered) in Germany, but fails to
unify.
31 may 1849 – Frankfurt disbanded
1866-71 – Germany to be united
1834 – Custom union or Zollverein formed in Prussia to abolish tariff
1864 – Prussia and Austria together defeat Denmark
1866 – Austria Prussian war
1870-71 – Franco Prussian war
18th Jan. 1871 – Germany unified

Strange case of Britain

1688 – they first seized power from monarchy.
1707 – Act of Union was signed between England and Scotland, after which
Britain was called United Kingdom of Great Britain.
1801 – Ireland forcibly had to be part of United Kingdom of Great Britain.

Balkans
1871 – Rising tensions and revolts in Balkans.
1905–1911 – Balkan wars against Ottoman rule.
1914-1918 – first world war

RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT

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 Resource

Everything available in our environment which can be used to satisfy our needs,
provided is –
[Link] Accessible
[Link] Feasible
[Link] Acceptable is termed as “Resource”

Classification of resource

On the basis of Origin – Biotic and Abiotic

On the basis of Exhaustibility – Renewable and Non-Renewable
On the basis of Ownership – Individual, Community, National and International
On the basis of status of Development – Potential, Developed stock and Reserve

Development of resource

Various resources are needed to maintain our life. Earlier the resources were
taken as the free gift of nature and were used indiscriminately.
“The indiscriminate use of resources has resulted in various problems”
They are –
Depletion of resources for satisfying one’s greed.
Accumulation ( collection ) of resources in few hands, that separates society
into two – which they have and have nots, the poor and rich.
It has led to global warming, land degradation, ozone layer depletion,
environmental pollution etc.
Now to prevent the indiscriminate use of resources, some measures are taken i.e

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Sustainable Development: Development should take place without damaging
the environment, and development of present should be done without
compromising the need for future generation.

Rio De Janeiro Earth Summit 1992: In June 1992, more than 100 heads (prime
minister) of states met in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil for first international summit.
It was done for addressing the urgent problems of environmental protection at
global level. The assembled leaders signed the declaration on global climatic
change and biological diversity. The Rio convention endorsed (supported) the
global forest principle and adopted agenda 21.

Agenda 21: It refers to the declaration signed by 100 leaders in Rio De Janeiro
Earth Summit in 1992, it aims at achieving global sustainable development. It is
an agenda to combat environmental damage, poverty, disease, through global
co-operation and common interests, and shared responsibilities. One major
objective of agenda 21 is that every local government should draw its own local
agenda 21.

Resource Planning

Resource planning is judicious use of resource. In countries where resources are

not evenly spread it becomes more important.
“Disparities in India”
Jharkhand and MP are rich in minerals and coal but poor in other resources.
Arunachal Pradesh is rich in water resource but is poor in infrastructural
development.
Rajasthan rich in wind and solar energy but poor in water resource.
Ladakh has huge Uranium deposit but lack in other criteria.

Resource planning in India.

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The resource planning in India is divided into 3 steps –
 Identification and inventory of resources across the regions of the country
This involves surveying, mapping, qualitative and quantitative estimation
of resources.
 Evolving a plan around it with appropriate technology, skills, for
implementing resource development plan.
 Matching the resource plan with overall national development.

Conservation Of Resources

Once Gandhiji remarked “Ther is enough for everybody’s need and not for
anybody’s greed” he said resources are enough to live but not enough for
anyone’s greed to get it.

He wanted to replace the mass production with the production by masses.

The club of Rome presented it in a more systematic way in which Gandhian

philosophy was once again represented by Schulmacher’s in his book “Small is
beautiful” and once again in a report for sustainable development for resource
conservation in a book “Our common future”.

LAND RESOURCES

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Land is one of the most important natural resources. Thus, careful planning of
use of land is necessary. India comprises of various relief features i.e,
mountains, plateaus, plains, and islands.

Mountain – about 30% of the land in India is mountains.

Features – flows rivers, which carry fertile soils, facilitate irrigation support
variety of flora and fauna through the drinking water from the river flowing
through the mountain.

Plains – About 43% is in form of plains.

Features – can be used to construct building on it, can be used for agriculture,
building of industries etc.

Plateaus – About 27% of land in India is Plateau.

Features – It is highly rich in variety of minerals hence, providing variety of
minerals to us, it is highly rich in fossil fuels and forests.

Land Utilisation

1. Forest – Serve the purpose of nurturing flora and fauna.

2. Land not available for cultivation – There are two types of land not used
for agriculture i.e, barren lands and land used for building house, industries etc.
3. Fallow Lands –
Current fallow land – Left without cultivation for one or less than one year of
agriculture.
Other than current fallow – Left uncultivated for past 1-5 years.
4. Culturable wasteland – Left uncultivated for more than 5 agricultural years

5. Net sown area – Area which is sown atleast once in a agricultural year.

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6. Gross Cropped Area – Area sown more than once in a agricultural year plus
net sown area is known as gross cropped area.
7. Other uncultivated lands – Permanent pasture or grazing lands, land under
miscellaneous (various) tree crops groves.

Land Use Pattern in India.

Total geographical land of India is 3.28 million square km. However, only 93%
of India’s land is surveyed because north east states except Assam have not been
surveyed yet, and other like J&K occupied by Pakistan and China is not
surveyed.

The land under Permanent pasture has decreased.

The net sown area including the fallow land is only 54% , while it is different in
different states like Punjab and Haryana have nearly 80% while Mizoram,
Arunachal Pradesh has only 10%.

According To National Forest Policy (1952) the area under forest is 33% to
maintain the ecological balance. But in India it is far less than that.

Wastelands are used for constructing which can lead to land degradation if not
taken care properly.

Land Degradation

It is caused by multiple forces that are Natural and due to human activities –
Due to human activities – Mining, Deforestation, Over grazing, Over irrigation,
Industrialization, waste disposal and landfills, chemical fertilizers etc.

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Due to natural activities – Soil erosion by wind, water from rainfall or
waterfalls, flooding, drought, landslides, earthquakes, volcanic eruption,
Tsunamis, sandstorm etc.

In India following states is facing land degradation due to reasons –

In Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, MP, and Odisha due to mining.

In Gujarat, Rajasthan, MP, and Maharashtra due to over grazing.
In Punjab, Haryana, and Western UP, due to over irrigation

Conservation of land from land degradation

- afforestation.
- proper management of grazing.
- stabilisation of sand dunes by plantation of thorny bushes in deserts.
- management of wasteland by proper irrigation methods.
- control of mining activities.
- proper use of chemical fertilizers.
- discharge of industrial waste only after proper treatment.
- plantation of trees along roadsides to prevent deforestation.

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 SOIL AS A RESOURCE

Soil is also one of the most important renewable resources. It supports the
growth of plants. Soil is also a home for some microbes. It supports the habitat
of microbes. The soil is a living system.

Formation – It takes millions of years just to form few centimetres of soil.

Relief, parent rock or bed rock, climate, vegetation, and other forms of life
along with time are important factors in the formation of soil.

Various forces of nature such as change in temperature, actions of running

water, wind and glaciers, activity of decomposers etc. contribute to the
formation of soil.

Chemical and organic changes which takes place in the soil are equally
important. Soil also consists of organic (humus) and inorganic materials

Classification of soils

Alluvial soil – This soil type is most important and widely spread. It contributes
the largest share of our agricultural wealth and support a bulk (lot of) of people
in the India’s Population.
They are formed by the three important Himalayan River system – The Indus,
Ganga and Brahmaputra.
It covers entire northern plains, and extends to Gujarat and Rajasthan through a
narrow passage.
Old alluvial – Bangar, New alluvial – Khadar. Banger has more kankars (pathar)
than khadar and khadar is more fertile than Bangar.
Cultivation – Sugarcane, paddy, wheat, and other cereal and pulse crops.

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Black soil – They are black in colour, also called regur soils.
Climatic condition along with parent rock is important for black soil’s formation
It is widely spread over the north-west deccan plateau, and also covers a large
part of plateaus of Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Malwa, MP, Chhattisgarh, and
along with Godavari and krishna valleys.
It is ideal for growing cotton, tobacco, oilseeds, wheat etc.
They are of clayey material and has high capacity of holding moisture

Red &Yellow soil – It develops due to weathering (breakdown) of crystalline

igneous rocks in south and eastern regions of deccan plateau.
They are commonly found in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, southern parts of middle
Ganga plains along with the edge of western ghats.
It is ideal for cultivation of cotton, wheat, rice, pulses, millets, tobacco etc.
These soils develop reddish colour due to diffusion of iron in crystalline and
metamorphic rocks. It looks yellowish when in hydrated form.
They respond well to proper use of fertilizers and irrigation and give excellent
results for agriculture.

Laterite soil – The word laterite is derived from latin word ‘later’ meaning brick
They form in areas with high temperature, and heavy rainfall, the soil is leached
(washed out) due to heavy rain.
The humus content is low because microbes cannot survive in high temperature.
They are mainly found in Kerela, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, MP,
and the hilly areas of Odisha and Assam.
It helps in growing tea, coffee, cashew nut. They can be used for cultivation
only if adequate manner and fertilizers are used.

Arid soil – They are reddish to brown colour. They are sandy in texture and
saline (salty) in nature.
It is formed due to mechanical weathering of rocks from sands.

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It is found in Rajasthan, northern parts of Gujarat, & southern Punjab.
The soil lacks humus and moisture and hence, is dry. The lower levels of soils
have more kankars.
After proper irrigation it can be used for cultivating – barley, cotton, millets,
maize, etc. which are salt tolerant crops.

Forest soil – Formed by deposition of organic matter from the forest growth.
They are loamy and silty in valleys while in upper slopes they are coarse
grained.
It is mainly found in mountainous regions i.e, northern India, Sikkim and
Eastern part of the country.

Soil Erosion

The denudation of soil cover and subsequent washing down of soil is known as
the soil erosion. It occurs due to various natural and human factors.
Natural factors – Running water cuts through the gullies and becomes unfit for
cultivation and hence becomes badland. In Chambal basin such are called
ravines. Sometimes water flow over a sheet area along a slop, where the top soil
gets washed easily and quicky, is known as sheet erosion.
Sometimes strong winds also blew away loose soils off slop area and hence, is
called wind erosion.

Human factors – Deforestation,- the reckless cutting of trees in forests has also
resulted in soil erosion.
Over grazing is also responsible for erosion of soil as in rainy season the graze
of fodder is balanced with the growth of grass but in a long dry period during
summers the fodder is grazed till the soil and hence it becomes loose and soil
erosion takes place.
Faulty methods of agriculture – fields are ploughed along the slops; there is no
obstruction of flow of water and water washes out the top soil easily.

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In some areas the same crop is grown again and again which disbalance the
chemical balance of soil and the soil gets eroded easily.
Ploughing in a wrong way, up and down the slop creates channel for water to
flow and the flowing water causes soil erosion.

Controlling Soil Erosion.

Instead of ploughing the slops, terrace farming can be done . it restricts the floe
of water and hence erosion.
Large fields can be divided into strips. Strips are also left in b/w for grass to
grow. This also breaks up the force of wind. This type of farming is called strip
farming.
Planting lines of trees also works in a similar manner. Rows of such trees are
called shelter belts. They help in stabilising the sand dunes.
Ploughing along the contour lines can decelerate the flow of water down the
slop and control soil erosion.

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 POWER
SHARING

Ethnic composition of Belgium and Sri Lanka

BELGIUM
 Belgium is very small country in Europe having less area than Haryana, a
state of India.
 It shares border with France, Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg.
 59% people live in Flemish region and speak dutch.
 40% people live in Wallonia and speak French.
 Rest 1% people of total population speak German.
 However, in capital city Brussels, more than 80% people speak French
and 20% speak dutch.
 The minority French speaking people were relatively more rich and
powerful than the majority dutch speaking.
 This was resented (opposed) by the Dutch speaking community who got
the benefit of economic development and education much later.
 This led to tensions between both communities during 1950s and 1960s.
 The tensions between both the communities in Brussels was more acute
(more serious), it presented a special problem that the dutch speaking
constituted majority in the country but minority in the capital.

SRI LANKA
 Sri Lanka is an island country
 Its population is about 21 million almost about the same as the state of
India Haryana.
 There were two major groups first, Sinhalas which constituted about 74%
of the total population.
 Second, Tamilians which constituted about 18% of the population.
 Out of 18% of Tamilians , 13% were native Tamilians or Sri Lankan
Tamils and rest 5% were Indian Immigrant Tamils.

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  Sinhala speakers were Buddhists
 Tamil speakers were mainly Hindus or Muslims.
 The rest 7% of population were Christian who were both Sinhala
speakers and Tamil speakers.
 Sri Lankan Tamils were concentrated towards the north and the east.

What could have happened?

In Belgium where Dutch speaking people could have taken the advantage of its
numeric (numberic) majority and impose its will on the French speaking
minority and German speaking minority. This could have led to a conflict
among the communities. A messy partition of the country could have take place
where both sides could claim their control over Brussels.
In Sri Lanka, Sinhalas enjoyed even more majority and could have imposed its
will on the whole country. Now let us see what actually happened.

Majoritarianism in Sri Lanka

 The Sri Lanka became independent in 1948.
 The leaders of Sinhalas community sought to secure dominance over
govt. by virtue (because of) of their majority.
 The democratically elected govt. established majoritarian measures to
establish Sinhala supremacy (dominance).
 In 1956 an act was passed which recognised Sinhala as their only official
language, thus disregarding the Tamil community.
 The govt. followed preferential policy, that favoured Sinhalas for
University positions and govt. job applications.
 A new constitution stipulated (stated, said) that state shall protect and
foster (promote) Buddhism.
 The Tamilians felt alienated (separated) that the Buddhist Sinhala
speaking people were not sensitive about their language and culture.
 They felt that constitution denied them equal rights, discriminated against
them.

Consequences

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  Their demand for more autonomy (self-rule) to provinces populated by
the Tamils (region where Tamils lived) was repeatedly denied.
 By 1980s they started demanding for their Tamil Eelam (state) in northern
and eastern part of the country.
 The distrust between both the cummunities resulted into a widespread
conflict and hence, a civil war.
 This destroyed the economic activities in Sri Lanka.
 As a result thousands of peoples of both the communities were killed.
 Many families were were forced to leave the country as refugees and
many more lost their livelihood (house).
 It all ended in 2009.

Accommodation in Belgium

 Belgian leaders took a unique path; they respected the existence of

regional differences and cultural diversities.
 Between 1970 and 1993 they amended their constitution four times to get
an arrangement that would enable everyone to live together.
 As per constitution, the number of Dutch speaking ministers and French
speaking ministers were equal in the central government.
 Some special laws require the support of majority from each linguistic
group. Thus, no single community can make decisions unilaterally.
 State govt. of two regions had so much power that they were not
subordinate (controlled) by the central govt.
 Brussels has a separate govt. in which both communities had equal
representation.
 There is a third community govt. elected by the people of one language
community like – dutch, french, German etc. This govt. Has power
related to cultural, educational and language related issues.

Why is Power Sharing Desirable ?

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  Prudential reasons : Power sharing is desirable because it helps to
reduce the possibilities of conflict between social groups.
 We know that social conflict often leads to violence and political stability.
 Thus, it can ensure the stability of political order.
 Imposing the will of majority community on others undermines the unity
of the nation.

 Moral reasons : Power sharing is the very spirit of democracy.

 It must involve sharing of power with those affected by its exercise, and
who have to live with its effects.
 People have a right to be consulted on how they want to be governed.
 This can be only achieved when the citizens have stake in the system.

Power sharing in India

 India is a democratic country. People of India elect their representative

through direct franchise. After that people’s representatives elect the govt.
to make and amend rules and regulations and to carry out day to day
functioning of the govt.
 In India, power is shared in 3 different levels, we have Central govt, State
govt. and local govt. (panchayat).

Why is power sharing needed?

(Prudential and moral reasons are already written above mention it here)
It is necessary for maintaining social harmony and peace. It also helps in
avoiding the tyranny of the majority. The tyranny of the majority not only
destroys the minority social groups but also often affects the majority adversely.
Power sharing is essential to respect the spirit of democracy.

Forms of power sharing

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In a democratic country, political powers should also be distributed among the
citizens because Everyone should have a voice in the shaping of society

1. Horizontal form of power sharing

In horizontal form of power sharing the power is shared among the different
organs of the govt. i.e, Legislature, Executive and Judiciary.

Legislative ------------------------- Executive----------------------------- Judiciary

This ensures that none of the organs have unlimited power. Each organ acts as
a check for others. This leads to balance of power among different institutions.
For example, the Judges are appointed by the executives but they can keep a
check on the executive and on their working. Similarly, the legislatives for ex-
President keeps a check on the executives.
This arrangement is called a system of check and balances.

2. Vertical form of power sharing

Power is shared among different levels of govt. i.e, central, State and local . a
govt. in a particular state is called state govt. national govt. is called central and
govt. at local levels, this was done in Belgium but not in Sri Lanka. This is a
federal division of power. This principle also shares power in lower levels than
state i.e, local level, municipalities city and panchayat at villages.
Central or Union or federal govt.
|
State govt.
|
Local govt. (Municipalities in city and panchayat at villages)
3. Social groups

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Power is also shared among different social groups such as religious and
linguistic groups. “Community govt.” in Belgium is a good example of this
arrangement. In some countries there are constitutional and legal arrangements
that socially weaker sections and women are represented in legislature and
administration. ‘Reserved constituency’ in assemblies are example from the
parliament of our country.

4. Political Parties, Pressure groups and Movements

Groups of educated people such as engineers, doctors, businessman etc. also

have a share in governmental power, either through participation in
governmental committees or bringing influence on the decision-making process.
Meanwhile in a democracy, political parties share a competition b/w them to
acquire power. Thus, it ensures that power don’t remain in one hand. In a long
run power is shared among different political parties that represent different
ideologies and social groups. This kind of sharing of power can be seen in
Coalition govt. when two or more parties form an alliance to win the elections.

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