This paper discusses the entire period in question, from the revolutionary politics in the formative years to 1848, to the age of imperial conquest and the scramble for colonies in the twentieth century. It ventures into the political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of nationalism, and further addresses the topic of international relations, including Europe's scramble for the empire on the late 19th century. During the revolutionary period, a symbolic national identity began developing amidst different linguistic, ethnic or racial groups across Europe. This happened in line with the people's struggles to come to terms with increasing mass politics, declining conventional social elites, xenophobia, and popular discrimination. Different people in the Hansburg Empire developed more mass-based, exclusive and violent approach to nationalism. This approach was adopted even by Magyars and Germans, who benefited from the empire's power structure. Nations situated at the periphery of Europe were characterized by more strident campaigns for national independence. Accordingly, Norway became independent from Sweden in 1905. However, efforts to grant Ireland the same autonomy as that enjoyed in Hungary failed as a result of national divisions between Protestant and Catholic groups on the island (Anderson, 105). .
Previously, attempts by Poland to gain independence from Russia seemed to have failed, and Poland was the only European country with limited autonomy, whereby the limitation extended throughout the nineteenth century as a punishment for the unsuccessful uprisings. In 1831, Poland was merged into Russia after losing its status as a formally independent state. In 1867, Poland was reduced to a mere Russian province. As a result of external and internal resistance to assimilation, in addition to augmented xenophobic anti-Semitism, the stateless Jewish populations of Central and Eastern Europe began to develop radical demands for their own refuge and home.
