Category Peoples in Western Europe and America Strive for Freedom and National Unity

Struggle for freedom, peoples in Western Europe and America Strive for Freedom and National Unity

Western Europe. In the earlier category we described the struggles of rival European rulers and states for power and colonies. At the same time, the people in many countries of western Europe were striving for greater opportunities and more freedom. The yearning for freedom in western Europe, which is the theme of this category, brought about an age of revolutions. It also led to the spread of nationalism, that is, the desire of people who have the same background to be united and to govern themselves.

Liberty made its earliest gains in England, where two revolutions in the 1600’s clearly established Parliament as supreme over kings. By the late 1600’s also, the Dutch and the Swiss enjoyed more freedom than other peoples on the Continent.

Also described are the struggles of peoples in America to control their affairs. When Britain sought to impose stricter regulations, the thirteen British colonies fought for and won independence. Wars which swept Europe in the early 1800’s gave Latin American colonies a chance to break the ties which bound them to their mother countries. In Canada greater freedom was gained without going to war.

History relates how Frenchmen abolished special privileges and overthrew their monarchy. Although the desire for orderly government caused the French to accept another absolute ruler, Napoleon, he maintained and extended many reforms of the French Revolution. Through Napoleon’s conquests, French ideas of liberty spread to other European countries.

After the overthrow of Napoleon, European kings and statesmen tried to curb nationalism and people’s rights. These attempts to “turn back the clock” were met by widespread revolutionary outbreaks, especially in 1830 and 1848. History tells how both Italy and Germany, divided for centuries, became unified nations.