Economy and nationalism in XIX century. Interdependency

This project explores influence of the economic development on creation and expansion of nationalism during the first decades of the XIX century. It expands Ernest Gellner’s top-down approach by including political struggle between various domestic groups of interest during the industrial revolution. For this goal I exam the state reforms induced by the revolution together with economic changes in agriculture. The project focuses on the Ottoman and Habsburg empire, where the introduced (with various results) reforms affected culturally divided society. Main questions here are: to what degree the industrial revolution triggered creation of “nations” in these states? What was its impact on the state and society? How did the changes proceed? How did the national goals convened with economic interest? Why economic interest was regarded through the lenses of nations? By answering these question I plan to write a text introducing to a wider project linking economy with nationalism throughout XIX and XX centuries.