Question

The idea of national unity gained popularity in Europe initially among
A)The liberal middle class
B)The aristocracy
C)the peasants
D)Industrial workers

Answer 1

Hint: Liberalism is a political and social philosophy that promotes democracy, free enterprise and individual rights. The term ‘liberalism’ derives from the Latin word “liber”, which means politically free, it emphasizes the concept of government by authorization

Complete answer: The objective of national unity in early-nineteenth-century Europe was sharply associated with the ideology of liberalism. The ideas of national unity which followed the eradication of aristocratic privileges gained a considerable amount of popularity with the educated liberal middle class. To the new middle classes, liberalism represented individual liberty and the equality of all before the law.
Liberals stressed upon the inviolability of private property, in the nineteenth century. Landed aristocracy was a socially and politically dominant class on the subcontinent. The members of this category were united by a familiar way of life that cut across regional divisions. They possessed estates in the countryside and also town-houses. They usually spoke French for the reasons of diplomacy and in high society. Their families were often connected by the bindings of marriage. However aristocracy was powerful, but it was numerically a small group. The bulk of the population consisted of farmers. Middle classes included industrialists, businessmen, and professionals. These groups were smaller in number till the late nineteenth century in Central and Eastern Europe. Notions of national unity after the suppression of aristocratic privileges became popular among the literate and liberal middle class.
Options B, C and D can be eliminated.
Therefore, Option A is the correct answer.

Note: Nineteenth-century liberals pressurized the inviolability of private property. The European liberalism worked towards creating a Parliament and abolishment of the aristocracy.