SURNAME : BALOGUN

OTHER NAMES : PHILIP ABIODUN

MATRIC : 190114011

COURSE TITLE : MODERN EUROPEAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

COURSE CODE : HSS 431

TOPIC : ASSESS THE RELEVANCE OF THE NINETEENTH

CENTURY TO EUROPEAN HISTORIOGRAPHY

Introduction

It has been said that the nineteenth century was the century of history. Certainly,
seldom did history enjoy such high social recognition. Two arguments in favor of this
among the many possible, are the moral authority and even the political and
cultural influence of F. Guizot, before 1848, and the awarding of the Nobel Prize for
Literature in 1902 to the great German historian of the Roman Republic Theodore
Mommsen. From the point of view of praxis, it was in the nineteenth century that
the figure of the professional historian, who received specific training (language
study, source criticism methodology, paleography and other auxiliary historical
science) for his task, appeared, and who primarily dedicated his time to researching
and teaching history. As an institutionalized discipline, history was born at that
moment, supported and to some degree supervised by the state. The creation of
university chairs, it’s inclusion in secondary school curricula, the setting-up of
archives and public libraries, the edition of extensive documentary collections and
the birth of the first specialized historical journals are all phenomena related with
this development. All of them pointed in the same direction towards the setting-up
of a discipline and the institutionalization and wider dissemination of historical
knowledge, hand-in-hand with the spread of literacy.

The relevance of the nineteenth century to European historiography can be

assessed in several key areas. First of these is the rise of scientific history. The
history of science itself developed as a discipline in Europe and North America
during the late nineteenth century as a way of charting the rise of a distinctively
modern world under European domination. The rise of the universities as a key site
of learning in medieval Europe, the reorganization of scientific disciplines in the
decades around 1800, along with ground breaking theories and inventions that
reshaped society such as Darwin’s theory of evolution and Leopold von Ranke’s
concept of empirical research, primary sources, and objective analysis, all
contributed to the development of European Historiography during the nineteenth
century.
Second, nationalism and national histories played important roles in the
development of modern European historiography. In nineteenth century European
historiography, nationalism and national histories were incredibly significant as they
heavily influenced the way historians write about the past, often constructing
narratives that emphasized a unified national identity, promoting a sense of shared
heritage and bolstering the legitimacy of emerging nation-states, particularly in
regions undergoing political Unification or seeking independence; this approach is
often referred to as “nationalist historiography “. As the century progressed,
nationalism became intertwined with the concept of sovereignty, leading to a wave
o ethnic and national revolutions across Europe. This surge of national sentiment
not only fostered a sense of identity among diverse populations but also laid the
ground work for future conflicts, including world War 1. The legacy of nineteenth
century nationalism continues to resonate today, shaping modern identities and
geographical landscapes around the world.
Third, Marxist historiography though not dominant in the nineteenth century laid the
ground work for later historical interpretations centered on social and economic
structures. Karl Marx was one of the nineteenth century’s most influential
Philosophers of history. He advocated joining and strengthening an intellectual
working class movement, the destiny of which, he predicted, was to overthrow
capitalism as a socio-political and economic system and replace it with more
humane system that could deliver people while discouraging sheer inequities and
disparities. Marx remained active in the working class movement throughout his life.
He left an indelible imprint on the discipline of history. Post modernist and subaltern
studies schools of historiography take many inspirations from and are grounded in
the base provided by Marxist historiography.
Next is positivism and social sciences approaches to the study of historiography. In
nineteenth century, the positivist movement greatly influenced historical thought
and historiography. In particular, the views of Comte significantly impacted upon the
ideas about history and history-writing. One of the areas that positivism influenced
European historiography was the application of scientific methodology for historical
research. The positivist thinkers believed in applying the method of the natural
sciences to almost all the branches of knowledge, particularly the social sciences.
Natural sciences began by ascertaining and determining facts, and then discover
their causal connection. To Comte, sociology (a social science) begins with
ascertaining facts about human life and society, and then makes an attempt to
explore the causal connections between the facts. The positivist thinkers also urged
for the application of scientific method for historical research as well.
In addition, Imperialism and Eurocentrism were influential in nineteenth century
historiography. Colonialism and European expansion led to Eurocentric perspectives
that framed European civilization as better than others. Eurocentrism encompasses
beliefs that assume the superiority of the Europeans over non-Europeans through
two main arguments related to the “western mind”, and “European spirit”. The
former, as Blaut asserts that Europe naturally progresses and modernized because
it is “historical” and therefore changes over time, the latter is that non-Europeans
are intrinsically stagnant, traditional, and backward, and therefore “ahistorical”.
Accordingly, the “European mind” leads in creativity, invention, rationality and
honorable behavior or ethics. Conversely, non-Europeans are empty and lacks
rationality, including intellectual and spiritual factors. Eurocentric accounts of the
history of the world advance the assumption that only Western societies are capable
of progressive development, whereas non-Western societies are passive objects of
world historical processes.
Furthermore, Romanticism and historical imagination had a profound effect on
nineteenth century historians. The nineteenth century Romantic era was a cultural
movement that emerged in Europe as a reaction against the Enlightenment and
Industrialization, emphasizing emotion, individualism, and nature. This period
valued artistic expression and sought to evoke deep emotional responses through
literature, music, and visual arts, promoting ideas of beauty, spirituality and the
sublime. It also highlighted the importance of personal experience and the power of
imagination in the creative process. Figures like Jules Michelet in France infused
their historical writing with emotional and cultural depth, blending Literature and
history.
Finally, the birth of social history in the late nineteenth century helped to expand
the scope of historiography beyond political events towards culture, art, and
everyday life. On one hand, social history deals with the structures of societies and
social change; social movements, groups and classes, conditions of work and ways
of life; families; house-holds; local communities, urbanization; mobility; ethic groups
and others. On the other hand, social history challenged dominant historical
narratives which were constructed around the history of politics and the state or
around the history of ideas, by stressing, instead, social Change as a core dimension
around which historical synthesis and diagnosis of the contemporary world should
be organized.
In conclusion, the nineteenth century was a turning point in European
historiography, marking the transition from history as a literary pursuit to a
professional academic discipline. It saw the development of scientific methods,
nationalistic narratives, Marxist interpretations, and social history, all of which
shaped modern historical thought. The period’s influence remains significant, as
many historiographical debates today such as the role of nationalism, economic
structures and global perspectives have their roots in the intellectual currents of the
nineteenth century.

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