Nation Building through Social Order

Government officials and reformers hoped to offset the violent changes of the nation-building process with new improvements. Population rose and cities grew crowded as the nineteenth century progressed, leading officials across Europe to promote public health and safety. Many liberals wanted a laissez-faire government that left social and economic life largely to private enterprise. In contrast, bureaucrats and reformers took direct action to improve citizens’ lives and, along with missionaries and explorers, worked more actively to establish social order and to extend European power to the farthest reaches of the globe. Some of these efforts met violent resistance both within Europe and outside it.