The emergence of the nation-state in the second half of the nineteenth century was an expression of both the revolutionary and conservative elements in Europe that followed the Napoleonic era. On the revolutionary hand, there were the ethnically driven national movements (for instance, the Slavophilic Russian movement); on the conservative hand, the more politically driven national movements, which seem more to be nations of convenience than nations of principle (consider the rise of Austria-Hungary, what with all its dissenting minorities in spite of its strong, centralized government). As the conservatives of the Concert of Europe had feared, the pro-people, pro-individual rights tilt of the more populist elements led to widespread increasing entropy. The worries of the Concert of Europe were further realized by the growth of the extra-large Austria-Hungary.
Also: Coffin devotes a section to "centrifugal forces in the Austrian Empire." Luckily for the Austrians, there is no such thing as the centrifugal force; it is a fictitious force in the sense that it only exists in non-inertial reference frames, and I believe the Austrian Empire is at least mostly an inertial frame of reference. Ms. Coffin and Mr. Stacey could have evidently paid some more attention during high school science courses.
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