- More War if New Government Denies Autonomy: LTTE (April 5, 2004)
...red by the Tamil people, in that, the concept of the Tamil homeland, Tamil Nationalism and the right for Tamil self rule should be accepted as the basic aspirati... - New Flag Raises Anger Among Iraqi Students (April 28, 2004)
...y are furious that the new flag will no longer feature the colors red (for nationalism), white (for peace), and black and green (for Islam), nor the three stars... - Gunning for the Root of 'Evil' (April 14, 2002)
...t for discontent. Governments and the old ideologies, largely varieties of nationalism, have failed to deliver either material goods or a sense of dignity, wheth... - Why the Mullahs Love a Revolution (April 24, 2003)
...do better to consider the history of the region. In particular, the dogged nationalism of the Iraqis that forced imperial Britain's departure in 1932; and, more... - Rising Threat of Hindu Extremism (July 12, 2002)
...While the Western World worries about Islam, the specter of Hindu nationalism carries the potential of threatening the stability of the Indian subcontin... - Journalism Should Never Yield to 'Patriotism' (May 30, 2002)
...ficiently patriotic. Too many journalists responded to the post-9/11 hyper-nationalism by waving the flag, literally and figuratively. Even Dan Rather, perhap... - Are the War and Globalization Really Connected? (October 1, 2004)
...y actions, the current administration has shown a penchant for go-it-alone nationalism in its economic negotiations. This has led to a type of bare-knuckles prom... - Anarchists and the Anti-War Movement (February 2, 2003)
...ice of the average seminarian. In sum, anarchism encompasses the idea that nationalism — as in nation-states, capitalist free markets and centralized authority b... - With Garang's Death, Southern Sudan May Secede (August 8, 2005)
...i and other secular Arabs. Garang became the George Washington of Sudanese nationalism because he included all faiths, regions and religions and races. Sudan als... - Hamas History Tied to Israel (June 18, 2002)
...ctly from Israel. The PLO was secular and leftist and promoted Palestinian nationalism. Hamas wanted to set up a transnational state under the rule of Islam, muc... - Anti-Americanism, Russia, and Negative Values (June 6, 2002)
...tarted to berate America. Once again, they started to fall back to Russian nationalism, with its cultural and moral superiority. They don't want to be provincial... - Empire Undressed (November 13, 2004)
... of the benefits and all the disadvantages of traditional empires, such as nationalism, as the US is now facing in Iraq. But the next two chapters are the hea... - US Unprepared to Prevent Rise of Fundamentalist Iraqi Government (April 23, 2003)
...Arab, not Persian, giving U.S. officials hope that a strong sense of Iraqi nationalism and a tradition of resisting the concept of a single supreme Shiite ruler... - Pearl Harbor in Reverse (October 23, 2002)
... Stalin scourged the Russian people, yet he successfully appealed to their nationalism to defeat the Nazis. Pol Pot, after killing more than a million of his fel... - How America Created a Terrorist Haven (August 20, 2003)
... that the attacks are being carried out by organized forces — motivated by nationalism, Islam and revenge — that feed off public unhappiness. According to a s... - Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Johann Gottfried von Herder, Materials for the Philosophy of the History of Mankind [1]
- Ernest Gellner
- Emir Faisal
- Theodor Herzl
- Benedict Anderson
- the Italian unification under the rule of Piedmont and Sardinia
- the Franco-Prussian War and the unification of Germany under the rule of Prussia
- the French Revolution
- World War I and World War II
- Americas
- Balkans
- China
- Europe in general
- 1870-71 -- Franco-Prussian War
- 1914-18 -- World War I
- 1939-45 -- World War II and the Holocaust
- Ireland
- 1798 -- 1798 rebellion
- 1848 -- Young Irelanders' rebellion
- 1867 -- Fenian rebellion
- 1916 -- Easter Rising
- 1919-20 -- Irish War of Independence
- 1920-21 -- Irish Civil War
- 1969-2001 -- Northern Ireland's Troubles
- Poland
- Middle East
- 19th century-present -- Kurdish conflict against Turkey
- 1915-present -- Kurdish conflict against Iraq
- 1917-present -- Arab-Israeli conflict
- Spain
- China
- Ireland
- Middle East
- Spain
- Religious Nationalism and Human Rights, David Little, United States Institute of Peace also briefly discusses history of nationalism
- Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Nationalism there's a lot of information here to incorporate
- Alfred Verdross and Othmar Spann: German Romantic Nationalism, National Socialism and International Law, Anthony Carty, European Journal of International Law
- The Nationalism Project is the world's most comprehensive website on nationalism.
- The Prohibition of Nationalism in Islam
Nationalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nationalism is a concept of identity which members of a particular government, nation, society, or territory may collectively feel. Nationalists strive to create or sustain a nation based on various notions of political legitimacy. Nationalist ideologies often trace their development from the Romantic theory of "cultural identity" and/or the Liberalist argument that political legitimacy is derived from the consent of a region's population.
Nationalism is a frequently misunderstood term. Nationalism does not necessarily imply that one nation is better than another, simply that groups of similar people should be governed by the same government, independent of different groups. Jingoism is a more extreme ideology that emphasizes the superiority of one nation over another.
Several theorists have argued that the necessary conditions for nationalism include the development of the printing press and capitalism.
See also: patriotism
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Evolution of Nationalism
The nation-state was born in Europe with the Treaty of Westphalia (1648). Nationalism was still an elite phenomenon for a couple of centuries after that, but during the 19th century in Europe it spread widely and became popularized. Nationalism has dominated European and even global politics ever since. Much of 19th century European politics can be seen as a struggle between newer nationalist movements and old autocratic regimes. In some cases nationalism took a liberal anti-monarchical face whereas in other cases nationalist movements were co-opted by conservative monarchical regimes. Gradually through that century the old multi-national states such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire began to lose their grip, and various localized states were absorbed into larger national entities, most notably Germany and Italy.By the end of the 19th century, nationalistic ideas had began to spread into Asia. In India, nationalism began to encourage calls for the end of British rule. In China, nationalism created a justification for the Chinese state that was at odds with the idea of the universal empire. In Japan, nationalism combined with Japanese exceptionalism.
The First World War marked the final destruction of several multinational states (Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and to some extent Russia). The Versailles Treaty was marked by an attempt to recognize the principle of nationalism, as most of Europe was divided into nation states in an attempt to keep the peace. However, several multinational states and empires survived. The 20th century has also been marked by the slow assertion of nationalism around the world with the destruction of European colonial Empires, the Soviet Union, and various other smaller multinational states.
At the same time, particularly in the latter half of the century, anti-nationalistic trends have taken place, notably often driven by elites. The European Union is now transferring power from the national level to both local and continental bodies. Trade agreements, such as NAFTA and the GATT, and the increasing internationalization of trade markets are also weakening the sovereignty of the nation state.
However, nationalism continues to assert itself in opposition to those trends. Globalization is violently opposed in street demonstrations (see ATTAC), nationalistic parties continue to do well in elections, and the most people continue to have a strong sense of attachment to their nationality.
Forms of Nationalism
Civic nationalism (also civil nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from the active participation of its citizenry, the "will of the people"; "political representation". An individual in such a nation must believe that the state's actions somehow reflect his will, even when specific actions go against his will. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who first developed this theory, devised the concept of the General Will to explain how that could work. Rousseau put down his theory in various writings, particularly On the Social Contract. (See Social contract theories for a more in-depth discussion of the historical development of this philosophy.)Civic nationalism lies within the traditions of rationalism and liberalism. It is the theory behind constitutional democracies such as the United States.
Ethnic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from historical cultural or hereditary groupings (ethnicities). This was developed by Johann Gottfried von Herder, who introduced the concept of the Volk.
Romantic nationalism (also organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of ethnic nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy as a natural ("organic") consequence of race; in the spirit of Romanticism and opposed to Enlightenment rationalism. Romantic nationalism relies upon the existence of a historical ethnic culture which meets the Romantic Ideal; folklore developed as a Romantic nationalist concept. The Brothers Grimm were inspired by Herder's writings to create an idealized collection of tales which they labeled as ethnic German. See Populism and Nationalism.
Giuseppe Mazzini (Italy), Jules Michelet (France), Johann Gottlieb Fichte (Germany), Roman Dmowski (Poland).
Religious nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy as a consequence of shared religion. Zionism is an example, though many, if not most, forms of ethnic nationalism are in some ways religious nationalism as well. For example, Irish nationalism is associated with Catholicism; Indian nationalism is associated with Hinduism. In general, religious nationalism is viewed as a form of ethnic nationalism.
Sometimes however religion is more of a marker of a group than the motivation for their nationalism. For example although most Irish nationalist leaders of the last 100 years are Catholic, in the 19th century and especially in the 18th century many nationalistic leaders were Protestant. Irish nationalists are not fighting for theological distinctions like transubstantiation, the status of the Virgin Mary, or the primacy of the Pope. Rather they are fighting for an ideology that identifies the geographical island of Ireland with a particular view of Irish culture, which for some nationalists does include Catholicism but has as a more dominant element other elements of culture.
Islam is fiercely opposed to any notion of Nationalism, Tribalism, Racism, or any other categorization of people not based on one's beliefs. However, Islamist groups can be considered as racist and nationalist (and are therefore by some not recognized as truly Islamic).
Some political theorists make the case that any discrimination of forms of nationalism is false. All forms of nationalism rely on the population being a nation; that is, that all the members of the population believe that they share some kind of common culture, and culture can't be wholly separated from ethnicity. Even the supposedly ethnically neutral "civic culture" of the United States, for example, relies on English as the one national language, has "God" on its coinage and in its Pledge of Allegiance, and designates official holidays, which promote cultural biases. See also the concept of Manifest Destiny, American nativism, the House Un-American Activities Committee.
The modern vernacular use of nationalism refers to the political (and military) exercise of ethnic and religious nationalism.
Fascism is usually marked by ethnic nationalism, the most extreme example being National Socialism in Nazi Germany.
In some cases there has been a reaction against nationalism. An example was the perception in pre-World War I, European socialist movements that nationalism was being used to prevent workers uniting against capitalism. Another example is in present day Germany, Israel and Ireland where there are people who are not comfortable with any nationalistic, patriotic, or even cultural symbols, because these have become associated (and permanently discredited in their view) with violent nationalism (see self-hatred).
Nationalist theorists
Benedict Anderson has stated, "only face-to-face contact can sustain community: nations are in some sense an illusion." [2] (see also [3]).
Historical nationalism
Historical events in which nationalism played an essential role:
Ethnic nationalist conflicts
(Includes most wars between the 18th century and World War I. Excludes conflicts driven primarily by other ideologies such as religion, communism, or democracy.)
Ethnic nationalist organizations
(Not including governments and formal armies)
Nationalism and patriotism
Patriotism and chauvinism are nowadays often based in nationalism, but can for instance also come from a feeling of affiliation with an imperial dynasty.
Nationalism and language
A common language has been one of the main presuppositions for nationalism; in France, for example, before the French Revolution patois such as Breton and Occitan were spoken in the various regions which were incomprehensible to each other. Following the Revolution, French was imposed as the national language. For instance, in Brittany Celtic names were forbidden.Some theorists believe that nationalism became pronounced in the 19th century for the simple reason that language became more important as unifier due to increased literacy. With increasing numbers of people reading newspapers, books, pamphlets, etc... which were increasingly widely available and read since the spread of the printing press, it became possible for the first time to develop a broader cultural attachment that went beyond the local community. At the same time, differences in language solidified, breaking down old dialects, and excluding those from completely different language groups.
Nationalist movements from Ireland to India promote the teaching, preservation, and usage of traditional languages, such as Celtic, Hebrew, and Hindi.
Even the U.S. have a long tradition of discrimination for other languages than English. Prominent examples are the German language which was nearly extinct during WWI. Also French and Italian have nearly disappeared from U.S. everyday life.
On the other hand only the availability of an easy to learn language made integration of such different cultural and ethnic groups as they were found in the U.S. under a common identity possible. Whether a similar integration can be reached some day in Europe is still highly controversial.
Nationalism and racism
Although nationalism does not necessarily imply a belief in one's own superiority over others, excesses of nationalism have not infrequently led to racist variants of the theory (see Jingoism).
Around the beginning of the 20th century in many countries all over the world a tendency existed to mix nationalism with racism. One of the clearest examples of racist nationalism was embodied in the Nazi movement in Germany with the resulting Holocaust.
However there are other examples of racism that could have been motivated through nationalism, including ethnic cleansings during the Yugoslav secession war in the 1990s, the removal of Germans from the Wolga Republic during the 1940s, the repressions against blacks in the United States during the 1930s, the extermination of the Armenians in the Osmanic Empire in 1915, terror bombing and gas attacks by the British army in Iraq in the 1920s and 1930s, killing of the Boers in british concentration camps at the end of the 19th century, and others.
What makes nationalism so attractive?
The reason why nationalism has maintained its appeal over the centuries might be that belonging to a culturally, economically or politically strong nation makes you feel better regardless of your own contribution to this strength.
Nationalism and pride
Exceeding or violated pride or in the worst case both together can be the most potent driving forces for the rise of nationalism. In Germany the soil for nationalism was prepared by a sequence of a period with exceeding pride followed by a period of defeat and devastation. Whereas during the "Wilhelminian" era exceeding pride has been risen by the German government, the period after WWI was determined by violated pride due to defeat and the conditions of the Versailles treaty. In conjunction with the resulting economic devastation due to hyperinflation (1922, 1923, and 1929), this lead to the rise of Nazism and in the last consequence to WWII.
See also
External links