nationalism

nationalism
Name	Nationalism
Region	Worldwide
Period	18th–21st centuries
Main ideas	Sovereignty, identity, self-determination
Notable people	Giuseppe Mazzini, Johann Gottfried Herder, Simon Bolivar, Otto von Bismarck, Mahatma Gandhi, Sun Yat-sen, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Vladimir Lenin, Charles Maurras, Mao Zedong, Woodrow Wilson

nationalism Nationalism is a political and cultural phenomenon that ties collective identity to a named polity and seeks recognition, autonomy, or dominance for that polity. It has motivated movements, revolutions, constitutions, and wars from the late 18th century through the 21st century, influencing actors such as Revolutionary France, Haitian Revolution, Latin American Wars of Independence, Unification of Italy, and decolonization campaigns across Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Nationalism interacts with doctrines promoted by figures like Giuseppe Garibaldi, Simón Bolívar, Sun Yat-sen, and institutions such as the League of Nations and the United Nations.

Definition and Origins

Scholars locate origins of modern national sentiment in intellectual and political transformations associated with events like the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, and earlier cultural currents in works by Johann Gottfried Herder and debates in the Enlightenment. The term acquired political force through documents and movements including the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, the writings of Giuseppe Mazzini, and the language politics evident in the Congress of Vienna era. Roots also appear in premodern forms of communal loyalty as seen in the medieval Hanseatic League, the court politics of the Ottoman Empire, and regional loyalties within the Holy Roman Empire.

Historical Development

Nation-focused mobilization shaped the 19th century via processes such as the Unification of Germany under Otto von Bismarck and the Unification of Italy involving Giuseppe Garibaldi and Camillo Cavour. Nationalist impulses intertwined with imperial competition in episodes like the Scramble for Africa and the expansion of the British Empire. The 20th century witnessed nationalist aspirations driving decolonization after World War I and World War II, with leaders like Mahatma Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, Ho Chi Minh in the Vietnamese independence movement, and Kwame Nkrumah in the Ghanaian independence movement. Nationalism also underpinned state projects in revolutionary contexts such as the Russian Revolution and the founding of the People's Republic of China under Mao Zedong. Late 20th- and early 21st-century developments include post-Soviet national assertions following the Dissolution of the Soviet Union and regional independence referendums like those in Catalonia and Scotland.

Types and Ideologies

Scholars distinguish civic models associated with constitutional projects exemplified by French Revolution-era republicanism from ethnic models rooted in linguistic and kinship claims illustrated by movements in Balkans and Central Europe. Varieties include conservative nationalisms linked with dynastic restoration movements such as reactions to the July Revolution (1830), liberal nationalisms promoted by figures like Giuseppe Mazzini, revolutionary nationalisms in patterns seen in Latin American Wars of Independence, and revolutionary socialist nationalisms manifest in the policies of Vladimir Lenin and Ho Chi Minh. Other currents encompass irredentist claims in contexts like the Treaty of Trianon, pan-national projects such as Pan-Slavism and Pan-Arabism, and exclusionary doctrines associated with far-right organizations like National Socialist German Workers' Party and movements inspired by Charles Maurras.

Cultural and Political Expressions

Nationalism expresses itself through symbols, rituals, and institutions: flags and anthems exemplified by the Tricolore and Star-Spangled Banner; commemorations like Bastille Day and Independence Day (United States); public education reforms seen in the expansion of schooling during the Meiji Restoration; and language standardization projects such as the Turkish language reforms under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. Cultural production from poets and novelists like Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Rabindranath Tagore, to composers and painters engaged public imagination; state apparatuses such as civil registries and conscription systems under regimes from Napoleonic France to Third Republic (France) institutionalized national identity. International diplomacy and treaties—examples include the Treaty of Versailles and principles advanced at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919—reflected competing national claims.

Nationalism and State Formation

Nationalist mobilization has been central to creating, consolidating, and transforming states: nation-building projects shaped the institutional architecture of nations like Italy and Germany in the 19th century and postcolonial states in India, Nigeria, and Indonesia. Theories of self-determination promoted by leaders such as Woodrow Wilson informed mandates and transitions overseen by organizations like the League of Nations and later the United Nations. Conversely, nationalist exclusion contributed to state dissolution and conflict, as at the collapse of Yugoslavia and the partition of British India into India and Pakistan. Administrative reforms, citizenship laws, and constitutions—such as the Weimar Constitution and the Indian Constitution—embody legal responses to nationalist claims.

Criticism and Controversies

Critics argue nationalism can produce ethnocentrism, xenophobia, and violent conflict, citing episodes like the Armenian Genocide, Rwandan genocide, and policies of the Third Reich. Debates engage liberal critics drawing on Montesquieu and cosmopolitan theorists, Marxist critiques from figures like Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, and postcolonial analyses by scholars influenced by Frantz Fanon and activists from the Non-Aligned Movement. Tensions persist between universal human-rights frameworks exemplified by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and particularist claims advanced in nationalist agendas; disputes also arise over migration, minority rights, and transnational integration exemplified by debates surrounding the European Union and regional blocs.

Category:Political ideologies