This study will examine the definition, emergence and development of ardent and militant nationalism in Europe from 1890 to 1990. The study will analyze the reasons for this emergence and for the changes which have occurred in nationalism during that time. There are two underlying theses in this examination. The first thesis is that although militant nationalism remains a force in some regions and nations the world in the 1990s, it is not as significant as it was earlier in the century when it dictated the course of global events. The nationalism of the late 19th and early 20th century was manifest in the strengthening of nation-states and the lessening of inter-group conflict in that nation-state. The nationalism of the late 20th century, on the other hand, is manifest in the rise of ethnic groups whose conflicts threaten rather than strengthen those national entities (as in the former Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia). The second thesis is that the early form of nationalism was far more liberal in policy and principle than the fascistic nationalism which led to World War II.
McKay et al. write that nationalism was a means of organizing and ordering the Western societies which were being revolutionized by social, political, and technological changes throughout the 19th century:
Western society progressively found, for better or worse, a new and effective organizing principle capable of coping with the many-sided challenge of the dual revolution and the emerging urban civilization. That principle was nationalism---dedication to and identification with the nation-state (McKay 831).
As the 20th century progressed, however, and nationalism became increasingly significant and entrenched in certain countries, it gained a power which proved difficult to control. Leaders were able to subvert the original function of nationalism (as an organizing force in the face of revolutionary, destabilizing forces) and create a state whi...