Nationalism in Europe: 1890-1990

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 urb

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at she must also be a great country, exercising all of her rightful influence over the destiny of Europe (Ferry 304). The problem, of course, is that other European nations, including Germany, Italy, and Russia, were or would soon be seeing themselves as rightful controllers of European destiny as well. Nationalism was often connected intimately with imperialism, or to keep a nation's diverse groups unified, and to keep those groups from focusing on domestic divisions, the nationalistic leader or government had to focus the people's attention outward---on foreign domination or conquest. At the same time, of course, imperialism as factor of nationalism was a practicality as well: foreign resources were needed for increased industrialization and modernization at home. The results of such imperialistic nationalism is inevitably war and exploitation: The decades of imperialism have been prolific in wars; most of these wars have been directly motivated by aggression of white races upon "lower races," and have issued in forcible seizure of territory (Hobson 234). Ironically, the nationalism which developed especially after World War I was far different than that which emerged as the earliest form of this ideology: Early natio

Category: Foreign - N