Some scholars argue that nationalism has been the single greatest force of the 20th century, surpassing all other ôismsö including communism and fascism. Many leaders fueled nationalist fervor by tapping into the public's irredentist sentiments, a tactic that Adolf Hitler employed to win power and to consolidate his hold over Germany in the 1930s. This paper will examine the importance of irredentism in explaining the behavior of reactive nationalist systems, both in the past and in the future, and analyze the irredentist tendencies of the planet's newest emerging power, the People's Republic of China.
According to A. James Gregor, ôreactive nationalism is more frequently associated with economic, and particularly industrial, retardation[.]ö However, he goes on to write that ôthere are clearly anomalous instances when some forms are found in communities that are reasonably well-developed economically and industrially, but which, for whatever reasons suffer a persistent and singular sense of humiliation and corresponding resentment.ö Gregor cites Nazi Germany as one example, and says post-Soviet Russia might be another.
Reactive nationalism proves appealing because it taps into a collective sense of profound humiliation, which fuels movements (such as the Nazis) that call for national renewal. Inevitably, that renewal will require righting the wrong and avenging the humiliation. Often that means reclaiming some piece of land over which the nation once held sovereignty, no matter how long ago. It also involves reclaiming the nation's ancient grandeur, such as the case in Italy.
Appeals to irredentism can be found in the origins of Italian fascism. At the turn of the century, Giusseppe Mazzini urged the founding of a ôThird Rome,ö after Rome of the C'sars and the Christian Rome. Regenerating Italy in this manner would require the reclamation of lost lands. Mazzini called for the reacquisition of Trentino, Istr...