The Importance of Irredentism

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,

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s supplanted the schools' inculcation of Marxist-Leninist philosophy. Central to nationalist teaching is the emphasis on China's past humiliations at the hands of other nations, particularly those in the West. Students learn about the land ôstolenö from China by those other nations. School textbooks use maps showing China in 1840, when its sovereignty extended to the Russian Far East, Korea, Vietnam, and Malaysia, among other places. The PRC officially claims sovereignty over much of that area via the Territorial Waters Act of 1992. The law declares that all the islands, cays, sandbars, lagoons, and islets of the South China Sea are ôsovereign Chinese territory.ö That is a huge area, encompassing the primary sea lanes of Asia. China's assertion of sovereignty extends to the Spratly Islands, which are potentially rich in natural resources. That claim already has led to skirmishes with other Asian nations. Furthermore, China views Taiwan as a renegade province and has threatened to use force to reclaim the island if it declares independence. China also has occupied Tibet for decades, and in 1979, it waged the Pedagogical War against Vietnam, to punish that nation for attacking Cambodia (one of China's allies). The war u
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Approximate Word count = 1284
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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