Nationalism

Nationalism is the striving to create or sustain a nation based on any of several concepts of political legitimacy[?]. Nationalist ideologies trace their development from the Romantic ideal of cultural identity and the Liberal requirement that political legitimacy be derived from the people.

Several theorists have argued that the necessary conditions for nationalism include the development of the printing press and capitalism.

Table of contents 1 Evolution of Nationalism 2 Forms of Nationalism 3 Nationalist theorists 4 Historical nationalism 5 Ethnic nationalist conflicts 5.1 Ethnic nationalist organizations 5.2 Nationalism and patriotism 5.3 Nationalism and language 5.4 External links and references

Evolution of Nationalism The nation-state was born in Europe with the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), peaked with the French revolution (1789), and suffered serious blows with the First World War (1918) in which millions died for little but Nationalism, with the collapse of National Socialism (1943-1945), and with the failure of "nation-building[?]" by the United States in the 1960s. Now nationalism may be dying in its birthplace. The European Union is now transferring power from the national level to both local and continental bodies. Many youngsters no longer consider themselves French, German, or Italian, but European.

Forms of Nationalism Civic nationalism (also civil nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from the active participation of its citizenry, the "will of the people"; "political representation". An individual in such a nation must believe that the state's actions somehow reflect his will, even when specific actions go against his will. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who first developed this theory, devised the concept of the General Will to explain how that could work. Rousseau put down his theory in various writings, particularly On the Social Contract. (See Social contract theories for a more in-depth discussion of the historical development of this philosophy.)

Civic nationalism lies within the traditions of rationalism and liberalism. It is the theory behind constitutional democracies[?] such as the United States.

Ethnic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy from historical cultural or hereditary groupings (ethnicities). This was developed by Johann Gottfried von Herder, who introduced the concept of the Volk.

Romantic nationalism (also organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of ethnic nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy as a natural ("organic") consequence of race; in the spirit of Romanticism and opposed to Enlightenment rationalism. Romantic nationalism relies upon the existence of a historical ethnic culture which meets the Romantic Ideal; folklore developed as a Romantic nationalist concept. The Brothers Grimm were inspired by Herder's writings to create an idealized collection of tales which they labeled as ethnic German. See Populism and Nationalism.

Giuseppe Mazzini (Italy), Jules Michelet[?] (France), Johann Gottlieb Fichte (Germany).

Religious nationalism is the form of nationalism in which the state derives political legitimacy as a consequence of shared religion. Zionism is an example, though many, if not most, forms of ethnic nationalism are in some ways religious nationalism as well. For example, Irish nationalism is associated with Catholicism; Indian nationalism is associated with Hinduism. In general, religious nationalism is viewed as a form of ethnic nationalism.

Sometimes however religion is more of a marker of a group than the motivation for their nationalism. For example although most Irish nationalist leaders of the last 100 years are Catholic, in the 19th Century and especially in the 18th Century many nationalistic leaders were Protestant. Irish nationalists are not fighting for theological distinctions like transubstantiation, the status of the Virgin Mary, or the primacy of the Pope. Rather they are fighting for an ideology that identifies the geographical island of Ireland with a particular view of Irish culture, which for some nationalists does include Catholicism but has as a more dominant element other elements of culture.

Islam is fiercely opposed to any notion of Nationalism, Tribalism, Racism, or any other categorization of people not based on one's beliefs.

Some political theorists make the case that any discrimination of forms of nationalism is false. All forms of nationalism rely on the population being a nation; that is, that all the members of the population believe that they share some kind of common culture, and culture can't be wholly separated from ethnicity. Even the supposedly ethnically neutral "civic culture" of the United States, for example, relies on English as the one national language, has "God" on its coinage and in its Pledge of Allegiance, and designates official holidays, which promote cultural biases. See also the concept of Manifest Destiny, American nativism, the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The modern vernacular use of nationalism refers to the political (and military) exercise of ethnic and religious nationalism.

Fascism is usually marked by ethnic nationalism, the most extreme example being National Socialism in Nazi Germany.

In some cases there has been a reaction against nationalism. An example was the perception in pre-World War I European socialist movements that nationalism was being used to prevent workers uniting against capitalism. Another example is in present day Germany and Ireland where there are people who are not comfortable with nationalistic, patriotic, or even cultural symbols that have become associated with violent nationalism.

Nationalist theorists

• Jean-Jacques Rousseau
• Johann Gottfried von Herder, Materials for the Philosophy of the History of Mankind
• Ernest Gellner
• Benedict Anderson[?]

[1] (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1784herder-mankind)

Benedict Anderson has stated, "only face-to-face contact can sustain community: nations are in some sense an illusion." [2] (http://www.socresonline.org.uk/2/1/8) (see also [3] (http://www.nationalismproject.org/what/anderson.htm)).

Historical nationalism Historical events in which nationalism played an essential role included the unification of Italy under the rule of Sardinia and the unification of Germany under the rule of Prussia.

• French Revolution

Ethnic nationalist conflicts (Includes most wars between the 18th century and World War I. Excludes conflicts driven primarily by other ideologies such as religion, communism, or democracy.)

• Americas
  • 1837 -- Patriotes Rebellion
  • 1898 -- Spanish-American War
  • 1970 -- October Crisis
• Balkans
  • 1992-95 -- Croatian Civil War
  • 1992-95 -- Bosnian Civil War
  • 1998-99 -- Kosovo War
• China
  • 1900 -- Boxer Rebellion
• Europe
  • 1870-71 -- Franco-Prussian War
  • 1914-18 -- World War I
  • 1939-45 -- World War II and the Holocaust
  • 1945-50 -- expulaion of the Heimatvertriebene
  • 1991-2000 -- civil war in the former Yugoslavia
• Ireland
  • 1798 -- 1798 rebellion[?]
  • 1848 -- Young Irelanders[?]' rebellion
  • 1867 -- Fenian rebellion
  • 1916 -- Easter Rising
  • 1919-20 -- Irish War of Independence
  • 1920-21 -- Irish Civil War
  • 1969-2001 -- Northern Ireland's Troubles
• Middle East
  • 19th century-present -- Kurdish conflict against Turkey
  • 1915-present -- Kurdish conflict against Iraq
  • 1917-present -- Arab-Israeli conflict
• Spain
  • 1960-2001 -- Basque conflict[?]

Ethnic nationalist organizations

(Not including governments and formal armies)

• China
  • Boxers[?]
• Ireland
  • United Irishmen[?]
  • Young Irelanders[?]
  • Fenian Brotherhood
  • Irish Republican Brotherhood[?]
  • Irish Republican Army
• Middle East
  • PKK
  • KDP
  • PLO
• Spain
  • ETA

Nationalism and patriotism

Nationalism is closely linked with patriotism and chauvinism.

Nationalism and language

A common language has been one of the main presuppositions for nationalism; in France, for example, before the French Revolution patois such as Breton and Occitan were spoken in the various regions which were incomprehensible to each other. Following the Revolution, French was imposed as the national language. For instance, in Brittany Celtic names[?] were forbidden.

German ethnicity in practice during the 19th century was determined as speaking German and having a Germanic name, though with Nazism much more stringent conditions were applied.

Nationalist movements from Ireland to India promote the teaching, preservation, and usage of traditional languages, such as Celtic, Hebrew, and Hindi.

External links and references

Religious Nationalism and Human Rights, David Little, United States Institute of Peace (http://www.usip.org/research/rehr/relignat) also briefly discusses history of nationalism
Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Nationalism (http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook17) there's a lot of information here to incorporate
Alfred Verdross and Othmar Spann: German Romantic Nationalism, National Socialism and International Law (http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol6/No1/art6), Anthony Carty[?], European Journal of International Law[?] Google on religious nationalism (http://www.google.com/search?q=religious+nationalism)
The Nationalism Project (http://www.nationalismproject.org) is the world's most comprehensive website on nationalism. The Prohibition of Nationalism in Islam (http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/2704/article29)