Nationalism, the sense of belonging to a particular state, has nowadays become an extremely effective and pervasive a force in the political life of mankind.
Nationalism has not only influenced the formation of nation-states but I.js also determined, to a large extent, the mutual relation between different states.
Nationalism did not exist in the past, at least in the form in which we find it today. It was during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that nationalism came to be a distinctive force to reckon with.
Nationalism is usually defined as a sentiment of a group of people, united together by powerful ties and bonds—such as, common race, living in contiguous and well-defined territory, having the same faith, common language, and common economy, a common pattern of life, a common history and a common ideal for the future.
A group of people, when united together by- such ties, seeks expression and development of its group of collective personality through independent political organisation of its own. Nationalism is defined as the sentiment of nationhood, in reality it is more than a mere sentiment.
Originating in the gregarious (group forming) instinct of man and nourished by the rational desire for self-sufficiency, nationalism has in the present century, come to be a very dynamically active force in practical politics. As Lord Morley remarks, nationalism -” “from instinct became idea; from idea, abstract principles; then fervid prepossession; ending where it is today in a dogma.”
The Essay on Nationalism
One person or a group of people can take on a major role of the unification process that brings upon nationalism for their country. To get a better understanding of what nationalism is, one must learn the meaning of "nationalism." Nationalism is the devotion to the interests or culture of a particular nation. Nationalism is a striving force that can help a country thrive. There are also different ...
The essence of nationalism is a unifying, integrating, all-pervasive fueling among the people or peoples of a country who owe their first and last duty to the nation. In the past, empires comprising many nations ultimately disintegrated because of the lack of national feeling that helps and hastens fusion of the component nations into a homogeneous unit.
This is seen in the decline and disintegration of the Moghul Empire in less than two hundred years and, to some extent, of the great Roman Empire. The development of the ideal of nationalism took place in Europe in the seventeenth century. Of the factors contributing to the growth of the sentiment, special, mention must be made of the writings of Machiavelli, the great Italian politician of the l6th century who influenced the nationalist movements in many countries.
The Napoleonic conquest contributed, in no small measure, to the growth of this sentiment uniting the conquered people against French domination.
The French Revolution also, with its clarion call of ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’, made people’ conscious of their inherent rights. India had been united politically under the imperial domination of the British, but national fusion was prevented partly by the conflict between the different traditions of India and Islam. But resistance to the British brought out to the surface an identity of mental attitude and economic interests among the different peoples and developed a powerful feeling of nationality throughout the country, leading to the attainment of independence, though after the partition. Netaji and his INA were the supreme exponent of this flambuoyant nationalism.
Nationalism naturally seeks the right of self-determination enunciated by President Wodrow Wilson at the Versailles Conference. This right has had the effect of encouraging and fostering the freedom movement in many countries. As a result, new nation-states have emerged all over the world. According to the Marxists, nationalism in its present form came in the wake of Bourgeoisie Democratic Revolutions in different countries.
The Term Paper on Nations And Nationalism Nation Modern State
... the modern world. Guibernau, in 'Nationalisms: The Nation-State and Nationalism in the Twentieth Century', distinguishes between ... vernacular which was not accessible. Thus people became aware that they were connected ... of one person reading to a group. This, he argues, also increased the ... nationalisms. Gellner has however claimed that his analysis conveniently excludes examples of nations or countries ...
Fascism was the last attempt made to stem this tide of nationalism through extreme anti-sematicism and state-controlled capitalism manifested in dictatorship.
Nationalism is essentially a democratic ideal and as such, it is opposed to all those forces, which impede the growth of the group personality of a people. If individual liberty is recognised as an indispensable condition for the fullest development of all that is good in the individual the liberty of a nation is equally so. If each nation gets the opportunity of perfecting its own system of law, its civilization and economic life, each will be in a position to contribute its best to enrich the common stock. The world, as a whole, will be benefited by such mutual give-and-take.
Thus, nationalism is a great liberalising force which unifies and elevates and seeks to preserve and promote all that is best in a nation It inspires a spirit of self-confidence in a nation.
Nationalism is, no doubt, a magnetic force which attracts like groups. But within the nation, it sometimes expresses itself in the form of parochial patriotism which accentuates the differences between intra-national groups. The effect of this is that many minor groups may begin to call themselves nationalities. The possibility of such fissiparous (separatist) tendencies emerging has to be guarded against.
The most serious evil, to which nationalism is a prey, has arisen out of modern capitalism, though it is the Bourgeoisie Democratic Revolutions that gave birth to nationalism spirit. For the nation has been defined as state plus nationality.
Nationalism— developed in the age aiming at the self-sufficiency of states, finds it difficult to maintain its position when the nation is not self-sufficient;—when it cannot consume all that it produces. The growth of mammoth industries for the production of capital goods, consumer goods and war materials has made it necessary for every state to find out a market where raw materials can be bought and surplus finished goods may be disposed of for a profit. This economic motive reinforces the desire for more political power and leads to policy of colonising the under-developed countries for exploitation.
The present day tendency is to form multi-national concerns in developing countries. This is how the whole of Asia and Africa fell under the greed of nationalism of the West and, later on, of Japan. Thus nationalism, organised as the Nation-State, produces what is known as chauvinism or militant or ultra-nationalism. The evil effect of this perverted form of nationalism is that it creates hostilities between groups, supports militarism, and retards progress. It produces a feeling that the laws and civilization of one’s own country are superior to those of others, and may therefore be rightly imposed upon a politically weak and incapable people. It leads in the end to what is called imperialism that sows the seeds of war. So Rabindranath warned Eurpoe against the dangers of ultra-nationalism, leading to warfare.
The Term Paper on Nationalism And The State
... These shared values of the state, a form of conservative nationalism, are of paramount importance to its ... unite with the imperialist nature of other nations, because it is a revolutionary, national culture" ... fact, all ethnic groups are considered to be equal. This form of liberal nationalism has hence prevented ... who have achieved good level of success by using nationalism to mould the state are also ...
True nationalism is based on the ideal of ‘Live and let live’. It recognises the freedom of all nations to preserve their distinct identity of languages, culture. Self-love is not bad so long it does not lead to selfishness. It is only true nationalism which can pave the way for internationalism, the edifice of which can be built only on the basis of mutual trust, goodwill and co-operation among nations.
