Nationalism Between 1870 And 1914 Essay

The title of this essay is to explain the importance of nationalism between 1870 and 1914 .In order to do just that it is important to understand what nationalism is however it is imposibble to provide a truly satisfactory definition of nationalism that fits all the facts and to which there is no exceptions. ,“Nationalism is a feeling that people have of being loyal to and proud of their country often with the belief that it is better and more important than other countries: a desire by a large group of people (such as people who share the same culture, history, language, etc.) to form a separate and independent nation of their own.” Many things are citied as the reason for World War 1 and certainly nationalist feeling is one of them especially is countries such as Germany were the outbreak of War was greeted with a feeling of

Seen as Germany was blamed for the outbreak of WW1 for a substantial length I felt it appropriate that in this essay I will be focusing on the feeling of nationalism in Germany, as well as the overall growth of nationalism in Europe and its influence on European politics.

The Growth of nationalist feelings in European politics is a phenomenal development considering in “the early nineteenth century nationalism had in large been the preserve of the educated middle classes.” So how did nationalism develop into a political movement that began to “ capture the imagination of the wider public and became a key mobilising force in the modern political arena?” The French revolution marks the beginning of nationalism however for the topic of the French revolution deserves its own essay so for now we will focus on nationalist movements of 1870 to fully understand the importance and influence of nationalism in Germany and Europe in general it is important to mention these revolutions which were born out of the inability and unwillingness for change to take place from European monarchies to better society. In early 1848