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The Pros And Cons Of Nationalism

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A. Is Nationalism a unifying force?
Nationalism refers to a mass of people united under the same nation who share an identity and loyalty to their country based on a similar race, religion, culture, ideals, language, morals, outlook on life, or wish for the future. Within a nation, nationalism has the ability to unite many and diverse people; nationalism brings people to display their patriotism by working together toward a common goal of strengthening and championing their country. No matter how different the people are within a nation, they all associate themselves with the same ideals that their nation is founded upon. While there may be different regions of a nation or different groups of people whose values conflict, when they are challenged …show more content…

Throughout history, humans have struggled to found states that would overpower all others, and pride and enthusiasm for one’s country is instinctive when a person wants to see their country succeed. Nationalism transcends the geography of the earth; while some countries may be enclosed by natural barriers, everyone is a human inhabitant of the land on earth, but nationalism organizes them into bodies of people with unique identities. However, it is only when nationalism turns to chauvinism (extreme, blind patriotism) that it can be destructive. While people within a nation may be unified under certain ideals, when their allegiance to their nation prevails over their morals they may impulsively support inhuman or irrational policies made by their government, and they may ruthlessly fight each other in wars. All in all, nationalism’s unifying powers overpower its destructive powers because even though it may not be apparent in times of peace, people within a country do exhibit their common identity ever so slightly in tranquil daily life as well as in war, but nationalism only causes destruction only in war, not in peace. This is why …show more content…

This was a multistep process masterfully thought out by Otto Von Bismarck, a nationalist who encouraged support of a single German country. Bismarck cultivated a nationalist spirit in the lawmaking countries of german states called the Blood and Iron speech - he encouraged them to help modify borders and form a single country through industrialization (iron) and strategically used warfare (blood). His main challenge was to determine which states and peoples would be incorporated into this nation out of all the German-speaking lands, but this issue seems to have been resolved in the process of the unification. After the 1814 Congress of Vienna where Klemens von Metternich influenced many of the decisions, a German confederation was created. There were thirty-nine German states grouped together in this confederation, with Prussia and Austria being the predominant powers. When the king of Schleswig-Holstein died he left his domain to Prussia and Austria, with Prussia receiving Schleswig and Austria gaining Holstein. Bismarck, having thought through this matter very cleverly, used the fact the Prussia had a stronger army than Austria to benefit his cause. Bismarck aroused tensions with Austria over this territory because both Prussia and Austria wanted both Schleswig and Holstein. In this struggle, France allied with Prussia and the United Kingdom allied with Austria.

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When we think of nationalism we often associate a sense of identity with stare and nation, for some the idea of there identity being connected to their nation is a positive notion, but for others this association to nation raises worry of alienation and violence.1 Nationalism can be seen as a network where individuals of a nation can have shared values, expectations and sense of self. These negative associations of nationalism “occurs when, in the process of seeing ourselves as uniquely Australian others suffer. ”2 An example of this would be the Cronulla riots where violence was inflicted upon those people that Australians born residence did not deem then worthy of being identified as Australian due to their ethnic background and the colour

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Germany has been a nation that had been divided for many centuries, the Germanic tribes had avoided being taken over by the Roman Empire, they had been the seat of the Holy Roman Empire, then after the Holy Roman Empire fall, it became a handful of individual kingdoms and states, with Persia and Austria being the biggest contenders to make a unified Germany. Germany in the early 1860’s was divided mostly because of failed politics and religious divides. One man was the most important driving force behind these Germanic kingdoms becoming the superpower that is Germany. Otto von Bismarck, the Minister President of Prussia and a friend to Persian king, Wilhelm I. Prussia had tried for years to unify the nations, but it wasn’t until Bismarck came along that this began to become a reality.

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Although there are many forms of nationalism, their goals are relatively similar. All forms of nationalism focus on promoting the best interest of the nation. Our book defines nationalism as “The idea that membership in a nation is the overriding focus of political identity and loyalty, which demands national self-determination (Owens). ” Nationalism can be classified as civic or ethnic and it may also support or oppose existing states. Most assume that civic nationalism is good and ethnic nationalism is bad; although this might not always be the case, in today’s society it seems as though this is true.

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Nationalism is people in a nation feeling linked together through common ethnic culture,heritage and a shared language. All through history there are examples of nationalism , but nationalism was the most powerful idea in the 1800s. Europe was made up of many different groups of people with various ethnic backgrounds, nationalism led those groups of people to unite and govern themselves freely nationalist were not loyal to their kings but to those who shared common bonds.

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Both nationalism and sectionalism share peoples pride but one is on a much larger scale. Love for one’s country can be showed through different ways. For example protecting contracts is one way. For example in the 1819 case of Dartmouth college v. Woodward the court ruled that states could not interfere with private contracts. Supporting the national bank is another example of nationalism.

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Nationalism has been a unifying force in the 19th century. Nationalism is when people have extreme pride in their country and feel a great sense of belonging to it. During the 19th century, the ideology of nationalism was becoming very popular across the world. It has caused people to be brought closer together and has assisted the development of many nations that still exist today, but it has also caused work in the opposite way, and caused people to feel excluded. Nationalism has acted as a unifying force as it has brought many people of the same race, religion and culture together.

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Nationalism is the idea that a people who have much in common, such as language, culture and within the same location ought to organize in such a way that it creates a stable and enduring state. Nationalism is tied to patriotism, and it is the driving force behind the identity of a culture. Nationalism had many effects in Europe from 1815, The Congress of Vienna and beyond. Nationalism brings people together in a way and people can feel belong to something. Factors include Prince Metternich, the middle class in countries get involved, and ideas of imperialism and many others brought people together as one to be called nationalism.

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