What generates nationalism and how important a factor is it in modern history

Perhaps most important of all, Western society progressively developed, for better or worse, a new and effective organizing principle capable of coping with the many-sided challenge of the dual revolution and the emerging urban civilization. That principle was nationalism-dedication to an identification with the nation-state. The triumph of nationalism is an enormously significant historical development that was by no means completely predictable. After all, nationalism had been a powerful force since at least 1789.12

Ernest Gellner’s thesis on nationalism that revolves around the political aspects of what generate nationalism can be deemed relevant in this discourse. He argues, there are two major elements that motivate nationalism, namely, sentiment and movement.13.Are these two elements interconnected or two separate entities? Sentiment according to Ernest Gellner is ‘the feeling of anger aroused by the violation of the principle, or the feeling of satisfaction aroused by its fulfilment. A nationalism movement is one actuated by a sentiment of this kind’.14 In this sense it can be argued for a national movement to exist there must exist some solidified sentiments that aim towards a common goal or interest shared among its members. Here Gellner’s hypothesis on issues and cases of what generates nationalism, how important a factor is it in shaping modern European social, political and economic realms can be tested on some examples in Modern European history.

As far as modern history is concerned, the origin of nationalism specifically in Europe is a matter of debate among historians. Hans Kohn is in favour of 1642, Acton the 1772 Partition of Poland, Kedourie maintains 1806, the year of Fichte’s famous Addresses to the German Nation in Berlin.15 It is argued by many historians however, that the 1789 French revolution is a turning point for the emergence of modern nationalism in Europe.16 

One may question, why did nationalism arise or what generates nationalism in Europe? Ellie Kedourie argues, ‘nationalism is a by product of revolution in European philosophy and a breakdown in European philosophy.’17 His contention maybe argued stems from the radical and revolutionary Enlightenment philosophy that to a great length address the issue of political ideas and relationship between rulers and the ruled.18Marvin Perry argues the link between Enlightenment philosophy and the 1789 French Revolution that resulted in the emergence of modern nationalism in Europe;

‘During the High Enlightenment, reformers dwelled increasingly on the Old Regime’s inequalities, which seemed to stifle men of talent…..the High Enlightenment’s systematic, sustained, and occasionally violent attacks on the clergy and the irrationality of privilege link that movement with the French Revolution…..Marat and Robespierre among them-who in the early days of the Revolution used the Enlightenment as a mirror on which they reflected the evils of the Old Order’.19

How did the revolution of 1789 in France generate nationalism? The revolution put forth the principle that the nation has the legitimacy to uphold the country’s sovereignty. The formation of the French National Assembly after the bloody revolution said by Danton in the Convention of 1792, ‘the French nation has brought into being a grand committee for the general insurrection of the peoples’.20 The Revolution as indicated by Lyn Hunt,

‘There were no recognized birthrights of the ‘freeborn’ Frenchman to sustain and animate revolutionary rhetoric. Instead the French harkened to what I will call a ‘mythic present’’, the instant creation of the new community, the sacred moment of the new consensus…’The discourse of the Revolution about itself’ revealed an effort to form a new Nation on the basis of a new consensus. The language of ritual and ritualised language served the function of national integration. It expressed the need for social solidarity.’21

The French Revolution aroused deep national emotions.22 A ruler does not have the monopoly of the state but should embrace the people’s will. The nation superseded the king, church, estate, guild or province. The French nation must view themselves as one united fatherland, la patrie. In this sense, the citizen is given unlimited sovereignty and this sovereignty that united them as a nation.23 These features shaped the foundation of French nationalism.

French nationalism intensified and was transformed into action in 1793-94 when threatened by foreign invasion. The Jacobins established national army and demanded a greater allegiance to and sacrifice for the nation.24 There were mechanisms for the unprecedented success of the Jacobins for the national movement, those were namely the press, schoolrooms and rostrum that were used to instil or indoctrinate so to speak a love for a country.25

Strong national spirit also affected Italy in 1848, although in its early state Italian nationalists had to compete with Catholicism.26 Like Germany, Italian nationalists invoked the national spirit among Italians by reminiscing Italy’s glorious past, through novels, poetry, and works of history. This particularly appealed to the Italian intellectual elite who insisted the Italians as the inheritors of the great Roman Empire, and the Renaissance culture must be united and strong against foreign subjugation.27

Initial struggle for a unified Italy was a no picnic for the Italians.28 National leaders like Mazzini failed in the first attempt to unite Italy due to the setback in galvanizing mass support for arm uprising. His successor Count Camillo Benso de Cavour who was also a realist, succeeded in encouraging anti-Austrian feeling among Italians. A full-fledge unification of Italy took place under the national leader, Giuseppe Garibaldi.

Ethno-cultural Nationalism and idiosyncrasies against the “others”

Ethnic identity among others is deemed to be the most significant and basic factor that generates nationalism as in ‘ethno-cultural nationalism’ throughout human history. What constitutes an ethnic nationalism? Within the realm of ethnocultural nationalism there are; language, religion, literature and customs among others. These are according to Ellie Kedourie, ‘the peculiarities’, ‘the idiosyncrasies’ that are to be fostered and preserved for they create harmony.29 ‘Language is the means through which a man becomes conscious of his personality. Language is not only a vehicle for rational propositions, it is the outer expression of an inner experience, the outcome of a particular history, the legacy of a distinct tradition’.30 Ellie Kedourie further argues,

This theory has had immense political consequences. The world is a world of diversity, and humanity is divided into nations. Language is the external and visible badge of those differences which distinguish one nation from another; it is the most important criterion by which a nation is recognized to exist, and to have right to form  a state on its own.31

Fichte in his Addresses to the German Nation goes so far as to say that ‘we give the name of people to men whose organs of speech are influenced by the same external conditions, who live together, and who develop their language in continuous communication with each other.’32 This aspect of ethno-cultural nationalism is important as was demonstrated recently by the clash between the French speaking Belgians and the Dutch speaking Belgians in Belgium.33

David Brown argues ethnic nationalism or what he conveniently identifies as ethno-cultural nationalism ‘is based on the myth of common ancestry, and of inherited ownership of an ancestral homeland’.34

Ibn Khaldun’s idea of what bonds a society – maybe relevant to this discussion. Asabiyyah or group solidarity35 is essential in the formation of a society. This group solidarity maybe in form of sentimental feelings of sense of belonging based on common interests such as ethnicity, language, culture and religion. In a large scale, group solidarity in a society maybe transformed into national spirit. Geographical border can be catalyst to intensify national feelings as in the case of Greek city states such as Sparta and Athens. The Spartans are known for their military prowess while the Athenians are known for their sophistication in culture and politics. A homogeneous society that consists of mono-ethnic and mono-culture bonds its people stronger than a heterogeneous society.

‘There can, of course, be no doubt that men feel well disposed to others who resemble them in language, appearance, habits, opinions, and place of abode. But the attraction exercised by these common links depends upon the amount of pressure to which those who share them are subjected by other individuals or groups who are markedly different’.36

Thus, it is only natural that a person can relate better to someone, something that is identical or at least similar between them. Here, the concept of “the other” as mentioned earlier comes into picture and becomes inevitable when one talks of relation or something that is commonly understood within ethno-cultural nationalism. The concept of the opposite ‘other’ is well reflected by the emergence of ‘nation-states’ ‘that became the predominant and almost the only legitimate form of political organization as well as the dominant vehicle of collective identity.’37 As far as nation-nation states go, Gidden theorizes it as ‘the cultural sensibility of sovereignty, the concomitant of the co-ordination of administrative power within the bounded nation-state’.38

An English woman relates better to her fellow English women as they share the same idea about English food, English tea, the history of aristocrats during the Victorian era, the working class in Manchester during the industrial revolution, Shakespeare’s works and the Beatles while a French man can relate to his fellow French men better about Vin de Bourgogne, baguette, escargots and the bourgeoisie before the 1789 revolution and Napoleonic wars. In this sense, a British becomes a foreigner in France vice-versa because he believes and practices values, culture, habits that are different than that of a French man.

In a rather basic sense of ethno-cultural nationalism, the concept of “the other” in this sense generates national spirit and therefore creates a distinct line between an English nationalism from that of French nationalism. For example, this was reflected by imperial rivalry and animosity between England and France when their relations were strained by Napoleon’s economic policy that meant to bring Britain to his knees under his French Continental System policy. French and British national spirit clashed when imperial rivalry reached its peak with the breaking out of the battle of Waterloo, hence the British nationalism and French nationalism. In this sense, it can be argued that nationalism is a pre-condition for a war to break out

Thus, the concept of “the other” become a dominant factor that generates basic ethnic nationalism and can even intensify national feelings and whether national spirit is reflected by English football fans running in amok after England was defeated in the World Cup or English men and women coming out to support their soldiers sailing to Falkland Islands to counter the imminent attack of the Argentine force, fact remains nationalism and national spirit are powerful forces throughout modern history in shaping its political, social and economic outlooks.

Ethnocultural nationalism has many drawbacks. Scholar of nationalism like David Brown as a matter of fact goes to the length of categorizing ethno-cultural as a bad form of nationalism while civic nationalism as the good form of nationalism. He contends that ‘ethno-culturalism is intrinsically authoritarian and collectivist; while civic nationalism, (denoted as ‘liberal’ nationalism, but also by terms like ‘political’, ‘social’ or ‘voluntarist’ is predominantly or at least potentially democratic and individualistic.’39 David Brown contentions may well be true as we see the result of extreme ethno-cultural identification as in the case of German nationalism and its impacts in changing the course of modern European history. ‘Ethno-cultural nationalism refers to sense of community which focuses on belief in myths of common ancestry, and on the perception that these myths are validated by contemporary similarities of, for example, physiognomy, language or religion.’40 Extreme ethnic identification breeds xenophobes that are frequently associated with the “American rednecks” or the “white supremacists” that are said to be warped in their own world.

The Romantic Movement shaped German ethno-cultural nationalism. Johann Gottfried Herder’s Volkgeist – the spirit of the people, their culture, language, literature, folk traditions and monuments stimulated national consciousness among the Germans who lived under foreign rule.41

An amalgam of nationalism and liberalism took place in the first half of the nineteenth century in Germany.42 While seeking individual’s right and liberty, they also sought for national independence and unification. A unified state should be free from foreign subjugation. This amalgam had resulted in the emergence of racial nationalism especially in Germany.  Extreme racial German national sentiment was reflected in the Volkish thoughts where its ideologues advocated a deep love for their language, traditions and fatherland.43 Germans were animated by a higher spirit than found in other peoples.

A later phase of German ethonocultural nationalism witnessed an extreme manifestation of the opposite others as in the case of the German nationalism against the Jews. Julius Langbehn (1851-1907) epitomized a mystical and irrational life force as superior to reason and held that the Jews corrupted the German spirit.44 Christianity, especially Roman Catholic was marginalized in the name of German Kulturkampf while the Protestants felt threatened that could turn against them as well.45 Nationalism conspicuously in the case of Germany derived from racial or ethnic emotion. Ernst Moritz (1769-1860) urged the Germans to unite against Napoleon through his romantic tones poetry;

German man, feel again God, hear and fear the eternal, and you hear and fear also your Volk (people), you feel again in God the honour and dignity of your fathers, their glorious history rejuvenates itself in you, the whole German Fatherland stands again before you in the august halo of past centuries. No longer Catholics and Protestants, no longer Prussians and Austrians, Saxons and Bavarians, Silesians and Hanoverians, no longer of different faith, different mentality, and different will – be Germans, be one, will to be one by love and loyalty, and no evil will vanquish you.46

Otto Von Bismarck exploited national spirit of the Germans to expand Prussia’s territories over other German states and garnered support from the Germans with intense national sentiment facing war with France till the unification of Germany was achieved.

History witnesses the evolution of nationalism in Europe into a terrifying stage with the manipulation of Darwin’s theory of evolution. The application of evolution theory by social thinkers to the field of Social sciences in the name of Social Darwinism was exploited for political ends by fascist-totalitarian leader particularly Hitler. The manipulation of evolution theory of “survival of the fittest” had the most impact.

‘Social Darwinists insisted that nations and races were engaged in a struggle for survival in which only the fittest survive and deserve to survive’.47 Although it can be said that extreme racial nationalism has its root in German Volkish thoughts, the full-fledge implementation of this idea took place under Hitler’s Germany. Using Darwinian biological theory, Hitler justified Teutonic (German) racial supremacy, and it is reflected in his Meinkampf and his Eugenic program hence, also justified his NAZI party to annihilate other races considered inferior to the German race and others who were considered lowly different.

Extreme ethno-cultural nationalism has great repercussion as demonstrated by the Slav nationalism and backed by other social, economic and political factors had led to the breaking out of the World War I and the demise of one of the biggest empires in history, the Ottoman Empire. Ethno-cultural nationalism caused the breaking up of Yugoslavia into three major ethnic based countries, Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina and recent bloody history in Europe resulted by extreme ethno-cultural nationalism is reflected by the genocides in Balkans. Ethno-cultural nationalism equally can be applied to Nation-States based nationalism against the others

Religion may be a factor that generates national spirit and nationalism. ‘Nationalism is no more than a political extension of religion….religion may reinforce nationality, even ‘preserve’ it’.48 This is manifested by the Hebrews that are distinctly connected with the idea of ‘the chosen people, the emphasis on a common stock of memory of the past and of hopes for the future, and finally national messianism’.49 However, do all religious beliefs reinforce nationality and lead to nationalism? Can Christianity, with its distinct ecumenical nature – Christendom or Islam that claims the universality of its teaching and embraces universal brotherhood reinforce nationalism? It is argued that ‘religion (Protestantism), the English Church) was a central feature of eighteeth-century English national identity, and race became important in the imperial identity of the nineteenth century (‘white men’s burden’).50 Islam as known in essence is an anti-thesis of nationalism. Prophet Muhammad Peace be upon him in his famous words, no Arabs are superior to non-Arabs, all mankind are the children of Adam, what matters in the eyes of God is one’s piety.

Nationalism after the World War II

After the World War II, nationalism began to lose its significance.51 The World War II had caused a large scale of catastrophe in human history as a result of extreme nationalism and the general European nations grew tired of it. Francis Fukuyama is of the opinion that “Common Marketization” is more likely to replace the nineteenth century European Nationalism.52 Fukuyama’s statement seems to echo Walter Hallstein’s claim that ‘what the unity in Europe means, in fact, is not the magnification of nineteenth-century nationalism to a more than national scale, but a chance to transform the old order of international relations and, by building anew, to build better’.53 With the emergence of regionalism in form of European integration for example, ‘we are witnessing the disappearance of nationalism from the stage of the European Union’.54 

Conclusion

Nationalism is an innate characteristic of human society, thus, can be natural. Strong ethnic identity vis-à-vis strong sentiment against the opposite “others” immediately reinforces nationalism. Factors such as language, religion, history, culture and literature are components that generate nationalism. Apart from politically motivated, extreme ethno-cultural nationalism can be a result of ignorance and prejudice of the opposite “others”.

With the weakening of Christianity, nationalism became the dominant spiritual force in the eighteenth and nineteenth century European life. There is a clear cut dichotomy between Christianity and the temporal life of the Europeans that makes reconciliation between the two became impossible despite the ecumenical nature of Christianity.

Europe found nationalism as a practical alternative to solve social, political and economic problems facing it. Nationalists exploit people’s sentiments by interpreting history from nationalistic point of view to serve political ends. National propagandas disseminated further nationalistic ideas, thus made it widespread. Nationalism as a result of revolutions in Europe since the 1789 French Revolution had changed the course of its history. It became an impetus as people’s revolution for other successive people’s revolutions in Europe and resulted in the emergence of nation-states thus, changed the map of Europe. Nationalism was instrumental in European imperial powers’ race and expansion. Nationalism gave birth to other ideas such as liberalism and democracy that emphasises people’s will and power as opposed to absolutism.

Nationalism became an instrument to reinforce and justify totalitarianism and fascism. An idea such as Social Darwinism was exploited by totalitarian and fascist regimes to justify their political struggles. Although nationalism is capable to unite people, it can also be disastrous as demonstrated by the breaking out of the World War I and II and genocides in Europe.

Human and economic loss resulted by the Great Wars in Europe made nationalism less significant and move toward regional unity as reflected by European organizations such as the EEC and recently, the EU. Nationalism is positive when it embraces diversity, democracy and loyalty to the states instead of ethnicity or nation and when the idea the opposite others can be put aside. This produces civic nationalism as a positive form of nationalism and makes shallow ethno-cultural nationalism become insignificant.

Bibliography

1. A Report by a Study  Group of Members of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, (Oxford, 1939).

2. Anthony D. Smith, Theories of Nationalism, (London, 1971).

3. Anthony D. Smith, Nationalism and Modernism; A Critical Survey of Recent Theories of Nations and Nationalism, (London, 1998).

4. David Brown, Contemporary Nationalism: Civic, Ethnocultural & Multicultural Politics, (London, 2000).

5. E.J Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780; Programme, Myth, Reality, (Cambridge, 1990).

6. Ernest Gellner, Nations and Nationalism, (Oxford, 1983).

7. Elie Kedourie, Nationalism, (London, 1966).

8. Geoff Eley and Ronald Grigor Suny, Becoming National, (Oxford, 1996).

9. Hans Kohn, Nationalism: Its Meaning and History. (London, 1965).

10. Ibn Khaldun, Franz Rosenthal’s translation of Muqaddimah, (London, 1967) V. I.

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11. John P. McKay et al., A History of Western Society, vol II ‘From Absolutism to the Present’, (Boston, 2006).

12. Liah Greenfeld, Nationalism; Five Roads to Modernity, (Massachusetts, 1992).

13. Marvin Perry et al., Western Civilization: Ideas, Politic and Society,6th ed., (Boston, 2000).

14. Ross Poole, Nation and Identity, (London, 1999).

15. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Globalism, Regionalism and Nationalism: Asia in Search of its Role in the Twenty-First Century, (Oxford, 1997).

Website

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/10/07/1008605-belgium-downplays-breakup-concerns By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer Sun Oct 7, 2007.

Zuraini Nordin

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