"Did nationalism exist before the late eighteenth century?"

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Deborah Watson, Level 1

Did nationalism exist before the late eighteenth century?

        There are many historians, namely the “modernist” school of thought, who would pinpoint the beginning of nationalism as being from the French Revolution of 1789.  E.J. Hobsbawm for instance, makes reference to the theories of Miroslav Hroch, for example, who would have argued that nationalism certainly did not come into being before 1789.  While this statement can certainly be supported, it can also be called into question, as many historians have done in recent years.  It is ultimately up to the individual to make up his or her own mind, however, I will now discuss the various arguments, as well as putting forward some of my own thoughts on the question and attempt to draw up my own conclusion.

        From the mid-1960s until quite recently, there was a widely held belief that nationalism was a product of the events in of the late eighteenth century in Europe.  However, in more recent years, this view has been increasingly challenged by various historians.  Peter Alter raises the question, “From which point is it possible to say that any type of nationalism exists?” , demonstrating just how ambiguous this issue is.  What has been made clear to me while researching this topic is that in order to come to any sort of conclusion, one must maintain a clear definition of nationalism.  Therefore, I feel it is vital that we regard nationalism as a political movement and not simply as being synonymous with national sentiment, as differentiated by Gellner, so as not to further complicate the issue.          

With this in mind, I believe it will become clear why two distinct arguments have emerged regarding this question.  Alter emphasises the significance of this difference, stating that there is certainly strong evidence “of national feeling and thought” dating from mediaeval times, while also stressing the significance of politics by insisting that “it is inaccurate to say that nationalism existed even in those times” (Alter, 1989, 56).  Many historians would agree with this view, such as John Breuilly, who regards nationalism itself as “a purely political movement designed to seize or retain power”.  Breuilly, not surprisingly, is also a member of the modernist school of thought, who believes that the nation is most certainly a modern phenomenon, “post-Enlightenment and after the French Revolution”.  

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Of course, as already mentioned, in recent years there have been numerous counter-arguments presented in response to this modernist view.  One historian who is explicit in his disagreement with modernism is Adrian Hastings who, in reaction to the words of Hobsbawm that “The nation is a very recent newcomer in human history” describes this view as “absolutely misleading” and if we assume the rightful place of the nation to be exclusively in the modern period, we will “undermine an understanding not only of nations and nationalism but also of a millennium of European history”.

So therefore, if we accept Hasting’s assertion that ...

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