nationalism

In politics, a movement that consciously aims to unify a nation, create a state, or free it from foreign or imperialistic rule. Nationalist movements became an important factor in European politics during the 19th century; since 1900 nationalism has become a strong force in Asia and Africa and in the late 1980s revived strongly in Eastern Europe.

Stimulated by the French Revolution, movements arose in the 19th century in favour of national unification in Germany and Italy and national independence in Ireland, Italy, Belgium, Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, Finland, and the Balkan states. Revival of interest in the national language, history, traditions, and culture has accompanied and influenced most political movements, such as the Pan-African movement inspired by African nationalism.

In political terms, nationalism can be seen as an ideology that stresses the superiority of a nation and its inhabitants compared with other nations and peoples. Most countries enjoy, and wish to demonstrate, national pride but – carried to an extreme – nationalism can produce dangerous regimes and political systems (such as that in Nazi Germany in the 1930s).

Origins Nationalism is not to be confused with racialism, for many races may be incorporated in one nation-state, though racialism was the strongest element in the particular type of nationalism preached by Hitler. Nationalism was the inevitable sequel to the growth of the nation-state out of feudalism and the medieval conception of sovereignty as developed by Machiavelli, Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau. Nationalism is a commonplace today, because it is natural that a politically-compact people, speaking the same language and sharing the same historical traditions and social customs or creed, should be united as a sovereign independent nation. It is only with the growth of the modern spirit of nationality that the complex problem of the national state arises.

Neither religion, language, territory, tradition, nor economic interests can claim monopoly or even predominance in the growth of nationalism. Unity of language is a strong factor but by no means decisive; the USSR contained hundreds of different languages. Conversely a common language did not prevent the separation of the American colonies from Britain. Unity of religion may have formed the national character of the Spaniards or the Scots, but the great religious split between Protestants and Catholics failed to prevent national unification in Germany. Unity of economic interest has more often than not been ignored in favour of more irrational considerations. The history of the peace treaties of 1919 shows an almost uninterrupted record of nationalism cutting across economic ties. Perhaps the most prevalent influence is community of history, tradition, and culture, difficult to define in general terms but altogether exercising an immensely-powerful influence. Certainly patriotism may be the dominant note with individual political thinkers as illustrated by Mazzini's stirring call to his fellow countrymen (1859) to take up arms against their foreign masters.

In the late 18th and early 19th century nationalism was a revolutionary force, deriving its impetus from a sense of tyranny among many peoples who were far from enjoying political freedom. This revolutionary force was most strikingly exemplified in France during the Revolution and was spread from there to other nations of Europe, and within a century the spirit of nationality produced an independent Greece, Belgium, Serbia, Norway, Italy, and Germany. Nationalism had become an articulate force throughout the world.

After 1945 Since World War II the evocation of a sense of nationalism has been a major preoccupation of ex-colonial nations. In part this was an attempt to retain the unity imposed on an often fragmented cultural base by the colonial power, and in part it was necessary to mobilize populations for the process of economic modernization. The precarious nature of this ‘nation building’ process is witnessed by the number of secessions and civil conflicts following withdrawal of the colonial power.

In recent years the developed nations of Western Europe have also seen small nationalist movements within their borders, a reaction, it has been suggested, to the increasing centralization and regional homogenization of modern industrialized society and the move to European integration. The Basque movement in Spain has been the most violent, and a French Basque separatist movement also exists. France has also experienced minor separatist pressure from movements in Brittany, Corsica, and Alsace. In Canada, French speakers campaign for a Québec Libre.

nationalism

In music, the development by 19th-century composers of a musical style that would express the characteristics of their own country. They did this by including tunes from their nation's folk music, and taking scenes from their country's history, legends, and folk tales, as a basis for their compositions. Nationalism was encouraged by governments in the early 20th century for propaganda purposes in times of war and political tension. Composers of nationalist music include Bedřich Smetana, Jean Sibelius, Edvard Grieg, Antonín Dvořák, Carl Nielsen, Zoltán Kodály, Aaron Copland, Edward Elgar, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Stephen Foster.