A Critical Examination Of The Inter Relationship Between Ethnicity And Nationalism

Nationalism is a powerful force that can unite people working towards a common goal, but when it is taken to the extreme it can cause major disharmony in society, evident in the numerous genocides during the Age of Imperialism, the Fascist party's rise to power, and the Japanese’s unwillingness to surrender during World War II. Nationalism is dangerous, because it warps the minds of the individuals in the organization, creates prejudice and discrimination, and can be easily manipulated into a weapon against humanity.

World war one was a very big part of our history and the first time all the countries fought. There was 4 main and big reasons of why this happened and those are, Militarism, Imperialism, Nationalism and Alliances. The one cause I think is the biggest or most influential was nationalism, which I hope to prove is right in this essay. Nationalism is something that we still fight with today to see who is the better country. Through this essay I hope to give you some reasons why I think this is the main reason the war broke out.

How did our country get here today? Were we always united in our decisions? At this point in time, the early 19th century, the U.S. had just bought Texas and California from Spain after the territories had gained their independence from Mexico. The U.S. believed that it was their destiny to inhabit the new territories. This is called Manifest Destiny.

During the period of the 1790s to 1830s, the nationalism of the American people led to the development of government and the expansion of America’s economy. First, Washington set the precedent of only being in office as President for two four year terms. This applies to the theme of nationalism because Washington’s pride for his country prevented him from becoming a king and overruling his people. Next, the Louisiana Purchase expanded the US territory and opened it up to more agriculture, trade, and exploration. This signifies nationalism because the expansion of America’s economy sparked pride in people that America could be more open to economic opportunities.

During the 19th and 20th century, the rise of nations began among Britain, France, Germany, Austria, Russia, and the United States of America. For these nations, nationalism enabled them to pursue national interests such as: industrialization, imperialism, militarism and armament, and security through alliances which then sparked the start of world war I. These national interests resulted European countries to compete over trades and colonies for them to be able to pay debts and repair areas that has been damaged by the war. Nationalism caused the spark of war between countries. When the war began, people began enlisting to help out and serve their nation.

Nationalism had the most significant impact on the outbreak of WWI. Throughout Europe, countries began to break away from the empires or other places they were apart of to become their own. Looking at Document D “The Balkans region of Austrian Empire was a particularly tense spot. It was home to a large amount of ethnic groups and had a history of uprisings.” it is clear to see that Nationalism had a major impact in WWI.

Nationalism has played a crucial role in world history over the past centuries. It continues to do so today. For many, nationalism is indelibly associated with some of the worst aspects of modern history, such as the destructive confidence of the Napoleon’s army and the murderous pride of Nazi Germany. Large numbers of people, descent in their hearts, have carried out unbelievable atrocities for no better reason than their nation required them to. Authoritarian and totalitarian regime have crushed dissent, eliminated opposition, and trampled on civil liberties in the name of the nation.

Today, the scourge of nationalism continues to infect humanity. Without doubt, in some circles, nationalism is hotly debated. For most people, however, the concept of nationalism is rarely questioned. In fact, it 's a foregone conclusion that people should love the nation in which they reside. Some people even take great pride in the fact that they were arbitrarily born in a specific geographical location. Unfortunately, like religion or capitalism, nationalism is alive and well in the 21st century.

Nationalism is a widely debated ideology that differs based on the historian’s definition. For example, Benedict Anderson attempts to define nationalism as "an imagined political community [that is] imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign"(Anderson, pg 6). Anderson also believes the main causes of nationalism can be

Nationalism has become one of the most powerful uniting-and occasionally separating-powers of the modern age. Throughout history, there were numerous countries that exemplified both sides of this classic European belief. However, as time has passed, this pride and promotion of one’s country has developed far beyond the scope of Europe. Nationalist feelings fester in all parts of the globe now, and with that comes more complicated expressions of the sentiment, as well as carefully crafted governments that exist for the sole support of nationalist fervor.

One of the oldest and most recognized forms of group activity is participation in collective state identity. Pride in one’s nation is a phenomenon that can transcend race, gender, class, sexual orientation, physical proximity and many other social groupings. This topic development will explore the sociological concept of nationalism and patriotism in relation to group identity, beliefs and subsequent actions performed by members of specified nationality groups.

However, nationalism does not have one single definition, its meaning has evolved as society changes and modernises. Nationalism can “...refer to any behaviour designed to restore, maintain, or advance public images of that national community” (Gries, 2005:9). By the mid-1960s there were two main proposals to understanding nationalism. “In the first, nationalism was an aspect of national history, a sentiment associated with the nation...In the second approach, nationalism was a modern, irrational doctrine which could acquire sufficient power...to generate nationalists sentiments and even nation states” (Gellner, 2008:xx). Nationalism is defined differently by different schools of thought and theorists.

Nationalism is the idea that a people who have much in common, such as language, culture and geographic proximity 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. In the following essay I will describe many of the consequences of nationalism on European identity, as well as some of the conflicts that it created.

Nationalism is generally described as the largely-held belief that individuals living in certain geographical spaces share unique historical and cultural customs, which provides them with the right to live in a sovereign political, state (Ellen, 2011). The description of nationalism provides the basis for understanding why national identities have strong emotional connections in lives of individuals. Actually, nationalism becomes an important aspect in modern personal identities and public events because of the emotional link with national communities.

A nation is a group of people who share common history, culture, language and ethnic origin often possessing or seeking its own government. National identity refers to the distinguish features of group and to the individual’ sense of belonging to it. In some case even a little difference in pronunciation is enough to categorize a person as a member of different nation but in some cases two people may be separated by language, culture, geographical location etc categorized in