Imagined Communities Sparknotes

Nationalism, a political or social philosophy in which the prosperity of a nation-state as an existence is considered supreme or more important than anything else. The primary duty and loyalty should be toward the nation-state. The love for one's country often reflected dominance and power as people were able to unite toward common good. Furthermore, republic governments were reestablished a result of Nationalism.

Nationalism can be traced to the nineteenth century, European peoples came to identify strongly with communities they called nations. Members of a nation considered themselves a distinctive people that spoke a common language, observed common customs, inherited common cultural conditions, held common values, and shared common

Nationalism has been extremely important and influential in shaping the modern world we see today, causing revolutions, rebellions and the constant reshaping of world maps continuing even today. Its appeal is something that I don’t believe will diminish in the future. Many theologians and political commentators alike agree that Nationalism has perhaps been one of the most prominent political ideologies of the modern world “No single political doctrine has played a more prominent role in shaping the face of the modern world than nationalism” 1, and doesn’t look like ceasing to be as influential anytime

Many social changes emerged following the Protestant Reformation. The printing press and mass production of books were a major source of growth and success to the Reformation (Document 3). Because of the printing press, Martin Luther’s message was simply spread throughout Europe. Now that people could access the Bible on their own, the Europeans were able to study Scripture without a

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.

In the 1450’s books were only accessible for rich people, as their scarcity and the complicity of creating, making most of the people illiterate. Thanks to the facility the printing press brought for books, they became more accessible and people started to learn how to read and write, to later on read the Bible and realise the Catholic Church was not pure at all. And to support this statement document C that tells us that people started to unfollow the church and streets follow Martin Luther in the new religion of reformation. Clearly showing that for the 1560 Europe was divided, and instead of being mostly catholic they passed to be half Protestant. And because of the points said above, and the evidence of the documents the printing press had more important effects in reformation era, instead of

After the Reformation, a significant amount of social changes came to light. Nevertheless, this time in history, as shown in Document 3, wouldn’t have reached the success that it did without the printing press. This was a machine that Johannes Gutenberg invented in order to spread information quickly and accurately. Martin Luther’s message was able to be easily spread throughout Europe now. And, with people having the ability to access the Bible on their own, not only was the population of Europe able to study Scripture without a priest, but also, the literacy rate in Europe dramatically increased.

A long term impact of Nationalism was an essay from Giuseppe Mazzini “On the Duties of Man”, it was written for the workers residing in England. Mazzini preaches toward humanity, and believes that if you are not ready to violate your law of life then you are not ready to become a whole human family. The biggest impact the Nationalism was the redrawing of the map of Europe. Mazzini’s believed that Europe was jealous of righteous powers of others and greed took over. There was much conflict and fighting to settle the new territories of Europe. The reason that the redrawing of the map of Europe was such a big impact on Nationalism is because the boundaries of Europe still hold true today. Mazzini was a leader of the Roman Republic was failed, and began to look for leadership some else besides Italy.

As the main source of national identity, nationalism “makes [people] feel connected not only to one another but also to the homeland itself” (Jusdanis 28). In the case of the American founding, when the delegates from respective states met to construct a more perfect union, they did not identify themselves as Virginians or New Yorkers. Instead, they defined themselves as “we the people of the United States” as it appears in the Preamble to the US constitution. The shared interest in liberty and freedom as well as the attachment to the land of their fathers made it possible for the vast population of the thirteen states to think of itself as a unified body despite their internal ethnic and cultural divide. By identifying themselves as a member of certain group, people will form a society with certain shared value, which ultimately can become the political units for a democratic government. Nationalism is essential for creating a cohesive political community.

Evaluate the political role of Nationalism in the 20th Century- was it more important as a force for unification or disintegration.

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

The political and social conditions of Europe before the onset of the World War I were extremely unstable and undergoing a rapid transition that was driven by national interests of different nations living in the region. Nationalism was endorsed to promote patriotism among masses and to achieve political objectives that were in alignment with the national or political interests of countries. As the time passed, the growing influence of imperialism and the ideology of nationalism manifested multifaceted

identity can change over time in a society with the effects of historic events, changes in the social environment and the active participation of the people to create new social constructs and institutions. In order for nationalism to even start several prerequisites had to be met. These were the creation of a print system for books to be created. These books would spread the ideas of nationalism, the enlightenment and other philosophical movements across the world. Next is the capitalist system which would naturally seek to reach a larger audience and thus a larger profit margin which lead to the development of the vernacular print. Print in vernacular allowed for regular people to read the ideas printed in the books and understand them, which ultimately spread the ideas and values of these cognitive revolutions to the common man. These changes to written language changed its role forever. In the past, written language was reserved specifically for the political, intellectual, or religious elite. The religious elite especially relied on the control of the written word to control and influence the thoughts of the masses, and this was true for most, if not all religions across the world. A consequence of written language being used by the common people to spread the ideas of the enlightenment allowed for the dismantlement of the concept of rule by divine right. The spread of rationalism in turn encouraged the use of rational discourse amongst the common people,

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.

The concept of nationalism is in essence an odd organization that has had significant impacts in world history through shaping the political and social aspects of the society. As an important aspect in the development of the society, the concept of nationalism has basically been analyzed based on its impact on the emergence of nation-states across the globe. In most cases, these analyses have been conducted to determine the influence of nationalism on imperial breakdown i.e. the dissolution of empires. While the actual extent of the impact of nationalism on the imperial breakdown is uncertain, this concept has played a major role in the dissolution of empires. Generally, the transition to nationalism has contributed to significant effects in world history through shaping the political and social aspects of the society.