Nationalism and Democracy Essay

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 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

Nationalism inspires a pride within a group of people that ignites change and strengthens unity. It is what keeps heritages and cultures of nations alive. But what happens when the people advocating Nationalism are trapped within a nation in which they do not desire to be? The Pan-Slavic movement in Eastern Europe in the early 20th Century created a tension between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that culminated in

The source intends to provide a controversial opinion in order to prevent people from blindly following leaders as well as to provide a statement warning of the acts of nationalism. While the views from the source are beneficial and introduce different views on the subject of nationalism—nationalism doesn’t start wars nor does it lead to blind obedience; greedy and power hungry people who decidedly hind behind the views of nationalism do. Nationalism is just a term that describes the desire for the prosperity of one’s country as well as patriotic feelings towards said country. Feelings of pride for a country do not evoke malicious intent the people who twist those ideas and cross the line into ultranationalism do. Leaders such as Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Hirohito, and Harry Truman use the word nationalism to persuade others to follow them by glamorizing the term and tricking people into agreeing with them. The Holocaust wasn’t caused due to

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.

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.

Hobsbawm emphasizes that proto nationalism was the “mobilizing (of) certain variants of feelings of collective belonging which already existed and which could operate, as it were, potentially on the macro-political scale which could fit in with modern states and nations.” (Hobsbawm, 52) The consciousness, therefore, of belonging to a nation requires “the citizens of a country (to become) a sort of community, though an imagined one, and its members therefore found themselves seeking for and consequently finding, things in common, places, practices, personages, memories, signs and symbols.” (Hobsbawm, 90) This foundational development is essentially one of patriotism, in which the individual evokes a feeling of loyalty and pride in their nation through symbols, language and ethnicity. While these feelings of pro-nationalism may occur, if an individual is, for instance, to have thoughts of desire to burn the national flag or act in an anti-nationalist way, then they will have feelings of guilt. Freud explains that the “origins of the sense of guilt (are): one arising from fear of an authority, and the other, later on, arising from fear of the super-ego.” (Freud, 119) The state, therefore, is the super-ego that oppresses the Id of the individual who has these perverted thoughts. One can additionally apply this to the original ways in which

Nationalism is how one feels toward their nation. Therefore nationalism determines how strong a nation is, by the unity of the people. America was very young as a nation in the early to mid 1800s and was not meeting the standards of the people. Changes needed to be made. Nationalism was changed in America with many great reform movements taking place which warped America to what it is today. Education reform, Industrial revolution, and transportation alongside technological advancements played a large roll in nationalism.

Nationalism can be described as a mix, multidimensional morally developed or created concept involving a shared common identification with one's Nation. It is more on politically motivated towards working and maintaining self-governance, or full sovereignty, working towards to a specific land or a territory of historical significance to the group such as land and its belongings. In simple Nationalism is a nation command and lead itself, free from foreign influence, it is the concept of self-rule. Nationalism is further formed towards maintaining and developing a Sovereignty based on shared features such as religion, language, race, culture, or either political goals or a belief in a customary ancestry. So its pride towards nation's achievements, and the concept in world history has shown positive and negative impact, moreover in a political dimension it leads either unification or disintegration.

In today’s day and age, Nationalism is an ideology that is highly controversial. Nationalism supports ideas such as allowing a nation to govern itself with as little foreign interference as possible and glorifying ones home country to name a few. Due to infamous leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, Nationalism has been projected as a racist and shunning ideology that rejects any ideology that disagrees with the national “identity”. In this day and age, Nationalism can be a progressive and problem solving ideology if it is applied correct. Some big issues that stunt our society now that New Age Nationalism will solve is the division between our feuding society and the on-going racial and refugee issues that grow to politically dividing tensions. These are issues that, if continued, could

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.

Before a discourse of the specified topic can be laid out, definitions of a few terms must be distinguished. Firstly, nationalism and patriotism are two distinctly different concepts that are often used interchangeably to represent a similar school of thought. By no means, are they mutually exclusive or unrelated ideologies, but nationalism and patriotism differ in their approaches to expressing love for one’s country, respectively. These definitions can be best understood on the shoulders of essayist and drama critic, Sydney J. Harris, “The Difference Between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility while the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to a war (Harris, 1953).” While the latter definition may be a bit extreme, the general impression is still applicable. An understanding of the dichotomy between nationalism and patriotism, and how

Nationalism at its core is the support of a country. The goal of a country is to have some sort of resonance within the individuals that reside there that call themselves citizens. If the citizens don’t feel any connection with their country, they may move to find one that they feel closer too. Once found, they may support the country over others, defend it within conversations of politics or just find groups that have the same ideals they do about the country. This papers purpose is to illustrate the pros of nationalism as well as its cons.

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.