Causes Of Nationalism In Europe

During the turn of the twentieth century a powerful fervor prevailed throughout Europe. Industrialization boomed, and nations soared to a brand new level of success never seen before. This aura of new achievements and new ideas kindled a nationalist flair among citizens and their countries. Whether it be from successes of the state, or the unification of a common culture despite existing political boundaries, the people experienced a new and thrilling sensation of identity. Such a flame unleashed rebellious sparks, igniting the “powder keg” of Europe, launching the Great War.

In the 1800s Africa was an uncolonized country. Europe wanted to imperialize Africa. King Leopold of Belgium was one of the first to colonize parts of Africa for himself. Europe however found out a way to help split up Africa equally, this led to war within Europe. King Leopold was interested in money, not nationalism or culture attitude.

Nationalism is the pride for one’s country, the love that one has for its country and it is the want for the good of all people in the nation. This love is not conditional, it does not depend on race religion or economic standing. When a leader is chosen, when a country is coming out of great national change, this requires a particularly strong leader who only wishes for their countries greatness and success in the future. However, this can quickly turn into ultranationalism, or expose ultranationalistic motives. The two concepts of one’s love for their country have similarities, one is formed from the other, or that each can be provokers of change in either direction in the political spectrum.

How did nationalism cause WW1? 1910-1919 Nationalism was the main cause of World War One. The direct result of it led to the militarization of Europe’s countries, nationalistic feelings in Yugoslavia, and the alliances formed before the war. Despite the common idea that the first world war started because of Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, it was only a reason for Austria-Hungary to declare war. Nationalism was the driving factor to his assassination, and would not have happened without it.

The historical phenomenon of colonization is one of the stretches around the globe and across the time. Colonization or imperialism is the process of settling among and chartering control over homegrown people of an area. Colonization was first led by Spain and Portugal, in search of riches and trade routes mainly. Then it was followed by England, French and many others who left for different reasons. British brought the geographic and political units formerly under their supervision, including dominions, colonies, and dependencies.

Europe takes advantage of Africa. The main driving forces behind European Imperialism consisted of three fundamental factors which included Political, Technological, and Economic. The way these three components are involved in the driving force because they all helped shape and push everything together to make more efficient. The first component that helped take over land or “European Imperialism” was Technological power.

Nationalism is the act of being loyal and prideful to your country. Prior to and during World War I, European countries were trying to take over China. The Chinese people felt

During the early nineteenth century the idea of nationalism was born. Nationalism is a strong feeling of pride in your country. It is the idea of one country being better than all others. Before the idea of nationalism took shape, cultures living in Europe were spread throughout large multi-cultural empires. These cultures didn't feel any ties to other people of the same culture, they only felt loyalty to the king or queen.

During the 19th century many European explorers began exploring the interior of Africa. As a result many European countries wanted to colonize Africa. There were many reasons for Europeans wanting to imperialize Africa. Some of the driving forces behind European imperialism were economic, nationalism and White Man’s burden.

Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic, racial, religious or national group that has brought many losses for human population through the whole history of the world. First cases of genocide had such reasons as territorial, competing and religious arguments. For instance, one of the first genocides is thought to be the Roman destruction of Carthage in 146 BCE that occurred due to religious reason and the competitiveness of these two superpowers. The history has seen many cases of genocide, but this social problem especially spread worldwide during the twentieth century which was even claimed to be the “century of genocide”.

Nationalism has too often been dismissed as an irrational creed due to its association with disastrous results over the decades. But undeniably, it is a dominating force in contemporary international politics. It is important to understand nationalism if we want to understand global political developments. Many books have been written on this subject, but David Miller’s On Nationality stands out. This book takes on a distinctive approach to the study of nationalism, rendering it one of a kind in this field.

As a product of the Revolutions of 1848, European sentiment towards Nationalism grew extensively among the middle and lower classes. European ethnic groups and nations desired a self-determined state that represented their group and culture. As a result, both Germany and Italy would experience unification movements within several decades. By 1871, the Italian states would be unified under the Italian tricolour flag; and in the same year, the German states would become integrated into Germany under Wilhelm I of Prussia. Nationalism is both a political and social system in which the nation-state is of utmost importance -- in which nation-states act in their own self-interest and are of full sovereignty.

Serbian Nationalism and the First World War Nationalism is a patriotic feeling, common to a whole nation. Historians tend to blame the actions that lead to the Great War on the nationalism of the nations in Europe, which lead to international tensions. It made countries feel superior and also gave them the desire for political independence. In the Balkans, it was Serbian nationalism that was significant to the outbreak of the war. (“Nationalism”)

A nation stems from a pre-existing history. It does not require that all the members be alike but they must have a bond of solidarity to the other members of the nation. Nationalism is a movement for the attainment and maintenance of unity, identity and autonomy of a population that its members consider a nation. Nations are a product of modernity but it is likely to find ethnic elements that exist in these nations.

Moving on to the idea of nationalism, Ernest Gellner (1997) understood nationalism as a product of industrial society. He defines nationalism as “primarily a political principle, which holds that the political and national unit should be congruent” (Guibernau and Rex 1997: 52). Nationalism, Gellner says is either a product of feeling of anger when the principle discussed above is not fulfilled or a product of feeling of satisfaction aroused by its fulfilment. Therefore, “nationalism is a theory of political legitimacy” (Guibernau and Rex 1997: 52). Gellner justifies the repercussions of the idea of “nationalism is a theory of political legitimacy” by discussing how the political effectiveness of national sentiment impairs the sensibility of the nationalists to realise the wrong committed by the nation.