What Is It?

• Nationalism emerged as part of the French Revolution

• It is based on being a part of a Nation-State

Elements of a Nation-State

• Nation = a group of people unified by a common culture, ethnicity, values or language– Example: Iroquois

• State = a political or geographic location where a government is sovereign– Example: USA, France

The Nation-State

• Nation-state – shared set of values,

morals, culture, language– Living within defined

political boundaries• Examples?

– Iceland– Hungary– Swaziland– North / South Korea

What Drives Nationalism?

• Desire for self determination– People choose own

leaders• Desire for freedom from

foreign occupation

So What’s the Big Deal?

• Radical idea for its time• Threatened change in

status quo of Europe– No monarchs unless they

were constitutionally limited (self determination idea)

– Led to very violent wars• Conservatives fighting to hold

onto power• Nationalists fighting to free

people to determine their own course

Problems with Nationalism• Moral question: What actions are justifiable

when people are fighting to establish their country’s freedom?– Anything goes?– That leads to very brutal, atrocity laden conflicts

Extreme Nationalism

• Linking government to extreme nationalism can lead to terrible excesses in the name of “The People” or “The Homeland” or “The Mother Country”– Examples: Fascism, Nazism, Stalinist USSR