L13: Revolutionary Change in Political Life: Nationalism & The Nation-State

AgendaObjective:1.To understand the

meaning, origin, and implications of 19th century nationalism and the emergence of the nation-state.

Schedule: 1.Discussion of

Nationalism 2.Three key ideas related

to nationalism.

Homework:1. Textbook reading

on Nationalism in the Americas pgs. 781-787; 792-801. Bring textbook to class!

Due: Orange & Yellow = Wed 9/24

2. Unit Test & Unit Portfolio

Due: Orange & Yellow = Thurs 10/2

Unit Test• 100 Points• 30 Multiple Choice Questions• 1 Essay Question

– One of the ideas to come out of the French Revolution was the belief in the liberty—the belief that individuals should be free to pursue their own interests and desires unrestricted by government intervention. Make an argument about how the concept of liberty shaped (1) economic philosophy OR (2) political philosophy in the 1800s.

– Between the French Revolution and the late 1800s, was nationalism a constructive or destructive force? You must reference at least 2 countries and 1 economic/political theory in your response.

French Revolution Industrial Revolution

Liberty Equality FraternityLaissez-Faire Economics

Rise of the Working Class

Conservatism Liberalism Socialism/Marxism

Nationalism / Idea of the Nation-State

Reaction to the French

Revolution

What is Nationalism

?

Where is the German’s fatherland?The name, oh, name the mighty land!Wherever is heard the German tongue, and German hymns to God are sung!This is the land, they Hermann’s land;This, German, is they fatherland.-Ernst Moritz Arndt

The mountains look on Marathon—And Marathon looks on the sea;

And musing there an hour alone,I dream’d that Greece might yet be free

For, standing on the Persians’ grave,I could not deem myself a slave.

- Lord Byron

What is a Nation-State?• Nation-State: “A nation-state may be thought of as one in which supreme

political authority somehow rests upon and represents the will and feeling of its inhabitants. There must be a people, not merely a swarm of human beings. The people must basically will and feel something in common. They must sense that they belong—that they are members of a community, participating somehow in a common life, that the government is their government, and that outsiders are “foreign.” The outsiders or foreigners are usually (though not always) those who speak a different language. The nation is usually (though not always) composed of all persons sharing the same speech. A nation may also possess a belief in common descent or racial origin (however mistaken), or a sense of a common history, a common future, a common religion, a common geographical home, or a common external menace. Nations take form in many ways. But all are alike in feeling themselves to be communities, permanent communities in which individual persons, together with their children and their children’s children, are committed to a collective destiny on earth.” – From: Palmer, R. R. and Joel Colton. A History of the Modern World (New York: Knopf, 1984), 511).

• What is a nation-state?• How is it connected to the idea of nationalism?

Three Ideas to Keep In Mind as We Study Nationalism and Nation-States

Nation-States are Socially Constructed

• To understand what this means, generate a list of your characteristics.

• Given these characteristics what are some ways we could group ourselves?

Nations are Socially Constructed• When we grouped

ourselves, were you always with the same people?

• What determined what group you were in?

• What does this tell us about the fact that nations are socially constructed?

Nations are Socially Constructed• Nations are subjectively

created by drawing imaginary social/cultural boundaries between people.

• This boundary making includes some people and excludes others.

• What does this mean about the “reality” of nations? Are nations real?

Nationalism As a Means of Liberal Emancipation

• What are the connections you see between liberalism and nationalism?

• Why is it logical to see these two ideas as linked initially?

Nationalism Means of Conservative Social Control• How might nationalism be exploited

by conservatives as a tool of social control?

Nationalism Shifts from Means of Liberal Emancipation to Tool of Conservative

Social Control• What do these images suggest about

the shifting use of nationalism between 1815 and 1914?

Nationalism Both Created and Destroyed Great Empires

Created Great PowersUnified common peoples who

had previously been ruled by diverse empires into nation-

states.

Examples:Germany (unified from above)

Italy (unified from below)

*Nationalism Brings Together and Builds Up: Constructs *

Broke Up Great PowersBroke up large empires into

smaller nation-states based on national affinities

Examples:Austrian EmpireOttoman Empire

*Nationalism Divides and Breaks Down: Deconstructs*

Problems with Nationalism?

• Nationalism morphed into sense of “national mission” and “national superiority”

• This leads to aggression and conflict resulting ultimately in the age of imperialism and World War One (both of which represent the height of nationalism in Europe).