Question

What do you understand by the term nationalism? What factors give rise to nationalism?

Answer 1

Hint: Civilization was not regarded to be nationally defined before the period of nationalism because political loyalty was not determined by nationality. During the Middle Ages, civilisation was seen as religiously driven; there was only one civilization—Christian or Muslim—and only one language of culture for all the varied nationalities of Christendom and Islam.

Complete answer:
Nationalism is a belief and movement that the state and the nation should be in sync. Nationalism as a movement seeks to support the interests of a specific nation (as opposed to a group of people), particularly with the goal of achieving and retaining the nation's sovereignty (self-governance) over its homeland. Nationalism holds that each nation should govern itself (self-determination), that a nation is the only legitimate source of political authority, and that a nation is a natural and ideal basis for a polity (popular sovereignty).

It also tries to promote national unity and solidarity by establishing and maintaining a single national identity based on shared social features such as culture, ethnicity, geographic location, language, politics, religion, customs, and belief in a shared unitary history. The goal of nationalism is to conserve and promote a country's historic cultures.

In Europe, nationalism is linked to the establishment of the nation state. In some countries, such as Germany and Italy, nationalism helped to build a state by bringing together autonomous provinces that shared a common culture. It also fueled resistance movements against imperial rulers who ruled cosmopolitan empires. This is the case with Polish nationalism, which arose in opposition to the Russian Empire, as well as Greek and Bulgarian nationalisms, which arose in reaction to Ottoman control.

The following factors contributed to the growth of nationalism:
- One of the most significant impediments to nationalism was feudalism.
- During the mediaeval period, the church was extremely strong and had sway over people all across the world.
- Many wars have sparked feelings of nationalism among the general public.
- Foreign rulers have a history of suppressing the subject nation, which has aided the rise of nationalism.
- The feeling of nationalism arose in response to injustice and the arbitrary authority of unjust monarchs.
- Great poets, statesmen, and philosophers such as Machiavelli, Mills, Mazzini, and Garibaldi contributed significantly to raising political awareness and national spirit among the people.

Note: Depending on the circumstances and one's perspective, nationalism can be positive or detrimental. Independence movements such as the Greek Revolution, the Irish Revolution, the Zionist movement that gave birth to modern Israel, and the disintegration of the Soviet Union all had a strong nationalist component.