World History

Unit 5: Industrialism and Nationalism

Chapter 22: Nationalism in Europe

Mon, Feb 24, 2014

46. Tue, Feb 25, 2014

I (DrMcM) should say, as someone who has been complaining loud and long about many aspects of this textbook, that the present chapter is (while diffuse and rather complex) a good deal better organized, thanks largely to the fact that it is limited in theme (national coalescence) and geographical area (Europe). The narrative seems to flow in a more or less comprehensible way, which makes for a nice change.

That being said, it's also worth looking around the thematic and geographical boundaries — at what is going on in this same area in the cultural and scientific arenas, as well as what is going on in other countries around the world. Much of the reorganization of Italy and Germany took place in the period while the United States, for example, was embroiled in the preparation for the Civil War, the War itself, or its aftermath. When the United States was able to put its head up again, so to speak, after its massive internal upheaval, it looked out on a world that had in many respects changed greatly too.

The separate stories of nation-formation in Italy, Germany, and Russia can be taken as distinct linear narratives on their own, and this makes them easier to track and to handle. A careful reading of the passages, however, will make it abundantly clear that all these stories were also manipulated and modified by a vast network of increasingly complex relationships between the various states of Europe and (eventually) the rest of the world as well. The narrative of the breakdown of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire is somewhat more confusing by nature, but the presence of other states at the borders is illuminating as well.

The term "nationalism" has several distinct meanings, and it really helps to be clear on which one of these we're talking about when dealing with this chapter. One is an attachment, perhaps reasonable and sometimes excessive, to the racial or ethnic identity to which one belongs. Usually that's made up of a number of different elements — and most frequently the most prominent of those is language.The Nationalism of Europe in the nineteenth century chiefly took this form, though there were also several other impulses that created a certain consciousness of national boundaries and identities. Nationalism can also have to do with radical or excessive attachment to a state, whever its makeup. That's really something different. Consider for discussion, please:

• What conditions foster the formation of a nation-state? When is it expected or anticipated? What are the preconditions? Which ones are necessary and sufficient, and which are necessary but not sufficient? What pushes a group of people over into nation-formation?
• What are the benefits of nation-states? What are the disadvantages? (There are other models entirely, under which people have governed themselves or each other throughout history: what are some of them?)
• Who (internally or externally) pays the price for these formations?

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