FREE ESSAY ON SOUTHWESTERN EURPEAN NATIONALISM

SOUTHWESTERN EURPEAN NATIONALISM

Nationalism is an ideology that differs from nation to nation. It is the idea that molds
nations into what they become. It's the idea that helps define territories and places.
The nations that will be most concentrated on in this paper will be from Southeastern
Europe. Nationalism in these countries will then be compared to the definition of
nationalism that Ernest Renan gives in his famous essay "What is a nation?" 
Nationalism is a rather recent development in the human social formation. During the
Enlightenment, nationalism was not known. Kings were given all the power and the rich
were given land. The common people would be faithful to one king, which was of their
religious affiliation. No one was looked at by their ethnicity, rather by their religion.
They didn't have unity. People started realizing that God may not be the most important
thing to represent their country. They realized that the solar system was held in place
by gravity, not by God. They started to believe in other kings, who were like agents
working for God.1 
Some scientific studies made people started worrying more about themselves. Laws would
then be enforced to meet people's needs, rather than thinking God would protect them. The
people could have rights. But with a Divine-Monarch they couldn't have these rights
because there were too many people to serve. The land was divided into territories, and
the people were determined by "their ardent love of the fatherland". They were to love
their new country; they were getting into smaller territories with less people as they
wished. People began to learn other languages and develop a sense of individualism. This
was inspired by the Romantic Philosophy. But some people knew many languages, which led
to the question, what nation were they for? Even the minorities had a "class" to be
defined in and had had a sense of nationalism. Some of them were being discriminated
against, which led to their stronger feelings of being defined by their nation. This was
the first development of nationalism, which defined all of Southeast Europe.2 
The essay, by Ernest Renan suggests that nationalism consists of two ideas. "One is the
possession in common of a rich legacy of remembrances, and the other is the actual
consent, the desire to live together, they will to continue to value the heritage which
all hold common (Renan, 17). 
He thinks that the worship of ancestors is important because they have made the country
what it is. He feels that the rules made for the country have been sacrifices made and
should be honored. He also says that a country needs to look at their downfalls rather
than their gains to strengthen the peoples "togetherness" and the will to succeed. The
people have rights as individuals. He states that nations have a beginning and an end,
and the people need to realize and not take it for granted. He feels that people should
appreciate the guarantee for liberty and freedom. They should realize that this is a gift
that could be lost, especially if a king or a dictator was in rule.3 
His last thoughts of what makes a nation are that spirit, heart, and moral consciousness
have a big part; more so than rules, so the people can exist in harmony. This differs
from what happened in Southeast Europe because they didn't appreciate the ancestors who
dictated them. The people did gain nationalism, which gave them a reason to have
individualism and a warm spirit for their community. They gained this when they got their
way and broke up into communities, which gave them rights.4 
In the United States, nationalism was formed in the same manner that Europe was. When the
puritans and the other immigrants came over, they didn't care about forming one nation,
or being involved in rights. They were still apart of England, and did things based on
religion. Communities were even based on religion. The idea that Renan had was not
supported then. People didn't care about heart and how they formed a union. Not until
England started taxing and taking powers away, did the Colonists want to make a union
among the colonies. This is where they needed heart, and had a desire to form unity. They
had to be in harmony to win the war to gain their independence. That would be when the
colonies had the second kind of nationalism that Renan described. The United States is
very big on nationalism to this day, and is based on rights and values made from the 17th
century. The idea of nationalism has spread throughout the world because of the people's
strong views. 
In conclusion, one can see that the concept of nationalism is the same in every nation
but that the way that they use it to bring them together as a whole can vary greatly. One
can also conclude that without nationalism there would be no true nations. 
Bibliography
White, George W., Nationalism and Territory. New York: Rowman And Littlefield Publishers,
2000, 45-66
Hutchinson, John and Smith, Anthony D., Eds. Nationalism. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1994, 17-18
Goff, Richard, Moss, Walter, Terry, Janice, and Upshur, Jiu-Hwa, The Twentieth Century.
New York: McGraw Hill, 1998 
1 George W. White, Nationalism and Territory. (New York: Rowman And Littlefield
Publishers, 2000), 45-52
2 George W. White, Nationalism and Territory. (New York: Rowman And Littlefield
Publishers, 2000), 50-66
3 John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith, Eds. Nationalism. (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1994), 17-18 
4 John Hutchinson and Anthony D. Smith, Eds. Nationalism. (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1994), 18