How does nationalism unite people

Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a donation. Close Login. Web Exclusives First Thoughts. Intellectual Retreats Erasmus Lectures. Video Podcasts. Can Nationalism Unite Us? Prev Article. Next Article. Articles by Bradford Littlejohn. America's most influential journal of religion and public life. At the same time it is also different from other groups or communities found in human society.

Yet nations exist, are lived in and valued by their members. How is a democracy more effective than authoritarian governments in dealing with conflicting nationalist aspirations?

The reasons are explained below: i A democratic government is more effective than an authoritarian government as it respects the opinion of people and provides opportunity and rights to every cultural group to flourish. Thus, it provides a structure for all groups to express their aspirations. Within it, members of political community are bound by a set of obligations. These obligations arise from the recognition of the rights of each other as citizens.

It is more easily possible in a democracy than in an authoritarian government. We might even say that recognisation of democratic framework of government provide enough chances and more favourable atmosphere that in an authoritarian government.

Mutual respect and cooperation is the strongest test of loyalty to the nation. Illustrate with suitable examples the factors that lead to the emergence of nationalist feelings. Lowry should have grounded his nationalism in the reality of that belief, or at least acknowledge that there are many differences among nationalists—such as between those who believe in a civic nationalism and those who embrace the ethnic side of it.

Ethnicity has formed the basis for most states throughout history, but nationalists go further. Since the printing press, modern nationalists mostly use ethnic foundations to build nations for their own political benefit when they gain power.

The Ancien Regime in France created modern nationalism. It was spread through the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars as a government propaganda tool to lower the cost of military mobilization. It is the source of everything. Until the late 19th or early 20th century, French was the first language of a minority of citizens.

In almost all these cases, the core of the nation is an ethnic group that must be built up and expanded at the expense of other ethnic groups. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally.

Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. Nationalist aggrandizement of state power goes beyond the domestic and inherently bleeds over into the international arena through militarism. But Lowry claims that those who call nationalism inherently militaristic are smearing it. He argues that nationalism is an ideology of love between strangers in a national community, not of hatred of foreigners. Yet Lowry uses war and militarism as examples to show how nationalism builds national sentiment, the most important component of nationalism.

If ever there was a wasteful militaristic vanity project, the Great White Fleet was it. It was obsolete by the time Roosevelt sent it around the world in , having been decisively outgunned by the new dreadnought class of British battleship—named after the HMS Dreadnought— that was launched in But wasting taxpayer money to showcase obsolete battleships in foreign ports is a good thing if it builds national sentiment.

Nationalists in every country have been the most supportive of wars. Various factors such as common race, language, religion, aims and aspirations, culture and Shared past gave rise to nationalism. The following factors were responsible for the rise of nationalism in Europe : i Decline of Feudalism. There was a steady decline of federal lords and many of them died in mutual warfare.

Nationalism is a unifying force when the people being united are similar in culture, religion, race, language, etc. It brings common people together, forming a bigger group.

Nationalism is positive because it serves as a uniting force. Throughout world history, nationalism has always served as the catalyst toward independence.

The American colonists came together, setting aside their differences, to form a group united against the common enemy — the British. The surge of German nationalism, stimulated by the experience of Germans in the Napoleonic period, the development of a German cultural and artistic identity, and improved transportation through the region, moved Germany toward unification in the 19th century. What approaches did Camillo di Cavour use to acquire more territory? When nationalism emerged in the 19th century, ethnic unrest threatened and eventually toppled these empires.