Unit 4: Nationalism- From Concert to Competition

Nationalism is defined as a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's own country. The first nation that this concept first appeared was in France in 1793, when the French Revolution was under way and the great leader Napolean Boneparte came to power. Later, the same concept came to other countries such as Germany and Italy through France's attempt to make an empire for themselves. It is through Nationalism that many of the countries of Europe came to be unified and powerful. Therefore on this post, the main topic will be on Nationalism.

In an attempt to teach the class about nationalism in Germany, our group made a puppet show. This puppet show was all about Chancellor Otto von Bismark, leader of the unified German Nation. What was important to highlight about nationalism in Germany is that Bismark himself declined ever using it. However, he did use bits and pieces of nationalism in his policy called realpolitik. So to avoid allowing the people to follow in the ways of nationalism, fearing revolt, he offered all of the benefits for the people that nationalism offered except he kept to the fact that power was more important tohan principles.

Germany and France, however, were not te only nations in Europe to follow in the ways of nationalism. One very important nation that nationalized and unified was Italy. One comparison that can be made between the way that Germany and Italy unified was around the basis to be able to protect themselves better from much more powerful nations, such as France. However, the two nations differed in the ways that they nationalized because Germany attempted to unify without internal conflict while Italy had a campaign that was done to conquer all the nations in the Italian Peninsula to unify them.

Altogether, Nationalism was and still is a very effective ideology. It helped unify many nations around the world by giving people a reason to fight for their country. Even now, today, it remains an effective way for a person to fight. Therefore, if I were to reinvent nationalism, it would become more of a propoganda tool that would be used to get people to fight in the military.

Up next, on the series finale of Samuel Weise's Research Blog, the final discussion will be done of all that has been done over the past semester. Don't miss it!

Picture from:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrU73oJqqZvSwWWEbbbc8FlpKxMFhps7UMIvu4bknOMLNNMUTjHLXIGddoYegVk-mEwaG47EyGByXYlkL_29omlT_04IE-_qrVn2o8e4DGJAO5NHMI2OgbTjRQ0oF5LhN3OU2Iynm1mtP/s1600-h/flagImage2.jpg
http://www.responsible-investor.com/images/uploads/articles/German_flag.jpg