Transcript Will You Become Your Own Nation?

Will You Become Your
Own Nation?
Nationalism and Politics Under
Globalization
Authority in the Modern World
The Thirty Years War (1618-48)
Treaty of Westphalia
Rise of Modern
Capitalism (17th-18th
Centuries)
Markets
Sovereignty
Order
Identity in the Modern World
Shared historical
experience
Shared
Traits
(Identity)
National
Identity
Communications
Technologies
(Printing Press,
16th century)
Shared
Imagination
The Collision (Collusion?) of
Authority and Identity
National
self determination Identity
Sovereignty Nationalism and
The Nation-State, from the
French Revolution (1789)
The three waves of nationalism
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2.
3.
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In fact, there were really not very many countries at all at the
mid-point of the 19th century. We often think of the United
States as being rather ‘new’ compared to Europe; but in fact,
only Britain, France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and perhaps
Spain, predate the United States as independent countries
(Germany was not united until 1871, Italy not until 1860).
Nationalism was actually one of the primary forces that led to
the creation of independent countries (it was not the only force,
but it was one of the principal ones). So where did it come
from?
Nationalism emerged in three distinct periods, which we should
quickly consider;
The French Revolution and the era of “liberal nationalism”
World War One and the principle of “self-determination”
World War Two and the period of ‘decolonization’
NOTE: this makes nationalism a distinctively modern
phenomenon. Some argue that there was such a thing as
premodern nationalism (i.e. in ancient Israel, Babylon, etc.).
Occasionally scholars may use the word. But most political
scientists see nationalism as not being really born until the 18th
century.
Number of countries
250
200
150
Number of countries
100
50
18
50
18
70
18
90
19
10
19
30
19
50
19
70
19
90
0
Wave I: “Liberal Nationalism”
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2.
3.
Nationalism as we know it was born out of one of
the great revolutions of the 17th and 18th
centuries. There were three revolutions that had
a profound and lasting impact upon the modern
political world;
The “glorious revolution” in England (1688) gave
us the notion of constitutional monarchy (a form
of democracy).
The American Revolution (1776) was a fight
against absolutism (perhaps best expressed in
modern terms as patriotism), but virtually
ignored in Europe. But the American revolution
was not so much about nationalism as about a
set of political and civic values. Later, American
nationalism grows, particularly in the war of
1812-4.
The French Revolution (1789) witnessed the birth
of modern nationalism.
The French Revolution
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Nationalism emerged in the French revolution as the force that led
French people to defend the revolutionary state against the
reactionary forces led by the British and Austro-Hungarians who
wanted to suppress the revolution and restore the monarchy and
aristocracy to power.
It proved to be a devastatingly powerful force. At first, others
outside France were shocked by it; they saw an idea that led
French citizens to want to kill and die for their common identity,
and they thought it was savage and barbaric!
The French revolution gave us the idea of the national anthem,
and the national flag becomes more than just a military
identifying mark (the national flag was used, for example, in the
United States before the French revolution, but it was simply a
way to distinguish between friendly and enemy forces, particularly
ships).
Following the French revolution, Napoleon began to export the
idea of nationalism to other parts of Europe where peoples lived
under the tutelage of old empires (Southern Europe, Eastern
Europe, etc.). The first part of the 19th century represents the
explosion of nationalism onto the geopolitical scene, culminating
in the great wave of peoples revolutions across Europe in 1848
(some successful, some not).
Wave II: World War One and the
principle of “self-determination”
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World War One (1914-18) may be considered to be the last
of the ‘old’ wars (elites against elites) and the first of the
modern wars, in which nation fought nation.
The war was followed by a conference in France, when the
major powers got together and discussed the geopolitical
future.
Out of these discussions, the Treaty of Versailles (1919)
established the principle of self-determination and carved
out new nation-states in central Europe and the Balkans
In the Middle East, new boundaries were drawn out of the
rubble of the Ottoman empire, and new states created;
however, these states did not often satisfy the specific
demands of the local populations for self-determination, as
their rulers were imposed by the colonial powers. Thus
Arab nationalism was to become a growing political force
through the 20th century.
Wave III: WWII and decolonization
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WWII signaled an end of the dominance of the
old European powers in the world. Britain was
exhausted, France and the Netherlands in ruins,
Germany defeated. The United States, mostly as
a result of the onset of the Cold War with the
USSR, wanted to get as much sympathy on the
side of the capitalist countries, and pushed the
European powers to decolonize quickly.
This was mainly expressed in the break-up of old
colonial empires, much of it under strong
pressure from the US.
However, decolonization also took place against
the back-drop of the Cold War; the way in which
independence took place was often determined
by the intense rivalry between the United States
and the USSR.
The Fourth Wave?
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The end of the Cold War has meant the break-up of formerly
communist states like the USSR. Czechoslovakia (now the Czech
Republic and Slovakia), and Yugoslavia (now five independent
states). In many other places, national peoples are beginning to
reassert old demands for self-determination.
This raises an uncomfortable question; what are the limits to selfdetermination? As part of this question, we might think about the
size of the nation. The world has witnessed the rise of so-called
ethno-nationalism, meaning nationalism on a very small scale,
where ethnic groups take on nationalist characteristics and
demands (think about the size of Kosovo, for example; look it up
on the internet and or on a map).
Globalization has led to new migration, immigration, and
population pressures.
Some have said, paradoxically, that globalization also might be
leading to the break-down of national cultures, as we see the rise
of things like global consumerism, communications, travel, etc.
As a question for discussion; do we think that national identity is in
some way challenged by globalization? For example, do we think
that Europeans and Americans are becoming more alike in
significant ways? If globalization were to challenge national
identity, do we think this is a good or bad thing?