Beginning in the late 18th century, particularly with the
French Revolution and the spread of the principle of
popular sovereignty or self determination, the idea that "the people" should rule was developed by political theorists. Three main theories have been used to explain the emergence of nationalism: •
Primordialism developed alongside nationalism during the
Romantic era and held that there have always been nations. This view has since been rejected by most scholars, who view nations as
socially constructed and historically contingent. Perennialism, a softer version of primordialism which accepts that nations are modern phenomena but with long historical roots, is subject to academic debate. •
Modernization theory, currently the most commonly accepted theory of nationalism, adopts a
constructivist approach and proposes that nationalism emerged due to processes of
modernization, such as industrialization, urbanization, and mass education, which made national consciousness possible. Proponents of this theory describe nations as "
imagined communities" and nationalism as an "
invented tradition" in which shared sentiment provides a form of collective identity and binds individuals together in political solidarity. •
Ethnosymbolism explains nationalism as a product of symbols, myths, and traditions, and is associated with the work of
Anthony D. Smith. He discusses the simultaneous concept of 'historicism' to describe an emerging belief in the birth, growth, and decay of specific peoples and cultures, which became "increasingly attractive as a framework for inquiry into the past and present and ... an explanatory principle in elucidating the meaning of events, past and present". The Prussian scholar
Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) originated the term in 1772 in his "Treatise on the Origin of Language" stressing the role of a common language. He attached exceptional importance to the concepts of nationality and of patriotism "he that has lost his patriotic spirit has lost himself and the whole world about himself", whilst teaching that "in a certain sense every human perfection is national".
Erica Benner identifies Herder as the first philosopher to explicitly suggest "that identities based on language should be regarded as the primary source of legitimate political authority or locus of political resistance". Herder also encouraged the creation of a common cultural and language policy amongst the
separate German states.
Dating the emergence of nationalism Scholars frequently place the beginning of nationalism in the late 18th century or early 19th century with the
American Declaration of Independence or with the
French Revolution, though there is ongoing debate about its existence in varying forms during the
Middle Ages and
even antiquity. The consensus is that nationalism as a concept was firmly established by the 19th century. In histories of nationalism, the
French Revolution (1789) is seen as an important starting point, not only for its impact on
French nationalism but even more for its impact on Germans and Italians and on European intellectuals. The template of nationalism, as a method for mobilizing public opinion around a new state based on popular sovereignty, went back further than 1789: philosophers such as
Rousseau and
Voltaire, whose ideas influenced the French Revolution, had themselves been influenced or encouraged by the example of earlier constitutionalist liberation movements, notably the
Corsican Republic (1755–1768) and
American Revolution (1775–1783). Due to the
Industrial Revolution, there was an emergence of an integrated, nation-encompassing economy and a national
public sphere, where British people began to mobilize on a state-wide scale, rather than just in the smaller units of their province, town or family. The early emergence of a popular patriotic nationalism took place in the mid-18th century and was actively promoted by the British government and by the writers and intellectuals of the time.
National symbols, anthems,
myths, flags and narratives were assiduously constructed by nationalists and widely adopted. The
Union Jack was adopted in 1801 as the national flag.
Thomas Arne composed the patriotic song "
Rule, Britannia!" in 1740, and the cartoonist
John Arbuthnot invented the character of
John Bull as the personification of the English national spirit in 1712. The political convulsions of the late 18th century associated with the
American and
French revolutions massively augmented the widespread appeal of patriotic nationalism.
Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power further established nationalism when he invaded much of Europe. Napoleon used this opportunity to spread revolutionary ideas, resulting in much of the 19th-century European Nationalism. Some scholars argue that variants of nationalism emerged prior to the 18th century. American philosopher and historian
Hans Kohn wrote in 1944 that nationalism emerged in the 17th century. In
Britons, Forging the Nation 1707–1837,
Linda Colley explores how the role of nationalism emerged in about 1700 and developed in Britain reaching full form in the 1830s. Writing shortly after
World War I, the popular British author
H. G. Wells traced the origin of European nationalism to the aftermath of the
Reformation, when it filled the moral void left by the decline of Christian faith:[A]s the idea of Christianity as a world brotherhood of men sank into discredit because of its fatal entanglement with priestcraft and the Papacy on the one hand and with the authority of princes on the other, and the age of faith passed into our present age of doubt and disbelief, men shifted the reference of their lives from the kingdom of God and the brotherhood of mankind to these apparently more living realities, France and England, Holy Russia, Spain, Prussia.... **** In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the general population of Europe was religious and only vaguely patriotic; by the nineteenth it had become wholly patriotic.
19th century (1806–1881) was one of the most influential
Fennomans and
Finnish nationalists in the 19th century. The political development of nationalism and the push for
popular sovereignty culminated with the ethnic/national revolutions of Europe and in the
Ottoman Empire. During the 19th century nationalism became one of the most significant political and social forces in history; it is typically listed among the top causes of
World War I. Napoleon's conquests of the German and Italian states around 1800–1806 played a major role in stimulating nationalism and the demands for national unity. English historian J. P. T. Bury argues:Between 1830 and 1870 nationalism had thus made great strides. It inspired great literature, quickened scholarship, and nurtured heroes. It had shown its power both to unify and to divide. It had led to great achievements of political construction and consolidation in Germany and Italy; but it was more clear than ever a threat to the Ottoman and Habsburg empires, which were essentially multi-national. European culture had been enriched by the new vernacular contributions of little-known or forgotten peoples, but at the same time such unity as it had was imperiled by fragmentation. Moreover, the antagonisms fostered by nationalism had made not only for wars, insurrections, and local hatreds—they had accentuated or created new spiritual divisions in a nominally Christian Europe.
France Nationalism in France gained early expressions in France's revolutionary government. In 1793, that government declared a mass conscription (
levée en masse) with a call to service: Henceforth, until the enemies have been driven from the territory of the Republic, all the French are in permanent requisition for army service. The young men shall go to battle; the married men shall forge arms in the hospitals; the children shall turn old linen to lint; the old men shall repair to the public places, to stimulate the courage of the warriors and preach the unity of the Republic and the hatred of kings. This nationalism gained pace after the French Revolution came to a close. Defeat in war, with a loss in territory, was a powerful force in nationalism. In France, revenge and return of
Alsace-Lorraine was a powerful motivating force for a quarter century after their defeat by Germany in 1871. After 1895, French nationalists focused on Dreyfus and internal subversion, and the Alsace issue petered out. from 1887 depicting French students being taught about the lost provinces of
Alsace-Lorraine, taken by Germany in 1871 The French reaction was a famous case of
Revanchism ("revenge") which demands the return of lost territory that "belongs" to the national homeland. Revanchism draws its strength from patriotic and retributionist thought and it is often motivated by economic or geo-political factors. Extreme revanchist ideologues often represent a hawkish stance, suggesting that their desired objectives can be achieved through the positive outcome of another war. It is linked with irredentism, the conception that a part of the cultural and ethnic nation remains "unredeemed" outside the borders of its appropriate nation state. Revanchist politics often rely on the identification of a nation with a nation state, often mobilizing deep-rooted sentiments of ethnic nationalism, claiming territories outside the state where members of the ethnic group live, while using heavy-handed nationalism to mobilize support for these aims. Revanchist justifications are often presented as based on ancient or even autochthonous occupation of a territory since "time immemorial", an assertion that is usually inextricably involved in revanchism and irredentism, justifying them in the eyes of their proponents. The
Dreyfus Affair in France 1894–1906 made the battle against treason and disloyalty a central theme for conservative Catholic French nationalists. Dreyfus, a Jew, was an outsider, that is in the views of intense nationalists, not a true Frenchman, not one to be trusted, not one to be given the benefit of the doubt. True loyalty to the nation, from the conservative viewpoint, was threatened by liberal and republican principles of liberty and equality that were leading the country to disaster.
Russia monument which was built in 1862 in celebration of one thousand years of
Russian history Before 1815, the sense of Russian nationalism was weak—what sense there was focused on loyalty and obedience to the
tsar. The Russian motto "
Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality" was coined by Count
Sergey Uvarov and it was adopted by Emperor
Nicholas I as the official ideology of the
Russian Empire. Three components of Uvarov's triad were: •
OrthodoxyOrthodox Christianity and protection of the
Russian Orthodox Church. •
Autocracyunconditional loyalty to the
House of Romanov in return for
paternalist protection for all
social estates. •
Nationality (
Narodnost, has been also translated as
national spirit)recognition of the state-founding role on Russian nationality. By the 1860s, as a result of educational indoctrination, and due to conservative resistance to ideas and ideologies which were transmitted from
Western Europe, a
pan-Slavic movement had emerged and it produced both a sense of Russian nationalism and a nationalistic mission to support and protect pan-Slavism. This
Slavophile movement became popular in 19th-century Russia. Pan-Slavism was fueled by, and it was also the fuel for Russia's numerous
wars against the Ottoman Empire which were waged in order to achieve the alleged goal of liberating Orthodox nationalities, such as
Bulgarians,
Romanians,
Serbs and
Greeks, from
Ottoman rule. Slavophiles opposed the Western European influences which had been transmitted to Russia and they were also determined to protect
Russian culture and traditions.
Aleksey Khomyakov,
Ivan Kireyevsky, and
Konstantin Aksakov are credited with co-founding the movement.
Latin America (1783–1830), a leader of independence in Latin America An upsurge in nationalism in the Hispanic America in the 1810s and 1820s sparked revolutions that cost Spain nearly all of its
colonies which were located there. Spain was at war with Britain from 1798 to 1808, and the British Royal Navy cut off its contacts with its colonies, so nationalism flourished and trade with Spain was suspended. The colonies set up temporary governments or juntas which were effectively independent from Spain. These juntas were established as a result of Napoleon's resistance failure in Spain. They served to determine new leadership and, in colonies like Caracas, abolished the slave trade as well as the Indian tribute. The division exploded between Spaniards who were born in Spain (called "peninsulares") versus those of Spanish descent born in
New Spain (called "criollos" in Spanish or "
creoles" in English). The two groups wrestled for power, with the criollos leading the call for independence. Spain tried to use its armies to fight back but had no help from European powers. Indeed, Britain and the United States worked against Spain, enforcing the
Monroe Doctrine. Spain lost all of its American colonies, except Cuba and Puerto Rico, in a
complex series of revolts from 1808 to 1826.
Germany with
German tricolor flags, May 1848 In the German states west of Prussia,
Napoleon abolished many of the old or medieval relics, such as dissolving the
Holy Roman Empire in 1806. He imposed rational legal systems and demonstrated how dramatic changes were possible. His organization of the
Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 promoted a feeling of nationalism. Nationalists sought to encompass masculinity in their quest for strength and unity. It was Prussian chancellor
Otto von Bismarck who achieved German unification through a series of highly successful short wars against Denmark, Austria and France which thrilled the pan-German nationalists in the smaller German states. They fought in his wars and eagerly joined the new German Empire, which Bismarck ran as a force for balance and peace in Europe after 1871. In the 19th century, German nationalism was promoted by Hegelian-oriented academic historians who saw Prussia as the true carrier of the German spirit, and the power of the state as the ultimate goal of nationalism. The three main historians were
Johann Gustav Droysen (1808–1884),
Heinrich von Sybel (1817–1895) and
Heinrich von Treitschke (1834–1896). Droysen moved from liberalism to an intense nationalism that celebrated Prussian Protestantism, efficiency, progress, and reform, in striking contrast to Austrian Catholicism, impotency and backwardness. He idealized the Hohenzollern kings of Prussia. His large-scale
History of Prussian Politics (14 vol 1855–1886) was foundational for nationalistic students and scholars. Von Sybel founded and edited the leading academic history journal,
Historische Zeitschrift and as the director of the Prussian state archives published massive compilations that were devoured by scholars of nationalism. The most influential of the German nationalist historians, was Treitschke who had an enormous influence on elite students at Heidelberg and Berlin universities. Treitschke vehemently attacked parliamentarianism, socialism, pacifism, the English, the French, the Jews, and the internationalists. The core of his message was the need for a strong, unified state—a unified Germany under Prussian supervision. "It is the highest duty of the State to increase its power", he stated. Although he was a descendant of a Czech family, he considered himself not Slavic but German: "I am 1,000 times more the patriot than a professor." being welcomed by a crowd in
Sudetenland, where the pro-Nazi
Sudeten German Party gained 88% of ethnic-German votes in May 1938 German nationalism, expressed through the ideology of
Nazism, may also be understood as trans-national in nature. This aspect was primarily advocated by
Adolf Hitler, who later became the leader of the
Nazi Party. This party was devoted to what they identified as an
Aryan race, residing in various European countries, but sometime mixed with alien elements such as Jews. Meanwhile, the Nazis rejected many of the well-established citizens within those same countries, such as the
Romani and Jews, whom they did not identify as Aryan. A key Nazi doctrine was (living space), which was a vast undertaking to transplant Aryans throughout
Poland, much of
Eastern Europe and the
Baltic nations, and all of western Russia and Ukraine. was thus a vast project for advancing the Aryan race far outside of any particular nation or national borders. Nazi goals were focused on advancing the Aryan race as they perceived it, the modification of the human race via
eugenics, and the eradication of human beings that they deemed inferior. But their goals were trans-national and intended to spread across as much of the world as they could achieve. Although Nazism glorified German history, it also embraced the supposed virtues and achievements of the
Aryan race in other countries, including India. The Nazis'
Aryanism longed for now-extinct species of superior bulls once used as livestock by Aryans and other features of Aryan history that never resided within the borders of Germany as a nation.
Italy enters
Naples in 1860 Italian nationalism emerged in the 19th century and was the driving force for
Italian unification or the
Risorgimento (meaning the "Resurgence" or "Revival"). It was the political and intellectual movement that consolidated the different states of the
Italian peninsula into the single state of the
Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The memory of the
Risorgimento is central to Italian nationalism but it was based in the liberal
middle classes and ultimately proved a bit weak. The new government treated the newly annexed South as a kind of underdeveloped province due to its "backward" and poverty-stricken society, its poor grasp of standard Italian (as
Italo-Dalmatian dialects of
Neapolitan and
Sicilian were prevalent in the common use) and its local traditions. The liberals had always been strong opponents of the
pope and the very well organized
Catholic Church. The liberal government under the Sicilian
Francesco Crispi sought to enlarge his political base by emulating
Otto von Bismarck and firing up
Italian nationalism with an aggressive foreign policy. It partially crashed and his cause was set back. Of his nationalistic foreign policy, historian
R. J. B. Bosworth says: [Crispi] pursued policies whose openly aggressive character would not be equaled until the days of the Fascist regime. Crispi increased military expenditure, talked cheerfully of a European conflagration, and alarmed his German or British friends with these suggestions of preventative attacks on his enemies. His policies were ruinous, both for Italy's trade with France, and, more humiliatingly, for colonial ambitions in East Africa. Crispi's lust for territory there was thwarted when on 1 March 1896, the armies of Ethiopian Emperor Menelik routed Italian forces at
Adowa [...] in what has been defined as an unparalleled disaster for a modern army. Crispi, whose private life and personal finances [...] were objects of perennial scandal, went into dishonorable retirement. Italy joined the
Allies in the First World War after getting promises of territory, but its war effort was not honored after the war and this fact discredited liberalism paving the way for
Benito Mussolini and a political doctrine of his own creation,
Fascism. Mussolini's 20-year dictatorship involved a highly aggressive nationalism that led to a series of wars with the creation of the
Italian Empire, an alliance with Hitler's Germany, and humiliation and hardship in the Second World War. After 1945, the Catholics returned to government and tensions eased somewhat, but the former two Sicilies remained poor and partially underdeveloped (by industrial country standards). In the 1950s and early 1960s, Italy had an
economic boom that pushed its economy to the fifth place in the world. The working class in those decades voted mostly for the
Communist Party, and it looked to Moscow rather than Rome for inspiration and was kept out of the national government even as it controlled some industrial cities across the North. In the 21st century, the Communists have become marginal but political tensions remained high as shown by
Umberto Bossi's
Padanism in the 1980s (whose party
Lega Nord has come to partially embrace a moderate version of Italian nationalism over the years) and other separatist movements spread across the country.
Spain After the
War of the Spanish Succession, rooted in the political position of the
Count-Duke of Olivares and the absolutism of
Philip V, the assimilation of the
Crown of Aragon by the
Castilian Crown through the
Decrees of Nova planta was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state. As in other contemporary European states, political union was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state, in this case not on a uniform
ethnic basis, but through the imposition of the political and cultural characteristics of the dominant ethnic group, in this case the Castilians, over those of other ethnic groups, who became
national minorities to be assimilated. In fact, since the political unification of 1714, Spanish assimilation policies towards
Catalan-speaking territories (
Catalonia,
Valencia, the
Balearic Islands,
part of
Aragon) and other national minorities, as
Basques and
Galicians, have been a historical constant. The nationalization process accelerated in the 19th century, in parallel to the origin of
Spanish nationalism, the social, political and ideological movement that tried to shape a Spanish national identity based on the Castilian model, in conflict with the other historical nations of the State. Politicians of the time were aware that despite the aggressive policies pursued up to that time, the uniform and monocultural "Spanish nation" did not exist, as indicated in 1835 by
Antonio Alcalà Galiano, when in the
Cortes del Estatuto Real he defended the effort: "To make the Spanish nation a nation that neither is nor has been until now." Building the nation (as in
France, it was the state that created the nation, and not the opposite process) is an ideal that the Spanish elites constantly reiterated, and, one hundred years later than Alcalá Galiano, for example, we can also find it in the mouth of the fascist
José Pemartín, who admired the German and Italian modeling policies, said: "There is an intimate and decisive dualism, both in Italian fascism and in German National Socialism. On the one hand, the Hegelian doctrine of the absolutism of the state is felt. The State originates in the Nation, educates and shapes the mentality of the individual; is, in Mussolini's words, the soul of the soul." This thought was found again two hundred years later from the socialist
Josep Borrell, who said: "The modern history of Spain is an unfortunate history that meant that we did not consolidate a modern State. Independentists think that the nation makes the State. I think the opposite. The State makes the nation. A strong State, which imposes its language, culture, education." The creation of the tradition of the political community of Spaniards as common destiny over other communities has been argued to trace back to the
Cortes of Cádiz. From 1812 on, revisiting the previous history of Spain, Spanish liberalism tended to take for granted the national conscience and the Spanish nation. A by-product of 19th-century Spanish nationalist thinking is the concept of
Reconquista, which holds the power of propelling the weaponized notion of Spain being a nation
shaped against Islam. The strong interface of nationalism with colonialism is another feature of 19th-century nation building in Spain, with the defence of slavery and colonialism in Cuba being often able to reconcile tensions between mainland elites of Catalonia and Madrid throughout the period. During the first half of 20th century (notably during the
dictatorship of Primo de Rivera and the
dictatorship of Franco), a new brand of Spanish nationalism with a marked
military flavour and an authoritarian stance (as well as promoting policies favouring the Spanish language against
the other languages in the country) as a means of modernizing the country was developed by Spanish conservatives, fusing
regenerationist principles with traditional Spanish nationalism. The authoritarian national ideal resumed during the Francoist dictatorship, in the form of
National-Catholicism, which was in turn complemented by the myth of
Hispanidad. A distinct manifestation of Spanish nationalism in modern Spanish politics is the interchange of attacks with competing regional nationalisms. Initially present after the end of Francoism in a rather diffuse and reactive form, the Spanish nationalist discourse has been often self-branded as "
constitutional patriotism" since the 1980s. Often ignored as in the case of other State nationalisms, its alleged "non-existence" has been a commonplace espoused by prominent figures in the public sphere as well as the mass-media in the country. began as a rebellion by Greek revolutionaries against the ruling Ottoman Empire.
Greece During the early 19th century, inspired by
romanticism,
classicism, former movements of
Greek nationalism and failed Greek revolts against the Ottoman Empire (such as the Orlofika revolt in southern Greece in 1770, and the Epirus-Macedonian revolt of Northern Greece in 1575), Greek nationalism led to the
Greek war of independence. The Greek drive for independence from the
Ottoman Empire in the 1820s and 1830s inspired supporters across
Christian Europe, especially in Britain, which was the result of western
idealization of
Classical Greece and romanticism. France, Russia and Britain critically intervened to ensure the success of this nationalist endeavor.
Serbia For centuries the
Orthodox Christian Serbs were ruled by the Muslim
Ottoman Empire. The success of the
Serbian Revolution against
Ottoman rule in 1817 marked the birth of the
Principality of Serbia. It achieved
de facto independence in 1867 and finally gained
international recognition in 1878. Serbia had sought to liberate and unite with Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west and
Old Serbia (
Kosovo and
Vardar Macedonia) to the south. Nationalist circles in both
Serbia and Croatia (part of
Austria-Hungary) began to advocate for a greater
South Slavic union in the 1860s, claiming
Bosnia as their common land based on shared language and tradition. In 1914,
Serb revolutionaries in Bosnia assassinated Archduke Ferdinand.
Austria-Hungary, with German backing, tried to crush Serbia in 1914, thus igniting the
First World War in which Austria-Hungary dissolved into nation states. In 1918, the region of
Banat, Bačka and Baranja came under control of the Serbian army, later the Great National Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs voted to join Serbia; the
Kingdom of Serbia joined the union with
State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs on 1 December 1918, and the country was named
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. It was renamed
Yugoslavia in 1929, and a
Yugoslav identity was promoted, which ultimately failed. After the Second World War,
Yugoslav Communists established a new
socialist republic of Yugoslavia. That state
broke up again in the 1990s.
Poland The cause of Polish nationalism was repeatedly frustrated before 1918. In the 1790s, the
Habsburg monarchy,
Prussia and
Russia invaded, annexed, and subsequently
partitioned Poland. Napoleon set up the
Duchy of Warsaw, a new Polish state that ignited a spirit of nationalism. Russia took it over in 1815 as
Congress Poland with the tsar proclaimed as "King of Poland". Large-scale nationalist revolts erupted
in 1830 and
1863–64 but were harshly crushed by Russia, which tried to make the
Polish language,
culture and
religion more like Russia's. The collapse of the Russian Empire in the First World War enabled the major powers to re-establish an independent Poland, which survived until 1939. Meanwhile, Poles in areas controlled by Germany moved into heavy industry but their religion came under attack by Bismarck in the
Kulturkampf of the 1870s. The Poles joined German Catholics in a well-organized new
Centre Party, and defeated Bismarck politically. He responded by stopping the harassment and cooperating with the Centre Party. In the late 19th and early 20th century, many Polish nationalist leaders endorsed the
Piast Concept. It held there was a Polish utopia during the
Piast Dynasty a thousand years before, and modern Polish nationalists should restore its central values of Poland for the Poles. Jan Poplawski had developed the "Piast Concept" in the 1890s, and it formed the centerpiece of Polish nationalist ideology, especially as presented by the
National Democracy Party, known as the "Endecja," which was led by
Roman Dmowski. In contrast with the Jagiellon concept, there was no concept for a multi-ethnic Poland. The Piast concept stood in opposition to the "Jagiellon Concept," which allowed for multi-ethnicism and Polish rule over numerous minority groups such as those in the
Kresy. The Jagiellon Concept was the official policy of the government in the 1920s and 1930s.
Soviet dictator
Josef Stalin at Tehran in 1943 rejected the Jagiellon Concept because it involved Polish rule over
Ukrainians and
Belarusians. He instead endorsed the Piast Concept, which justified a massive shift of Poland's frontiers to the west. After 1945 the Soviet-back puppet communist regime wholeheartedly adopted the Piast Concept, making it the centerpiece of their claim to be the "true inheritors of Polish nationalism". After all the killings, including Nazi German occupation, terror in Poland and population transfers during and after the war, the nation was officially declared as 99% ethnically Polish. In Polish politics, Polish nationalism is most openly represented by parties linked in the
Liberty and Independence Confederation coalition. As of 2020, the Confederation, composed of several smaller parties, had 11 deputies (under 7%) in the
Sejm.
Bulgaria Bulgarian modern nationalism emerged
under Ottoman rule in the late 18th and early 19th century, under the influence of western ideas such as liberalism and nationalism, which trickled into the country after the French Revolution. The Bulgarian national revival started with the work of
Saint Paisius of Hilendar, who opposed
Greek domination of Bulgaria's culture and religion. His work
Istoriya Slavyanobolgarskaya ("History of the Slav-Bulgarians"), which appeared in 1762, was the first work of Bulgarian historiography. It is considered Paisius' greatest work and one of the greatest pieces of Bulgarian literature. In it, Paisius interpreted Bulgarian medieval history with the goal of reviving the spirit of his nation. His successor was Saint
Sophronius of Vratsa, who started the struggle for an independent Bulgarian church. An autonomous
Bulgarian Exarchate was established in 1870–1872 for the Bulgarian diocese wherein at least two-thirds of Orthodox Christians were willing to join it. In 1869 the
Internal Revolutionary Organization was initiated. The
April Uprising of 1876 indirectly resulted in the
re-establishment of Bulgaria in 1878.
Jewish nationalism Antisemitism has been a problem since the
middle ages, however, it became more prevalent as the percent of the population that was Jewish increased in western countries. Increased antisemitism would lead to further exclusion and discrimination. In the 19th century, Jews in
Western Europe saw increased access to
civil rights and liberties. Among these were the right to vote, hold office, own land, and serve in the armed forces. Meanwhile, Jews in
Eastern Europe often faced mass persecution, particularly in
Russian Empire. Anti-Jewish riots, referred to as
Pogroms, triggered mass emigration of Jews, who fled to America and Western Europe. At the dawn of the 20th century antisemitism would become an increasing problem in the West as well, as more Jews immigrated to the West. As the Jews arrived, there were still many discrepancies in beliefs that had to be rectified to ensure a concise national identity. Political theorists state that there are four key elements necessary for a group to suffice as a nationality; a shared territory, a shared culture, a shared economy, and a shared language. Many of these attributes were heavily debated as Zionism increased in popularity. The official language of
Israel was originally debated between
Hebrew and
Yiddish. However, many Eastern European Jews had already begun teaching Hebrew as the official language of Israel and completely rejected Yiddish. Eventually Hebrew would become the official language of the state of Israel. While some Jews had begun settling in Palestine, they had not officially claimed the territory as their own as it remained in possession of the
British Mandate. Furthermore, some Zionists debated the exact location of a potential Jewish state, with many possible locations being proposed. In 1948, Israel was officially declared and recognized as the official Jewish state, solving the territorial question. From the beginning the economic question was brought into play as labour zionists hoped to create a
socialist state, while religious zionists came to Israel for varying reasons and with holding different economic beliefs. After Israel's founding in 1948, it was uncertain where they would side in the
cold war, with both the
United States and the
USSR supporting Israel. Meanwhile right-wing
revisionists had gained mainstream attraction in opposition to the socialist movements that were predominant in the early years of the Zionist state. By the 1960s, the USSR had cut off relations with Israel who had begun
liberalizing their economy. Thus, Israel finally achieved a shared language, economy, culture, and territory, allowing for Jewish nationalism to be achieved.
20th century China The awakening of nationalism across Asia helped shape the history of the continent. The key episode was the
decisive defeat of Russia by Japan in 1905, demonstrating the military advancement of non-Europeans in a modern war. The defeat quickly led to manifestations of a new interest in nationalism in China, as well as Turkey and Persia. In China
Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925) launched his new party the
Kuomintang (National People's Party) in defiance of the decrepit Empire, which was run by outsiders. The Kuomintang recruits pledged: [F]rom this moment I will destroy the old and build the new, and fight for the self-determination of the people, and will apply all my strength to the support of the Chinese Republic and the realization of democracy through the Three Principles, ... for the progress of good government, the happiness and perpetual peace of the people, and for the strengthening of the foundations of the state in the name of peace throughout the world. The Kuomintang largely ran China until the Communists took over in 1949. But the latter had also been strongly influenced by Sun's nationalism as well as by the
May Fourth Movement in 1919. It was a nationwide protest movement about the domestic backwardness of China and has often been depicted as the intellectual foundation for Chinese Communism. The
New Culture Movement stimulated by the May Fourth Movement waxed strong throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Historian
Patricia Ebrey says: Nationalism, patriotism, progress, science, democracy, and freedom were the goals;
imperialism,
feudalism,
warlordism, autocracy,
patriarchy, and blind adherence to tradition were the enemies. Intellectuals struggled with how to be strong and modern and yet Chinese, how to preserve China as a political entity in the world of competing nations. In 1911, following the
Xinhai Revolution, Sun's multicultural form of Chinese nationalism manifested as
Zhonghua minzu, a concept that promoted the idea of
Five Races Under One Union, that sidelined
Han Chinese supremacy in favor of coexistence alongside
Manchus,
Mongols,
Chinese Muslims (
Hui and
Uyghurs), and
Tibetans, all of which were supposedly equal branches of the Chinese nation. The rhetorical move, as China historian
Joseph Esherick points out, was based on practical concerns about imperial threats from the international environment and conflicts on the Chinese frontiers.
Greece Nationalist
irredentist movements Greek advocating for
Enosis (unity of ethnically Greek states with the
Hellenic Republic to create a unified Greek state), used today in the case of
Cyprus, as well as the
Megali Idea, the Greek movement that advocated for the reconquering of Greek ancestral lands from the Ottoman Empire (such as
Crete,
Ionia,
Pontus,
Northern Epirus,
Cappadocia,
Thrace among others) that were popular in the late 19th and early to 20th centuries, led to many Greek states and regions that were ethnically Greek to eventually unite with Greece and the
Greco-Turkish war of 1919. The
4th of August regime was a
fascist or fascistic nationalist authoritarian dictatorship inspired by
Mussolini's Fascist Italy and
Hitler's
Germany and led by Greek general
Ioannis Metaxas from 1936 to his death in 1941. It advocated for the Third Hellenic Civilization, a culturally superior Greek civilization that would be the successor of the First and Second Greek civilizations, that were
Ancient Greece and the
Byzantine empire respectively. It promoted
Greek traditions,
folk music and
dances,
classicism as well as
medievalism.
Africa , an anti-colonial political leader from
Zambia, pictured at a nationalist rally in colonial
Northern Rhodesia (now
Zambia) in 1960 In the 1880s the European powers divided up almost all of Africa (only
Ethiopia and
Liberia were independent). They ruled until after World War II when forces of nationalism grew much stronger. In the 1950s and the 1960s, colonial holdings became independent states. The process was usually peaceful but there were several long bitter bloody civil wars, as in Algeria, Kenya, and elsewhere. Across Africa, nationalism drew upon the organizational skills that natives had learned in the British and French, and other armies during the world wars. It led to organizations that were not controlled by or endorsed by either the colonial powers or the traditional local power structures that had been collaborating with the colonial powers. Nationalistic organizations began to challenge both the traditional and the new colonial structures and finally displaced them. Leaders of nationalist movements took control when the European authorities exited; many ruled for decades or until they died off. These structures included political, educational, religious, and other social organizations. In recent decades, many African countries have undergone the triumph and defeat of nationalistic fervor, changing in the process the loci of the centralizing state power and patrimonial state.
South Africa, a British colony, was exceptional in that it became virtually independent by 1931. From 1948, it was controlled by white
Afrikaner nationalists, who focused on racial segregation and white minority rule, known as
apartheid. It lasted until 1994, when
multiracial elections were held. The international anti-apartheid movement supported black nationalists until success was achieved, and
Nelson Mandela was elected president.
Middle East Arab nationalism, a movement toward liberating and empowering the Arab peoples of the Middle East, emerged during the late 19th century, inspired by other independence movements of the 18th and 19th centuries. As the
Ottoman Empire declined and the Middle East was carved up by the Great Powers of Europe, Arabs sought to establish their own independent nations ruled by Arabs, rather than foreigners.
Syria was established in 1920; Transjordan (later
Jordan) gradually gained independence between 1921 and 1946;
Saudi Arabia was established in 1932; and
Egypt achieved gradually gained independence between 1922 and 1952. The
Arab League was established in 1945 to promote Arab interests and cooperation between the new Arab states. The
Zionist movement, emerged among European Jews in the 19th century. In 1882, Jews, from Europe, began to emigrate to
Ottoman Palestine with the goal of establishing a new Jewish homeland. The majority and local population in Palestine,
Palestinian Arabs were demanding independence from the British Mandate.
Breakup of Yugoslavia There was a rise in extreme nationalism after the
Revolutions of 1989 had triggered the collapse of
communism in the 1990s. That left many people with no identity. The people under communist rule had to integrate, but they now found themselves free to choose. That made long-dormant conflicts rise and create sources of serious conflict. When communism fell in Yugoslavia, serious conflict arose, which led to a rise in extreme nationalism. The academic Steven Berg felt that the root of nationalist conflicts was the demand for autonomy and a separate existence. Nationalist groups like Germany's
Pegida, France's
National Front and the
UK Independence Party gained prominence in their respective nations advocating
restrictions on immigration to protect the local populations. In South Korea, similar debates over national historiography have included works such as Anti-Japan Tribalism (2019) by economist Lee Young-hoon, which critiques aspects of established historical narratives related to the colonial period. Since 2010,
Catalan nationalists have led a renewed
Catalan independence movement and
declared Catalan independence. The movement has been opposed by
Spanish nationalists. In the 2010s, the
Greek economic crisis and waves of immigration have led to a significant rise of
Fascism and
Greek nationalism across Greece, especially among the youth. In Russia, exploitation of nationalist sentiments allowed
Vladimir Putin to consolidate power. This nationalist sentiment was used in Russia's annexation of
Crimea in 2014 and other actions in Ukraine. In Hungary, the anti-immigration rhetoric and stance against foreign influence is a powerful national glue promoted the ruling
Fidesz party (led by
Viktor Orbán). Nationalist parties have also joined governing coalitions in
Bulgaria,
Slovakia,
Latvia and
Ukraine. In India,
Hindu nationalism has grown in popularity with the rise of the
Bharatiya Janata Party, a right-wing party which has been ruling India at the national level since 2014. The rise in religious nationalism comes with the rise of
right-wing populism in India, with the election and re-election of populist leader Narendra Modi as Prime Minister, who promised economic prosperity for all and an end to corruption. Militant
Buddhist nationalism is also on the rise in
Myanmar,
Thailand and
Sri Lanka. In Japan,
nationalist influences in the government developed over the course of the early 21st century, largely from the
far-right ultra-conservative Nippon Kaigi organization. The new movement has advocated re-establishing Japan as a military power and pushed revisionist historical narratives denying events such as the
Nanking Massacre. , sometimes called the "Tropical Trump", with United States President
Donald Trump The
2016 United States presidential election campaign saw the unprecedented rise of
Donald Trump, a businessman with no political experience who ran on a populist/nationalist platform and struggled to gain endorsements from mainstream political figures, even within his own party. Trump's slogans "
Make America Great Again" and "
America First" exemplified his campaign's repudiation of globalism and its staunchly nationalistic outlook. His unexpected victory in the election was seen as part of the same trend that had brought about the
Brexit vote. On 22 October 2018, two weeks before the mid-term elections President Trump openly proclaimed that he was a nationalist to a cheering crowd at a rally in Texas in support of re-electing Senator
Ted Cruz who was once an adversary. On 29 October 2018 Trump equated nationalism to patriotism, saying "I'm proud of this country and I call that 'nationalism'.'' In 2016,
Rodrigo Duterte became president of the
Philippines running a distinctly nationalist campaign. Contrary to the policies of his recent predecessors, he distanced the country from the Philippines' former ruler, the United States, and sought closer ties with China (as well as Russia). In 2017, Turkish nationalism propelled President
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to gain unprecedented power in a
national referendum. Reactions from world leaders were mixed, with Western European leaders generally expressing concern, while the leaders of many of the more authoritarian regimes as well as President Trump offered their congratulations. == Political science ==