Jules Ferry: Nationalism Analysis

Conflicts start when one group of people invading another’s land. People then group together as a unity to fight for their belongings. It is in human nature for competition and the concept of nationalism is born similarly. Thorstein Veblen once said, “Born in iniquity and conceived in sin, the spirit of nationalism has never ceased to bend human institutions to the service of dissension and distress.” Nationalism is not as dangerous as Veblen suggests at first glance and someone might even suggest as a necessity for people in conflict. The firm foundation of nationalism begins in the 1800s and it drives people to fight for their own good. What are the requirements to consider as a nation? Well, some people might have different answers but

In Jules Ferry’s On French Colonial Expansion, Ferry suggests the French is having competition around them and needs colonial expansion to secure themselves as he states, “Europe such as it is today, in this competition of the many rivals we see rising up around us, some by military or naval improvements, others by the prodigious development of a constantly population.” Geographically, France is part of Europe that is not a very big continent. Every nation in Europe has been struggling for lands for decades to stand their ground. It is because the competitive history in Europe, it is sensible for nations like France to stretch their control to prevent them from getting hurt. On the other note, many will usually disagree with Ferry also claims the French is a superior race to other people and that the superior race has a duty to civilize the lower races. Well, this is where you can use a strong nationalism foundation to motivate people to ensure the protection of their nation is secure and a necessity to prevent competitors to attack

Vietnam was a colony of France from as early as 1862 but then transfer to Japan’s control in the beginning of World War II. To the nationalist, their enemy was France and Japan because they both were using Vietnam’s resources for their own benefit. Despite French’s own version of declaration of independence in 1791 where they coined the statement, “All men are born free and with equal rights, and must always remain free and have equal rights”, the Vietnamese did not have any equality privilege from France. Vietnam nationalist has been fighting for their natural rights of men until Japan lost World War II in 1945. From the Vietnamese’s version of declaration of independence, one can see the hardship they endured under foreign control and how hard they fight for their