Nationalism Ideology

Nationalism has been said to be a key driving force throughout the history of humanity. It has transcended the point of just a feeling of pride in one’s nation and has evolved to become an ideology to some degree. It’s a weird concept for Nationalism to be called an ideology, as an ideology by definition is a system of ideas, and principles, which can form the basis of economic policy or political theory. However an ideology is also defined as a set of beliefs that affects our outlook on the world. By that standard Nationalism could be considered an ideology. A force so powerful that it has single-handedly rounded up masses under one vision of superiority. Throughout the ages, especially in the twentieth century, Nationalism has been used to

unify countries, served as an inducement for territorial expansion, and has been the cause of nations at war. It can be both a benign and an unbridled force depending on a nation’s leader. To say that “Nationalism is the single most important driving force in the development of World Civilization” is a tad too far-fetched. It’s not the most important driving force other factors play a role in the development of a civilization such as it’s: geography, form of government, economy and its inhabitants.

On a global scale leading up to today, it can be said that Nationalism is not the single most important driving force in the development of World Civilization. It has happened countless of times where a nation’s people and government turn nationalistic and war ensues.

Now the age old question of why is in place. Simply put Nationalism is too much of a volatile force to embrace. Nationalism is defined as a proud feeling people have of their country. This feeling of pride and increased loyalty is mostly always accompanied by the view that one’s country is of higher importance, or superior to other nations. Nationalism also has the tendency to induce competition, which can effortlessly create conflict that evolves into warfare. Now there have been cases where competition doesn’t lead to conflict, for example the 20th-century Space Race where the US, and the Soviet Union were in competition for superiority in spaceflight capability during the Cold War. Both Nations had nationalistic type views at the time. The US wanting to get rid of communism, and the Soviet Union wanting to erase Capitalism, yet (even though close)

neither nation started a war. This isn’t always the case however. What happened after the 1850’s when Japan was consolidated and obtained power? The nationalist ideology in the Meiji period advocated patriotism and unity as a nation, as a defense against encroachment from the Western powers. Then it became to attain an equal level of power compared to the Great World powers; and as the periods went on it justified: expansion, colonization, and the actions taken by the Japanese military that weren’t ordered from the Tokyo government; the invasion of Manchuria. Chinese competition turned into the Sino-Japanese war of 1895 that Japan won. Japan was absolutely ruthless during this period of military strength committing many war crimes on their tour of expansion. They obtained Taiwan, the annexation of Korea, and seized Nanking. Here the troops committed one of the most horrific acts of war recorded in history the ‘Rape of Nanking’. It’s been estimated that about 300,000 civilians including children were raped, slaughtered, and taken as prisoners of war. After witnessing the continual advance of Japanese forces into China the United States decided to place an embargo on Japanese oil, in retaliation the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States had been trying to not get involved with the war, but 27 hours after the attack the US declared war on Japan and three days later on Germany. The Japanese assault and World War II were consequences of nationalism. Prime examples on how nationalism causes conflicts.
An impact frequently seen caused by nationalism is discrimination. Nationalism as it is a feeling of pride and loyalty, is also an attitude based on the superiority that is believed to be possessed over other nations or ethnic groups. This attitude increases the inclination of the nationalistic group to view outsiders as a problem. Immigration and its wandering people are looked down upon as a whole by societies. These negative views on outsiders created the opposition to immigration. Opposition to immigration is common in majority of nation-states that deal with immigration. The primary objections exclaimed by those who oppose immigration are society changing aspects. Things like increased crime rates, shortage of jobs, and the degrading level of education. Complaints about isolationism, that the immigrants will isolate themselves in a community and not learn the common language. Economic arguments such as the strain that so many illegal immigrants will cause the social welfare systems. Arguments against immigration were endless, some went as far as to claim that immigration would cause a brain drain. A brain drain is defined as the emigration of highly trained or intelligent people from a particular country. Immigration was beginning to be a problem, opposition to immigration would take the form of nativism in countries such as the United States where majority of its population was comprised of past generations of immigrants. Nativism is defined as the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants. Immigration once again became a political problem in the US during the 1990,s with immigrants in particular Mexicans crossing the Southwest border. As immigration increased, the nativism became harsher, with extreme discrimination resembling racism. The Mexicans were being treated unjustly due to their ethnicity. On a survey on discrimination, individuals who answered the question went in depth on their experiences with discrimination. Examples came from multiple aspects of people’s lives such as work, school, law enforcement and friends, “These included encountering teachers that had low expectations of them as in indicating surprise at the respondents' academic ability, or assuming that respondents did not speak English or had recently arrived from Mexico. Some respondents reported getting into trouble for speaking Spanish. Other reported derogatory names, such as “wetback,” by teachers or other school officials.”(Vilma, Edward, “Racial Identity…Mexican Americans”). “The other very large category of incidents involved being denied service in restaurants. Some of incidents involved direct comments like “we do not serve people like you.” Other incidents involved being ignored, followed, or receiving very slow service.”(Vilma, Edward, “Racial Identity…Mexican Americans”). Blatant discrimination is being displayed here. This nativism is a consequence of Nationalism, making people believe their superior to others.
Another consequence of nationalism is the way it can lead to extreme measures.

A prime example of this would be Hitler, his drastic form of nationalism (Nazism), and his treatment of the Jews. Hitler wanted Germans to identify themselves with the nation, it wasn’t possible to be separate from one’s nation. Hitler said “Our future is Germany. Our today is Germany. And our past is Germany. Let us take a vow this evening, at every hour, in each day, to think of Germany, of the nation, of our German people. You cannot be unfaithful to something that has given sense and meaning to your whole existence.” That is to be one entity a nation united or how he stated a body. Hitler also proclaimed that Germany was being assaulted by “forces that threatened to destroy it. He described the threat to Germany as a force of disintegration, later he identified the Jews as “disintegrators of people” working to bring about the “political disintegration of the body of a people.” Hitler’s ideology presented Germany as a body (politic), and Jews were viewed as bacteria or viruses contaminating the body. Hitler’s final solution was carried out to “eliminate pathogenic microorganisms (Jews) from within the body politic”. Hitler’s Mein Kampf reflected his strong desire to create a unite German politic. With that his views on the virus that was the Jews were justified, and what is it that people do to viruses or bacteria; we get rid of them. Though not being Aryan himself Hitler managed to rile up a

whole nation under one common belief, unity through ancestry. This lead to thoughts of superiority that allowed Hitler to carry out the Holocaust one of the most atrocious acts in recorded history. This is the perfect example as to how nationalism brings consequences to any nation it takes root in.
All in all Nationalism has its good qualities. The whole concept of being a prideful united nation is a positive. However us as humans cannot use this ideology as we take things to extreme measures and find a way to abuse it. This has caused many issues in the past and has partially erased the belief that all people are created equal. Until we learn to co-operate as a humans flawlessly nationalism is a dangerous force. Therefore no something that is so volatile cannot be said to be the single most important driving factor to the development of world civilization. Rather it can be said that Nationalism played a huge factor in the development of world civilization.