Written by Saranya Mothe
French patriotism first began developing during the Hundred Years' War, a series of infrequent battles with the Kingdom of England. During these battles, Joan of Arc, a significant figure in French nationalism, became famous. Later, following the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic faith also had a serious influence on French nationalism. After the French Revolution in 1789, nationalism further gained strength. Napoleon Bonaparte promoted French patriotism based on "liberty, equality, and fraternity" and other enlightened ideals of the French Revolution. He justified French expansionism and military campaigns by asserting that France had the right to expand into its perceived "natural borders" and to spread the enlightened ideals of the French Revolution throughout Europe.
In the 19th century, Germans debated the German Question over whether the German nation state should comprise a "Lesser Germany" that excluded Austria or a "Greater Germany" that included Austria. The faction led by Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck succeeded in forging a Lesser Germany. Eventually, Germany’s territorial growth and aggressive nationalism would become main causes of both world wars. German identity and supremacy to the extreme of the exclusion of all others ultimately led to the Holocaust during World War II, resulting in the extermination of Jews, Poles, Romani, and other people considered Untermenschen (subhumans).
After World War I, nationalism started to emerge in Asia and Africa. It paved the way for figures such as Mahatma Gandhi in India, Sun Yat-sen in China, Sad Pasha Zaghl in Egypt, Ibn Saud in the Arabian Peninsula, and Kemal Atatürk in Turkey. In 1923, Atatürk was able to replace the Islamic monarchy's outdated institutional structure with an improved and revived secular republic. African and Asian imperialism, as well as French imperialism, all resisted calls for Arab union. In contrast, by supporting the establishment of an independent Egypt (1922; fully, 1936) and Iraq (1932), Britain demonstrated a talent for accommodation with the new forces. It further demonstrated this by showing a similar spirit in India, where the Indian National Congress, established in 1885 to advance a liberal nationalism modelled after the British one, became more radical after 1918. Back in Asia, Germany's impact on Japan led to the use of contemporary industrial techniques that supported an extremely assertive nationalism.
The progress of nationalism in Asia and Africa is reflected in the histories of the League of Nations after World War I and of the United Nations after World War II. Many new nations, which all shared the same pride in independence, faced difficulties. As a result of inadequate preparation for self-rule, they struggled for the first five years of independence but were usually able to grow stronger and more united over time.
Sources
“French Nationalism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 24 Jan. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_nationalism.
“German Nationalism.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Mar. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_nationalism.
Kohn, Hans. "nationalism." Encyclopedia Britannica, 25 Feb. 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/nationalism.
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