The Importance of National Belonging in the Development of Nation States
Prior to the late 19th Century Europe consisted of many small states that lacked a sense of unity. The sentiment stirred up in the wake of the French Revolution; the idea of a sovereign people with natural rights and equality appeared attractive to many of these nations. Around this time Europe saw the emergence of Nation States encompassing a people who had a shared history, culture, language, religion and beliefs. How important this sense of national belonging was is something we shall explore by looking at events in such places as Germany, Italy and France. We will decide whether it was patriotism or other factors such as warfare and the rise of industry which had the biggest parts to play on the European stage.
Above we have just described the common factors which contribute to making a nation; find one territory with specific boundaries and borders and fill it with these people and you would in theory have made a nation state. However the idea of national belonging is not quite so black and white, nor so easy an idea to prove. Ernest Renan, a noted theologian seemed to realise that rules about having a shared language or shared religion were simply not realistic when taking into account minority communities and religious toleration. Instead Renan makes allowances that in some areas factors such as these would be contributory but actually in his words ‘A nation is therefore a vast solidarity, constituted by the feeling of sacrifice one has made in the past and of those that one is prepared to make in the future.’ Renan continues stating that it is ‘the clearly expressed desire to pursue a common life.’ This swing towards nationalism was sparked in part by the cultural movement which followed the Enlightenment period and was known as Romanticism. An era when poetry, music and art were increasingly used to influence the nation, the movement supported ideas such as the importance of national pride giving precedence to ‘senses and emotion over reason
Above we have just described the common factors which contribute to making a nation; find one territory with specific boundaries and borders and fill it with these people and you would in theory have made a nation state. However the idea of national belonging is not quite so black and white, nor so easy an idea to prove. Ernest Renan, a noted theologian seemed to realise that rules about having a shared language or shared religion were simply not realistic when taking into account minority communities and religious toleration. Instead Renan makes allowances that in some areas factors such as these would be contributory but actually in his words ‘A nation is therefore a vast solidarity, constituted by the feeling of sacrifice one has made in the past and of those that one is prepared to make in the future.’ Renan continues stating that it is ‘the clearly expressed desire to pursue a common life.’ This swing towards nationalism was sparked in part by the cultural movement which followed the Enlightenment period and was known as Romanticism. An era when poetry, music and art were increasingly used to influence the nation, the movement supported ideas such as the importance of national pride giving precedence to ‘senses and emotion over reason