NATIONALISM

Now we shall talk about Nationalism! First of all, what is Nationalism? Nationalism, as defined by Dictionary.com, is a devotion and loyalty to one's own nation; patriotism. Nationalism started in France but was really important first in Germany. Germany was not yet a nation of its own but people had a sense of pride for who they were. They felt a certain connection with other people who spoke the same language and shared the same culture as they had. Nationalism emerged in the late seventeen hundreds. Otto von Bismarck used nationalism to unify Germany and have power. However he did not believe in nationalism, rather realpolitik, so he knew he could use nationalism to his advantage. As nationalism spread through Europe many men used it to their advantage to gain power of a new nation. During this period of time many new countries were being born.

When we did the puppet show, my group had to explain the process of how Italy became a unified nation. I thought my group did well in explaining what major people were in the process of unifying Italy and how they helped or hurt the unification process. For example we had a puppet that was ratty looking and gave him a U.S. flag to show the people who were not helped by Italy being unified, or hurt by the unification, went to the United States to start new lives for themselves. Another part of the puppet show I thought we portrayed well was how Victor Emmanuel II got to be the king of Italy. He simply was given the crown by Garibaldi after winning Naples and Sicily.

In comparing the unification of Italy to the unification of Germany, I find Italy's struggles a lot less entertaining. Germany was like the leader and everyone else followed. They did not know what was going to happen but as others followed they kind of had an idea of what to do already. Though this did make it a little more difficult for the following countries that the rulers knew how they were going to attempt unification. As Germany fought for unification, Bismarck only led them for power, knowing they believed in nationalism gave him a great start to play the people. Other leaders used this same logic in uniting where they were. Another reason I find Germany so much more entertaining than Italy is because Bismarck was so great at playing the people, even though he was selfish and was only uniting Germany for his own gain, he made the people feel important. That kind of makes you on his side. (:

What do I make of nationalism as an ideology? Uhmm..I think that nationalism shows the needs of a group of people wanting to know they have a home. It is not enough to be like this is my town, but to be able to say this is my country, where I know there are other people going through the same government and societal issues as I am. Nationalism is a great ideology in the sense it puts a fire under people to change what they think is wrong but also to excel in what they have going for them. For example Russia today has an absolutely incredible ballet program. Only the best of the best come out of there and it gives them something to be proud of. They produce the BEST. On a more political scale, nationalism can be "re-invinted" to solve many issues in the world. Think about it. If every nation was striving to be the most helpful in feeding starving people around the world it would be like a competition and no one wants to lose. Everyone would be thinking they give the most and though it is kind of wrong to think the only way to end world hunger is to make someone feel proud, its kind of taking the selfless thought out of it but it helps the starving. so...is it wrong to make feeding the poor a competition? we do it at school between grades, only there is no reward other than to know your country helped the most and you fed a starving child. I believe putting a little fire under people's butts is completely acceptable.