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• 1 2023-06-19T11:02:14-07:00 Nationalism 8 Understanding the historical evolution of nationalism. plain 2023-07-14T20:31:16-07:00

  INTRODUCTION

  The term “nationalism” became a catalyst to the creation of modern nation-states. Countries such as Germany and Italy share a history in how the fragmented elements of their country came together as a single, homogenous culture. This unity challenged the diverse elements that made up empires who wanted to carve up their lands for personal use. Over time, these elements of nationalism began to change, many of them to a radical extremity. Historically, the nations that utilized nationalism to come together had also suffered the historical and modern consequences of nationalism evolving into ideologies like fascism.

  An argument can be made that how we look at nationalism today is different to how others looked at it historically. The concept of nationalism can be vague, leaving plenty of room for people to personally interpret what it means to be a nationalist. What cannot be argued is how nationalism has evolved into newer forms that differ radically from its first practice. In my opinion, there is no better example of the evolution of nationalism than Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries. The activity below will shed further understanding into why and how nationalism evolved historically.

  ACTIVITY

  Let’s compare the different aspects of German nationalism under different German rulers:

  Now let’s take a look on nationalism and its effects in Japan:

  Now that we have gone through this activity, let’s answer the following questions in the comment section:

  1) How does nationalism evolve over time?

  2) What aspects of nationalism make it appealing to the masses?

  3) How does your understanding of nationalism affect your perception of it in the nation you live in?