Nationalism Can Mean Many Things - Essay Example

Nationalism: a force to be reckoned with during periods of strife During periods of conflict many government leaders rely on how citizens feel about their country to recruit soldiers as well as to gain support for the continuation of a fighting strength. When governments fall out of favor with the nations people, many issues can arise which can lead to increased discord and an overall lack of support for continued conflict. Nationalism can mean many things, but when it comes to times of conflict, nationalism is overall a unifying force that brings together individuals of different backgrounds and schools of thoughts to become a stronger, unified force. Examples of instances that nationalism assisted during conflict are the following four instances: WWI, WWII, the Cold War, and the Collapse of the Soviet Union. These four instances encompass multiple world regions as well as multiple time periods. Nationalism is defined by Webster Dictionary as “1) a national spirit or aspirations, 2) devotion and loyalty to one’s nation; patriotism, 3) excessive patriotism; chauvinism, 4) the desire for national advancement or independence, and 5) the policy or doctrine of asserting the interests of one’s own nation, viewed as separate from the interests of other nations or common interests of all nations.”1 While these are the official definitions, during periods of conflict nationalism has been known to represent many of the definitions at the same time. Certain instances have shown that nationalism during an event does extraordinary things in support of a countries call for assistance. There are other times that while unifying, not all instances of nationalism are specifically positive, and can alienate one set of people from another, usually along country lines, but at times at a localized level within the same country. When hostilities began in Austria in 1914, many countries already understood that this may lead to war. It was not known how large the conflict was to become, or how all consuming the conflict was for the warring nations. For many countries, including the United States, this conflict was an easy us versus them, therefore when military and governments called on their citizens to assist, there was little to no hesitation to assist on either side. An example of this was the call to arms for soldiers, airmen, and sailors. Due to the amount of individuals who enlisted, there was no need to recruit, to include a large amount of United States soldiers who volunteered to join Great Britain against Germany.2 The Second World War was similar in the extent of nationalism, however countries having just started to rebuild from World War I did not have the resources or the capacity to wage war. Because of this, many countries even prior to the onset of war began to ask their citizens to restrict their usage of certain materials and there was soon a national effort in both Great Britain and the United States to recruit individuals of all ages to enlist, and those who could not enlist to help domestically with rationing and manufacturing efforts. The governments used their citizen’s nationalism to increase production and assist in the war effort. Interestingly, it was not only countries utilizing their own citizen’s sense of nationalism, but Germany used French nationalism to turn the French against their previous allies.3 This is one instance where nationalism actually created a divisive culture versus a unifying culture. Overall however, between World War I and World War II nationalism was a positive element of society. The method that many countries used to increase nationalism was the use of propaganda to both enrage and to gain empathy when necessary. An example of how propaganda was used in a negative way was the publications that eventually placed Japanese Americans in work camps in the United States. While the two world wars set multiple countries against each other, the cold war which started soon after the Korean Conflict was one ideology in the form of the United States against another in the form of the Soviet Union. Both of these countries used nationalism to propagate their believe systems and install fear of the enemy. As the Cold War did not consist of any active combat, the only way that countries could gain support was to use that fear of the unknown, of what could happen. The constant fear of nuclear retaliation caused everyone to be on edge. This extended to fear over Soviet neighbors for they could be spies. As the Cold War continued, many in the United States started turning in neighbors and associates for supporting the Soviets, even if there was no support present.4 This culture of fear did not divide the country, but if anything unified the country against a common enemy, even if the enemy was not always obvious. When countries are stable, nationalism creates a buffer between themselves and other countries. Nationalism can come about during times of instability. The Soviet Union as an empire consisted of numerous ethnic groups all forced under the same government. This caused many citizens to be conflicted internally due to racial and ethnic issues that plagued the Soviet Union such as Serbia and Kosovo.5 When the Soviet Union began to break down it was a relief to those who were not welcome nor ever felt that the Soviet Union’s government was theirs. For others it was the end of what was thought of as one of the most powerful entities in the world in many ways. For this reason there was a period of uncertainty among citizens who did not know what was going to happen economically, militarily, or even politically with the end of the Soviet Union. While some of the original regions of the Soviet Union are doing better than when part of the Soviet Block, some are still struggling for a sense of nationalism. This happens when generations have one ideal, and in relatively a short amount of time, all of that was shattered. A new form of nationalism became present as the region went from one country to over 10. This nationalism itself caused conflict as country borders were being created and other issues with newly formed countries. At times nationalism has transitioned to extreme patriotism such as cases of Germany and Italy during World War II, but what nationalism does is increase the ability for countries to gain support for events and resource needs. Due to nationalism not being tied to any direct political party, those who support communism as well as a democracy can have the same level of nationalism. There have been instances were nationalism has caused increased conflict, or even in the case of Japanese Americans during World War II, a hatred for the unknown. For the majority though, nationalism gives people a symbol to look towards in times of need, and a type of war cry. Be it war, or athletic endeavors, nationalism has the ability to bring together those from the far reaches of a county to support a common goal or a common person. Effective leaders throughout the 19th and 20th century have utilized this fact to change their countries future. Pride for ones country can overcome major difference. For some such as World War II Germany, it was not successful, but for others, nationalism has been the element that produced enough personnel or resources to succeed in whatever goal they had. This is why overall; nationalism is a stronger unifier than divider during the four periods of conflict that were used as examples. Bibliography "Nationalism." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2011. Web. 4 August 2012. Atack. Margaret. Literature and the French Resistance: cultural politics and narrative forms, 1940-1960. Manchester: St. Martin’s Press. 1989. Goldmann, Kjell, Ulf Hannerz, and Charles Westin eds. Nationalism and Internationalism in the Post-Cold War Era. New York: Routledge, 2010. Guttman, Jon. SPA124 Lafayette Escadrille: American Volunteer airmen in World War I. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2004. Yack, Bernard. Nationalism and the Moral Psychology of Community. Chicago: University of Chicago, 2012. Read More