Nationalism Class 11

• Nationalism plays an important role in world affairs during the last two or more centuries. Nationalism has emerged as one of the most compelling in political creeds which has helped to shaped history.

  Nationalism is defined as loyalty and devotion of the people to their nation. Nationalism emphasises on the following points

  • The spirits or aspirations of a country.

  A devotion to the interests of one's own country.

  A desire for national advancement.

  The policy of asserting the interest of one's own nation, as separate from the interest of another nation and the common interest of all nations.
• In the 19th century, unification of small kingdoms in Europe led to the formation of larger nation-states
• Present-day Germany and Italy were formed through the process of unification and consolidation
• A large number of new states were founded in Latin America
• Nationalism contributed to the breaking up of large empires such as the Austro-Hungarian and Russian empires in early 20th century Europe
• Nationalism also led to the breaking up of the British, French, Dutch, and Portuguese empires in Asia and Africa
• The Indian struggle for freedom aimed to establish nation-states and gain independence from foreign control, driven by nationalism
• Today, in many parts of the world we have seen nationalist struggles which threaten to divide the existing states. Such separatist movements are:

  Quebecois in Canada.

  The Basques in northern Spain.

  The Kurds in Turkey and Iraq.

  Tamils in Sri Lanka.

  Some groups in India use nationalist language as well. Arab tionalism today hope to unite Arab countries in a Pan-Arab union, but nationalist movements such as the Basques and kurds struggle to separate existing states.
• A country is not just a random group of people. At the same time, it is distinct from other human societies' classes or cultures. It differs from a family, which is based on A face-to-face-interactions with each participant having direct personal knowledge of the identity and character of others.
• Many countries, like Canada, do not share a common language. People who speak both English and French are found in Canada. In addition, India has a large number of languages spoken in various regions and by various peoples
• Shared common belief

  It is a common belief of people for their nation and give rise to extremely strong feeling of devotion. It refer to collective identity and vision for the future of a group which aspires to have an independent political existence.
• History

  People in a nation share common historical identity by focusing on colles thee memories, legends, historical records The Indian nationalists invokes the country's historical costisation, cultural heritage and other as levements to assert that India has a long and continuing history as a vilisation and that this continuity and unity is the basis of the Indian natkin.
• Territory

  People living in a particular region of the land foralong period and share a common history and culture. This habitated territory is termed as homeland for them as they claim it for their own. It gives people a sense of collective identity. It helps them to imagine themselves as one community
• Shared Political Ideals

  The real sense of oneness is felt by the people of a nation when they share collective aspiration to have an independent political existence. It is a commitment to a set of political values and principles such as democracy, secularism and liberalism, In this way, people respect rights of each other as citizen and are bound by set of obligations to each other,
• Common Political Identity

  India does not share a common religion and linguistic Identity. This is because India has diverse religions and in these religions also, there are different sects. We adhere to the values enshrined in our constitution. The ideal of democracy ie, equal treatment and liberty for all, comes True when we have such a common political identity not based on religions and languages.