Nationalism: A Negative Force Of Unification

Nationalism is an identity that we share with others that are like you based on culture, history, religion, language, territory and the belief that yours is superior to others. This very nationalism spread in Europe during the 19th century and France was one of the first to unify under its law. Napoleon, the emperor of France, started expanding his territory and other countries were afraid about that. So they united to oppose the French which indirectly created a nationalist feeling in others. Nationalism, to a small extent, is a positive force in unifying a country. By ‘unification’ one means that people coming together due to nationalism. The German unification is a great example of nationalism being a positive force in unifying a country.

This movement believed in all the Slavic people to have their own nation. Furthermore, Belgium nationalism is another example in which nationalism was a negative force in unifying a country. This identity made the Belgians fight for independence and they separated from Holland.

After the unsuccessful German revolution in 1848, the Prussian Chancellor, Bismarck realized the need to have a good military. He implemented many policies including his famous Blood and Iron speech and his Realpolitik policy. He also waged three wars, the first and second being the war against Denmark and the war against Austria which did unify many German states and finally the Franco-Prussian war. These wars were started, to exert the power of Prussia to attract other German states to unify with them. The Franco-Prussian is the war between France and Prussia. This started due to Ems Dispatch edited by Bismarck, and was sent to the French. Bismarck made it seem that William I had insulted the french and its ambassadors and this made Napoleon III furious and he declared war on Prussia. Nationalism seen in the German Unification was a positive force in unifying Germany. “He wanted to complete the unification of Germany and calculated that a war against France would arouse a nationalistic fervor in the

This belief created many groups one being the ‘Black Hand’. The nationalism seen in the Slavic people was a negative force in unifying people. “These groups hoped to drive Austria-Hungary from the Balkans and establish a ‘Greater Serbia’, a unified state for all Slavic people. It was this pan-Slavic nationalism that inspired the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in June 1914.” (@Alphahistory Paragraph 8) “An aggressive, often hysterical Serb nationalism was certainly a major ingredient in the breakdown of relations, since Austria-Hungary (as it was called after 1867) ” (Armour Paragraph 1). Here, the reader can see that Serb nationalism also known as Pan-Slavism was surely a negative force in unifying people. Nationalism this time did not unify people but divided the Slavs from the Austro-Hungarian empire and caused the assassination of the Archduke in Sarajevo. This assassination lead to one of the deadliest wars ever known to mankind, World war I. Nationalism was surely a negative force in unifying a country it divided people like the Slavs and Belgians from empires such as the Austro-Hungarian empire. Moreover, Nationalism comes with that pride that one’s country is superior to others and this pride causes conflicts between nations. These conflicts caused by that pride