Ultranationalism In WWII

Nationalism is a powerful force that unifies large groups of people based on commonalities such as ethnicity or religion. There are numerous examples of nationalistic forces throughout the 20th century, such as rationing and the home front that took place in WWI, the Red Army and the CCP of the Interwar Years, and ultranationalistic Nazi Germany and Japan in WWII. Nationalism is the driving force behind many of the world’s greatest accomplishments and atrocities and it helped to shape the world in the 20th century because it contributed to the WWI effort, set the stage for WWII, and caused two significant atrocities during the second World War.

WWI displays nationalism in the way that home countries drew support for the war effort and rationed food for their soldiers. During the WWI effort,

Nazi Germany operated under the idea that they were superior to the rest of Europe and thus expanded and imperialized as such a country is expected to do. Further, the Holocaust, an attempt by Adolf Hitler to exterminate all Jews throughout Europe through death and concentration camps, was the peak of the ultranationalistic trait that was displayed by the Nazis. This attempt to display superiority exposes the Nazis for their ultranationalism because it blatantly shows proves that Germany felt that they were superior to all others throughout Europe and western Asia, and felt the need to show it in every way possible. On a smaller, but no less significant scale, Japan shows ultranationalistic ideals throughout the 2nd World War. A prime example of this was the Rape of Nanking in which Japan invaded China and brutally beat, killed, and raped Chinese civilians. This atrocity showed Japan’s need to show superiority to its enemies. Both of these horrific events proved each country’s need to show superiority which is directly linked with their ultranationalistic