Nationalism and Imperialism

Introduction

Nationalism and imperialism are different but did you know both are results of the other? Firstly, what is Imperialism? Imperialism is the ideology that propounds that a single nation is the master of all and this mighty nation is able to conquer the nations by military and war aggressions. British was an imperial power with its kingdom stretched all over the globe, and Russia was also an imperial power at that time. Now nationalism is the identity that is connected with someone’s nation and heritage they are identified by their birthplace. For example, as a French or a Russian.

Nationalism as a By-Product of Imperialism

During the 18th century, Europe was spread by imperialistic ambitions and these imperialists took harsh actions against its people to keep them subjugated. The people were denied political rights, and liberty and they were treated unequally moreover, they were ruled by an outsider whose aims were nothing but to enlarge their kingdom and to increase their wealth. There was also discrimination on the basis of class, creed, and race.

And it was during this time that thinkers like Mazzini, Garibaldi and Rousseau emerged with philosophies of humanity, liberty and equality and they spread these ideas through literature and it began to spread between the masses. These ideas later evolved into nationalistic identity or nationalism. The idea of being a republic and the right to decide who rules one’s nation emerged during this period.

The French Revolution and the Russian revolution which attacked the monarchies were the by-products of imperialism and nationalism merged as the answer to the eradication of the monarchs. Through the 19th century, the imperialistic ideas strengthened, and during the 20th century, nationalism gave the reply to imperialism both of these clashed and it paved the way for World Wars.

Let’s analyze the beginning of nationalism in 19th-century Europe where it had lost its liberal-democratic ideals of nationalism rather it was built into a narrow philosophy that had limited and selfish aims.

Nationalism Within Geography of the Land

The nationalistic nations were growing jealous of each other and the imperialists took advantage of this for their personal gains and an area that witnessed such contention was the Balkans. The Balkan area was the area that included modern-day Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia, Slovenia and Montenegro whose inhabitants were known as Slavs as a whole.

A large part of this area was under the control of the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire tried to contain the Slavs from breaking into individual nations but it failed to do so and slowly the broken away nations declared independence.

Mentality of Slavs

The Slavs found inspiration in their history which proved that they were once independent and it was the foreign forces who subjugated them for their own personal gains additionally the Slavs were jealous of their neighbors and wanted to extend their territory to them also. This rivalry coincided with the competition of the major powers within their naval and military might and also within their colonies and trade.

Major powers that led the world to World war

The selfish motives of the imperialist powers mainly Germany, Russia, England, and Austro-Hungary all had their eyes on the Slav region and they wanted to extend their control over these areas. This made the major powers compete with each other and they formed into Allied powers ad Axis powers this competition eventually led to the First world war which was also responsible for the second world war.

Conclusion

Imperialism coupled with nationalism caused the First world war and this was the largest disaster in Europe which go stretched around the world. During the 20th century, many nations also started declaring independence and started to resisting foreign powers and instilled their identities in their nations. It was during this period that India declared its goal as complete freedom from the British in which India instilled the ideology of common collective beings and pathway to being a republic. Imperialistic ambitions started to fade away and the idea of societies being recognized as nation-states were accepted universally.

FAQs

Qns 1. Who are Slavs?

Ans. Slavs are the largest ethnic linguistic people in Europe.

• They reside mainly in eastern Europe and western Europe and extend to the Pacific and Asia.

• They are also separated by the region they reside like east Slavs in Russia, West Slavs in Czech and south slavs in Bosnia. Numerous mythologies suggest that slavs are tribal people with numerous deities.

• They are also said to be pagans who don’t believe in common religions.

• They still celebrate the change of seasons with rituals like a dance with a mask and music.

Qns 2. Define Nationalism in Asia and Africa during the 20th century.

Ans. Nationalism in Asia began after World War 1 the colonies under the imperial powers realized that they were only ruled for the benefit of the major powers and these powers used crucial methods suppress the colony’s dissent. This can be seen in the Bengal partition of 1905 in India which was done to suppress dissent when the people started to oppose British rule.

During the 20th century, the advent of Mahatma Gandhi in India and Sun Yet Sen in China nationalism war raised to new heights and after WW 1 the commencement of the League of nations guarded the interest of colonies. It was after WW2 that India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Burma, and Malaysia achieved independence from Britain and the Philippines from America.

Qns 3. What were the methods used by Imperialists to extend rule over colonies?

Ans.

• The first method used by European nations was direct control in which all affairs were controlled by the colonial ruler and the colonies had no say in their government or in their country’s trade or resources.

• The second method is a Protectorate arrangement where colonial rulers controlled military, foreign affairs, trade and they had the autonomy to intervene when necessary but the formation of government and running of the nation-state was left to the colonies.

• Last method is the Sphere of Influence where the colonial party made an agreement with the nation-state in which the European counterparts enjoyed certain privileges in colony’s land.