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POLITICS OF NATIONALISM

9. NATIONALIST
MOBILISATION
9. NATIONALIST MOBILISATION

OUTLINE
•Integrationist nationalism
•Colonial nationalism
•Separatist nationalism
•Common features


INTEGRATIONIST NATIONALISM
nation
A
state A+
state A

state C
state B

Small states combine to form a larger one,
purportedly corresponding with the “nation”

•

•
•
•

THE PROTOTYPE? REVOLUTIONARY FRANCE:
Pre-1789 France as a mixture of
–Territories ruled directly from Paris
–Territories with substantial autonomy or
under external influence
Revolution: territorial centralisation
Identification with French culture
Powerful impact of “jacobin” model elsewhere


EXAMPLE:
FRANCE IN
1789


EXAMPLE: FRANCE
AFTER 1790
(DEPARTEMENTS)


OTHER EXAMPLES:
•Germany (-1871)
•Italy (-1870)
•United States (-1787, and later)
•Switzerland (-1848)
In all cases, but in varying degrees:
elites seek to (1) neutralise outside influences and (2)
build internal unity
Commonly occurring development: later authoritarian
phase (“purification” of national territory)


EXAMPLE:
GERMANY TO
1871


EXAMPLE: ITALY IN
IN THE 1840s



EXAMPLE: ITALY, 1870

CULTURAL INTEGRATION:
• Commonly follows process of political
unification, or achievement of political
independence
• Rests on notions of:
–Centralised state (no local autonomy)
–Single culture
–Major exceptions to first of these (USA,
Germany)
• May find extreme expression in authoritarian
nationalism, fascism, etc.

IRREDENTISM:
• Extension of “national territory” to include all
areas that “rightfully” belong
• Many examples:
–Germany in 1930s
–Ireland (Northern Ireland, to 1998)
–India (Azad Kashmir), Pakistan (Jammu and
Kashmir)
• In general, weakens over time (impact of
borders on language and culture)

COLONIAL NATIONALISM
GENERAL FORM:
• Movement for independence of colonial
population (“creoles”)
• Depends on mechanics of relationship with
metropolitan power (eg Virginia etc. v Britain;
New Spain v. Spain; Brazil v. Portugal)
• Depends also on capacity of colonial
population to control indigenous population


SOME EARLY EXAMPLES:
• North America
–Colonies rebel against Great Britain (1775-83)
–Later unify as USA (1787)
• Spanish America
–Colonies rebel against Spain (1810-)
–Establish independence (Argentina etc.)
–Further secessions (Uruguay, Paraguay etc.)
• Ireland
–“Grattan’s Parliament”, 1782 (but different pattern
to the other cases)


INDIGENOUS ISSUE:
• Sizeable indigenous population survives
(Peru, Bolivia), or large mestizo population
(rest of Spanish America, except Chile,
Argentina, Uruguay): continuing issue (eg
election of Morales in Bolivia)
• Moderate indigenous population survives
(Maori in New Zealand): strong culture and
legal position
• Indigenous population now insignificant (USA,
Canada, Australia)—but apologies by Rudd
and Harper, 2008

“CREOLE” DIVISIONS:
• White population of South Africa divided
between Afrikaners and English speakers (but
overall small minority)
• European-origin population of Canada divided
between English speakers and French
speakers; division strengthens (negligible
indigenous threat)


SEPARATIST NATIONALISM
state A
nation
A

state B

nation
B

nation
B

Peripheral regions secede from larger states


NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE
•

•
•
•

EUROPEAN EXAMPLES:
Ottoman empire: secession of
–Greece (1822), Serbia (1878), Romania
(1878), Bulgaria (1908)
Habsburg monarchy: break-up in 1918
–Czechoslovakia, Romania, Yugoslavia
United Kingdom: secession of
–Ireland (1922)
Post-communist collapse in 1990s:
–USSR, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia

EXAMPLE:
AUSTRIAHUNGARY


POLAND
CZ-SLOV.

AUSTRIA

EXAMPLE:
AUSTROHUNGARIAN
NATIONALITIES

HUNGARY
ROMANIA

YUGOSLAVIA


•

•

•
•

SMALLER EUROPEAN NATIONS:
In the case of certain smaller European nations,
national movement followed a distinctive path
(Miroslav Hroch, 1985)
In these cases, the “nation” had an “incomplete social
structure” (nobility and landed classes belonged to
another nation)
These nations were also sometimes described as
“historyless”, “ethnic trash” (Engels)
Examples: Czech, Lithuanian, Estonian, Finnish,
Norwegian, Flemish and Slovak nationalism


SMALLER EUROPEAN NATIONS: NATIONALIST
PHASES
• Phase A (pre-industrial): elements within
elites develop interest in local history, folklore
• Phase B (transitional): middle class leadership
of nation emerges, makes political demands
• Phase C (modern): mass nationalism:
leadership mobilises followers behind
nationalist demands
(Hroch, 1985)

ANTI-COLONIAL FORM:
• Asia
–Indian independence (1947), etc.
–Further secessions, eg Pakistan (1947),
Bangladesh (1971)
• Africa
–Nigeria (1960), etc. (indigenous population)
–South Africa: complex path


“CREOLE” ISSUE:
• South Africa, Rhodesia: significant white
populations survive, fight rearguard action
• India: Anglo-Indian population loses
significance
• Europe: different patterns
–Estonia, Latvia, Czechoslovakia
(disappearance of Germans)
–Ireland, Finland (remainder of former
privileged ruling group survives)

AUTHENTICITY OF INDIGENOUS CULTURE
• Widespread willingness to accept
metropolitan language in Asia and especially
Africa
• Insistence on indigenous language in Europe,
except e.g. Ireland (some other examples)
• Occasional struggles over language norms (eg
Norway (Bokmål v Nynorsk), Greece
(Katharevousa v. Dimotiki)


COMMON FEATURES
NATIONALIST ACTORS:
• Three identifiable in principle:
–Metropolitan power (remote: e.g. imperial
capital in Europe; or adjacent: capital of
local state)
–Regional centre (economically, socially and
politically privileged; “high” culture)
–Regional periphery (economically, socially
and politically marginal; separate culture)


COMMON FEATURES
NATIONALIST ACTORS:
• Variable significance of three actors:
–Metropolitan power encounters very little
opposition (integrationist nationalism)
–Regional centre the major victor, but two
other actors relevant (colonial nationalism)
–Regional periphery the victor, but two other
actors relevant (separatist nationalism)


COMMON FEATURES
EXAMPLE: SMALLER EUROPEAN
NATIONS: 19th c. Estonia
Nobility
(German)

alliance

Townsfolk
(German)
Peasants
(Estonian)

conflict

conflict


Metropole
(Russia)

COMMON FEATURES
EXAMPLE: LATIN AMERICA

Spaniards
Creoles
Mestizos

alliance
conflict

conflicts

Indians,
Blacks

Metropole
(Spain)

COMMON FEATURES
NATIONALIST PROGRAMME:
• Nation as an entity whose distinctiveness is to
be preserved, and whose mission to humanity
is to be promoted
• Nation as a community with a shared past,
perhaps with a common descent and racial
background, and with a homeland of its own
• Political ambition to secure the unity of the
nation in relation to potentially disruptive
forces within its own borders, and to establish
its independence in relation to external rivals.

THE END …

NEXT: EXPLAINING NATIONALISM

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