Halsall Introduction
The Halsall introduction states that nationalism could be said to be a group of people with a general history, tradition and language. It says that people are not naturally conscious that they belong to a nation. Unlike a family or clan, people do not have that natural awareness that they are in a land. In France, the road to nationalism involved the assimilation of non French speaking people in the country. This involved even banning such people from using their own local names. The situation in a way was complicated as not all people who speak a particular language belonging to a particular nationality. There are a significant number of people in Latvia who speak German. Natural formations such as mountain ranges and seas also seem to define the limits of nationalism.
In other cases, a country may be caused by a force. This can be seen in times of Roman occupation. A broad area including villages was all under one country. This was not out of national pride but rather by forced servitude. There are instances that nationalism can be portrayed strongly. An example is when Jews created the land of Israel. It was a land that was surrounded by enemies in all directions, but they stood as one. That is an example of the power of nationalism that can be seen.
The Halsall introduction states that people who are family oriented are more genuine than those who seem intrigued by the state of the human species. This person seems to have more room for strangers who come to him in goodwill rather than those who believe in brotherhood without social backing. The people of Germany seem to have developed as a community. These communities believed in keeping to themselves and refraining from mingling in order to keep the purity of their way of life. This degraded when they eventually mingled with others. In a way, this portrays them to be less true to their nature.
Alexander Von Humboldt
Humboldt was a German scientist who made numerous visits to the Spanish empire in 1800. He describes Mexico as a land of inequality. He went to visit the city and found glaring inequality. The quality of life is quite different from the inhabitants. He found that the Mexican Indians were the picture of misery. They lived in significant hardship even when compared to the rest of the population. Even amongst the Mexican Indians, the poverty gas is quite tremendous. This is evident in areas such as Columbia where the people there have significant wealth in terms of vineyard plantations. In other areas like Tlascala, people are poor. The fact that they try to live as nobles does not help that situation.
Nationalism is better enhanced with a sense of equality. Humboldt found vast differences in wealth distribution in Mexico. These differences between were evident between Europeans and Mexican Indians. The expected nationalism in such an area is quite divergent. The people will have greater nationalism since it comes from the love they have for their country. The poor seem to be subjected to servitude and excessive taxation. This will reduce their nationalist tendencies as the glaring inequality will make them feel as servants.
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini needed to establish new Italy based on democracy. He believed that Europe had lost unity and was now loosing the essence of nationalism. He believed that there was a crisis and that violence and religious indifference were only perpetuating the crisis. He believed that there should be a transformation of authority. Authority should be transformed into an avenue for wealth distribution to reduce the gap between the employer and the workman. He believes that, this cannot be done through religion or politics but rather through socialism. The central aim is to provide better relations between production and consumption. He believed that the nationalism can only be resolved by abandoning the treaties of 1815.He noted that the struggle between Poland, Germany and Hungary was peculiar since they all spoke the same language, had almost similar traditions and share the same history. The people there had lost their sense of nationalism, and they wanted it in a different way. That is why they decided to go their own way. Nationalism now seemed to be made up of what the individuals feel rather than geographical boundaries. Authority should change in order to make people feel part of the nation rather than forcefully declare its territory.
Theodor Herzl
Herzl believed more in a nationalism based on ideology rather than geographic boundaries. He, at a time, proposed that the Jewish state be built in Uganda rather than in near Palestine. This showed that he valued the ideologies of nationalism joining the Jewish people together rather than the fact that they were in a given geographic location. He talked about the endeavors that they tried to make as a people. They tried to be assimilated by other nations, but they always ended up being strangers. As men, they strived to further themselves in trade and commerce. They were men who strived for scientific advancement, but they always felt like outsiders. The spirit of nationalism can be shown by how they have maintained their sense of nationalism despite their separation and scattered in several countries.
The main reason that Jews needed to build a nation of their own was the glaring persecution by other communities around the world. They were discriminated even by the laws of the countries that they inhabited. The people also seemed to treat them as outsiders and would even refuse to buy from them. This clearly showed that they had no actual sense of nationalism, and they needed to be given a land enough for them to build a country of their own. There are many communities that are currently undergoing the same discrimination that the Jews underwent. The Kurds are an example of such a nation. They still have that sense of belonging and togetherness that are aspects of a nation. If they had a place to occupy, they would easily make a nation just as the Jews did.
A nation comprised of people who have a sense of belonging. The feeling of belonging may arise due to religious faith or social acceptance. Nationalism cannot be forced upon people. Nationalism is not based on geographic boundaries but rather in the individuals’ sense of belonging. Nationalism is hindered by many things including unfair wealth distribution. Currently Iraq is undergoing a reform. It is at a delicate stage in the recreation of the Iraqi nation. The main pitfalls that may befall them would be using force to build a country. There are many areas that have failed to stand together as a country due to the wrong ideologies. An example is Somalia where clans are continuously waging war since they want to control the land for themselves. This is one pitfall that Iraq should try and avoid. This can be done by community leaders coming together and creating a democratic nation that is based on the ideology of equality.
References
Bell, D. A. (2001). The cult of the nation in France : inventing nationalism, 1680-1800. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Eastman, S. (2012). Preaching Spanish nationalism across the Hispanic Atlantic, 1759-1823. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press.
Wright, J. M. (2004). Blake, nationalism, and the politics of alienation. Athens: Ohio University Press.
