Unit 4: Nationalism

Recap:
Nationalism is an extreme feeling of pride in one's country. Nationalism first emerged in France when it was still in the stages of reform. However it did not play nearly as big of a factor as it did in Germany. In Germany it was the key ingredient in uniting the Germans. Otto von Bismarck was the orchestrator of German unification and he did this by stirring up strong feelings of nationalism through many wars. With every battle he won, he brought Germany one step closer to being unified. Otto von Bismarck's success in unifying Germany proved to be the touching stone for every other group of people who wanted to be unified under one nation. The first day nationalism cry was heard it impacted Europe in the way that everyone was now willing to fight to be unified under a nation. For example, nationalism was the very reason that Italy began its quest for unification.

Review:

The story my group and I chose to do was the story of rise in revolt in Russia. The story we conveyed was of the serfs being repressed so they revolted and reformed. Nicholas used the police to wed out all who had liberal ides and whoever opposed the czar. However Nicholas did try to modernize by trying to limit power of landowners over surfs. Our group was to show all of this except the fact that the ending we conveyed was false. The serfs never do rise to kill the czar.
The story we were told to relates much to the story of Hungary. The Hungarians felt repressed because they did not have total self-government. However, the Hungarians did not accomplish what they wanted and were forced to compromise with Austria. This cycle of repression, revolt, and reform happened all over Europe ever since the first spark of nationalism was ignited.

Reflect & Re-invent:
I believe nationalism is both good and bad depending on the circumstances. It is the most useful tool to unite struggling a nation into a nation that is actually able to function. Afghanistan citizenzs, for example, need to be proud of their country rather than the tribe they belong to. Nationalism in Afghanistan would ease the tension between the citizens and fully unite Afghanistan. However, nationalism is the source of all racism. A certain race will belive their nation is superior to all the others and be completely intolerant to those nations and racism. If the world was able to re-invent nationalism to were the people were just as proud of their own background as they are tolerant to every other nation or race. If we are able to accomplish this. The world would be more united than every and we would all live so much more happily.