To what extent is nationalism a single doctrine? You must use appropriate thinkers you have
studied in your answer. (24)
Nationalism is split into four main types- liberal, conservative, expansionist and post-colonial.
Although they are all nationalists, they have very different views from another. The area which
they have most agreement on is human nature, as they agree that humans are better off within
their own nation states- however, the differences outweigh the similarities. There is even less
agreement over the state, and no agreement over the economy. This shows that nationalism is
not a single doctrine, as the views within it are so different.
There is most agreement over human nature. They agree that humans share a strong sense of
national identity. Hegel said that the direction of human history was the creation of nation states,
when this had been achieved, in Germany especially, this would be the ‘end of history’. They
also agree that the best way of organising political systems is through nation states. Both
Rousseau, a liberal nationalist, andb Disraeli, a conservative, thought that the nation state was
‘organic’, which naturally bound people together. They also mostly agree that nationalism can
be based upon language, religion, culture, geography or ethnicity. Maurras, an expansionist
nationalist, believed in anti-semitism and “integral nationalism”- as jews put their religion before
their French identity- the national identity must be the most important identity.
However, there is disagreement over whether human nature is inclusive or exclusive. Liberal
nationalists are inclusive and have an open view on human nature- they believe in political and
constitutional nationalism which is inclusive. They also believe humans are naturally
nationalistic and that the best form of political organisation is the nation state. Woodrow
Wilson’s idea of ‘national self-determination' thought that countries in the former European
empires should be allowed to choose what nation to associate with for themselves. Whereas,
conservative nationalism is exclusive. It is based on speaking the same language and sharing
the same culture. This is shown by Herder saying “has anything dearer than the speech of its
fathers?” in his book, Treatise on the Origin of Language (1772). They believe in cultural
nationalism, where culture is developed through sharing the same language, therefore anyone
who doesn’t speak the language is excluded. Expansionist nationalists are inherently racialist,
shown by how Hitler created ‘lebensraum’ in East Europe for ‘superior Aryans’. They also
pursue imperialism for economic and political benefit, by taking the love of a ‘superior’
nation/race so far it justifies the expansion of a nation into an empire, shown by how Putin took
over the Crimea region of Ukraine. There is also an argument on whether nationalism is
regressive or progressive. Liberal nationalists are progressive, often associated with the quest
for sovereign independence, involving either or both the overthrow of foreign domination and
oppression and the establishment of self-government through constitutionalism and democracy.
This is shown in Rousseau's book, Considerations on the Government of Poland 1771, which
suggested having a whole new kind of state, held together by patriotism, education and
democracy, as nationalism, freedom and a good government went hand in hand. Liberal
internationalists have sought to forge a world of independent nation-states, thereby reordering
international politics as well as domestic politics. They believe that the best way to spread liberal
democratic values and practices is through international cooperation and the creation of
supranational bodies, and that the EU’s Schumann plan in 1959 was a plan for the future.
However, conservative nationalists are regressive. It glorifies the past and wishes to go back to
traditional times in the ‘Golden era’, and resists change, as this would threaten order. So they
prevent development- evidently in immigration, cultural diversification and supranationalism- as
they believe that being part of the EU weakens British identity. Overall, although nationalists
agree over some things on human nature, there is more disagreement than agreement over
whether it is regressive or progressive and whether it is inclusive or exclusive, showing that it is
not a single doctrine.
