This guide travels through the lectures and seminar readings, week by week, in a clear and structured way. Allowing you to understand all the basic knowledge of the National Thought Course from European Studies BA. For the exam, this is especially useful, due to the fact it uses knowledge learnt in...
NATIONAL THOUGHT IN EUROPE REVISION GUIDE
Middle Ages (800-1400):
feudal “states”; cultural differences are noticed
but cultural identities are only politically forceful in cities
Early-Modern period: (1400-1700):
kings vs. nobility: absolutist centralization and state-formation
wars of religion
first systematizations of ideas about “national character”
Enlightenment (18th century):
rise of democratic republicanism
the “nation” becomes a constitutional principle
Romanticism (1770-1840):
the nation becomes a culture-anthropological principle
widespread resistance against Napoleon
19th century (1815-1918):
Europe as a composite territory of different cultures
national movements
the nation becomes an ethnic-racial principle
Short 20th century (1919-1989):
totalitarianism, decolonisation, transnationalism
21st century (1989-):
identity wars, clash of civilizations, Ethnopopulism
Week 1:
Nationalism is an ideology that is glorifed y cultural identityy and national
solidarity extends to civic loyalty
,There are difering examples of Nationalismy containing:
Separatism: Resulting in the division of nations and empiresy not much
intercommunicationy hich can promote a feeling of alienation and
separatism (The East)m
Unifcation: Resulting in the unifcation of territories (Central)m
- Centralism and change: Political change in Western Europey cultural
communities ho are divided et een diferent states ut the continue
to share a collective memory and cultural traditions
Cultural discontinuity in Europe is afected y its diverse political landscapey
ho ever cultural ideas can easily e spread throughout Europe as ell.
Nationalism can e the aspiration for a clean iigsa puzzle or further a
completely homogenous population
“1-1 congruence et een the nation and state”
Nation formation and state formation do not really ork on the same timeliney
it’s out of sync (on the hole state formation is older that nation formation)m
First the state is centralised then the nation ecomes a are of itself ithin the
state
Nationalism can also depend on ho you hate most d Ethnotypical Separatism
and the idea of ‘othering’ is refected here. Is your identity ased on ho you
don’t lik e?
A nation-state claims to represent and incorporate a nation
It is important to note that the formation of states and nations stems from the
long tradition of ethnotypes
The timeline of the ideological transformation of nationalism can e as follo s:
State centralization during the end of the Middle Ages Enlightenment and
the development on the idea of a nation Traditions fused together into
ideology nationalism especially during Napoleonic rule the territorialisation
,of culture and language during the 19th century a survey of 20th century
aftermath
There are t o school of nationalism:
One school argues the creation of nationalist thought goes ack to the
Old Testament and atri utes nationalism ith the eginning of ethnic
confict
The second school elieves that nationalism is the product of increasing
modernisationy as people ecame the central focus of the state rather
than the aristocracy
We have to distinguish the clear diference et een state borders and cultural
frontiers. State orders are geographicy rigid oundaries that tend to change
ith po er shift from state to state. Cultural frontiers are the cultural
oundaries et een states that tend to refect transgenerational change of
traditions and elief of cultural heritage.
Languages and Religion:
Religion: Christianitt
Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire and therefore the most
dominant religion in the history of Europe. The state church as formed in
300AD
With the translation of the Bi le into Latin y Jeromey its infuence gre
and adopted y the Catholic church
It faced threats after the fall of the Roman Empire as the German
ar arians (Frank s and the Goths)m responsi le for the collapse follo ed
Paganismy ut soon ere largely Christianised
After the fall of the Roman Empirey Christianity remained intact ith the
cro ning of the ne Emperor of Europe: Charlemagne
Ho every there as a great divide in the adoption of Christianity during the
Middle Agesy nota ly:
, LATIN WEST: Remained faithful to the Pope and as centralised
around Rome. The language of Christianity as Latiny later continued
y the Catholic Church
GREEK EAST: Centralisation around Constantinopley adopted Greek as
the main language. Orthodox Christian Church
This split in the Christian religion emphasised great cultural and national
diferences and manifests into the Great Schism et een East and West
After the fall of the Eastern Empire in 1e53 to Islamy Christianity as used as a
nationalist sentiment to distinctly recognise Western Europeans in the face of
Muslim Eastern Europeans.
In 1500y the Lutheran Reformation rought Germany out of the Christian
sphere ithin Europe
In 15e0y Henry VIII esta lished Anglicanism in the face of Roman Catholicism
The creation of diferent ranches of Christianity and ith the impeding Islam
infuence in the Easty a resurgence of religious ars occurred in the mid 16th
century into the 17th d most nota ly the Thirty Years War.
Religion mak es the arsy the ars mak e the state
Religion has a high mo ilizing po ery this led to a monopoly of religious ars.
You needed high taxation and strong economy to conduct religious arfare
and e see the eginnings of modern state formation. The k ing ecomes
po erful and creates a monopoly of violence- hich ecomes the eginnings
of the modern state and society. Religious mo ilization and state formation
ent hand in hand.
In 16e8y the Treaty of Westphalia ended these religious ars and sta ilised
state relations.
Religion: Islam:
Islam infuenced the cultures of Europey eginning in around 700AD
Islam failed to fully penetrate Western Europey ith the failed Siege of Vienna
eing most signifcant 1529y esta lish Ha s urg orders
After the atle of Torg and conquesty the confrontation ith the Islam army
glorifes the ethnocentrism of national identity of hat is no k no n as
‘Europeans’
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