National communities, political culture

Résumé du document

The nation is a modern invention. The nation was the ultimate goal of political authorities. It is also the ultimate goal of all the demands of the people, as the object which one was prepared to go to war and to die for. In the feudal epoch, people generally identified with a religion or a lord, rather than a Nation. The French Revolution was a crucial moment for the development of national identities. It became the consensus model in the course of the 19th century (Eric Hobsbawm). Maybe in early modern Poland, you can speak of a nation.

Different thesis were elaborated about the nation. The first one is the ethno-national thesis, particularly developed by A. Smith. According to him, there are 5 main elements which constitute the nation: a historic territory, common myths and historic memories, a mass public culture, common laws and duties for all members of the nation, a common economy with freedom of movement for all members of the nation. The ethnic distinctiveness is for Smith the sine qua non condition of the nation. The idea of ethnicity did exist but it changed across time. In Medieval times, nationalism was not an ideology. The mass construction only occurred in the 19th century. Hobsbwan criticized this conception of the nation.

Extraits

[...] Programme, Myth, Reality, Cambridge - Eric Hobsbawm, 'Introduction: Inventing Traditions', in Eric Hobsbawm and Ranger, eds: The Invention of Tradition, Cambridge - Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: reflections on the origin and the spread of nationalism, London - George Mosse, The Nationalization of the Masses - John Breuilly, 'Changes in the political uses of the nation: continuity or discontinuity', in Len Scales and Olivier Zimmer, eds., Power and the nation in European History, Cambridge - Anthony D. Smith, National Identity, London - Anthony D. [...]

[...] Andersen takes other examples of national myths: Queen Boadicea, Gallic warrior Vercingetorix, or German warrior Arminius (Hermann). In other countries, nationalism was fortified by the belief in racial superiority. This idea was based on colonial experience. The word ‘savage' was use to characterize the others and to define itself. In Pangermany, there was a rise of anti-Semitism. In Russia, Pogroms were plotted. In France, the Dreyfus Affair was also a key element in the rise of anti- Semitism. There was also a new biological thinking of superiority. [...]

[...] Indeed, the “‘invented tradition' is taken to mean a set of practices, normally governed by overtly or tacitly accepted rules and of ritual or symbolic nature, which seek to inculcate certain values and norms of behavior by repetition, which automatically implies continuity with the past” (Hobsbawn). Moreover, we have to take into consideration the role of military tradition and Church tradition. Written fictions were used. The National anthem was also crucial (the God save the King had been composed by the French musician Lully). National flags were also important elements (e.g. French revolutionary flag). The spread of mass suffrage facilitated the spread of mass politics. [...]

[...] One may critique that, arguing that there was not such ‘general will'. In Mosse's conception, there is little place for political and social differentiation. It ignores one half of mass politics. For instance, it does not take account of the internationalism of labor movements led by the working- class. May Day is celebrated by the working-class. It is characterized by an anti-national tradition (e.g. red flag and not national flag). Moreover, Mosse argued that there was a contract between the political style' and the ‘liberal concept of parliamentary government'? [...]

[...] In the Nationalization of the Masses, G. Mosse argues essentially about the roots of fascism in nationalism, which is a secular religion in the age of politics. This secular religion bound together the leaders and the people. The Religion is replaced by nationalism. For instance, public festivals are organized, military victories are celebrated and flags gain importance. At this time, there was an aesthesticization of politics. People have a very beautiful idea of Nation. Sculpture and architecture are used in this process of aesthesticization of politics. [...]