The Negative Effects of Nationalism

Nationalism is a modern political ideology that creates a devotion to one’s culture and is the belief that from acting independent instead of communally will benefit nations which highlight national goals rather than international ones. Nationalism didn’t start till around the 17th, and 18th centuries which is because there was no concept of what a nation was. In the simplest terms, there was a loyalty to the “crown” rather than a loyalty to the country before the French Revolution. There are many varieties of nationalism throughout the world, some of which are beneficial to society and most of which are detrimental. The main type of nationalism that is
Ethnocentric and expansionist nationalism also contributed to the Holocaust, Hitler believed that all other races and nations were below and inferior to the Aryan or German race which relates ethnocentric nationalism and he also believed that Germans needed more space to live which ties back to expansionist nationalism. In the 1800’s nationalism was a growing belief among people that united them through language, history and culture, these people then began viewing themselves as part of a nation which then helped with the up-rise of nationalism and the creation of two major powers, Germany and Italy. Ethnicity along with race are also very important components for modern nationalism. The concept of nationalism further separated different cultures and nations based on race and ethnicity and created a belief that some nations or races were better than others. In Hitler’s book Mein Kampf, he said that Jews posed a threat to the German race and their people and were considered inferior. He also believed that the mixing of races through reproduction would ruin the pure blood of Germans and would eventually destroy the German nation. Anti-Semitism is also based in nationalism, Jewish people were seen as “alien” or “foreign exploiters”. (Savich 2003) Ethnocentric nationalism also creates racism which spreads around the nation, some German authors used to write about Jews and