1.3: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe
Nationalism
Nationalism may be defined as “loyalty to one’s nation,” and a nation as seen as people who have a common language, culture, and tradition. Most people believe that a certain amount of nationalism is good for a country. But the history of the twentieth century showed all too clearly that nationalism can get out of hand and be very destructive.
An increased sense of ethnic identity—nationalism— began to take hold in Europe in the nineteenth century. In particular this was true among the dizzying number of ethnic populations within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. These included Czechs, Slovenes, Poles, Magyars, Serbs, Croats, Ruthenians, Germans, and Italians! Remember it was a member of a secret society of Serb nationalists who assassinated the Austrian Archduke that led directly to the First World War.
The early twentieth century saw many monarchs of Europe overthrown. While England, Germany, Austria, Russia, and Italy had been ruled by hereditary monarchs in 1914, by the end of the war only the British and Italian rulers were still in place. And Benito Mussolini would soon render the King of Italy irrelevant.
The First World War came about in part because of the growth of nationalism. That nationalism was given expression by the military build-up by the European powers.
So, after the war, the failure of the Paris peace talks comes as no surprise. What is clear is the five Paris treaties were problematic because they were negotiated in the context of conflicting, sometimes contradictory nationalist war aims.
Consider the following regarding the outcome of World War I:
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Since the fighting on the Western Front was largely on French soil, France suffered more damage in terms of towns and villages destroyed and civilian and military loss of life than the other Allies. For that reason the French felt justified in demanding Germany be punished severely with reparations and loss of territory.
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Britain favoured a more lenient settlement and considered a viable German state necessary for maintaining a European balance of power by providing a counter-weight to France. Keeping the power and influence of continental European nations in rough balance had been a goal for Britain for centuries.
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Germans, while admitting that they had lost the war, did not consider they had been defeated on the battlefield since their territory was never invaded or occupied. They also felt they should be party to the peace negotiations as had been the practice following previous European wars.
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Italy wanted the German and Slavic territories promised in the secret treaty she had signed with Britain in 1915.
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U.S. President Woodrow Wilson came to Paris with a mission to reform a Europe he considered tainted by greed. The instrument of that reform was to be his famous Fourteen Points. And since one of these points forbade secret treaties, he refused to recognize the treaty on which Italy based its territorial claims.