Nationalism can be used to promote cross-cultural sharing by using it to teach others about your own culture and learning about theirs in return.
Otto von Bismark, master of Realpolitik
Nationalism is a strong felling of pride in and devotion to one's country. Nationalism first developed in France during their revolution in about 1793. Nationalism had a great effect on Europe. It was a great motivational factor to the people of Europe, and it led many of them to revolt in the pursuit of their own nation. An example of this is Greece. Many rulers also exploited nationalism to gain the people's trust and support, such as Bismark did.
Review
My group told the story of Otto von Bismark, the Iron Chancellor. In our presentation, we showed how nationalism was exploited by powerful leaders, such as Bismark, to accomplish their needs and gain the support of the people. This did not always go as planned, however; as in Bismark's mission to control the Catholic Church and the socialist party. The parts that we focused on the most were concerning Bismark's actions and the people's reaction to them. This is a similar approach to what the other groups did in their plays, albeit with different leaders. We also discussed the economic conditions of Germany as described in the first part of section 2. Overall, I think that my group did a very good job in portraying our section to the rest of the class.
Bismark used the policy of Realpolitik, which meant that he put the needs of the state first, power over principles. This tied in with section 1 in chapter 10. He used it to help unify Germany under the seeming pretense of satisfying the desire of the people to become a united nation, but he really wanted to give more power to the Hohenzollern dynasty of Prussia. This section differed greatly from that of the section about nationalism in Russia where it was oppressed and discouraged by the authorities, instead of exploited like in Germany. Minorities like the Jews in Russia were attacked because of such differences caused by extreme nationalism and many Jews had to flee to the United States or elsewhere.
Reflect and Re-invent
I think that nationalism can be good in some ways, but very detrimental if taken to the extreme. By no means should a country think that it is better than another just because the people there look different or have a different culture. This is taking nationalism to the extreme, and it causes discord and disharmony among peoples. However, nationalism can be used to help foster a national identity of a country, something that it is known for that it can share with other nations and promote cross-cultural exchange. Examples can be customs, foods, and products that a particular country is known for. Sort of like a "global nationalism."
Picture Sources:
http://digitalmedia.worldbank.org/tenthings/eca/images/azer-photo-1.jpg
http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nael/images/20thc/Bismark.jpg
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