Nationalism - Positive & Negative Impacts | Teen Ink

Nationalism - Positive & Negative Impacts

January 19, 2023
By shreeji26 SILVER, Parsippany, New Jersey
shreeji26 SILVER, Parsippany, New Jersey
7 articles 1 photo 0 comments

The rise and spread of nationalism gave people a new sense of integrity and also led to an increased sense of competition among nation-states. After Napoleon was defeated, several other European nations joined together to attempt to return to the old conservative ways. At the beginning of the twentieth century, however, nationalism would play a major role in the competition between nations. Country industrialization, local traditions, loyalty, and justified authority are some of the characteristics of nationalism. There are positive and negative impacts that nationalism had brought to this time during the Latin American Revolution and European unification. It was an extremely bloody competition now called World War I. 

Nationalism led to stronger central governments, less foreign influence, and more pride in Latin American cultures. These are just some examples of the positivity that is spread by it. Italy and Germany were two of the countries in Europe that had risen due to nationalism. They both had a unification with other countries. The German unification movement impacted Italian unification because they could not afford to keep their troops in Rome. As a result, they called the troops home. The Italians moved in, in 1870 and unification was complete. Nationalism has helped these countries with their history, control of territory, religion, culture, language, and other such factors. While nationalism has these positive aspects of it there are some contrivances that bring a dark and negative turn to Europe.

Some examples of how nationalism brought negativity were it started to lead to conflict with others, infringing on the rights of others, and creating prejudice. The Ottoman Empire and Austria had become very pessimistic due to nationalism. The Ottoman Empire had fallen due to weak rulers, a rebellion, and a diverse population. Moreover, Austria also fell due to an economic crisis, a diverse population, a mini-government, and other such dismissive factors. As you can see, both of these countries had fallen due to a diverse population which is caused by nationalism. One main aspect of nationalism is religion. The Crimean war was caused by religion because the Ottoman Empire granted France the right to oversee the Christian millets within the Empire. They also granted supervision over Christian spots in the Holy Land. Although nationalism has its upsides, it can also cause the downfall of nations.


The author's comments:

This is a writing piece from my 9th-grade world history class. It explains the positive and negative impacts of Nationalism during the Latin American Revolutions as well as European Unification. 


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