Nationalism

Nationalism is an ideology that has transcended many generations. However, the doctrine was majorly popularized during the turn of the twentieth century as nations like the US and Germany sought to contest the economic domination of Britain. Although a prevalent ideology, the meaning has often remained elusive due to different perspectives offered by various scholars and schools of thought. One of the most popular texts regarding this discourse is ‘Nationalism’ by George Orwell published at the end of the Second World War (WWII). In this article, Orwell disputes the common belief of what the Nationalism ideology means and offers to explore the various dangers of this discourse. Another text is a famous poem is ‘German the Fatherland’ by Ernst Moritz Arndt which glorifies German and its superiority. These texts which are set in different periods contribute the nationalism discourse differently.

Orwell begins his essay by suggesting that the earlier definitions dwell on describing nationalism as a term that can be used to label a group of people based on what they share or don’t. He disputes this.  According to him, people are too distinct to be categorized into blocks of tens of millions of people that can either be grouped as either good or bad. Such an observation seems to contradict popular definitions that base nationalism to shared geographical boundaries or some other standard features like blood relationships and ethnicity. For instance, nationalism has been described as an undertaking that defines the running of a nation or a state. [1]Additionally, some arbitrary features aspects like common blood relations, ethnicity, language and religion have been used to refer to define nationalism.[2] According to Orwell, nationalism is “the lunatic modern habit of identifying oneself with large power units and seeing everything in terms of competitive prestige.” Nationalism is therefore described as a feeling that an individual has although it doesn’t have to be associated with one’s loyalty to their country and neither does it have to exist in units like states. Orwell emphasizes this by claiming that at the time of writing, Britain alone consisted of intellectuals with different intellectual feelings. These include Irish Nationalists, Pacifists, Trotskyists, Communists, British tory among many others.

Nationalism by Orwell focuses on highlighting the dangers of nationalism. Although he states that at the time, nationalism in England is characterized by British jingoism, he focuses on the intelligentsia to whom this jingoism cannot be associated. To highlight the dangers of nationalism feelings among these intellectuals, Orwell chooses to explore the characteristics of their nationalistic thought.

The first is obsession. A nationalist is blinded by the desire to see his side win at the detriment of their side’s rival. To a nationalist, ‘…every event that happens should be a demonstration of how his side is on the upgrade and some hated rival is on the downgrade…’ The nationalist though an intellectual, will fail to see sense in any event and only choose to use it to glorify their side even in circumstances where it is evident that the party they support has failed. A nationalist, therefore, dwells in thinking and writing about their side’s superiority. Their mission is to prove that their side is dominant over its rivals. Their analysis is never objective and at no time will they have a neutral fact.

Another characteristic of a nationalist is instability. Nationalists are anything but consistent. Since they don’t stand for anything, it is not uncommon for these nationalists to embrace the ideals of a country or unit they previously hated or rivalled. “What remains constant in the nationalist is his state of mind”. Orwell emphasizes this by noting that sometimes ardent nationalists are foreigners or that they hail from the periphery of a nationality they support. An example of G.K Chesterton who Orwell uses earlier in the essay comes to mind. Chesterton whose roots were in England spent his life idolizing Roman Catholic nations like France though he had hardly set foot in the country. It is hardly a surprise that an intellectual who previously romanticized Russia will become hostile towards it and focus their energies rooting for the ideals of America. Orwell points out that many European Fascists originated from the Communists.

Another feature exhibited by nationalists is their indifference to reality. Orwell explores the hypocrisy that exists in nationalism. To a nationalist, evil is only evil because it is committed by the rival group. The only reason that a nationalist will highlight a crime is that they want to attach it to the opposing group to paint them negatively. However, the side they support will commit the same evil later on, and they will choose not to talk about it altogether. “Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception”. Orwell exemplifies this by noting the anguish with which the News Chronicle printed pictures of Russians killed by the Germans by hanging.  Barely a year later, had the same media printed pictures of Germans being hanged by Russians with warm approval. Orwell concludes this by noting that at any given time, atrocities are being committed in different parts of the world. But at no time will you find the intelligentsia condemning this collectively.

The fact that the intellectuals would manipulate dates and events in their writing reflects poorly on their reactions to nationalism. Orwell points out that a nationalist will do anything it takes to paint their unit positively or to paint the side they hate negatively. He notes that every nationalist has a false sense that they have the power to change the past. This is because they choose to believe that whatever they write is how God would have wished it to be. This is very ironical, given that this is the same group that is very much depended upon to produce literature that will enlighten generations. However, their sycophancy to their chosen course will more often than not lead to the obliteration of the same history they should help write. This, however, is not the worst part, according to Orwell. The tragedy is that even when they err in their judgment, they cannot be called out. According to Orwell, “Political or military commentators, like astrologers, can survive almost any mistake because their more devoted followers do not look to them for an appraisal of the facts but the stimulation of nationalistic loyalties”.

Orwell chooses to write about the dangers of nationalism because of the conflicting details often given written about historical events. He is keen to note that although nationalism is often linked with a lot of positivity, it is the reason behind the inconsistent records of historical events. The essay was written at the end of WWII a time when there were a lot of factions who were keen to record the events that had unfolded earlier through their perspectives, which were mostly characterized by omissions and commissions to strengthen their chosen courses. What is interesting is that Orwell confesses that none is free of this folly. To him, every nationalist is a product of the sides they have chosen to support and the need to paint their superiority, and it is almost inevitable that they will succumb to sycophancy that deprives them of their intelligence. It is no wonder that is has been observed that nationalism ranks least in intellectual capacity among all the other ideologies because it is always driven by irrational emotions and deep-rooted passions.[3]This is in support of Orwell who observes that intellectuals put aside their intelligence when commenting about the sides they support, often ending up with sillier and more vulgar glorification of these sides than the average supporter.

George Orwell wrote this text in the aftermath of WWII. The war had so many players involved, which consequently gave rise to a lot of factions which in turn had the intelligentsia pulling their weight behind them. This was in the form of propaganda. Propaganda was a significant player during WWII.[4] The gruelling nature of the war meant that everything was at stake with intelligentsia pulling their weight behind the various factions they supported. The setting of the text was in the wake of decolonization when many people were against England, which had taken the biggest share during imperialism. It is no wonder that Orwell observes that a majority of the intellectuals were anti-Britain. During this time, countries like German and the United States fought to establish themselves than England. This period was thus characterized by political propaganda from nationalists hence the reason this text was written

Another popular text that was written regarding nationalism is ‘The German Fatherland’-a poem written by Ernst Moritz Arndt. The poem is one of the triumphal nationalism texts set at the time to articulate the superiority of German. Throughout the poem, Arndt sings the praise of the German nation with lines such as, “This is the land, the one true land” and “The honest German’s fatherland”. Arndt employs the use of rhetorical questions to examine aspects that are not associated with the country and chooses to use the last stanza to curve out the country’s identity. Through the poem, the author tries to paint German as an honest country where truth is the norm amongst its people. In this glorification of German, the poet ends the poem with a prayer to God to favor the country which he perceived to be perfect.

This poem does not paint the country in any bad light. Coincidentally, this proves the claims by George Orwell, who claims that a nationalist will often find a way to portray their preferred unit at the expense of rivals. For instance, Arndt tries to dissociate German with aspects of colonialism that saw many imperial nations use peasants in their various colonies, yet German too was among these imperial powerhouses. This text is an example of how multiple intellectuals, especially in Germany, used art to carve out the identity of the country after the French Revolution.[5]

The aim of the poem, German the Fatherland, was to develop German nationalism. Arndt was one among the various German intellectuals who came together to define a culture that subsequent German generations would identify with.⁵ Although most of the work referred to German mythology, religion, especially Christian symbolism was also common, “And German hymns to God are sung!”. This text, however, is an example of how exaggeration was often used to develop a sense of superiority amongst their preferred nationalist entities.

The poem exhibits the effort put into building nationalism among the various nations. This is an example of a sea of literature written by German intelligentsia in the aftermath of the French Revolution. The various revolutions that happened in 1848 did not result in a unified German.⁵ On the contrary, German remained fractured politically; hence the need to come up with strategies to unite it. This text thus indicates that during this period, the state was majorly fragmented hence the need to come up with various approaches, like art, to develop an identity of a unified nation.

Conclusion

The two texts contribute differently to the nationalism ideology despite being set at different times. However, whereas George Orwell’s piece explores the dangers of nationalism, the poem by Arndt seeks to develop German nationalism. In a way, the poem which glorifies German is an excellent example of Orwell’s definition of nationalism. As per his description, ‘the German Fatherland’ poem is focused on exhibiting the supremacy of a state. The poem concentrates only on painting a positive picture of German without as much mention of any harmful deed by the country. For this reason, it is easy to prefer Orwell’s article because of its objectivity. This is, however ironic given that Orwell points out the inevitability of taking sides among nationalists.

Bibliography

Dewhurst, Ruth L. The Legacy of Luther: National Identity and StateBuilding in Early Nineteenth-Century German. Informational, Georgia State University, 2013.

Harrison, Kevin, and Tony Boyd. “Manchester open Hive.” Nationalism. August 21, 2018. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327129541_Nationalism/link/5b7b8f73299bf1d5a718e77b/download (accessed April 19, 2020).

Hein, Laura E, and Mark Selden. Censoring History: Perspectives on Nationalism and War in the Twentieth Century. New York: Routledge, 2000.

Balzac, Justin. “A histography of nationalism and history.” ResearchGate. June 20, 2016. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304158759_A_HISTORIOGRAPHY_OF_NATIONALISM_AND_HISTORY/link/5768818608ae8ec97a4246ee/download (accessed April 19, 2020).

Wilcott, Jennifer M. Wartime Art. A study of political propaganda and individual expression in American commercial and combat during World War II. Informational, New York: ResearchGate, 2013.

[1] (Hein and Selden 2000)

[2] (Malzac 2016)

[3] (Harrison and Boyd 2018)

[4] (Wilcott 2013)

[5] (Dewhurst 2013)