Does Nationalism Lead to War?

Nationalism in the most cases in history specifically by the experiences of European states by 19th century was one of the causes of war conflict among states. Based on historical account, it has been proven that nationalism creates a sense of identity and belongingness for every citizen to defend their country especially in the times of conflict with other nationals of other states.

Nationalism is being defined as having a sense of belonging to ones country or nation state. it is believe that people derive their identity from their nation and therefore owe their nation their primary loyalty. Nationalism was one of the reasons why World War I started. Nationalism was strong in Europe but it was especially strong in France under Benito Mussolini and Germany under the Reich Republic of Adolf Hitler.

According to Vamik D. Volkan in "The Need to Have Enemies and Allies: A Developmental Approach", he emphasized the fact that group solidarity demands the creation of enemies and allies, "us" and "them". The identification is heightened when the group is undergoing hardship or danger. Thus, discrimination and political "repression" lead to a greater degree of solidarity and group identification. In my own point of view, man is never contented and is not self-sufficient. Some nation state has to suppress other in order for them to be supreme over the other. And so, if one suppresses the other, then it is expected for the citizens of the other nation state to fight back to defend their nation state in the intensity of unifying the state. And therefore, it is a battle of nationalism since there is a conflict of interest between them. Otto Von Bismarck used nationalism as empowering emotions at times, to create a fiery desire for a unified state in the heart of all the German people, who were intensely passionate about having their own unified state. This denotes that nationalism is an extreme pride of ones country. According to Carl K. Savich, nationalism is constant state of development/evolution, never static. Thus, war is subsumed. This means that sense nationalism is always evolving, then the cause of war is expected. In G.P. Gooch's "Nationalism is a Child of the the French Revolution", he cited that in the essence, the nation became the highest authority, the nation become God. In the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, the nation became the ultimate authority.

As an ideology, nationalism holds 'the people' in the doctrine of popular sovereignty. As a nation, and as a result only nation-state founded on the principle of national self-determination are legitimate. Since, most of the state are multination, or at least home to more that one group claiming national status, the pursuit of this principle has often led to conflict, and nationalism is commonly associated with war (both external and domestic), secession, and even genocide in context ranging from imperial conquest to struggle for national liberation.

Since nationalism has been a cause of war in the past, then probably history will repeat itself again. The past experiences of the European states are enough to deem that probably nationalism will lead to another war again if there is a conflict of interest between nation states. But this does not mean that they will wage war directly if there is a conflict of interest . It is only that was is being used as a last resort since now that we have international arbitration through the United Nations and all are covered under the international law.