Asian Nationalism

Imperialism Sparks Nationalism in Asia

Nationalistic movements in Asia are similar to those in Europe. The goals of autonomy and self-rule are the
same. Circumstances that led to the unification or the division of a place are alike. The catalysts
for nationalism are, however, slightly different. Both are based on the corruption or ineffectiveness of a government on its
subjects, but the sources are different. European abuse of power came from within (French kings over French people or
disunity in Germany are examples). Asian nationalistic movements for independence are a direct reaction to imperialism.
European nations were in a period of imperialization, or the taking over of another country for political, social, and/or
economic gain. In this case, the Asian countries of China, Vietnam, and India had experienced long periods of imperialism at
the hands of European authorities. As imperialism progressed, nationalistic movements rose up in an attempt to throw out
foreign influence and gain independence.
Nationalism in China

China was considered to be within the sphere of British influence, one of the forms imperialism can take. Britain never
completely or directly controlled the Chinese government, led by royalty, but did influence political and economic affairs
heavily. By the end of the 19th century, British control was beginning a slow withdrawal from China. It
is at this point that nationalistic movements began succeeding where previous ones had failed. In early
1900's, there was a successful overthrow of the Emperor called the Chinese Revolution. This
revolution was led by Sun Yixian who went on to establish the Kuomintang and be elected as a
provisional president of a democratic government. His principles were restoring Chinese pride,
removing foreign influence, individual rights, land reform, and modernization. His successor was Jiang
Jieshi, who would lead the Kuomintang using the same principles.
Another Chinese Nationalist leader, named Mao Zedong, was in direct opposition to the democratic
principles of Jieshi and the Kuomintang. Mao was a Marxist who followed the principles of communism, as opposed
to capitalism. Mao won the favor of the Chinese people during the Communist
Revolution against Jieshi. Mao's Long March was an event in which 100,000 communists
walked nearly 6,000 miles while under constant fire from the Kuomintang. It became Mao's
symbol of perseverance and helped him rise to power after the Japanese invasion of China during
the Second World War was finally halted. After defeating Jieshi, Mao assumed
power in 1949 as the communist leader of the People's Republic of China.
Nationalism in Vietnam

European imperialism was also established on the Southeast Asian peninsula of Indo-China. The
countries of Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam had been previously imperialized by France. One
Vietnamese leader was prominent in the call for self-rule. As shown here, Ho Chi Minh went to
the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 after WWI to plead his case and ask that Vietnam be rid of any
foreign influence. He was largely ignored by the leaders of Europe and it was not until after
WWII that Vietnam openly began fighting against the French. By 1954, Ho Chi Minh had succeeded in establishing North
Vietnam, with the military aid of the communist world. To order to stop the spread of communism, the
United States took control of South Vietnam from France and established a democratic government under
the leadership of Ngo Dinh Diem. TheVietnam conflict between North and South Vietnam would not end
until the mid-1970.
Nationalism in India

Great Britain had colonized the country of India during the 1700's. Indian nationalistic movements, such as ones led by
the Indian National Congress, had made attempts at self-rule but had never been completely successful. The great
proponent of a free India, Mohandas K. Gandhi, was instrumental in the Indian Nationalist Movement. Known as the
Mahatma, or the Great Soul, Gandhi forced change and an end to British imperialism through a strict policy of non-violence,
or passive resistance.
Examples of his civil disobedience included boycotts such as the Salt March, and hunger strikes. He also forced change at
home by attempting to do away with the Hindu caste system. The rigid caste system separated
religious and political classes from lower classes of laborers and outcasts with no hope at social
mobility.
Violent episodes, such as the Amritsar Massacre, plagued India's movement to become free. Great
Britain, weakened by its efforts in World War II, finally conceded to Indian nationalist demands in 1948.
Despite the influence of Gandhi, India fell into disorder. Hindu people wanted an all-Hindu state and Muslims, led by
the Muslim League wanted a separate state. Gandhi was assassinated because of this conflict. Eventually, Pakistan was
formed as a separate Muslim state. Therefore, the strength and will of the common people both achieved Indian
independence and tore India apart. The story of Mahatma Gandhi and Indian nationalism is one of history's greatest ironies.

1.

Nationalism is basically a collective state of mind or consciousness in which people believe their primary duty and
loyalty is to the nation-state. Often nationalism implies national superiority and glorifies various national virtues.
Thus love of nation may be overemphasized; concern with national self-interest to the exclusion of the rights of
other nations may lead to international conflict.

2.

Nationalism in Asia
Nationalism political or social philosophy in which the welfare of the nation-state as an entity is considered paramount.
Nationalism is basically a collective state of mind or consciousness in which people believe their primary duty and loyalty is to
the nation-state. Often nationalism implies national superiority and glorifies various national virtues. Thus love of nation may
be overemphasized; concern with national self-interest to the exclusion of the rights of other nations may lead to international
conflict.
Nationalism is a comparatively recent phenomenon, probably born with the French Revolution, but despite its short history, it
has been extremely important in forming the bonds that hold modern nations together. Today it operates alongside the legal
structure and supplements the formal institutions of society in providing much of the cohesiveness and order necessary for the
existence of the modern nation-state.
Necessary Conditions for Its Development
for people to express nationalism it is first necessary for them to identify themselves as belonging to a nation, that is, a large
group of people who have something in common. The rise of centralized monarchies, which placed people under one rule and
eliminated feudalism, made this possible. The realization that they might possess a common history, religion, language, or race
also aided people in forming a national identity. When both a common identity and a formal authority structure over a large
territory (i.e., the state) exist, then nationalism becomes possible.
In its first powerful manifestation in the French Revolution, nationalism carried with it the notion of popular sovereignty, from
which some have inferred that nationalism can occur only in democratic nations. However, this thesis is belied by the intense
nationalism that characterized the German Empire and later Nazi Germany. Where nationalism arises, its specific form is the
product of each particular nation's history.
History
Early Developments
although nationalism is unique to the modern world, some of its elements can be traced throughout history. The first roots of
nationalism are probably to be found in the ancient Hebrews, who conceived of themselves as both a chosen people, that is, a
people as a whole superior to all other peoples, and a people with a common cultural history. The ancient Greeks also felt
superior to all other peoples and moreover felt a sense of great loyalty to the political community. These feelings of cultural
superiority (ethnocentrism), which are similar to nationalism, gave way to much more universal identifications under the
Roman Empire and with the Christian Church through its teaching of the oneness of humanity.
As strong centralized monarchies were built from petty feudal states, as regional languages and art forms were evolved, and as
local economies widened, popular identification with these developments became increasingly strong. In areas such as Italy,
which were not yet single nations, recurring invasions led such thinkers as Niccole Machiavelli to advocate national political
federation. The religious wars of the Reformation set nation against nation, though the strongest loyalty continued to adhere to
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the sovereign. In the 16 and 17 cent. The nationalistic economic doctrine of mercantilism appeared.
The growth of the middle classes, their desire for political power, and the consequent development of democratic political
theory were closely connected with the emergence of modern nationalism. The theorists of the French Revolution held that
people should establish governments of equality and liberty for everyone. To them the nation was inseparable from the people,
and for the first time in history a people could create a government in accordance with the nation's general will. Although their
aims were universal, they glorified the nation that would establish their aims, and nationalism found its first political
expression.
The Nineteenth Century
It was in the 19th cent. That nationalism became a widespread and powerful force. During this time nationalism expressed itself
in many areas as a drive for national unification or independence. The spirit of nationalism took an especially strong hold in
Germany, where thinkers such as Johann Gottfried von Herder and Johann Gottlieb Fichte had developed the idea of Volk.
However, the nationalism that inspired the German people to rise against the empire of Napoleon I was conservative, traditionbound, and narrow rather than liberal, progressive, and universal. And when the fragmented Germany was finally unified as the
German Empire in 1871, it was a highly authoritarian and militarist state. After many years of fighting, Italy also achieved
national unification and freedom from foreign domination, but certain areas inhabited by Italians (e.g., Trieste) were not
included in the new state, and this gave rise to the problem of irredentism. In the United States, where nationalism had evinced
itself in the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, national unity was maintained at the cost of the Civil War.
In the latter half of the 19th cent., there were strong nationalist movements among the peoples subject to the supranational
Austrian and Ottoman empires, as there were in Ireland under British rule and in Poland under Russian rule. At the same time,
however, with the emergence in Europe of strong, integrated nation-states, nationalism became increasingly a sentiment of
conservatives. It was turned against such international movements as socialism, and it found outlet in pursuit of glory and
empire (see imperialism). Nationalist conflicts had much to do with bringing on World War I.
The Twentieth Century
The early 20th cent., with the breakup of Austria-Hungary and of the Ottoman Empire, saw the establishment of many
independent nations, especially through the peace treaties ending World War I. The Paris Peace Conference established the
principle of national self-determination, upheld by the League of Nations and later by the United Nations. While self-

determination is a nationalist principle, it also recognizes the basic equality of all nations, large or small, and therefore
transcends a narrow nationalism that claims superiority for itself.
It was exactly this latter type of nationalism, however, that arose in Nazi Germany, preaching the superiority of the so-called
Aryan race and the need for the extermination of the Jews and the enslavement of Slavic peoples in their "living space"
(see National Socialism). Italian fascism was in a similar manner based on extreme nationalist sentiments. At the same time,
Asian and African colonial territories, seeking to cast off imperial bonds, were developing nationalist movements. Perhaps the
most famous of these was the Indian National Congress, which struggled for Indian independence for over 60 years. After
World War II nationalism in Asia and Africa spread at such a fast pace that dozens of new "nations" were created from former
colonial territorial holdings.
Although interdependence and global communications interconnected all nations by the 1990s, nationalism appears to have
grown more extreme with the breakup of the Soviet empire, the growth of Muslim fundamentalism, and the collapse of
Yugoslavia. Xenophobic, separatist movements are not necessarily confined to newly independent states; they appear in many
European nations and Canada, as well as India, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Lebanon, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and many others. International
organizations, such as the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization of American States, and the Organization for
African Unity, represent attempts to curb extreme nationalism, stressing cooperation among nations.
Bibliography
See H. Kohn, The Idea of Nationalism (1944, repr. 1967) and Nationalism: Its Meaning and History (rev. ed. 1965); E. H.
Carr, Nationalism and After (1945); L. L. Snyder, The Meaning of Nationalism (1954, repr. 1968); A. Smith, Theories of
Nationalism (1971); A. D. Smith, Nationalism in the Twentieth Century (1979); B. Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections
on the Origins and Spread of Nationalism (1983); E. A. Tiryakian and R. Rogowski, ed., New Nationalisms of the Developed
West (1985); J. Breuilly,Nationalism and the State (1985); L. L. Snyder, Encyclopedia of Nationalism (1990).