Practice Position Paper

Nationalism is the pure love and devotion to ones nation, but on occasion
may be taken to the extreme and become ultranationalism; which is straying from
the interests of the nation and becoming irrespective of the repercussions of actions
taken. Throughout history many ultranationalistic leaders have made their
damaging mark on society. In Germany, in 1933, Adolf Hitler committed a mass
genocide which we know of today as the Holocaust. Then twelve years later an
atrocious war crime of atomic bombings in Japan from the United States
government. Both these events showed the damaging effects of subjugating
persons in an attempt to unify a nation. The extent to which the nationalistic
perspective of the source should be embraced is not at all. It should be disregarded
and opposed.
The source is describing the perspective of an ultranationalistic leader who
believes that their nation needs to unite and make their mark in history and anyone
who disagrees should be subjugated. This leader is attempting to fulfill his nations
national interests by uniting them as a people. Any ultranationalistic leader in
history or current day could have delivered this message. Adolf Hitler would be a
primary speaker suggestion however as he believed that he needed to unite the
German people in Europe while executing people who disagreed or stood in his way.
He claimed he was pursing his nations national interests. National interests are
things which are of importance to a country or nations survival and success. They
generally regard one of the following five categories of national concern; cultural,
military, economic, political, or religious. In October of 2014 Canada pursued its own
militarily national interests when their leader, Stephen Harper, sent over a sixmonth air combat team in an attempt to end the war in Iraq. This decision took

careful planning, debating and execution in order for it to be a success. Canada did
this in an attempt to build up their military defenses with other countries and
protect innocent lives. They have placed themselves in the midst of war in an
attempt to retrieve peace and shape new allies and fortify old ones. National
interests are largely related to nationalism. Nationalism is the complete and utter
love and dedication to your nation and the success of it, which is what national
interests also concern. Feelings of nationalism will evidently lead to pursuing
national interests in order to become unified and reach happiness and success.
The nationalistic perspective depicted in the source should not be embraced
at all. If this perspective of overpowering people who do not agree with a leaders
opinion of life and the way it should be governed, the nation may fall into genocide.
Genocide is the mass extermination of a group for any number of reasons;
commonly race or religion. It is the attempt to wipe a group out of existence with no
mercy or concern of consequences. An excellent example during history was when
Adolf Hitler gained political power over Germany in 1933. Hitler began as a strong
leader who brought his country out of poverty and made the unemployment rates in
Germany almost non-existent by 1938. Hitler truly had the intention of unifying his
people and while accomplishing this, he created a genocide, massacring six million
of the nine million Jewish people living in Europe at the time. Hitler believed that he
needed to amalgamate the German people in any way possible. He believed in
lebensraum which is the need for more living space in order to thrive as a nation.
The allies, France, Britain, and the Italy appeased Hitlers request for more land and
eventually lead to the Anschluss between Germany and Austria. After Hitler had
annexed Sudentland and Czechoslovakia, he began wiping out the group who did
not fit into his idea of the perfect society and opposed his methods, the Jewish. The

Jewish people under Hitlers control and eventually further, were taken from their
homes and placed in internment camps where they were starved until their bodies
resembled a faint layer of skin upon frail bones. After being abused in these camps,
the Jewish citizens were placed into gas chambers where they were immediately
killed. Appeasing, and allowing leaders to follow this perspective of annihilating
people whose ideas do not agree results in fatal exterminations and should be
avoided at any and all costs.
If the views expressed in the source were to be embraced, then war crimes
would erupt within the area of the leaders reign. War Crimes are wilful killings,
torture, or inhumane acts of violence against a group of people. 1941, Japan
entered itself into World War 2 when it dropped a bomb on Pearl Harbour. This lead
to an immense war between the United States and Japan. The fighting was
continuous for years and in July of 1945, The United States had had enough. They
wanted to make their mark, and to overthrow the people whose views contradicted,
in this case, their enemies, the Japanese. They delivered an ultimatum to the
Japanese leader on July 26, 1945; stating that they would sign the Potsdam
Declaration, agreeing to unconditional surrender; or the United States would send
troops overseas to drop the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The Japanese however,
did not surrender. Therefore leading to an intentional act of suffering and harm to a
nation. The atomic bomb nicknamed, Little Boy, was dropped on August 6, 1945 and
killed approximately 130,000 people instantly. Immediately after, the same
ultimatum was delivered, sign the declaration or be bombed a second time. The
Japanese did not react to this threat, and three days later, on August 9, the second
atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, Japan killing an estimate of 80,000 people.
If the perspective shown within the source were to be incorporated in life, it is

evident that the odds of war crimes and malicious acts against innocent people
would drastically increase.
If the nationalistic perspective shown within the quote were to be embraced,
heinous acts of violence may occur once again. A genocide may befall due to
opposing views. The people would be taken over and the risk of them becoming
exterminated is a risk that this world should not be willing to take. While the UN
Genocide Convention is in place, it does not stop people from starting this vicious
act. Lives would be lost due to conflicting opinions on life and the success of a
nation. Genocide and war crimes fall hand in hand with their hateful, merciless
ways. If the views expressed by the speaker were applauded opposed to
condemned, the world would fall into wars, killings and executions of thousands of
people. To maintain a civilized, content way of life the perspective must be
disregarded.