States, Nations and Nationalism
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- Create Date：2021-09-02 07:53:31
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Hagen Schulze
- ISBN：0631209336
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Reviews
Chun Ying
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Read chapters 5， 6， 8， and 9 for a class on the European States back in Maastricht。 It did lend a hand in understanding the emergence of nation-states in Europe。 It's presented with dense facts on the Middle Ages。 Read chapters 5， 6， 8， and 9 for a class on the European States back in Maastricht。 It did lend a hand in understanding the emergence of nation-states in Europe。 It's presented with dense facts on the Middle Ages。 。。。more
Jan-Maat
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This review may well sound less positive and more begrudging than it should。 After Imagined Communities or the likes of Britons Forging the Nation I expect close analysis and a bit of theory， the forward to this book even mentions the question of how national consciousness develops but Schulze takes a different direction giving instead an overview of how we， in much of Europe at least， came to our present pass in which the existence of nation states is taken for granted as something self evident This review may well sound less positive and more begrudging than it should。 After Imagined Communities or the likes of Britons Forging the Nation I expect close analysis and a bit of theory， the forward to this book even mentions the question of how national consciousness develops but Schulze takes a different direction giving instead an overview of how we， in much of Europe at least， came to our present pass in which the existence of nation states is taken for granted as something self evident and natural。 He succeeds in doing this in a very fluid text that reminded me of a lecture course with its brisk flow across western Europe; the first chapter looking at States， theories of the state and communities from the middle ages to the early modern period， the second looking at nations down to the mid nineteenth century， the third looking at the nation state from 1815 until 1945 with the fourth chapter taking us into the era of the EU。 However I was left largely dissatisfied。 The absence of case studies and theory left me wanting the accompanying seminars （metaphorically speaking） and comparing this book unfavourably to Kappeler's The Russian Empire which I felt handled the issue of developing nations in a more compelling way。At the end of Schulze's book the EU comes in as antidote to the self-destructive nationalism that led to 1914 and 1939。 This counter balances the optimism of Francis Fukuyama whose concept of the End of History begins this book。 Once a social-Darwinist view of existence as the survival of the fittest has become widespread then from a nationalist perspective a merciless struggle between nations becomes a matter of biological necessity（view spoiler）[ given recent political developments perhaps it would be sensible or many to prepare themselves refugee packs for when we revert completely to type （hide spoiler）]。 Ludendorff， German WWI general and one time supporter of Hitler， went beyond Clausewitz。 For him war and politics became one， peace didn't exist， relationships between nations were always conflictual， since there is only victory or defeat therefore there must be the complete mobilisation of state and nation。 Naturally this type of eat or be eaten idea gives rise to a certain nervousness best avoided in the conduct of international relations， as German chancellor Bethmann Hollweg remarked in 1912 Aber sehr häufig， meine Herren sind die Kriege nicht von den Regierungen geplant und herbeigeführt worden。 Die Völker sind vielfach durch lärmende und fanatisierte Minoritäten in die Kriege hineingetrieben worden。 Diese Gefahr besteht noch heute und vielleicht heute in noch höherem Masse als früher， nachdem Öffentlichkeit， Volksstimmung， Agitation an Gewicht und Bedeutung zugenommen haben" p。278Despite agitation， protest and revolt in support of ideal nation states - most famously in 1848 - the reality was very messy， according to estimates something like 2。5% of Italians had a fluent command of their own （notional） national language in 1861 when unification was achieved。 Despite this the new state had irredentist designs on the additional linguist diversity of the Dalmatian coast and South Tyrol。 The diversity of ideas of nationalism is something that Schulze could have made explicit。 The nation could be something very narrowly convinced - a political nation consisting perhaps of only the nobility and the clergy， an approach common in Poland and Hungary in the eighteenth century while at about the same time the Abbe Sieyes in France saw the Third estate alone as the carrier of the community。 The discovery of Tacitus' Germania led German speaking humanists to invent by contrast a broad sense of an unchanging nation continuously there since antiquity。 The raw， uncivilised， drunkards of today in the light of Tacitus （uncritically applied） could be seen as they "really" were: true， brave and beer drinking， simple living people。 In a final tribute to the lecture style of the whole book I close by citing one of Schulze's asides: in 1889 Elizabeth Cochrane， a journalist on the New York "World" newspaper travelled round the world in 72 days， six hours and 11 minutes pausing to visit Jules Verne and to buy a monkey in Singapore。 。。。more
Sarah
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Oh boy， Hagen Schulze sure likes the terms 'hitherto' and 'mutatis mutandis'。 Other than that， I found it very hard to find some cohesion in this book。 Sure， it is what it says on the tin。 But it's a tin that has been shaken gravely。 I think it's supposed to be chronologic， and it is more or less。 Still there are constant time lapses and flashbacks and repetitions。 An explanation of the terms States， Nations and Nationalism is given in the Preface but after that they are used diffusely。 Another Oh boy， Hagen Schulze sure likes the terms 'hitherto' and 'mutatis mutandis'。 Other than that， I found it very hard to find some cohesion in this book。 Sure， it is what it says on the tin。 But it's a tin that has been shaken gravely。 I think it's supposed to be chronologic， and it is more or less。 Still there are constant time lapses and flashbacks and repetitions。 An explanation of the terms States， Nations and Nationalism is given in the Preface but after that they are used diffusely。 Another thing that was not confusing but somewhat strange is the fact that Europe only seems to excist of France， Italy， Germany （HRE） and the United Kingdom。 Bits and pieces of other countries are shortly mentioned but I was shocked to find out in chapter 12 Hagen Schulze DID know Eastern Europe excisted。 Not sure about Northern Europe though。 。。。more
Katrinka
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