Fall Term Essay 1
Mariam Khan 4792982
Political Science 1F90
TA: Ayisha Ali

There are many political ideologies in today’s world, and with everyone’s individual views, who can actually say whether one is more right than the other (Gellner, 1-7). Nationalism has been an extremely ancient ideology dating back to primitive people and tribalism (Snyder 1990, 241-249). This concept then manifested itself during Athenian times aiding in the development of the great empires and progressed into England and then jolt started the French revolution (Snyder 1990, 241-249). All these eras of nationalism conjoined political, economical, religious, and ethnic factors to unite peoples and nations (Gellner, 1-7). Nationalism can also be considered an ideology of debate because of its vague definition and complexity. Many people can state nationalism is the appreciation of their country or nation; others can define it as the need for independency (Gellner, 1-7). Both these routes can have negative and positive characteristics and outcomes. The positives are very straight forward, the love of one’s country and bond between citizens can be dubbed vital to the prosperity of a nation or country. What happens when this love of one’s country and the bond between its citizens crosses ethnic and human boundaries? This can be defined as ethnic nationalism, which allows ethnicity to become main component in being a nationalist (Snyder 1990, 241-249). This paper will define nationalism in terms of an egocentric political ideology that uses the love of one’s country and ethnicity to push people to the extremes of segregation and violence. It will also outline this between two world issues; Nazism and the current crisis occurring in Darfur, Sudan. Taking this into consideration, it can be concurred that nationalism is negative force in today’s modern world which is aggresses from narrow minded views, fascism and the leading factor in genocide. The world simple tends to refer to something which is not hard yet simplicity in terms of nationalism simplicity can become an assumed way of thought can be detrimental. This means that an individual is governed in a way to not think outside those boundaries of simplicity. This can lead to very narrow minded views. This was very evident during the 19th century in Germany during the reign of Adolf Hitler (Snyder 1990, 131-140). Adolf Hitler more commonly referred to in society as Hitler was a prime example of the negative impacts of nationalism. He took advantage of the concept of nationalism which was flamboyant in Germany after World War I and turned it into a basis of a vile dictatorship (Snyder 1990, 131-140). During this reign he used to concept to nationalism to promote racial segregation, and desired to have a “pure Germany” (Snyder 1990, 131-140). Hitler also proceeded to use his views of racial cleanliness to target Jews living in Germany, since during the 19th century they Jewish people were the largest non-German ethnic group (Snyder 1990, 131-140). Adolf Hitler’s simple and narrow minded views of a secular German turned into one of the largest human killing spree which is more commonly referred to as the Holocaust (Snyder 1990, 131-140). This simplistic view can also be applied to more current affairs like conflict which have arose in the Darfur region of Sudan since 2003 (Glen et al, 2003 1-8). This conflict is due to the mere narrow minded notion that one ethnicity is more superior to the other in a given area and is occurring between the Arab-Muslim people and the African- Christian people (Glen et al, 2003 1-8). Similarly to Hitler’s notion of a perfect Germany, the people of Darfur have taken a stand to show which one of two major ethnic groups residing in that era is of greater importance. Having a simple view or narrow mind, and believe one thing is better than the other is personal belief and should be allowed to occur but when those beliefs take over the governments and entire nations and turning them into states of tyranny, manipulation and corruption that is when the line must be drawn. Technically when a government has a narrow mind, the result of that is most times extremely bad for the people residing under that government (Passmore 2002, 1-162).. This is when the term Fascism is applied, which is defined as the use of authoritarianism and rebellion while giving off a facade of nationalism and the desire for a strong independent nation (Passmore 2002, 1-162). The ideology of fascism was invented in World War I by Mussolini who embarked on creating a new Roman Empire in Europe through the facets of this concept (Snyder 1990, 155-158). Nationalism is many times used as a venue for fascism to take place. Both these ideologies have many of the same structures and way of thought. Adolf Hitler fuelled his nationalist attitude with fascism in his attempts to create an ethnic utopia (Snyder 1990, 131-140). He wanted complete dominance politically and economically over Germany and used concepts of nationalism which was referred to as the love for Germany in order to corrupt people into believing his radical fascistic views. Regardless of his inhumane tendencies because of these tactics, Adolf Hitler ruled over Germany for almost 12 years (Snyder 1990, 131-140). This is also evident in Darfur as well yet it is on a more religious scale. The Muslim-Arab community want to be politically in control because they would like to govern in a specific way and vice versa the Christian-African would like the same power (Glen et al, 2003 1-8). This need to create authoritarian nation is what is causing the conflict in Darfur (Glen et al, 2003 1-8). Fascism is a corrupt way to inflict control on a nation, and not give the citizens of that nation any right to their own thoughts and views (Grant 1999 1-5). In fascism driven nations, like 19th century Germany and today’s Darfur, people assimilate to their surrounds not by choice but for safety (Grant 1999, 1-5). The goal of fascism is to create authoritarian governments and inflict domination on it’s people through the concept of nationalism. This is not what nationalism was created for at all. When these two phenomenons occur in a country, the most volatile outcome that can transpire is Genocide (Springer 2006, 1 – 14). This is a term used to define the annihilation of any ethnic group or nation (Springer 2006, 1 – 14). This can transpire when narrow minded views cloud judgment, which allows government to make people feel like that the love of their nation must be displayed by eradicating anything that is different. Genocidal conflicts occur all over the world, more so in 3rd world countries with poor political structures and education for their people to utilize (Springer 2006, 1 – 14). One of earliest documented genocides was lead by Adolf Hitler and killed around 11 million people, 6 million of those people being of Jewish decent (Grant 1999, 1 -8). The simplistic views that fuel genocide are accompanied by the prejudices people develop through religious and ethnic manipulation (Grant 1999, 1-5). This manipulation is many times lead by government dictators who use nationalism as a device to make these thoughts seem rational (Grant 1999, 1-8). Dehumanization of people that is making a person feel less than an actual human being and is one of the first major steps before genocide begins (Grant 1999 1 -8). Hitler dehumanized Jews in Germany by forcing them to clean streets with toothbrushes to allow citizens of German to sense that they were below human (Grant 1999 1 -8). This signifies how horrible the treatment of the Jews were and how people did not question their treatment because it would seem that they did not appreciate a better future for Germany. In the region of Darfur, genocide today is very prevalent. Men are killed in front of their wives and young boys are brutally beat (Glen et al 2003, 1-9). The violence in Darfur goes beyond the physical as well. Many women and young girls are raped and beaten by soldiers. The death toll in Darfur has reached approximately 300 000 deaths in just the last several years. (Glen et al 2003, 1-9). Genocide is a direct war against human rights, and it is facilitated by the word nationalism (Glen et al 2003, 1-9). Many people, who inflict these types of injustices, justify their actions in terms of nationalism. They feel it is their duty to their nation to create unity and structure and this structure can only come from the elimination of any threats. This means in order to do this they must destroy all minorities that can create differences and hypothetical problems in the near future (Glen et al 2003, 1-9). These hypothetical scenarios are usually instilled in the citizens through the government. Furthermore it is fairly common that this concept of genocide is usually brought upon a nation through an authoritarian government as it is clearly seen through these two examples of Germany and Darfur. Clearly by comparing these to historical distant occurrences, the background is still extremely similar. Basically Genocide is a terrible way for governments and political parties to get their point across which only ends in bloodshed and more misinterpretations. In conclusion narrow minded or simplistic thinking, fascism and genocide are all key factors that are facilitated by nationalism thus it is a negative force in the modern world. Nationalism can have many benefits. It can be the personal sense of belonging to a country, the love for one’s nation, the pride of being a citizen of a certain state but the negatives at times tend to outweigh the positives. Nationalism can have horrible results and this is very prominent in the examples given in this essay. Nationalism can be constructively utilized because of these factors, it can facilitate to many wars and differences between people. The examples between Darfur and Nazi –Germany show that even through the course of time and transgressions through history the same negative concepts apply. The Nazis inflicted many horrible pains on the people of Germany only because of their descent. They did not feel that Jews were considered a part of the German race. This is the same as Darfur; the two major ethnicities do not consider the other human. This is a result of nationalism, the love of one’s country and oneness gone overboard. Hence, through the many outlined in this essay, it shows nationalism is used as a precursor to many horrible events such as dehumanization, degradation, massacres and in the most heinous death. Needless to say, this has sparked many clear political problems in the modern world yet one must question why the concept of nationalism is still very adamant in the world...even today? Maybe the use of nationalism could be promising if the hatred and prejudices that cloud politics and people could be extracted.

References
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Snyder,Louis L.. Nationalism. 1st ed. United States: Paragon House, 1990.
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Glen, K., et al, "Basic health, women’s health, and mental health among internally displaced persons in nyala province, south darfur, sudan 97". 2. (2007), 1-9.
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Kiernan, Ben and Gellately, Robert. The spectre of genocide mass murder in historical perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Passmore, Kevin. “Fascism: a very short introduction 77” (2002), 1- 162.