Three Cups of Tea 8: Nationalism

   At present, the FIFA World Cup is ongoing. People and fans strongly support their country’s team, and nationalism is soaring.

   Nationalism is the identification with one’s own nation and supporting it.  Unlike other ideologies, nationalism emphasizes having the same culture and belief which unites people together. Nationalism is also about differentiating between nations. Nationalism can also cause conflicts between nations, as they all believe they are the strongest.

   Nationalism is important because it can be used as a force to unite people together. Imagine if nationalism doesn’t exist, then there would be no stable nation in the world. Nationalism is like the heart of one nation, it is really important.

   In the first half of the 20^th century, nationalism swelled negatively and quickly, which led to the First and Second World War. Hitler incited citizens’ nationalism during World War II, claiming that the Aryans were the best race in the world and the Jews were the worst race. He successfully persuaded citizens to vote for him in elections. After he was the Chancellor, Hitler sent many Jews into concentration camps, and systematically killed them. Therefore, nationalism was indirectly responsible for horrible carnage, and for sending the world into chaos. That was the change nationalism and Hitler created. When nationalism is taken to the extreme, that might be the outcome. As an old saying goes, things will turn worse if they go extreme.

   When the first modern Olympic was held in Athens in 1896, people wanted to hold an Olympic just for amateurs, not for professional athletes. At that time, nations always had conflicts and wars. The founders didn’t want the Olympic to be nationalistic. They expected that every athlete represented themselves and other teenage athletes rather than their own country. But the Olympic turned out to be very nationalistic at last. This is similar to the World Cup, formed in 1930. The founders didn’t want it to be nationalistic, but it turned out to be anyway.

   Nationalism is neutral. If it is controlled well, it can retain cultural and national diversity. But if not, it can quickly progress to a disaster such as a war.