Nationalism and National Unification in Nineteenth-Century Europe

Abstract

This chapter defines unification nationalism as successful pan-nationalism, considers its distinctive features as a form of nationalism and traces the transformative impact of such nationalism on the political geography of modern Europe. The focus is upon the German, Italian, and Polish cases and the role played by nationalist ideas, sentiments and, above all, movements in the different paths to nation-state formation. There are brief comparisons with other nationalist movements in nineteenth century Europe. The contrast between the strong Polish nationalist movement and its failure before 1918 and the success in achieving unifications by the arguably weaker German and Italian nationalist movements is used to identify the key conditions for nationalist success and how such conditions in turn shape the character of nationalism.