Nationalism is an ideology that differs from nation to nation. It is the idea that molds nations into what they become. It’s the idea that helps define territories and places. The nations that will be most concentrated on in this paper will be from Southeastern Europe. Nationalism in these countries will then be compared to the definition of nationalism that Ernest Renan gives in his famous essay “What is a nation?” Nationalism is a rather recent development in the human social formation. During the Enlightenment, nationalism was not known. Kings were given all the power and the rich were given land. The common people would be faithful to one king, which was of their religious affiliation. No one was looked at by their ethnicity, rather by their religion. They didn’t have unity. People started realizing that God may not be the most important thing to represent their country. They realized that the solar system was held in place by gravity, not by God. They started to believe in other kings, who were like agents working for God.1 Some scientific studies made people started worrying more about themselves. Laws would then be enforced to meet people’s needs, rather than thinking God would protect them. The people could have rights. But with a Divine-Monarch they couldn’t have these rights because there were too many people to serve. The land was divided into territories, and the people were determined by “their ardent love of the fatherland”. They were to love their new country; they were getting into smaller territories with less people as they wished. People began to learn other languages and develop a sense of individualism. This was inspired by the Romantic Philosophy. But some people knew many languages, which led to the question, what nation were they for? Even the minorities had a “class” to be defined in and had had a sense of nationalism. Some of them were ...
