To write about the changes that have taken place in a word, one must consider the changes that have taken place in the world over a grand space of time, and the word nation embodies this. Nation is a word that has gone through drastic changes in meaning over a great period of time. This word truly demonstrates how a word evolves with the cultures that use them. It evolved from a derogatory ancient Roman word applied only to foreigners’ lands to a modern English word to describe a place controlled by a government. It has had different meanings that have evolved between nations and time. Currently, the word nation most strongly implies a governing body that controls an area and its citizens.
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The definition had changed over time from meaning the homeland of a stranger to a large group of people with shared descendants, similar ethnicity, or a shared culture. Then during the French Revolution, it changed to meaning a people with a shared culture that are part of a state. During the French Revolution, nationalism was linked with political sovereignty. In the years leading up to the French Revolution, there were many calls for a government composed solely of the peoples’ will. Rousseau, Robespierre, and other French thinkers rejected the idea of representative democracy, and instead wanted a government composed of all the people of France. What this “direct democracy” these self-proclaimed nationalists wanted required them to decide was, “What is the nation of France?”. The french had been mostly united as long as they were fighting the Ancient Regime, but now that the were gone they needed to unite against the enemies of homogeneity. The nationalists now desired one clear French nation without regionalism, political parties, or linguistic differences and with complete homogenization to create the one French nation. This inspired a fervent patriotism in the people to fight for a united France and to resent anything that they felt could threaten it or its …show more content…
Understanding the modern definition of a nation is critical to understanding and participating in modern politics. Modern political issues hinging on the definition of a nation include the growth of multinational organizations, territorial disputes, foreign independence movements, and human rights issues, but nearly any international quandary might cause one to ask, “What is a nation?”. It is easy to say a nation is an independent political body with a unified, clearly defined territory and citizenry subject to its authority or any other possible definition, but applying that definition proves slightly harder. When a government joins larger entity such as the UN and relinquishes some of its power, it loses some of its sovereignty and independence and eventually may cease to be nation. If government does not join any such organizations, its refusal to join may taken as a sign of international ill will. Territorial disputes arise when one nation tries to subsume another entity declaring itself a nation or when a group tries to break away from a larger nation to form their own nation like in the case of Israel and Palestine. Foreign independence movements often seek larger nations’ or organizations’ assistance in establishing themselves as a nation like Tibet has in its struggle to break away from China, but these nations must then ask if these groups are
The definition had changed over time from meaning the homeland of a stranger to a large group of people with shared descendants, similar ethnicity, or a shared culture. Then during the French Revolution, it changed to meaning a people with a shared culture that are part of a state. During the French Revolution, nationalism was linked with political sovereignty. In the years leading up to the French Revolution, there were many calls for a government composed solely of the peoples’ will. Rousseau, Robespierre, and other French thinkers rejected the idea of representative democracy, and instead wanted a government composed of all the people of France. What this “direct democracy” these self-proclaimed nationalists wanted required them to decide was, “What is the nation of France?”. The french had been mostly united as long as they were fighting the Ancient Regime, but now that the were gone they needed to unite against the enemies of homogeneity. The nationalists now desired one clear French nation without regionalism, political parties, or linguistic differences and with complete homogenization to create the one French nation. This inspired a fervent patriotism in the people to fight for a united France and to resent anything that they felt could threaten it or its …show more content…
Understanding the modern definition of a nation is critical to understanding and participating in modern politics. Modern political issues hinging on the definition of a nation include the growth of multinational organizations, territorial disputes, foreign independence movements, and human rights issues, but nearly any international quandary might cause one to ask, “What is a nation?”. It is easy to say a nation is an independent political body with a unified, clearly defined territory and citizenry subject to its authority or any other possible definition, but applying that definition proves slightly harder. When a government joins larger entity such as the UN and relinquishes some of its power, it loses some of its sovereignty and independence and eventually may cease to be nation. If government does not join any such organizations, its refusal to join may taken as a sign of international ill will. Territorial disputes arise when one nation tries to subsume another entity declaring itself a nation or when a group tries to break away from a larger nation to form their own nation like in the case of Israel and Palestine. Foreign independence movements often seek larger nations’ or organizations’ assistance in establishing themselves as a nation like Tibet has in its struggle to break away from China, but these nations must then ask if these groups are