The tumultuous events of the last decade of the twentieth century and the first years of this century have shown vividly the enduring power and influence of nationalism on the states and peoples of Europe. This Further Subject sets out to explore a central aspect of modern European history, and to introduce students to some of the genuinely seminal texts in the canon of contemporary political and social thought. Few political ideologies have exercised so long or so consistent an influence over the lives of contemporary Europeans as nationalism, making the search for its intellectual foundations – and the incongruities it spawned – all the more vital for an understanding of modern history, and of the European condition. The course traces the concept of nationalism to its modern origins and studies its evolution over the nineteenth century. This was the crucial period when nationalism entered the mainstream of European politics and came to dominate the political agenda of the continent, as witnessed by the political unifications of Italy and Germany.

This is not a straightforward political history of the nineteenth century. Rather, its purpose is to trace the evolution of an ideology, primarily through the founder-texts of its most influential exponents in Italy, Germany and France, those parts of Europe where nationalism is now most readily identified with both state and people. The set texts include the seminal works of Hegel, Mazzini, Renan, Treitschke, Michelet, Fichte and Gioberti. Their visions will be tested against their opponents, Marx and the Catholic Church among them. A continuing theme of the course is the shift of nationalist ideology from being the child of the revolutionary Left – culminating in the 1848 Revolutions – towards its identification with the Right and the forces of state authority by the end of the period. The thoughts of nationalist writers on the roles of religion, the nature of the state, and the place of the past in shaping cultural identities will all be studied in depth. Their ideas will also be set beside those of the leading, contemporary theorists of nationalism as a political ideology, including Benedict Anderson, John Breuilly, Ernest Gellner and Anthony Smith. In this way, it is hoped to reveal the richness, potency and complexity of the concept of nationalism in the era of its definition, and to test current thinking against its founder-texts. Tutorials will provide the essential background, and no previous knowledge of the period is required. All texts are in English translation.