Nationalism in the 19th century was very similar to patriotism. Nationalism is when people are loyal to and proud of their country and have the belief that their country or independant nation is superior to others. In the 19th century nationalism was extremely prevenant, though it would be replaced by patriotism. Though many benefited from Nationalism, it caused unnecessary destruction in the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe. It caused uprisings that lead to numerous revolts, disturbing the order, causing needless death and eventually leading to world war one. Firstly, nationalism was used as a political tool for leaders to gain power. This can especially be seen in the
German Unification of 1871. The unification took place on January 18 and was when the Princes of the German states made Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German Empire. From positions of established power, this new generation of leaders molded nationalism to fit harsh political realities. They focused their eyes on practical policies not ideals.”(West in the world pg. 610) These leaders would pretend to help the people, but in reality they were manipulating and compromising to achieve their personal goals. Though,, nationalism often allowed for the creation of new, more powerful, and more oppressive monarchies, these monarchies often came to power through corrupt means. Secondly, nationalism lead to the assassination that caused world war one and was the cause of many other things. Though some may argue that imperialism was the main factor behind the start of world war one, it was still a byproduct of nationalist government. It is commonly believed that it was the assassination of Prince Ferdinand of
Austria, a direct byproduct of serbian nationalism. “Serbians seeking to gain territory at Austria­Hungary's expense, and members of a secret society collaborated together to kill the Austrian heir to the throne. This was the spark plug, nationalism, for the war.”(Wikipedia) If not for nationalism this kind of action would not have been taken and if it had been the alliance system instead, it would not have caused World War One. It pushed people toward national unity in Italy and Germany and threatened to tear the Habsburg and Ottoman empires apart. In the United states, the

principle of national unity helped spark the brutal civil war. As well as in world war one, nationalism also had many ties into world war two. In Germany at the time, the germans thought of themselves as the supreme race and thought those who didn’t look like them or act like them were inferior. This caused Holocaust, in which the germans exterminated and tortured millions of Jews. This is clearly a case of nationalism in an extreme form and started one of the most bloodiest wars in history. Thirdly, nationalism had many negative effects on minority and was very anti­semitic. This is especially seen in the ruling of Germany and Italy. In Germany twelve thousand cases of oppression and violence against minorities and numerous complaints for “racism, anti­Semitism, fascism, and state­inspired nationalist”
(Nationalism in Germany). Both Italy and Germany were united by nationalism, without nationalism this may not have happened. Nationalism is a strong force for bringing nations together. As well as in Germany and Italy there were many cases in Russia. Russia in the 19th century was very anti­semitic when Alexander the third forced
Russians to adopt his culture and speak their language. This forced many Jews to move to other countries and those who didn’t were forced to live in specific areas. Nationalism forced people into have to believe in a specific culture, follow a specific religion, and behave a different way. It also in turn made the people who conformed to the specific culture of that nation or country were treated as if they were better than anyone else. In conclusion, even though Nationalism helped nations unite, it caused damage to society, religion and people. Though it helped countries become bigger and more successful countries, it also caused harm to minorities because it forced beliefs on people, and many wars because it gave people a feeling of superiority. Nationalism helped countries unite, but had an incredible cost on the people of those nations.