4.1 Overview: My Country Right and Wrong: Legacies of Nationalism
In Unit Four, the focus continues to be the following issue question:
When someone in our family passes away, we need to think about that person and what the person has left behind.
The memories of a person are
considered to be a legacy. Some
or material goods willed to the next of
kin, close friends, and family. Other
legacies are children. Some things
about legacies are not as easy to
determine, but eventually they become
clear. For example, did the person
people? Did the person teach us to
be honest, kind, and respectful of our
elders? Did the person make us feel so good about ourselves that we triumphed over obstacles and learned to be successful?
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What legacies can a nation leave?
Think back to the events described in Unit 3. Concentrate on the outcomes of WWI and what was learned as well as what was left unresolved.
• What legacy was left to the next generation by WWI?
involved?
The events leading up to WWI and the way in which the peace treaties were negotiated have shown you that national interests and their expression can have
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Unit 4: Legacies of Nationalism
Perspectives on Nationalism
On the positive side, Canada evolved into a nation that earned the right to speak for itself in the international arena. Several other nations, such as Poland and Serbia, earned their independence. Citizens all over the world had lived through “the war to end all wars” and by working together had survived many hardships.
The negative aspects of WWI, however, were
also clear. Germany had been humiliated, Italy
was angered when its Allies failed to live up to their
secret treaties, and Britain was staggering under
huge debts to the American industrialists who had
were angry because most citizens still did not understand why they had been in the war at all. Many countries of Europe, particularly Belgium and France, had been destroyed. All countries were trying to cope with the horrible human losses. Soldiers returned with injuries that would remain with them for life and prohibit them from returning to their former lives. Families everywhere were destroyed by social programs, had to be taken care of or they would starve. In Europe, industry had to rebuild the factories. Farmers had somehow to start growing crops and war debris. Cities had to be rebuilt. In the view of some artists, such as Alberta Hahn (cartoon above, 1916), the only legacy was death being crowned King.
In Unit 3, because of competing national interests. In this unit you will continue to study the question, “To what extent should national interests be pursued?” You will examine if nationalism should endorse the idea of “my country, right or wrong.”
In January 1918, prior to the end of World War I, American President Woodrow negotiations. In his speech, Wilson asked who the politicians negotiating the treaty represented and whom they spoke for. This distinction is familiar to us today,
but in 1918, the idea of a nation being composed of citizens who required fair the common interests they all shared—peace and security.
President Wilson spoke about a truth to which not many world leaders of the time paid attention:
Perspectives on Nationalism Unit 4: Legacies of Nationalism
“What we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving nation
which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealing by the other own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to others it
President Woodrow Wilson, Speech to USA Congress, 1918
Wilson’s vision of a future world with open diplomacy and a League of Nations that would provide an international setting for open discussion to leave for future generations. However, not all good ideas take hold. A worldwide depression
and another world war would occur to make nations examine how they expressed their national interests.
In the years 1919 to 1945, nations expressed nationalism and ultra-nationalism that sometimes reached xenophobic levels. Some nations adopted the ideologies of communism, fascism, and nazism. Others pursued isolationism or neutrality in their attempts to express their national interests.
4.1 Overview: My Country Right and Wrong: Legacies of Nationalism
In Unit Four, the focus continues to be the following issue question:
When someone in our family passes away, we need to think about that person and what the person has left behind.
The memories of a person are
considered to be a legacy. Some
or material goods willed to the next of
kin, close friends, and family. Other
legacies are children. Some things
about legacies are not as easy to
determine, but eventually they become
clear. For example, did the person
people? Did the person teach us to
be honest, kind, and respectful of our
elders? Did the person make us feel so good about ourselves that we triumphed over obstacles and learned to be successful?
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What legacies can a nation leave?
Think back to the events described in Unit 3. Concentrate on the outcomes of WWI and what was learned as well as what was left unresolved.
• What legacy was left to the next generation by WWI?
involved?
The events leading up to WWI and the way in which the peace treaties were negotiated have shown you that national interests and their expression can have
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Unit 4: Legacies of Nationalism
Perspectives on Nationalism
On the positive side, Canada evolved into a nation that earned the right to speak for itself in the international arena. Several other nations, such as Poland and Serbia, earned their independence. Citizens all over the world had lived through “the war to end all wars” and by working together had survived many hardships.
The negative aspects of WWI, however, were
also clear. Germany had been humiliated, Italy
was angered when its Allies failed to live up to their
secret treaties, and Britain was staggering under
huge debts to the American industrialists who had
were angry because most citizens still did not understand why they had been in the war at all. Many countries of Europe, particularly Belgium and France, had been destroyed. All countries were trying to cope with the horrible human losses. Soldiers returned with injuries that would remain with them for life and prohibit them from returning to their former lives. Families everywhere were destroyed by social programs, had to be taken care of or they would starve. In Europe, industry had to rebuild the factories. Farmers had somehow to start growing crops and war debris. Cities had to be rebuilt. In the view of some artists, such as Alberta Hahn (cartoon above, 1916), the only legacy was death being crowned King.
In Unit 3, because of competing national interests. In this unit you will continue to study the question, “To what extent should national interests be pursued?” You will examine if nationalism should endorse the idea of “my country, right or wrong.”
In January 1918, prior to the end of World War I, American President Woodrow negotiations. In his speech, Wilson asked who the politicians negotiating the treaty represented and whom they spoke for. This distinction is familiar to us today,
but in 1918, the idea of a nation being composed of citizens who required fair the common interests they all shared—peace and security.
President Wilson spoke about a truth to which not many world leaders of the time paid attention:
Perspectives on Nationalism Unit 4: Legacies of Nationalism
“What we demand in this war, therefore, is nothing peculiar to particularly that it be made safe for every peace-loving nation
which, like our own, wishes to live its own life, determine its own institutions, be assured of justice and fair dealing by the other own part we see very clearly that unless justice be done to others it
President Woodrow Wilson, Speech to USA Congress, 1918
Wilson’s vision of a future world with open diplomacy and a League of Nations that would provide an international setting for open discussion to leave for future generations. However, not all good ideas take hold. A worldwide depression
and another world war would occur to make nations examine how they expressed their national interests.
In the years 1919 to 1945, nations expressed nationalism and ultra-nationalism that sometimes reached xenophobic levels. Some nations adopted the ideologies of communism, fascism, and nazism. Others pursued isolationism or neutrality in their attempts to express their national interests.
