A World War I political cartoon.
Nationalism is the belief that members of one culture constitute a nation, and that the nation should be united due to its perceived superiority over other nations. An extreme form of patriotism, nationalism advocates the creation of ethnicity-based nation states, and Nazi Germany used this ideology when it annexed culturally-German areas such as the Rhineland, the Ruhr, Memel, and the Sudetenland in the 1930s. Nationalism first developed at the time of the Hundred Years' War in the 14th century, when England and France fought each other for 116 years due to England's desire to reclaim lost territory in France. Since then, it has driven countries to go to war with other countries, as nationalists believe that it is their duty to spread their nation's culture across the world. Extreme nationalism has also been seen in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars, when immense national pride led to France taking on the great powers of Europe in an attempt to conquer as much land as possible. Today, nationalism is often associated with the far-right, and it often includes militarism and racism. However, there are such ideologies as left-wing nationalism (advocating for self-determination) and civic nationalism (in which people are encouraged to contrtibute to the greatness of their country).
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