Re:National Identity Is Made Up [video]
by mr_toad on Wednesday February 28, 2018 @06:06PM
(#16488099)
The idea that a “common people” with a shared history and culture should form a political unit is quite new.
Prior to the French Revolution, the idea was that political power devolved from the top (usually by divine right) and whatever people happened to live within the reach of the ruler should do what they were told, if they knew what was good for them.
The boundaries of the state would shift along with the power and influence and military success of the ruler. The modern idea that some people might object to living under one ruler (and thus one state) rather than other, based on some idea of shared history, would have been a strange idea to those used to living in autocratic societies.
Nationalism has been so successful at adhering the support of the masses to the establishment that few today even think to question it.
Prior to the French Revolution, the idea was that political power devolved from the top (usually by divine right) and whatever people happened to live within the reach of the ruler should do what they were told, if they knew what was good for them.
The boundaries of the state would shift along with the power and influence and military success of the ruler. The modern idea that some people might object to living under one ruler (and thus one state) rather than other, based on some idea of shared history, would have been a strange idea to those used to living in autocratic societies.
Nationalism has been so successful at adhering the support of the masses to the establishment that few today even think to question it.