Nation state
A nation-state is defined as an independent political entity formed by a group of people who share common cultural traits such as language, religion, and ethnicity. Although not all citizens may possess every characteristic of the dominant group, they typically share similar backgrounds and traditions. The emergence of nation-states is a relatively recent development in human history, evolving after the decline of feudalism and the Holy Roman Empire in Europe during the 15th century. As cities and commerce expanded, a distinct middle class arose, fostering a sense of identity and sovereignty that was independent of local lords.
Examples of nation-states include Japan, which developed a cohesive national identity through isolation and later modernization, and the United States, which presents a complex identity due to its diverse cultural makeup. The formation of modern nation-states has often been shaped by revolutions, wars, and the effects of colonialism, resulting in ongoing changes to political boundaries and identities. The concept is interconnected with the understanding of how different groups relate to one another and how cultural practices are viewed through the lens of both insiders and outsiders. As such, nation-states continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of their populations.
Nation state
A nation-state is formed when people sharing a common culture, language, religion, race, and nationality create an independent country, or state. Although some citizens of a nation-state may not possess every trait of the dominant population, in general their backgrounds and traditions are very similar.
Overview
While people who share close cultural ties comprise a nation, unless they have their own territory and government, they do not live in a nation-state. For example, a nation of thirty million Kurds lives in one region of Western Asia that is often called Kurdistan. But Kurdistan is not an independent nation—instead it includes parts of the states of Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, and Syria. On the other hand, the United States is a large, independent state, but some political scholars say it is not a nation-state because its people identify with several different cultures or nations within the country. Some residents are recent immigrants, while others follow the customs of their ancestors or identify with the traditional culture of a region, such as New England or the Deep South.
The concept of a nation-state is relatively new in the history of human culture. Until about the fifteenth century, people lived in small, nomadic groups or spent their lives in or around a small village. Later, peasants worked within fiefdoms ruled by noblemen with little connection to a greater society or a national identity. If a monarchy or other central government existed, it did not concern the peasants and tenants; they were required only to work for the local lord and fight for him, if the occasion arose. Most people lived and worked and died within the same area as their fathers and grandfathers. They knew little or nothing of the country they lived in or the king their lord served.
Beginnings of the Nation-State
In Europe, the nation-state emerged after the demise of the Holy Roman Empire, when small countries gained independence after the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). As the population grew, cities and commerce expanded, creating a middle class of independent shopkeepers and tradesmen. This new group owed no allegiance to the nobility and was free to move from town to town. As feudalism declined, monarchs sought to centralize government and keep more power for themselves.
Elsewhere in the world, isolated civilizations, such as Japan, developed as nations free from outside influence. Once the world came to their doors, they established themselves as sovereign states. Japan is both a united ethnic, cultural, and political group and a physical location. The development of such nation-states occurred at different times around the world as countries identified themselves as political states and through ethnic associations.
A nation-state exists in relation to other groups or cultures, which may or may not be nation-states. Members of a nation identify with similar individuals and traditional practices, while outsiders tend to observe, identify traits, and judge the nation's customs in relation to their own. For example, a member of a Christian nation would be likely to criticize a tradition that includes human sacrifice. Similarly, members of an Islamic society would condemn a culture that allows revealing clothing or consumption of alcohol.
Development of European Nation-States
In the Middle Ages, most territories in Europe were ruled by nobles who answered only to the king and the church. As the populations grew and cities expanded, states came under the direct rule of the king. However, people living in smaller divisions, such as counties, had developed a sense of identity with their own region and had little in common with faraway places in the kingdom. For example, the residents of a busy commercial city such as London shared few conventions with Celtic fishermen in Cornwall or farmers raising sheep in Yorkshire. They spoke different dialects, and sometimes entirely separate languages. The regions became a state under a single ruler, but remained a patchwork of nations until, over time, people relocated, intermarried, and created a more cohesive population.
Forming New Nation-States
The English colonists in America shared the national traits of Englishmen, including language, history, and traditions. Later generations of Americans—having been born and bred far from the social and political hierarchy of England where the king was head of both church and state—began to develop a separate culture. Enlightenment ideas and the insistence that sovereignty belonged to the people led these Americans to form their own government, independent of the nation-state from which they had sprung.
Having observed the success of the American Revolution, eighteenth-century French activists saw an opportunity to overthrow the aristocracy and establish their own sovereign state. The people not only toppled the monarchy, but also rejected the concept of nobility and the authority of the Catholic Church. Instead, they formed a nation-state based on the equality of all citizens.
Japan is often used as an example of a nation-state because of its long history of isolation and homogeneous population. Its feudal rulers had virtually no contact with the West until the sixteenth century, after which the country was unified. The new government expelled foreign missionaries and again adopted a policy of seclusion. But in 1868, the new emperor established a centralized government and opened Japan's doors to trade and ideas from the rest of the world. The Meiji—Enlightened Rule—included a Charter Oath establishing not only a new government, but also social mobility and citizen involvement in state affairs. The islands' people retained their common traits, including rituals, language, community, and individual sacrifice for the greater good, even as the country developed into a modern nation-state.
The Modern State
To overcome the aristocracy, a ruler needed money with which to establish a bureaucracy and an army; for the most part, that money came from commerce and industry among the middle class. As the new ruling class gained authority, the modern nation-state came into being. Since the nineteenth century, boundaries have been drawn and redrawn as revolutions, wars, and the emergence from colonialism created new states. The nation-state remains a process as changing economies, technologies, and citizens’ needs and expectations guide its reformation. For example, some nation-states and independent nations emerged in the twenty-first century, including Serbia and Montenegro, which formed a state union as the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) in the late 1990s and then split to form independent nations in 2006.
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