Romantic nationalism (also organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state derives its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of a unity of those it governs. This includes, depending on the particular manner of practice, the language, race, culture, religion and customs of the "nation" in its primal sense of those who were "born" within its culture. This form of nationalism arose in reaction to dynastic or imperial hegemony, which placed the legitimacy of the state from the "top down", from a monarch or other authority which justified its existence.

Brief History

Beginning in the late 18th century, Romantic nationalism has relied upon the existence of a historical ethnic culture which meets the Romantic Ideal; folklore developed as a Romantic nationalist concept. The Brothers Grimm were inspired by Johann Gottfried von Herder's writings to create an idealized collection of tales which they labeled as authentically German. The concept of an inherited cultural patrimony from a common origin, rapidly becomes central to the divisions within Romantic Nationalism: specifically, is a nation unified because it comes from the same genetic source, that is because of race? or is it the participation in the organic nature of the "folk" culture self-fulfilling? This issue lies at the heart of disagreements which rage to this day.

Romantic Nationalism formed one of the key strands in the philosophy of Hegel, who argued that there was a "spirit of the age" or zeitgeist which inhabited a particular people at a particular time. That when that people became the active determiner of history, that their cultural and poltical moment came. Hegel, being German, argued that his moment had seen the Zeitgeist settle on the German-speaking peoples.

Rossini's opera William Tell marked the onset of the Romantic opera with the central national myth of Switzerland. Verdi's choruses of oppressed national peoples inspired two generations of patriots in Italy with "Va pensiero". Under the influence of Romantic Nationalism, among many economic and political forces, both Germany and Italy would unify, and movements to create nations based upon ethnic groups would flower in the Balkans (see for example, the Carinthian Plebiscite), along the Baltic Sea, and in the interior of Central Europe. There is a strong Romantic Nationalist element to the rhetoric used by the United States of America in both its Declaration of Independence and Constitution of 1787, as well as the rhetoric in the wave of revolts, inspired by new senses of localized identities, which swept the American colonies of Spain.

Romantic Nationalism from Germany would serve as a model for a process where by folk epics, stories and material were combined with existing dialects and the need for a completely modern syntax to create a "revived" version of a language. People would then learn that language, bring their children up speaking that language, as part of a general program to establish a unique identity. The creation of "Landsmal", which is the foundation of modern Norwegian, is the first language to follow this entire program, and it was joined by Czech, Slovak, Finnish and Hebrew as nationalizing languages. The process was not unique to the 19th century, however, being somewhat analogous to the rise of Modern English under the Tudor dynasty, supplanting the Norman French which had, previously, been the primary language of the elite previously. It is no accident that Shakespeare became an iconic figure during this time, as he was the writer who, more than any other, came to represent the ability of a elite artform to draw from historical and folk material to form a complete, artistically unassailable whole of surpassing excellence.

At the same time, the melding of linguistic and cultural nationality with race proceded through out the 19th century. The arguments of superiority of one race over others as expressed in cultural superiority became essential to polemics defending black chattel slavery, imperialism of one nation over others, and the importance of "christianizing" the "heathens". The element of racial superiority existed separately from the nationalist project, but rapidly became inexorably intertwined with it. By the 1860's outright racial bigotry was crucial to the ideas of artists such as Richard Wagner who argued that those who were ethnically different could not comprehend the artistic and cultural meaning inherent in national culture. He specifically attacked the Jews as being unwilling to assimilate into German culture, and thus unable to truly comprehend the mysteries of its music and language. Ironically, one of the most important conductors of Wagner's music was Jewish, and many of the composers who advanced his musical ideas were Jewish, including Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg.

Church of the Savior on Blood, St Petersburg, 1883-1907

After the 1870s "National Romanticism", as it is more usually called, became a familiar movement in the arts. In music, the type is exemplified by the work of Bedrich Smetana. In Scandinavia and the Slavic parts of Europe especially, "national romanticism" provided a series of answers to the 19th century search for styles that would be culturally meaningful and evocative, yet not merely historicist. When a church was built over the spot in St Petersburg where Tsar Alexander II of Russia had been assassinated, the "Church of the Savior on Blood," the natural style to use was one that best evoked traditional Russian features (illustration, left). In Finland, the reassembly of the national epic, the Kalevala inspired paintings and murals in National Romantic style that substituted there for the international Art Nouveau styles. The foremost proponent in Finland was Akseli Gallen-Kallela (illustration, below right).

The defense of the Sampo, Akseli Gallen-Kallela

By the turn of the century, ethnic self-determination had become an assumption held as being progressive and liberal. There were Romantic National movements for separation in Finland, the Kingdom of Bavaria held apart from a united Germany, and Czech nationalism continued to trouble Imperial politics. The flowering of arts which drew inspiration from national epics and song continued unabated. The "Zionist" movement revived Hebrew, and began searching for a "homeland" for "the Jewish People," and Welsh and Irish tongues also experienced a poetic revival.

In the first two decades of the 20th century, Romantic Nationalism as an idea was to have crucial influence on political events. The belief among European powers was that nations form around unities of language, culture and ethnicity. For this reason President Woodrow Wilson would argue for the creation of self-determining states in the wake of the "Great War". Ironically however, the belief in Romantic Nationalism would be honored in the breach. In drawing the map of Europe, Yugoslavia was created as an intentional coalition state among competing, and often mutually hostile, southern Slavic peoples, and the League of Nations mandates were often drawn, not to unify ethnic groups, but to divide them. To take one example, the nation now known as "Iraq" intentionally joined together Kurds, central Sunni peoples and Arab Shias in an effort to prevent a strong national state, over these was placed a king who was not from Iraq, but instead from the Hashemite dynasty native to the hijaz, and which at the time was attempting to establish sovereignty over Arabia.

After the First World War, a darker version of Romantic Nationalism was taking hold in Germany, to some extent modelling itself on British Imperialism and "the White Man's Burden". The idea was that since people's are different and some are better than others, than the better people's should rule over the lesser ones. Romantic Nationalism, which had begun as a revolt of "foreign" kings and overlords, had come full circle, and was being used to make the case for a "Greater Germany" which would rule over Europe. Adolf Hitler received early support from Wagner's descendants, and they placed on him the seal of approval that he was the unique and genuine expression of the "Volk". Hitler would relentlessly use this phrase and word in his speeches and propoganda.

Because of the broad range of expressions of Romantic Nationalism, it is listed as a contributing factor from everything from the creation of self-determing of states in Europe, to the rise of Nazi Germany. As an idea, if not a specific movment, it is present as an assumption in debates over nationality and nationhood even today, and many of the world's nations were created from priciples drawn from Romantic Nationalism as their source of legitimacy.

Yet the Nazi misuse of Romantic Nationalism had its own reaction, whose finest literary expression is embodied in J. R. R. Tolkien's Anglo-Celtic national epic The Lord of the Rings.

See also

• nationalism
• patriotism
• populism
• ethnocentrism
• racism