Notes on Nationalism
Encyclopedia
"Notes on Nationalism" is an essay
written in May 1945 by George Orwell
and published in the first issue of Polemic
(October 1945).
In this essay, Orwell discusses the notion of nationalism
, and argues that it causes people to disregard common sense and become more ignorant towards factuality. Orwell shows his concern for the social state of Europe, and in a broader sense, the entire world, due to an increasing amount of influence of nationalistic sentiment occurring throughout a large number of countries.
, at a time when Europe had only just witnessed the destructive effects of politically-aligned movements, Orwell’s essay uses Nazism
as an example of how nationalism can not only cause havoc between groups of people, but instigate the ignorance within such groups, and compares this with other forms of nationalistic ideologies to generate an overall argument questioning the function of nationalism.
Nationalism is the concept of, according to Orwell, “identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests.” The occurrence of nationalism is visible throughout history, and is prevalent even in today’s world. Nationalism is not only defined as alignment to a political entity; it can also encompass a religion, race, ideology or any other abstract idea. Examples of such forms of nationalism given by Orwell include Communism
, political Catholicism
, Zionism
, Anti-Semitism
, Trotskyism
and Pacifism
Orwell additionally argues that the definitions of “nationalism” and “patriotism
” are not the same, and that “Patriotism is of its nature defensive… Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power.”
Orwell argues that nationalism largely influences the thoughts and actions of people, even in everyday tasks such as decision-making and reasoning. The example provided in his essay follows that, upon asked the question “Out of the three major Allies, which contributed most to the fall of Nazism?”, people aligned with the United States
, Britain
and Soviet Union
would consider their country first, before attempting to search for supportive arguments.
One of the themes Orwell discusses is that of the effects of nationalistic sentiment on human way of thinking. Nationalism causes dishonesty within people, as every nationalist, having chosen one side, persuades himself that his side is the strongest, regardless of the facts provided against his faction. From this sense of superiority, people then argue and defend for the faction which they have aligned with; the slightest slur or criticism from another faction causes them to retort or even act violently, since they realize they are serving a larger entity which provides them with this sense of security, and thus have the obligation to defend it.
Additionally, they may also become ignorant to the point of self-deception, as Orwell describes, “The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them. For quite six years the English admirers of Hitler contrived not to learn of the existence of Dachau and Buchenwald. And those who are loudest in denouncing the German concentration camps are often quite unaware, or only very dimly aware, that there are also concentration camps in Russia. Huge events like the Ukraine famine of 1933, involving the deaths of millions of people, have actually escaped the attention of the majority of English russophiles.”
Such people become susceptible to bias, only acknowledging information which they judge themselves as true, where emotions hinder in addressing facts. One believes in what they approve in their own minds as true to the point that they themselves deem it as an absolute truth, or as Orwell puts it, “More probably they feel that their own version was what happened in the sight of God, and that one is justified in rearranging the records accordingly.”
Furthermore, Orwell criticizes how much of the intellectuals can also be swayed by nationalism, despite their apparent ability to judge their own decisions. Orwell argues that much of the romanticism written about leaders such as Stalin, describing their might, power and integrity, were written by intellectuals. Intellectuals are influenced by public opinion, and like others in society, also feel a very deep attachment to their own country. Orwell puts it that “He still feels the need for a Fatherland, and it is natural to look for one somewhere abroad. Having found it, he can wallow unrestrainedly in exactly those emotions from which he believes that he has emancipated himself.”
Also in his essay, Orwell provides three characteristics which describe those who follow nationalistic sentiment; these are obsession, instability, and indifference to reality. Obsession refers to the manner in which nationalists passionately tender to their faction. Orwell writes that “As nearly as possible, no nationalist ever thinks, talks, or writes about anything except the superiority of his own power unit. It is difficult if not impossible for any nationalist to conceal his allegiance... he will generally claim superiority for (his country) not only in military power and political virtue, but in art, literature, sport, structure of the language, the physical beauty of the inhabitants, and perhaps even in climate, scenery and cooking. He will show great sensitiveness about such things as the correct display of flags, relative size of headlines and the order in which different countries are named.” In the context of stating that "Some nationalists are not far from schizophrenia
, living quite happiliy amid dreams of power and conquest which have no connexion with the physical world", he asks, among other questions: "Is it true about the German gas ovens in Poland?", adding "Since nothing is ever quite proved or disproved, the most unmistakeable fact can be impudently denied".
Regarding instability, Orwell reasons that nationalism can become ironical in various ways. Many of the leaders which are revered by such factions are outright foreigners, who do not even belong to the country they have glorified. For instance, Joseph Stalin
was an ethnic Georgian
, and Adolf Hitler
an Austrian
national, yet both have been idolized in Russia
and Germany
respectively. Finally, Indifference to reality describes how nationalistic behaviour clouds people from perceiving facts of the real world. The use of torture
, hostages, forced labour, mass deportations
, imprisonment without trial
, forgery
, assassination
, the bombing of civilians
, all prove to be irrelevant towards the notion of “good or bad”, where there is no outrage from within the public as the atrocities are committed by “our side”. Some nationalists even go into the trouble of defending such actions, searching for arguments to support his case.
Orwell provides the example of the Liberal News Chronicle publishing images of Russians hanged by the Germans, to depict the shocking barbarity of the Germans, and then a few years later publish with warm approval almost exactly similar photographs of Germans hanged by the Russians. Another similar instance occurs where another newspaper published with seeming approval photographs of near-naked women who collaborated with the Nazis being baited by a mob in Paris. These photos strongly resembled the Nazi images of Jews being baited by the Berlin mob in the years prior to the war.
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
written in May 1945 by George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
and published in the first issue of Polemic
Polemic (Magazine)
Polemic was a British "Magazine of Philosophy, Psychology, and Aesthetics" published between 1945 and 1947, which aimed to be a general or non-specialist intellectual periodical....
(October 1945).
In this essay, Orwell discusses the notion of nationalism
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, and argues that it causes people to disregard common sense and become more ignorant towards factuality. Orwell shows his concern for the social state of Europe, and in a broader sense, the entire world, due to an increasing amount of influence of nationalistic sentiment occurring throughout a large number of countries.
Essay detail
Written during the final stages of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, at a time when Europe had only just witnessed the destructive effects of politically-aligned movements, Orwell’s essay uses Nazism
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
as an example of how nationalism can not only cause havoc between groups of people, but instigate the ignorance within such groups, and compares this with other forms of nationalistic ideologies to generate an overall argument questioning the function of nationalism.
Nationalism is the concept of, according to Orwell, “identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognising no other duty than that of advancing its interests.” The occurrence of nationalism is visible throughout history, and is prevalent even in today’s world. Nationalism is not only defined as alignment to a political entity; it can also encompass a religion, race, ideology or any other abstract idea. Examples of such forms of nationalism given by Orwell include Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, political Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, Zionism
Zionism
Zionism is a Jewish political movement that, in its broadest sense, has supported the self-determination of the Jewish people in a sovereign Jewish national homeland. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Zionist movement continues primarily to advocate on behalf of the Jewish state...
, Anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, Trotskyism
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...
and Pacifism
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
Orwell additionally argues that the definitions of “nationalism” and “patriotism
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
” are not the same, and that “Patriotism is of its nature defensive… Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power.”
Orwell argues that nationalism largely influences the thoughts and actions of people, even in everyday tasks such as decision-making and reasoning. The example provided in his essay follows that, upon asked the question “Out of the three major Allies, which contributed most to the fall of Nazism?”, people aligned with the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
would consider their country first, before attempting to search for supportive arguments.
One of the themes Orwell discusses is that of the effects of nationalistic sentiment on human way of thinking. Nationalism causes dishonesty within people, as every nationalist, having chosen one side, persuades himself that his side is the strongest, regardless of the facts provided against his faction. From this sense of superiority, people then argue and defend for the faction which they have aligned with; the slightest slur or criticism from another faction causes them to retort or even act violently, since they realize they are serving a larger entity which provides them with this sense of security, and thus have the obligation to defend it.
Additionally, they may also become ignorant to the point of self-deception, as Orwell describes, “The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, but he has a remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them. For quite six years the English admirers of Hitler contrived not to learn of the existence of Dachau and Buchenwald. And those who are loudest in denouncing the German concentration camps are often quite unaware, or only very dimly aware, that there are also concentration camps in Russia. Huge events like the Ukraine famine of 1933, involving the deaths of millions of people, have actually escaped the attention of the majority of English russophiles.”
Such people become susceptible to bias, only acknowledging information which they judge themselves as true, where emotions hinder in addressing facts. One believes in what they approve in their own minds as true to the point that they themselves deem it as an absolute truth, or as Orwell puts it, “More probably they feel that their own version was what happened in the sight of God, and that one is justified in rearranging the records accordingly.”
Furthermore, Orwell criticizes how much of the intellectuals can also be swayed by nationalism, despite their apparent ability to judge their own decisions. Orwell argues that much of the romanticism written about leaders such as Stalin, describing their might, power and integrity, were written by intellectuals. Intellectuals are influenced by public opinion, and like others in society, also feel a very deep attachment to their own country. Orwell puts it that “He still feels the need for a Fatherland, and it is natural to look for one somewhere abroad. Having found it, he can wallow unrestrainedly in exactly those emotions from which he believes that he has emancipated himself.”
Also in his essay, Orwell provides three characteristics which describe those who follow nationalistic sentiment; these are obsession, instability, and indifference to reality. Obsession refers to the manner in which nationalists passionately tender to their faction. Orwell writes that “As nearly as possible, no nationalist ever thinks, talks, or writes about anything except the superiority of his own power unit. It is difficult if not impossible for any nationalist to conceal his allegiance... he will generally claim superiority for (his country) not only in military power and political virtue, but in art, literature, sport, structure of the language, the physical beauty of the inhabitants, and perhaps even in climate, scenery and cooking. He will show great sensitiveness about such things as the correct display of flags, relative size of headlines and the order in which different countries are named.” In the context of stating that "Some nationalists are not far from schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
, living quite happiliy amid dreams of power and conquest which have no connexion with the physical world", he asks, among other questions: "Is it true about the German gas ovens in Poland?", adding "Since nothing is ever quite proved or disproved, the most unmistakeable fact can be impudently denied".
Regarding instability, Orwell reasons that nationalism can become ironical in various ways. Many of the leaders which are revered by such factions are outright foreigners, who do not even belong to the country they have glorified. For instance, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
was an ethnic Georgian
Georgian people
The Georgians are an ethnic group that have originated in Georgia, where they constitute a majority of the population. Large Georgian communities are also present throughout Russia, European Union, United States, and South America....
, and Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
an Austrian
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
national, yet both have been idolized in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
respectively. Finally, Indifference to reality describes how nationalistic behaviour clouds people from perceiving facts of the real world. The use of torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
, hostages, forced labour, mass deportations
Forced migration
Forced migration refers to the coerced movement of a person or persons away from their home or home region...
, imprisonment without trial
Internment
Internment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
, forgery
Forgery
Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents with the intent to deceive. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become forgeries through knowing and willful misrepresentations. Forging money or...
, assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
, the bombing of civilians
Strategic bombing during World War II
Strategic bombing during World War II is a term which refers to all aerial bombardment of a strategic nature between 1939 and 1945 involving any nations engaged in World War II...
, all prove to be irrelevant towards the notion of “good or bad”, where there is no outrage from within the public as the atrocities are committed by “our side”. Some nationalists even go into the trouble of defending such actions, searching for arguments to support his case.
Orwell provides the example of the Liberal News Chronicle publishing images of Russians hanged by the Germans, to depict the shocking barbarity of the Germans, and then a few years later publish with warm approval almost exactly similar photographs of Germans hanged by the Russians. Another similar instance occurs where another newspaper published with seeming approval photographs of near-naked women who collaborated with the Nazis being baited by a mob in Paris. These photos strongly resembled the Nazi images of Jews being baited by the Berlin mob in the years prior to the war.
Excerpts
Indifference to Reality. [...] For quite six years the English admirers of Hitler contrived not to learn of the existence of Dachau and Buchenwald. [...] Many English people have heard almost nothing about the extermination of German and Polish Jews during the present war. Their own antisemitism has caused this vast crime to bounce off their consciousness.
Zionism. [...] All English people of goodwill are also pro-Jew in the sense of disapproving of Nazi persecution...
Antisemitism. There is little evidence about this at present, because the Nazi persecutions have made it necessary for any thinking person to side with the Jews against their oppressors...
External links
- George Orwell: Notes on Nationalism - Original essay. Public domain in Australia and the Russian Federation.