Modernization and Nationalisms
Scope: Developments in the Long 19th Century divided societies around the world in many
ways. The deepest division pitted Western Europe and a few other wealthy societies, such as
the United States, against most of the rest of the world, where economic conditions were
deteriorating. In 1800, for example, the average Mexican had a standard of living two thirds the
level of his U.S. counterpart; in 1900, the ratio stood at one third as a result of U.S. gains and
Mexican losses. But there were other rifts as well. Some regions were held as colonies, the
treatment of which varied greatly. For all the divisions, however, there were also a few
common trends as societies attempted to respond to Western pressure and example. With a
great deal of caution, some of these trends can be seen as the first signs of a global
modernization process.
Three areas warrant particular attention: changes in the military, public health, and education.
Another common trend, though by definition a complicated one, involved the spread of
nationalism. European in origin, nationalism met a variety of needs in most regions of the
world, becoming a significant new political force by 1900. Figuring out what nationalism meant
and how it could vary, for example, between reformism and conservatism is a crucial analytical
task for modern world history.
Outline
I. Some common trends that cut across these divisions, and the spread of nationalism.
II. We have already noted the important division that opened up in the Long 19th Century
between industrialized societies and agricultural societies.
A. We can also point to a division between societies held as colonies and those that remained
free.
1. While India was held as a colony, China—technically independent—was increasingly subject
to European territorial seizures and exploitation.
B. Even among colonies, however, we find differences.
1. India fared better under imperialism in the Long 19th Century than Africa did.
2. Africa was divided among competing European states in a race to exploit its territories and
resources.
III. Along with differential economic change and differential imperialism came the realization of
the need for certain reforms.
A. Some societies realized that aspects of Western development would need to be imitated if
they were to gain enough strength to establish or retain independence in a world dominated by
European political control and the control of the industrial zone.
IV. At the end of the Long 19th Century and in the early-20th century, we find common trends
in three broad areas—public health, education, and the military—in virtually every major
society in the world. A. Borrowing from Western sanitary ideas and engineering, many societies
realized that governments needed to take responsibility for public health measures, which
would result in healthier and more strength.
1. Modern public health measures were born in Western Europe in the 1830s and 1840s and
spread to the United States, Japan, Latin America, and elsewhere.
2. Public health became a concern in the urban sectors of virtually every part of the world by
the end of the 19th century, setting the stage for the huge global population increase of the
20th century.
B. By 1900, virtually every society in the world was also attempting to spread schooling to some
sectors of the lower classes and to add technical and scientific subjects to the educational
agenda.
1. This might be a massive effort, as in the West or Japan, where by the 1890s virtually every
child of appropriate age was in school.
2. Much more gradually, colonial authorities in India and Africa began to allow some access to
education, sometimes assisted by missionary efforts.
3. China would expand its attention to student life by the 1890s, sending students to learn from
such societies as Japan, the United States, and Western Europe.
C. Recognizing the now more ominous power position of the West, societies looked to improve
military technology and copy Western military training and officer organization.
1. Even colonies enhanced the training of troops to provide more effective fighting forces.
V. Another phenomenon that spread widely in the 19th century was the rise of nationalism and
nationalist loyalties.
A. Nationalism is the belief that a society has an identifiable national culture that is
measurably different from other cultures.
1. Cultural nationalists often assert that their nation’s culture is better than others and may
believe that the culture should be connected to the state.
2. Nationalists typically argue that recognizable divisions exist among peoples based on
different national traditions.
B. Nationalism is a mostly modern phenomenon that contrasts with traditional types of loyalty
to religion or locality.
C. Nationalism was born in Europe on the basis of two factors.
1. Nationalism was an objection to Enlightenment thinking that argued that all peoples were
fundamentally the same.
2. Increased population movement and the rise of the new middle class created an audience for
loyalty to an entity that was larger sense of identity.
D. Nationalism received a significant boost from the French Revolution.
1. By tearing down local institutions and reducing the power of the church, the French
Revolution resulted in the idea that the government belonged to the people, who now owed it
loyalty.
E. From Western and Central Europe, nationalism quickly spread in two additional directions,
visible by the late-18th and early-19th centuries.
1. It spread to the Americas, becoming more distinct after the American Revolution, and to
Eastern Europe.
2. In the Americas, nationalism was primarily used to form new states or to undergird new
states and identities; in Eastern Europe, nationalism became a force to attack multinational
empires.
F. Nationalism spread to the Middle East by the middle of the 19th century and to India by the
1880s; from the 1860s to 1900, we see nationalist elements in Japan, Russia, Turkey, and Africa.
In other words, from the
1750s to 1914, nationalism was effectively created and gained some attention in virtually every
part of the world.
VI. What were the implications of nationalism?
A. As we saw in Europe, nationalism provided new loyalties for people who were facing rapid
economic and political change.
B. Further, nationalism provided alternatives to traditional loyalties, particularly with regard to
religion.
C. Nationalism helped people entertain the possibility of a certain degree of change, while
insisting that change had to be modified or controlled by attachment to tradition.
D. Nationalists may also argue that in order to express national strength, certain kinds of
changes are needed, such as more attention to industrial development or even changes in
styles of dress to appear more businesslike. Hence, it could link directly to modernization.
E. Nationalism was an increasingly important rallying point for many peoples around the world
against the West; national loyalties united people across traditional boundaries of class, caste,
or even gender.