Question

How did nationalism develop through culture in Europe? Explain.

Answer 1

The movement of Romanticism fostered a sense of nationalist sentiment among the European people. Through its focus on emotions, intuition and mythical feelings, Romanticism underlined the importance of the shared cultural heritage of the people and espoused the idea of a nation. Folk culture too brought people with the same cultural heritage together. Folk dances and folk tales often became symbols of national identity. Language popularised the concept of nation in the sense that in Poland, when the Russian Empire imposed the Russian language in schools, the use of Polish came to be seen as an act of defiance against imperial dominance. Hence, in these myriad ways, nationalism developed through culture in Europe.