The Indian ‘brand’ of Nationalism- evolution without

The Indian ‘brand’ of Nationalism– evolution without

Swaswati Borkataki

Nationalism:

Nationalism as a concept has acquired numerous connotations over the years.

While the term is relatively modern, with the concept being older in both scope and dimension, the idea of Nationalism emerged in various countries of the world according to their own needs and situation.

In Europe, the impetus to Modern Nationalism was provided by the French Revolution of 1789, with the middle classes rising up against the legitimate, yet undue privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. The French Revolution resulted in the transformation of the society and the rise of the middle class or the ‘bourgeois’ , leading to a complete overhaul of the existing social order.

 In an overwhelmingly rural world of the 18th century, recently caressed by the ray of industrial furore, the French Revolution brought with it a scheme of complete overhaul of the existing order, short term chaos marked by guillotine and bloodbaths, but the promise of long term stability. The Revolution led to the replacement of the monarchical order with a Republic, followed by the execution of the king and the queen. 

While the French Revolution led to a complete restructuring of the system, following a storming revolution, other Nationalist movements in the world also germinated as a result of great revolutions or ground breaking ideas that translated into systemic changes. Germany followed a different course from France, but the essence remained the same.

While in Germany, the seeds of Nationalism were sown by Bismarck, the Prime Minister of Prussia, who wanted to unify Germany, but through the same process, secure a hegemonic position for Prussia. Bismarck banked on the zeal already present in the Germans and invoked among them the spirit of Nationalism. The second phase of grand Nationalism emerged with the coming of Hitler.

Hitler joined the German Workers’ Party in 1920 and in 1921-22, the party was renamed as the National Socialist Party or the Nazi Party. Hitler started to gain control over the party, the workers and slowly and gradually the whole political scenario of the country. Hitler took advantage of the politico-economic situation of the country, struggling in the backdrop of stark economic instability and crisis. 

Germany had become heavily dependent on short term loans forwarded by the United States of America after its defeat in the First World War. Things became stagnant and the loans stopped flowing n from the States after the Great Economic Depression happened in 1929, which resulted from the Stock Market Crash in the United States in October of that year.

Hitler banked upon the issues of unemployment, hunger and economic impoverishment and mustered people around himself and the Nazi party. Hitler won over the confidence of the people through his galvanizing speeches. ‘Hail Hitler’ became the norm of saluting the Fourier. Hitler induced a form of Nationalism that would be firmly entrenched in the whole of the German society.

The idea of Das Volk or the folk became an intrinsic part of the National tradition of Germany. A different variant of Nationalism was born and bred in China.

While the Chinese nation since its inception and especially in the middle ages was extremely insular and self-sufficient, too proud to mingle with other nations, nationalism took an altogether peculiar form in China.China’s Nationalism was initially about seclusion, accompanied with a sense of national pride.

China through most part of its history did not establish trade or diplomatic relations with foreign lands, till the time of the Manchu dynasty whose foreign policy and measures became the subject of the revolution initiated by Sun Yat Sen.

A medical student, educated in schools imparting knowledge of western scientific thought, Dr. Sun Yat Sen realized that China’s defeat in the Opium Wars that led to a serious economic backlash and all the turbulence China was facing as a nation was due to the extremely redundant customs and policies followed by the country and its stubbornness to refrain from interacting with the outside world.

This led Sun Yat Sen to organize the 1911 revolution which led to the toppling of the Manchu regime and the establishment of a republic. Thus Modern Nationalism in China also involved one revolution that changed the entire political setup. The scenario was entirely different in India.

Nationalism in India was essentially a reaction against the British rule, and a desire on the part of the Indians to re-establish their known world of community brotherhood and harmony. 

While countries like Germany and England followed a course of Assertive Nationalism and France and Russia, and also China sought to restructure their politico-economic structure, India followed what can be called a Defensive strand of Nationalism. 

The Indian National movement was a conglomerate of a series of events taking place over different periods of time and geographical spaces, over different issues of prestige, self respect and patriotism.

The chain of events started before even before 1857, in the barracks of Berhampore and others, in the households of the sepoys serving in the Awadh and other regiments, in the remote corner of Patharughat in Assam, culminating in 1857 and the other grand events that followed.

The idea that distinguishes Indian Nationalism from the rest of the world is that it emerged without any major revolution and it got entrenched among the populace and became naturalized over the years that finally culminated in the dawn of Independence.

(Sashwati Borkataki is a research fellow at JNU )

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