World history concepts · AP World History: Modern
Nationalism
Nationalism: A sense of shared identity and loyalty to a nation, often based on common language, culture or history, and the belief that the nation should govern itself.
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What it means
Nationalism grew in the nineteenth century, driving the unification of Italy and Germany, independence movements and resistance to empire. It also fueled rivalry among European powers before World War I.
In the twentieth century, nationalism was central to anticolonial movements in Asia and Africa.
Example
Italian unification in the nineteenth century brought together several states into a single kingdom.
On the exam
Nationalism runs across Units 5 through 8 and is useful for continuity and change over time essays.
Lessons and practice questions
Related terms
- Atlantic revolutionsThe revolutions in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in North America, France, Haiti and Latin America, inspired by Enlightenment ideas.
- DecolonizationThe process by which colonies in Asia, Africa and elsewhere gained independence from imperial powers, mainly after World War II.
- ImperialismThe policy of extending a nation's power through territorial conquest or political and economic control over other regions.