Poland

Main articles: History of Poland and Polish nationalism

The cause of Polish nationalism was repeatedly frustrated before 1918. In the
1790s, the Habsburg Monarchy, Prussia and Russia invaded, annexed, and
subsequently partitioned Poland. Napoleon set up the Duchy of Warsaw, a new
Polish state that ignited a spirit of nationalism. Russia took it over in 1815 as
Congress Poland with the tsar proclaimed as "King of Poland". Large-scale
nationalist revolts erupted in 1830 and 1863–64 but were harshly crushed by
Russia, which tried to make the Polish language, culture and religion more like
Russia's. The collapse of the Russian Empire in the First World War enabled the
major powers to re-establish an independent Poland, which survived until 1939.
Meanwhile, Poles in areas controlled by Germany moved into heavy industry but
their religion came under attack by Bismarck in the Kulturkampf of the 1870s. The
Poles joined German Catholics in a well-organized new Centre Party, and
defeated Bismarck politically. He responded by stopping the harassment and
cooperating with the Centre Party.[70][71]

In the late 19th and early 20th century, many Polish nationalist leaders endorsed
the Piast Concept. It held there was a Polish utopia during the Piast Dynasty a
thousand years before, and modern Polish nationalists should restore its central
values of Poland for the Poles. Jan Poplawski had developed the "Piast Concept"
in the 1890s, and it formed the centerpiece of Polish nationalist ideology,
especially as presented by the National Democracy Party, known as the
"Endecja," which was led by Roman Dmowski. In contrast with the Jagiellon
concept, there was no concept for a multi-ethnic Poland.[72]

General Simón Bolívar, (1783–1830), a leader of independence in Latin America.

The Piast concept stood in opposition to the "Jagiellon Concept," which allowed
for multi-ethnicism and Polish rule over numerous minority groups such as those
in the Kresy. The Jagiellon Concept was the official policy of the government in
the 1920s and 1930s. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin at Tehran in 1943 rejected the
Jagiellon Concept because it involved Polish rule over Ukrainians and
Belarusians. He instead endorsed the Piast Concept, which justified a massive
shift of Poland's frontiers to the west.[73] After 1945 the Soviet-back puppet
communist regime wholeheartedly adopted the Piast Concept, making it the
centerpiece of their claim to be the "true inheritors of Polish nationalism". After
all the killings, including Nazi German occupation, terror in Poland and
population transfers during and after the war, the nation was officially declared as
99% ethnically Polish.[74]

Jewish Nationalism

Jewish nationalism arose in the latter half of the 19th century and it was largely
correlated with the Zionist movement. This term originated from the word Zion,
which was one of the Torah's names for the city of Jerusalem. The end goal of the
nationalists and Zionists was a Jewish majority and in most cases, a state, in the
land of Palestine. A tumultuous history of living in oppressive, foreign, and
uncertain circumstances led the supporters of the movement to draft a
declaration of independence, claiming Israel as a birthplace. The first and second
destructions of the temple and ancient Torah prophecies largely shaped the
incentives of the Jewish nationalists. Many prominent theories in Jewish
theology and eschatology were formed by supporters and opponents of the
movement in this era.

It was the French Revolution of 1789, which sparked new waves of thinking
across Europe regarding governance and sovereignty. A shift from the traditional
hierarchy-based system towards political individualism and citizen-states posed
a dilemma for the Jews. Citizenship was now essential, when it came to ensuring
basic legal and residential rights. This resulted in more and more Jews choosing
to identify with certain nationalities in order to maintain these rights. Logic said
that a nation-based system of states would require the Jews themselves to claim
their own right to be considered a nation due to a distinguishable language and
history. Historian David Engel has explained that Zionism was more about fear
that a majority of worldwide Jews would end up dispersed and unprotected,
rather than fulfilling old prophecies and traditions of historical texts.[75]

20th century

China

Main article: Chinese nationalism

The awakening of nationalism across Asia helped shape the history of the
continent. The key episode was the decisive defeat of Russia by Japan in 1905,
demonstrating the military advancement of non-Europeans in a modern war. The
defeat which quickly led to manifestations of a new interest in nationalism in
China, as well as Turkey, and Persia.[76] In China Sun Yat-sen (1866–1925)
launched his new party the Kuomintang (National People's Party) in defiance of
the decrepit Empire, which was run by outsiders. Kuomintang recruits pledged:

from this moment I will destroy the old and build the new, and fight for the self-
determination of the people, and will apply all my strength to the support of the
Chinese Republic and the realization of democracy through the Three
Principles, ... for the progress of good government, the happiness and perpetual
peace of the people, and for the strengthening of the foundations of the state in
the name of peace throughout the world.[77]

The Kuomintang largely ran China until the Communists took over in 1949. But
the latter had also been strongly influenced by Sun's nationalism as well as by
the May Fourth Movement in 1919. It was a nationwide protest movement about
the domestic backwardness of China and has often been depicted as the
intellectual foundation for Chinese Communism.[78] The New Culture Movement
stimulated by the May Fourth Movement waxed strong throughout the 1920s and
1930s. According to historian Patricia Ebrey:

Nationalism, patriotism, progress, science, democracy, and freedom were the

goals; imperialism, feudalism, warlordism, autocracy, patriarchy, and blind
adherence to tradition were the enemies. Intellectuals struggled with how to be
strong and modern and yet Chinese, how to preserve China as a political entity in
the world of competing nations.[79]