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The Building Of A Nation

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The building of a nation is a complex and lengthy process. There is no step-by-step plan, nor a prescribed formula. It is a combination of features, structures and socially constructed norms. A ‘nation’ is an intrinsically ambiguous term. Questions consistently arise like, ‘who defines a nation?’ and ‘what defines a nation?’ The building of a nation explicitly links with the modern state, ethnicity and industrialisation. Ethnicity is a key feature of this and synonymous with identity, it is the most important factor in the forming of a nation. In analysing identity through language and religion, we will find that it is vital to the stability of the state that there is common linguistic understanding and a respect of religious differences. This will allow us to look at identity, language, centre periphery and religion, before concluding that identity and ethnicity the most important features of nation building. Nation building, from the Treaty of Westphalia up until 1900s, was based upon building bigger nations out of smaller ones. Most simply, a nation is bound together by a sense of belonging and a shared common good. Often this definition becomes blurred, and it is in the challenging of one of these elements that a nation fails. Imperialism (and, in the late nineteenth century, unification) was present and saw smaller entities being combined to build larger ones. Post-WWI, the trend was away from 'Empires ' of many ethnicities and instead towards smaller, ethnically

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