Conservative Nationalism

Liberty, equality and fraternity - sounds pretty good, right? Well, not everyone welcomed the spread of liberal and revolutionary ideas in the 18th and 19th Centuries. For conservative nationalists, liberal ideas brought chaos and upheaval to society, which could be a barrier to economic progress. They believed instead that nation states could achieve harmony and stability by staying true to their traditions; this is Conservative Nationalism. Let's find out more!

Conservatism and Nationalism

Conservative nationalism promotes the maintenance of national identity through appealing to the shared national culture and identity of the state's citizens. Conservative nationalists view the nation as an organic development and suggest that social harmony and cohesion can be achieved through the maintenance and promotion of a shared national culture.

Conservative nationalism contrasts with liberal civil nationalism, which emphasises citizenship of the state and civic participation as the basis of national identity. Conservative nationalism sees national identity as deriving from a shared ethnic or regional identity and a common national language.

National Identity

For conservative nationalists, the identity of a nation and its citizens is rooted in its traditions. Therefore, the identity of the individual is linked to the history of the nation to which they belong. In contrast to the individualism promoted by Liberalism, nationalist conservatives shun individual identity in favour of a collective, historically-rooted society.

As a result, conservative nationalist thinkers assume that the best way to further the well-being of each individual in society is through the collective effort to preserve traditions and historical cultural practices. Conservative nationalist thinkers see this preservation of national identity as essential to achieving harmony and cohesion within society, which in turn creates the basis for economic prosperity and advancement.

Unity and Order

Conservative nationalism emphasises unity and order in society. Some conservative nationalists promote unity by creating a sense of nostalgia for the former glory, power or dominance - real or perceived - of the nation. Large public celebrations around anniversaries of military victories often include elaborate ceremonial and symbolism and are designed to create a sense of unity and order.

Unity for conservative nationalists is also understood along cultural, and sometimes, ethnic, lines. It is little surprise, then, that conservative nationalists oppose immigration and argue for tightly-controlled borders. Those foreign nationals who do migrate into the nation are expected to go through a process of cultural assimilation. Conservative nationalists also have a disdain for supranational political bodies such as the EU, believing that they undermine national unity by threatening the distinctiveness of individual nations.

The Organic State

During the nineteenth century, as liberal revolutions were sweeping across Europe, the Enlightenment Movement framed the nation-state as a rationally constructed, modern venture. For conservative nationalists, however, this was an argument which would breed chaos and disillusionment. For them, the state was an organic, natural entity, emerging out of centuries of tradition. For conservative nationalists, it is history and antiquity that gives nation states legitimacy, not the rational organisation of the state.

Conservative Nationalism 19th Century

The 19th Century was the age of liberalism in the West. In Great Britain, the Liberal Party (founded in 1859) pushed for Reforms which saw the abolition of slavery throughout the British Empire by 1833. Throughout the late 18th and early 10th century, various revolutions took place across Europe, intending to overthrow despotic and stagnant monarchies in favour of liberal democratic republics. In 1871, the Third French Republic was established after the demise of the Second French Empire. All the while, free-market capitalism was changing the landscape of Europe and, across the Atlantic, an independent United States was becoming increasingly wealthy and influential.

Conservative nationalism developed in opposition to the spread of liberal ideas about how society should be organised. In reality, many of the great states and empires of Europe (the Russian Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire) had been multi-ethnic and multi-confessional (containing many religious groups). But under the old order, unity within these state structures had been maintained by popular allegiance to ethnic or religious leaders who in turn demonstrated allegiance to the state's authority - the monarch.

By the 19th Century, however, it was clear that popular uprisings meant that these traditional hierarchies and allegiances could no longer maintain social order. The Enlightenment emphasis on historical and scientific enquiry had created an interest in the historical origin of national and ethnic groups, forming the ideological basis of nationalism. Many revolutionary movements combined liberal concepts of justice and political representation with nationalist ideals of self-determination and the unique destiny of peoples.

Conservative nationalists sought to prevent social upheaval in their own states by emphasising nationalist ideas and de-emphasising liberal ones. To the ideology of nationalism, conservative nationalists added nostalgia for the pre-Enlightenment past, using historical victories and national myths as powerful symbols to unite the citizenry and inspire a common sense of purpose.

Conservative Nationalist Thinkers

Many Conservative Nationalist thinkers have been very important in developing Conservative Nationalism. Some of the thinkers you should know if your exams are Johann Gottfried von Herder, Otto von Bismark, and Charles Maurras.

Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744 - 1803)

Herder is considered by many to be the father of cultural or romantic nationalism. He argued that each nation possessed a unique Volksgeist, or 'national spirit' which remained constant throughout history. He also wrote extensively about folkloric traditions and language as a way of forming a national identity over generations.

Herder was writing during a period when the principles of the French Revolution, and its calls for liberty, equality and fraternity, were gaining wider acceptance in European societies. Herder, by contrast, argued that universal values were unacceptable, and denied the distinctiveness of national cultures. He believed that each national ethnic culture possessed its own set of moral values and that these values were legitimate even if they differed greatly from the moral values of other national groups. For instance, Herder could argue that slavery was acceptable for one society but unacceptable for another and that to force a national group to change their way of life was to deny them their Volksgeist - their unique national identity.

Otto von Bismarck (1815 - 1898)

The mastermind behind German Unification in 1871, Otto von Bismarck served as the first Chancellor of the German Republic from 1871 to 1890. During this time, Bismarck used the historical culture of Prussia to unite German citizens and develop the Volksgeist (national spirit). Bismarck believed the new, unified Germany had developed organically from the traditions and culture of the Prussian Empire. In a speech delivered in 1862, Bismarck stated that

Like Herder, Bismarck resented the notion of the modern nation-state. Instead, the fate of each nation should be decided by its historical character and strength. Bismarck's view of the organic German state, combined with his commitment to a strong German Republic, led to the establishment of the German Colonial League in 1882. Over the next five years, the German Empire colonised Togo, the Cameroons, German East Africa (Tanzania) and South West Africa (Namibia).

Otto von Bismarck pictured in his study during his time as the Chancellor of the German Republic, 1886, Wikimedia Commons

Charles Maurras (1868 - 1952)

A French author and philosopher, Charles Maurras can also be seen to have developed his nationalist theories from the works of Romantic Nationalists such as Herder. Maurras saw the need to return to the Catholic traditions of the French Monarchy, which had been overthrown during the French Revolution of 1789 and then dissolved after the formation of the Third Republic in 1871.

As a Monarchist, he held a disdain for the claims made by Liberals regarding human rationality and democratic values. A vocal anti-Semite, Maurras was a supporter of the Nazi-installed Vichy Regime which ruled part of France from 1940 to 1944. In 1944, Maurras was arrested and spent eight years in prison.

Difference between Traditional and National Conservatism

The key distinction between traditional and national conservatism is their conception of the state, and how individuals are included. For traditional conservatives, the authority of the monarchy was the foundation of the state. As an elitist ideology, it largely viewed the existence of the labouring classes through a hierarchical structure, which placed them under the control of a monarch by virtue of the divine right of kings.

A statue of Johann Gottfried von Herder, erected in Weimar, Germany, 1848, Wikimedia Commons

With the wave of liberal nationalism that swept over the European continent in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, however, it became apparent that the 'divine right of kings' was no longer sufficient. Conservative nationalists developed the concept of romantic nationalism, which was centred on the cultural and historical ties (such as folklore and the commemoration of historical military victories) which contributed to national identity.

Although never undermining the concept of monarchical rule, conservative nationalism aimed to develop cultural bonds between the elites and the lower classes. It aimed to create a national identity that was grounded in more than just the 'divine right' of the monarch.