Theoretical data of nation-state

The residents of an ideal nation-state come from the same ethnic group, speak the same language, have the same culture and religion, and the residents are single. The countries that actually exist are far from this. Nevertheless, most countries are regarded as nation-states in history, politics and international law. For example, Switzerland is constitutionally a federation of different states, while China has four languages. Nevertheless, Switzerland has its national identity, national history and classic national hero William Tell.

Autonomy movements generally question the national unity and identity of a country, but unless a country is disintegrating, the use of these words is a symbol of a nation-state. For example, although almost all the residents of Ireland are Irish, their nationalists believe that their national integrity has not been realized because Northern Ireland does not belong to Ireland. In addition, there are more Irish people living outside Ireland today than those living in Ireland through immigration. However, Ireland is usually regarded as a nation-state. In fact, the border of a nation-state will never be consistent with its ethnic distribution. Sometimes this is simply impossible, because its residents are mixed, and even people of different nationalities live together in the same street and building. If two neighboring nation-states each have a nationality from another country, then these nationalities are generally called ethnic minorities. Sometimes two countries have each other's ethnic minorities, such as Slovaks in Hungary and Hungarians in Slovakia.

The difference caused by such border minorities and dispersion. Dispersion causes people in a country to reach places far from their national boundaries. Most modern dispersion is the result of economic migration. The separation of Irish people does not hinder the characteristics of Ireland and the nation-state, nor does it affect the Northern Ireland issue, because only a few people immigrated there.

Whether a country has overseas territory affects whether it is a nation-state. A country with a large number of colonies obviously has many different nationalities, so it is incompatible with an ideal monocultural country. In most cases, colonies are not regarded as part of the mainland, but are managed separately. Some European nation-states have overseas territories in Europe. For example, almost all residents in Denmark are Danes, and only a few other ethnic groups live in the mainland. But Denmark also has sovereignty over the Faroe Islands and Greenland. If its residents are regarded as different nationalities, then Denmark is not a classic nation-state. Iceland not only has clear borders, but also its residents consider themselves Icelanders. However, some territories of many nation-states are also regarded as their own territories by other nation-states or nationalist movements. These territorial claims vary in degree: some are only a proposal at best, and some even support armed separatist groups. Belgium is a typical controversial nation-state. Belgium split from the Netherlands in 1830, and the Flemish people in northern Belgium spoke Dutch. They have a very strong Flemish identity, consider themselves as an independent nation and culture, and also have a very strong separatist movement in the local area. Walloons and Flemish in the south are different in language (French) and geography. In addition, Belgium has an all-Belgian nationalism, the Netherlands and Flanders have great Dutch consciousness, and there are some German-speaking areas in the west, which were occupied by Prussia before 1920 and annexed by Germany from 1940 to 1944.

In a very large country, there are often many competing demands and many separatist movements. These movements often question whether this big country is a real nation-state, and sometimes even accuse it of being an empire. In fact, there is no objective standard to judge whether these requirements are correct. A big nation-state must put its national definition on a broad basis. For example, People's Republic of China (PRC) uses the Chinese nation to define its residents. At the same time, it also recognizes that there is a major ethnic Han and 55 ethnic minorities in its territory. Banditt Anderson believes that a country is an "imaginary community" and its members can't all know each other. The main purpose of nationalism is to create such an imaginary group to reduce the privileges brought by contact with a special written language (Latin). In addition, this movement has abandoned the theory of sacred sovereignty. It promoted the emergence of print media in the capitalist system. These nation-states are "made in the country" theory, which emphasizes the formation of some special countries, such as France and Britain. These countries have expanded from a core area, resulting in national consciousness and national identity. It absorbed the surrounding areas (such as Wales, Britannia, aquitaine, etc.). )./kloc-in the 0/9th century, the culture of these areas revived again, which led to the autonomy movement in these areas in the 20th century.

Some countries, such as Germany and Italy, were born through nationalist political movements at least in the19th century. Before Germany and Italy were formed, there were many (some very small) countries there. Its identity comes from cultural movements, such as the "national movement" that quickly gained political power in German-speaking countries. In these two countries, national consciousness and national movement appeared obviously before the nation-state.

The idea of nation-state came into being with the emergence of modern state system. Because of the role of the Peace Treaty of Westphalia in this process, this modern state system is also called "westfalen System". This system is characterized by "balance of power", and its basis is the respect for each other's sovereignty and territory between clearly defined, centrally controlled and independent countries (whether empire or nation-state). The westfalen system did not create a nation-state, but the nation-state meets the requirements of this system (provided that there is no territorial issue between nation-States). Obtained its philosophical theoretical foundation in The Romantic Period nation-state. /kloc-in the 9th century, the emphasis on the origin of ethnic groups and nations led to the use of this theory in the definition of the state, which led to the emergence of the nation-state. With the development of colonial imperialism and continental imperialism, racism entered, especially in the Great German and Slavic movements. The peak of the connection between racism and nationalism is the fascist and Nazi movements in the 20th century. The connection between the country and the nation is especially embodied in the concept of "people's country" (German VolkischeStaat). Legislation such as Nuremberg Act is the main difference between fascist nation-states such as Nazi Germany and illegal Sith nation-states. Obviously, ethnic minorities are no longer part of the people, so they have no legal role in the country. Jews and Roma are not part of the people in Germany, so they are persecuted. German nationality law defines Germans according to their ancestors and excludes all non-Germans from the people. To some extent, German nationality law still has this trend.

2/kloc-0 At the beginning of the 20th century, the demands of nation-states for absolute sovereignty within their territory were criticized. The international political system after World War II is based on international law and supranational political groups. Non-state groups such as transnational corporations and non-governmental organizations are increasingly eroding the economic and political power of the nation-state, which may eventually lead to its disappearance.