Emergence of Nation States

The Emergence of Nation States: Meaning

Nation-states exist when a sovereign power rules over land with a defined boundary and the people of the land have a shared experience. This experience can be language, culture, ethnicity, or religion. The people will feel a kinship based on this shared identity. People living in a nation-state sacrifice some personal freedoms in exchange for the nation's stability.

Before the Emergence of Nation-States

If you asked a medieval peasant where they were from, they might tell you about their village or maybe their lord. If you asked how they identified themselves, they would probably tell you they were Protestant or Catholic. During the Middle Ages, peasants did not identify with the kingdoms they were from, nor were they loyal to the king.

Nation-states emerged pretty recently in the 16th century. This was only five hundred or so years ago! Before nation states existed, there was a feudal system. The feudal system functioned on an exchange of land, protection, and labor.

In a feudal system, the king had all the lands in the kingdom. He gave land to the nobles in exchange for their loyalty. Should he need it, the nobles would provide soldiers and knights to fight for the king. The nobles then gave land to vassals who would provide military service to the nobles. The vassals protected peasants and allowed them to live on the land in exchange for services and food. This system was passed down from parent to child.

Fig 1: Feudalism Diagram

Around the 15th century, rulers began to centralize power as the feudal system was phased out. This system had no focus on monetary transactions and, for the peasants, revolved around the exchange of protection for labor. There was no chance for upward mobility.

When the Black Plague spread throughout Europe from 1346 to 1352, at least a third of the population died. This created a shortage in labor, and peasants could negotiate with their lords for better deals. Towns began to grow, and kings made charters for them. Towns would pay taxes to the king, and he would allow them to self-govern on the local scale. The role of the lord was diminishing as kings chose their advisors and bureaucrats from the educated middle class instead of nobles.

The role of the knights also dwindled because kings realized that personal armies of trained soldiers were more effective. Innovations in warfare also decreased the value of knights. The English longbow was introduced into warfare and could pierce the armor of knights. Gunpowder was introduced to Europeans by Chinese people, who used it as a weapon that changed warfare completely.

The Emergence of Nation-States: Causes

Two significant contributors to the nation-state's emergence were the Thirty Years' War and the Peace of Westphalia.

Fig 2: This chart shows the involvement of different kingdoms during the Thirty Years' War. Kingdoms often switched sides, joined the war, and left.

The Thirty Years' War began in 1614 and ended in 1648. It was the bloodiest war in world history until World War I. Historians are unsure how many people died, but it is estimated to be between eight and twelve million. Not only did they die in combat, but because of famines and plague.

The Holy Roman Emperor decided that everyone within the empire must be Catholic. The Northern territories had been allowed to have their religions since 1556 after signing the Peace of Augsburg. They were Protestant and would not convert to Catholicism, so the Holy Roman Emperor's new decree sparked the Thirty Years' War.

The war began over religion, but merged into a political dispute. Kingdoms didn't want the others to gain more power than they had, so traditionally Catholic Kingdoms joined forces with Protestants and vice-versa. The war was settled with the Peace of Westphalia–a name that comprises a series of treaties. Let's discuss what these treaties did.

Every kingdom in attendance was in equal standing with the others. No kingdom, during the meeting, was of more or less important than the other. Each country was independent of the other which meant that they were not ruled by each other, but by themselves. Lastly, the sovereigns of a kingdom could choose the religion of their kingdom and the others couldn't become involved.

Here we see the emergence of the concepts required for a nation-state to work. The kingdoms were equal and independent, which meant that each country was entitled to govern as it saw fit without the interference of the other countries. The countries were not to interfere with how each sovereign ruled.

Impact of the Emergence of Nation-State

Nation-states changed the course of human history. Borders were established, and people who lived within the nation shared a sense of kinship.

Fig 3: World Map

This led to the rise of nationalism. Nationalism is a concept that means someone identifies with their country and supports it but excludes people who are different from the idea of what a citizen of their country should be. Nation-states and nationalism are partial reasons for the World Wars.

You probably live in a nation-state today! America, France, Chad, Liberia, Vietnam, Nepal, and Russia are a few of the many nation-states that exist today. The way that we understand our citizenship comes from the current model of nation-states.

The Emergence of Nation-States: A Summary

Nation-States began to emerge around the 17th century and have continued to evolve. People within a nation-state have a shared experience, language, culture, ethnicity, or religion. The nation-state has clearly defined borders and a sovereign ruler.

People who live in nation-states sacrifice some of their personal freedoms in exchange for the nation-state's stability. Nation-states create a sense of security and community for their citizens.