Nationalism in USA, Great Britain, Germany, and the Soviet Union

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Nationalism
Geoffrey Blainey once told this, “Nationalism is both a vital medicine and a dangerous drug.” Nationalism is defined as an ideological movement that aims to achieve and preserve the independence of a nation and unity among its people. Furthermore, most of the time, nationalism is used interchangeably with patriotism, a term that describes a person’s love for his own country. However, according to Charles de Gaulle, patriotism involves love of your own people while nationalism promotes hate on other people than your own. Indeed, historical accounts narrated some of the dark sides of nationalism—where some people abused their power and some had suffered.[Peri Pamir, Nationalism, Ethnicity and Democracy: Contemporary Manifestations, n.d., /programs/icar/ijps/vol2_2/pamir.htm?fbclid=IwAR3cI9Hd2q3dBKHqSES6Y6Xg4Rw6lqTx6YtE8vBwOzIwMs7Vi1DAAPbAr7Q (Accessed April 30, 2019).2“Nationalism,” Def. 3, Merriam Webster Dictionary, 2019, (Accessed May 1, 2019).3Jane Rosenberg, Degrees of Truth: Propaganda During WWI and WWII, 2008, http://uh.edu/honors/Programs-Minors/honors-and-the-schools/houston-teachers-institute/curriculum-units/pdfs/2008/great-films-and-politics/rosenburg-08-film.pdf (Accessed May 2, 2019) 42.]
One of the ways by which countries spread nationalism was through the use of propaganda. Propaganda is defined as ideas or facts that were purposefully disseminated to promote one’s cause or to damage its opponents2. These propagandas could be in the form of posters, flyers, radio broadcasts and films3. Countries who played major roles in the two world wars utilized this as a strategy to manipulate their citizens to join their initiatives and as a weapon to despise their enemies. This paper aims to discuss how propaganda was used on different nations to promote nationalism and how it had influenced the people during the times of war.
Great Britain
During World War I, the British Army was only composed of few professionals and mostly volunteers. To strengthen their force, the British government relied on propaganda to mobilize its people on participating in the war. One of their famous posters appealed to their people by using the image of serious Lord Kitchener with a pointing finger stating that ‘Your country needs you.’ Additionally, there were also propagandas that employed images of family members to urge their men to join the war. One poster illustrated young children asking their father this, ‘Daddy, what did you do in the Great War?’ Another poster commanded women, ‘Women of Britain Say—GO!’ As a result, men braved the war despite of inexperience, to avoid the shame and to bring pride for themselves, their loved ones and their nation.[David Welch, Propaganda for patriotism and nationalism, 2014, /world-war-one/articles/patriotism-and-nationalism?fbclid=IwAR1lWVOrWiW9bK_ofCRd7lGNfS4H1L43c6VKs2SkSCijIQp-sjLfysuA9ms (Accessed May 2, 2019).2Elizabeth Tate Goins, “Promoting Unity Through Propaganda: How the British Government Utilized Posters During the Second World War,” Honors College Capstone Experience/ Thesis Projects, 2011, https://digital...