New Nationalism amidst Old Nations: A Comparative Expansion of the Definition of Nationalism in Premodern City-States

Abstract

The current scholarship on the topic of nationalism limits the existence of the political philosophy to only the modern era, from the eighteenth century up through to the present. This thesis postulates that the view of nationalism as a purely modern concept is unnecessarily limiting to the definition of nationalism and its application across time. By utilizing the foundation of questioning the scholars that adhere to the concept of nationalism as purely modern set down by writers such as Azar Gat, Caspar Hirschi and Travis Roberts, this thesis sets out three case-studies with the intention of demonstrating how each possesses the qualifications for being considered nationalist: one of nineteenth century Imperial Germany used as a baseline to which the other, less widely accepted examples can be compared; one of the city-state of Florence during the Renaissance; and one of the ancient Spartan city-state. The examination and conclusion that each of these societies classify as examples of nationalism throughout time is enacted through the comparison of nationalist tendencies expressed in each case-study with the definitions of nationalism presented by the authors who have contributed to the topic’s historiography. Finally, this thesis uses the results of the case-studies as evidence as to why the current, modern definition of nationalism is too limited and must be expanded to include premodern nations.