jingoism

View more History, Politics, Society videos

From a British music-hall song of 1878: ‘We don't want to fight, yet by jingo! if we do, | We've got the ships, we've got the men, and got the money too.’ This was immediately taken up by those who wanted Britain to go to war with Russia, who were labelled ‘jingoes’ by the socialist G. J. Holyoake. Hence jingoism is aggressive militaristic patriotism.

The word comes from a music-hall song popular at the time of the 1876-8 Eastern crisis: ‘We don't want to fight, but by jingo if we do . . .’. Later it was used to describe other manifestations of popular bellicosity during foreign wars.

Jingoism, in American usage, a term for the blatant demand for an aggressive foreign policy. The word is probably derived from a music-hall song popularized in England during a crisis with Russia in 1877–1878:

We don't want to fight, but, by jingo, if we do,
We've got the ships, we've got the men and got the money too.

By March 1878 "jingo" was a term of political reproach. In the United States it has been directed toward those who have advocated the annexation of Canada, the seizure of Mexico, expansion in the Caribbean or the Pacific, or a bellicose interpretation of the Monroe Doctrine.

Bibliography

Beisner, Robert L. From the Old Diplomacy to the New, 1865–1900. New York: Crowell, 1975; Arlington Heights, Ill.: Harlan Davidson, 1986.

Extreme and emotional nationalism, or chauvinism, often characterized by an aggressive foreign policy, accompanied by an eagerness to wage war.

• Security and Defense - jingoism: aggressive, militaristic national policy
• Attitudes and Behavior - jingoism: excessive, often warlike, national chauvinism

"Ten Thousand Miles From Tip to Tip", a political cartoon depicting the extension of the United States dominion

The American War-Dog, a 1916 political cartoon by Oscar Cesare, with the dog named 'Jingo'

Jingoism is extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy.^[1] In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests. Colloquially, it refers to excessive bias in judging one's own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism.

The term originated in Britain, expressing a pugnacious attitude towards Russia in the 1870s. "Jingoism" did not enter the American vernacular until near the end of the 19th century. This nationalistic belligerence was intensified by the sinking of the battleship USS Maine in Havana harbour that led to the Spanish-American War of 1898.^{[citation needed]}

Contents 1 Etymology 2 Usage 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

Etymology

The chorus of a song by G. H. MacDermott (singer) and G. W. Hunt (songwriter) commonly sung in British pubs and music halls around the time of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) gave birth to the term.^[2][3] The lyrics had the chorus:

We don't want to fight but by Jingo if we do

We've got the ships, we've got the men, we've got the money too
We've fought the Bear before, and while we're Britons true

The Russians shall not have Constantinople.

The phrase "by Jingo" was a long-established minced oath, used to avoid saying "by Jesus". Referring to the song, the specific term "jingoism" was coined as a political label by the prominent British radical George Holyoake in a letter to the Daily News on 13 March 1878.^[4] The term eventually caught on in the United States.

Usage

Early uses of the term in the United States were connected to the foreign policy of Theodore Roosevelt, who was frequently accused of jingoism. In an 8 October 1895 New York Times interview, he responded, "There is much talk about 'jingoism'. If by 'jingoism' they mean a policy in pursuance of which Americans will with resolution and common sense insist upon our rights being respected by foreign powers, then we are 'jingoes'."^{[cite this quote]}

The policy of appeasement towards Hitler led to satirical references to the loss of jingoistic attitudes in Britain. In the 28 March 1938 issue of Punch appeared an E. H. Shepard cartoon entitled The Old-Fashioned Customer. Set in a record shop, John Bull asks the record seller (Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain): "I wonder if you've got a song I remember about not wanting to fight, but if we do . . . something, something, something . . . we've got the money too?". On the wall is a portrait of the Victorian Prime Minister Lord Salisbury.^[5]

See also

• Chauvinism
• American exceptionalism
• European exceptionalism
• Exceptionalism
• Imperialism
• Jingo, a novel by Terry Pratchett
• Nationalism
• Neo-colonialism
• Patriotism
• Regionalism

References

1. ^ Catherine Soanes (ed.), Compact Oxford English Dictionary for University and College Students (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 546.
2. ^ ""By Jingo": Macdermott's War Song (1878)". Cyberussr.com. http://www.cyberussr.com/hcunn/q-jingo.html. Retrieved 2012-03-12. 
3. ^ "By Jingo". Davidkidd.net. http://www.davidkidd.net/20Plevna.html. Retrieved 2012-03-12. 
4. ^ Martin Ceadel, Semi-detached Idealists: The British Peace Movement and International Relations, 1854-1945 (Oxford University Press, 2000), p. 105.
5. ^ This cartoon is reprinted in John Charmley, Chamberlain and the Lost Peace (Ivan R. Dee, 1989), p. 61.

External links

• MacDermott song lyrics
• The song, Stanley Kirkby - We Didn't Want To Fight

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - chauvinisme

Nederlands (Dutch)
oorlogszuchtig chauvinisme

Français (French)
n. - chauvinisme

Deutsch (German)
n. - Chauvinismus

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - υπερεθνικοφροσύνη, πατριδοκαπηλία

Italiano (Italian)
sciovinismo

Português (Portuguese)
n. - jingoismo (m), ultranacionalismo (m) belicoso

Русский (Russian)
ура-патриотизм, шовинизм

Español (Spanish)
n. - jingoísmo

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - chauvinism

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
沙文主义, 武力外交政策, 侵略主义

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 沙文主義, 武力外交政策, 侵略主義

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 대외강경주의, 주전론

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 強硬外交政策, 主戦論, 狂信的愛国主義, 好戦的愛国主義

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الغلو في الوطنيه والدعوة الى الحرب‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮לאומנות קיצונית‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.