How is nationalism and World War 1 and World War 2 connected?

Answer 1

Nationalism is considered the catalyst for both major wars.

In WWI, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Heir-Apparent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire by Yugoslav (Bosnia-Herzegovina) Nationalist Gavro Princip in 1914. Princip was a member of the Nationalist group Young Bosnia, and that group, together with another known as the Black Hand, were responsible for planning the assassination and planting several assassins around Sarajevo, were the Archduke was killed. It was sheer happenstance that the Archduke's car wound up near Princip, which gave him his opportunity. The route to be taken to their destination had been changed, but he Archduke's driver did not get the word, and followed the original route. When it was realized he was following the wrong plan, he was reprimanded and ordered to follow the alternate route as ordered. In the course of turning the car around, Princip was given the opportunity he needed, and killed the Archduke and his wife. The assassination led to the declaration of war by Austria-Hungary on Serbia.

Though Ferdinand was not considered that important, the event nonetheless was believed my most powers to require some type of response. Not interested in any compromises, Austria declared war on Serbia, and within a month all major powers were involved in WWI. Along with Nationalism, an arms race, and other political elements, the event is historically considered to be the flash point for the start of WWI.

WWII

Nationalism and WWII are synonymous - the official name of the Nazi Party was the National Socialist Democratic German Worker's Party. "Nazi" is derived from the German words for National Socialism. The Treaty of Versailles, which concluded WWI, put many restrictions on Germany in addition to having to pay many war reparations. In 1923, Hitler and other Nazi leaders attempted a coup which has become known as the Beer Hall Putsch. Beer Halls in Germany were the focal point of German gathering and places for speeches and other debates of current events.

The coup failed, and Hitler was tried for Treason and imprisoned for a year. The trial, however, gave him a national platform to present his views, and during his time in prison he wrote Mein Kamp along with Rudolf Hess, who later became his right-hand man. Mein Kamp details Hitler's views on how Nationalism could lead to the restoration of Germany as a world power. In the years after WWI, German life was difficult for the average German, and the Weimar government wasn't doing anything to correct it. When Hitler got out of prison in 1924, the Nazi Party began its slow rise to power, with Hitler eventually becoming its leader. When he was asked to form a government, Mein Kamp became widely read by most Germans, and the Hitler and the Nazis promoted German Nationalism, with racial purity as its basis, to gain further control over Germany. Hitler secretly began rearming Germany, and as German life got better, he gained more popularity. Evenutally Germany became strong enough by secretly violating the terms of the Versailles Treaty that when Hitler eventually decided to Annex Austria and invade Poland, no one could stop the Nazis.

Hitler knew that weakened and demoralized societies are easily swayed by Nationalistic themes, and he capitalized on that. Many leaders, good and bad, have learned from his example. Some of the worst examples are Castro, Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot FMNLF, and the Ayatollah Khomeini, who used both religious and nationalistic themes to take over the government.