Extreme Nationalism In World War I

A person who is known to be loyal to their country and sees their country above all others is often labeled as a nationalist. However, in the time before the great war there were some cases of extreme nationalism in various countries. The "winning" powers of World War 1 believed that one of the causes of the war was nationalism, and therefor they tried to solve the issue of extreme nationalism. George Orwell gives insight into life in Europe after the war and how the actions of these "winning powers" had an impact negatively on nationalism. The Germanic states of Europe had an extreme sense of nationalism even though they were not yet a unified country. This growth of nationalism would not stop once Germany was a country, imperialism was the only way that they could become superior. This led the Germans into catch-up imperialism in Africa, which led to hostility between Germany and France. In the Balkan states there was a feeling amongst some people similar to the nationalism felt by the people of the germanic states. Known as panslavism, states in the balkan peninsula had the
Life in the trenches was often very gruesome, long days of inadequate food and hygeine, just waiting to be sent over the top of the trenches to be shot at, bombed, and gased. This had a phsycological effect on many soldiers, who once were put in a stalemate situation, no longer saw the reason for all of the maddness and destruction of the war. At the conclusion of the war, the War Guilt clause that was issued to Germany called for the country to accept full responsibilty for the war. If a country is forced to accept the responsibilty for death and destruction on such a large scale, are many of their citizens still going to rally behind the cause? This sole provision of the Paris Peace Conference could have caused a huge decline in nationalism felt in