Nationalism developed when conservatives, liberals, and radicals argued about issues of government in the first half of the 1800's. The movement would blur the lines that separated the three political theories. An example of nationalism is the self-governing Greeks, who for centuries had been a part of the Ottoman Empire. Since they had the nationalistic spirit, they demanded independence and rebelled against the Ottoman Turks in 1821.
What was driving Imperialism was the economic, political, and social forces that lead to land being taken over in all parts of the globe. In particular, the Industrial Revolution gave the European countries a reason to add lands to their control. Since European nations industrialized, they searched for new markets and raw materials to improve their economy. The race for colonies also expanded out of a strong sense of nationalism. During European imperialism, around the 1870’s, European countries, such as Britain, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, thought that nationalism would make them better and stronger countries of the world. Africa and parts of Asia were points of interest among these countries. Nationalism in the Europeans was what fueled the expanding machine called imperialism. So with nationalism in mind, they began imperializing other countries, thinking that they were actually helping these countries develop and prosper. However, the opposite was truly happening. The countries that had been imperialized usually ended up in a worse state than they were before.