“History” ran into a buzz-saw in the 19th century. Nationalism was invented (yes, it was an invention) in the course of the Romantic movement and the legacy of the French Revolution. Along with other Romantic ideologies, such as socialism, but that’s another thread.
Parts of several empires developed a particular, divergent view of themselves. Hence the Czechs, Poles, Croats, etc. Even the Belgians decided they couldn’t be one with the Dutch. This began an age of revolutions and the roots of many nations, along with irredentism (”Italia Irredenta!”).
At the same time new empires developed the same types of ideologies. Hence the creation of Italy and Germany out of disparate parts, hence the intense propaganda of the French Third Republic. You realize that much of France, in the days of the monarchy, didn’t speak French?
Spain is a case in point. Inspired by the French Revolution, many Spanish people for the first time began to see themselves as a particular Spanish identity, not as Castillians or Agagonese, etc. This became a liberal trope among the elite, hence the centralizing policies intended to erase the many ethnicities of Spain, which drove a couple of civil wars.
And this caused a reaction, whereby many formerly contented peoples of Spain formed counter-nationalisms. If you care, you can look at, say, the argument between Miguel Unamuno, the Basque Catholic Spanish nationalist and Sabino Arana, the Basque racial bigot who wanted Basque independence from Spain.
Ukraine had the same sort of nationalist awakening. But it had, until the collapse of that last European empire, the Soviet Union, very bad luck.
This is very complicated stuff. It requires a deep dive into modern European history to comprehend the whole.
Nice brief review of a complex topic.
People who see Napoleon and Hitler in Trumpismo are not entirely wrong. Unfortunately most Americans education about the Two Corporals is kindergarten level at best.
I think you’re definitely right, it’s very complicated. Our minds need to label and categorize, but to do so we typically use known models.
Regardless of the complexity, it seems evident to me Putin opposes the globalists.
As does Trump.