Postwar Nationalism

European countries largely gave up on nationalism after WWII. The first world war was largely entered because its participants were experiencing strong nationalist sentiments at the time, and were just fortified economically by the second industrial revolution. War, to these nations, was not only an opportunity to extends one's territory, but it was also an opportunity to create national pride and show off a nation's strength.

causes of WWI

Yet, these glorified ideas of nationalism collapsed as the war lasted much longer than expected and was one of misery, spent waiting, hiding from blood in the trenches, not one of heroism on the battlefield. Thus, the age of anxiety and lost generation ensued. After WWI it seemed most were ready for international peace, the sword of nationalism dulled by the reality of war. Yet, Hitler proved the anomaly and other nations were literally dragged kicking and screaming into war. The popular policies of appeasement in Europe and isolationism of America during WWII display nationalism's disappearance, “Like the battleship, empire was made obsolete by the Second World War” (Betts).

causes of WWII

The postwar establishment of the UN and EU was the nail in the coffin of nationalism. Most leaders wanted the fighting to be over so that they could focus on reforming their depressed, war-weakened countries at home.
Previous nationalism came back to bite European nations when their colonies rose in revolt. The early attitude of the white man's burden and cultural superiority, major components of European nationalism, effectually separated native populations from settlers, so “what occurred in the colonial setting was juxtaposition, not intermixture.” (Betts) This cultural separation engendered nationalist sentiments among the natives, causing them to rise up when their mother countries were weak, after WWII.

While most nations easily gave up their colonial possession, happy to remove the weight from their already overburdened shoulders, France held reluctantly to its possessions in Indochina and Algeria, the “French still hoped for a unified and integrated colonial community” (Betts) . Having been severely beaten by WWII, the French were not ready to lose more power and influence. They fought Ho Chi Minh in Indochina from 1945 to 1954 and the nationalists in Algeria for four years before finally giving up both possessions. French defeatism and weakened nationalism was no match for the still-young nationalism of Indochina and Algeria as well as the guerilla warfare tactics of these opponents.

England was less reluctant to give up its Indian and Egyptian colonies. In India, which was granted limited independence by Britain in 1922, Ghandi rose as a prominent nationalist, advocating nonviolent decolonization. Ghandi's momentum reached its peak during WWII, when Britain was most distracted and at its weakest. In announcing Indian independence, Prime Minister Macmillan said,

"One of the constant facts of political life in Europe has been the emergence of independent nations… Especially since the end of war, the processes which gave birth to the nation-states of Europe have been repeated all over the world…  Fifteen years ago this movement spread through Asia. Many countries there, of different races and civilization, pressed their claim to an independent national life. To-day the same thing is happening in Africa… In different places it may take different forms, but it is happening everywhere. The wind of change is blowing through the continent… Whether we like it or not, this growth of national consciousness is a political fact. We must all accept it as a fact.”

A final example of decolonization is the independence of the Dutch East Indies in 1950. The Dutch failed to defend the Indies during WWII, during which the islands were occupied by the Japanese. Long exploited by the Dutch under a harsh agricultural system, Indonesian nationalists rose against the Dutch in 1945. As the Dutch mainly held onto the Indies for financial reasons, they reluctantly instituted strict police actions for four years before the natives won independence in 1950.

While the nationalism of major European powers was crippling in WWI, nationalism in the colonies after WWII was perfectly timed as it occurred when the nationalism of the mother country was weakest. Decolonization was largely painless because it was mutually beneficial (France needed only to realize this).

“The quick retreat from empire, generally labeled "decolonization," was one of the major characteristics of postwar world politics and stands as striking proof that the older Eurocentric state of global affairs now only has a place in the history books.” (Betts)