Understanding Nations & Nationalism

About This Lesson

In this unit’s first two lessons, students reflected on the variety of groups to which they belong, the benefits of being a member of those groups, and the consequences of being excluded. In this lesson, students will explore one particular way of defining the group of people to which one belongs: a nation. Considering the variety of ways in which the devotion to a nation, or nationalism, can be expressed by its people, this lesson will prepare students to understand the independence movements by Balkan nations that contributed to the Ottoman Empire’s decline, the campaign for equal rights launched by Armenians in the 1890s, and the ideology that helped fuel the choice of the Ottoman Empire’s Turkish leaders to commit genocide against the Armenians during World War I. These events will be explored more deeply in subsequent lessons.

Essential Questions

• What choices and conditions led to the genocide of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire during World War I?
• How can learning about these choices and conditions help us protect the most vulnerable groups in our society today?

Guiding Questions

• What is a nation and what holds it together?
• How did the emergence of nationalism in the nineteenth century challenge the dominance of centuries-old empires?

Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to define nation, nationalism, and nation-state.
• Students will be able to explain how growing nationalism impacted the sultan's subjects, weakening their affinity with the empire and strengthening their identification with their own national groups.
• Students will be able to explain the connection between growing nationalism and the establishment of new nation-states in the Balkans, shrinking the territory and influence of the Ottoman Empire.

See the Additional Context & Background section in the Google Doc version of this lesson plan for the essential historical knowledge needed to teach this lesson.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1: Reflect on the Many Ways We Define Ourselves in Groups

Begin the lesson by asking students to think about the many kinds of groups that human beings form, and begin a class list on the whiteboard. 

Students might begin brainstorming by reviewing their journal responses from the first two lessons, when they wrote about groups to which they belong. What were some of the examples of groups that came up in their responses and the class discussion that followed? Add these examples to the board.

Build upon these initial examples by asking students to continue brainstorming: What are some other ways that people have defined themselves in groups throughout history? Students might bring up examples related to religion, race, country, political party, and more.

After a few minutes of brainstorming, ask students to look at the examples on the board and identify:

• One group or type of group that I have learned about in a class in school
• One group or type of group that impacts my everyday experiences

Students can turn and talk with a partner to briefly share and discuss their responses.

Activity 2: Introduce Nation, Nation-State, and Nationalism

If nation, or nationality, came up during the brainstorming in Activity 1, circle the term on the board. If not, add it to the brainstorming list. Then, explain that in this lesson the class is going to examine some definitions related to the idea of a nation, and begin to consider the impact of this particular way of grouping people.

If you have not already discussed the concept of a nation, and the related ideas of nation-states and nationalism, in your class, start by sharing some basic information (students will look at more precise definitions in the next activity):

• At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Europeans primarily identified themselves with their families and local villages, their religion, and, to some extent, the monarchs who ruled over them, often from a distance.
• In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many Europeans were inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment that challenged the power of monarchs and religious authorities, including the idea that a government derives its authority from the people it governs. They increasingly identified themselves as members of a larger “people.” They began to refer to the people to which they belonged as their “nation.”
• The idea that one’s nation should, collectively, govern itself rather than be ruled by monarchs helped inspire the American and French revolutions. Those revolutions inspired similar nationalist movements in Europe and other places in the world over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
• Nationalism has helped inspire numerous independence movements, and it contributed to the decline of empires around the world. It has also helped inspire movements that exclude, discriminate against, and expel minority groups (or those who do not fit into the definition of the nation).

It is important to help students understand that the ways that nations, nation-states, and nationalism are defined and expressed has varied in different places and times in history.  In this lesson, they will analyze definitions of these terms and begin to learn how these phenomena played a role in the history of the Ottoman Empire and the Armenian Genocide.

Activity 3: Analyze and Discuss Definitions of Key Concepts

The reading Nations, States, and Nationalism provides definitions for the following four terms: nation, state, nation-state, and nationalism. After each definition, the handout includes a few sentences linking the term to the history of the Ottoman Empire in the nineteenth century and, in some cases, to today. There are also discussion questions following each term.

As a whole group, read the handout aloud. Along the way, pause and discuss each set of discussion questions using the Think-Pair-Share strategy before continuing to the next term.

Alternatively, if your students have had significant prior exposure to these concepts, they can work in pairs to read the handout and record responses to the discussion questions in their journals.

If you are teaching in the United States, it might be helpful to note when you distribute this handout to your students that Americans often use some of the terms on the handout differently when discussing the history and current events of their country. For instance, “nation” is often used as a synonym for “country” or “state.” Also, “state” is often assumed by Americans to refer to one of the 50 states that make up their country’s federal system.

Activity 4: Connect to Universe of Obligation

Finish the lesson by returning to the concept of universe of obligation from the previous lesson. Begin a whole group discussion from the end of the previous activity by adding into the mix the following question:

In what ways might nationalism influence a society’s universe of obligation?

Discuss the question as a whole group, and ask students to use evidence and examples from the handout, their prior knowledge of history and current events, or (if relevant examples came up) this lesson’s opening brainstorming activity.