The (Real) Enemy Inside of Europe
Nationalism is a potent weapon.
It rallies the population, provides courage in times of crisis and imbues a people with the will to struggle and overcome in the face of adversity.
But it may come as a brutal surprise to realize how it is used most often.
Most of us assume that it serves to support the pride of the nation in question. The truth turns out to be more complicated than that.
As far back as history can record, national fervour has frequently served the ulterior motives of external interests, including adjacent empires, rather than the good of citizens at home.
Emporor Napoleon stoked the nationalist fires of eastern Europe and Poland in particular. His great-nephew Napoleon III did the same in Italy.
Russia rejoiced to see the Balkans burn with passion against the flailing Ottoman Empire, almost as much as it celebrated Bosnia’s struggle against Austrian dominance.
The latter example ended in a senseless slaughter that changed course of history forever.
In each case, the national ardour of the common people was fomented and encouraged to weaken the country in question from within. In very few cases did the game actually serve any altruistic end other than to weaken a foreign foe. In most cases, war was the result, with millions of dead as the icing on the cake.
In the late 1950’s, the shoe was on the other foot.
American-inspired propaganda from Radio Free Europe encouraged rebellious, nationalistic aspirations in Hungary, Poland and later the Czech Republic. They didn’t end well either.
What they did accomplish, however, was to scare Soviet leaders, and Krushchev in particular, into reacting with shows of force. Greater oppression for the people of eastern Europe was the result.
In the end, the Evil Empire of Russia and its satellites did not survive, but it did last much longer than anyone would have imagined then.
Today, it is again Russia who is stirring the nationalistic pot. But they are playing in a different pond this time.
From Make America Great Again, to Le Pen and the Front National in France, to Viktor Orban in Hungary, patriotic fever serves the subtle intents of the Kremlin to weaken western resolve and bend the democracies to its will.
Avarice comes in handy too, of course.
First, Putin helped give Trump a playbook for creating a nationalistic narrative:
Our country has gone to the dogs
Everyone is robbing the common man
We used to be a great country
We have to destroy the people who are wrecking our country
We will make Russia/USA great again
Then he opened the door to a highly lucrative “deal” between the two great nations - with lots of money to be made by those who play long.
What better way to super-charge national greed and egomania than to feed personal greed at the same time?
The principle is the same: more for me, more for us - everyone else be damned.