ABSTRACT
Nationality as a social factor must be clearly distinguished from the racial, linguistic, religious or civic community. Race is a biological factor, and we pointed out in Chapter II that members of the same race may belong to many nationalities or members of the same nationality may be of different racial origin. A linguistic community is more closely connected with nationality and as a rule members of the same nationality speak the same language. The examples of China or Norway, however, prove that differences in language are not an obstacle in forming a single nationality, as we have seen in Chapter III. Religious communities with few exceptions transcend national differences and become national features only in combination with other factors. Civic communities are based on a definite territory and State legislation, they are nations, but not nationalities. What then is a nationality? It is a psychological group with a common outlook and common tradition based on a myth of common ancestry. Race, language, religion and territory may strengthen the consciousness of nationality, but without that myth of common origin no linguistic or civic group can develop that social phenomenon which we call “nationalism.” National feeling then is a state of mind resulting from social environment and education. Nationalism as a movement may be created by propaganda based on intentional misrepresentations of facts.
