ABSTRACT
In the age of nationalism, nations are the great corporate personalities of history; their differences in character and outlook are one of the main factors shaping the course of events. Only in that age, the will of the nations rather than that of individuals, dynasties, or non-national bodies like churches or classes assumes decisive importance; therefore an understanding of their history demands a phenomenology of nations and their characters. German nationalism substituted for the legal and rational concept of "citizenship" the infinitely vaguer concept of "folk," which, first discovered by the German humanists, was later fully developed by Johann Gottfried Herder and the German romanticists. Western nationalism seemed to be something artificial, a creation of politicians and political movements, while German nationalism appeared spontaneous, inspired by nature itself, springing from the depths of the past, rooted not in universal and rational principles, but in an individual and indigenous folk genius.
