ABSTRACT
The life of Jawaharlal Nehru coincides with some instructive phases in the development of nationalism. Nationalism, in its modern connotation, is said to have been born towards the end of the eighteenth century, when its force was felt in Western Europe and North America. In India, nationalism at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth began to stabilize itself on liberal humanitarian principles. It aimed at struggle against foreign rule, as well as at the freedom of men and democratic institutions. During the war years, Indian nationalism had to face attacks from various quarters. Nationalism being a state of mind in its attachment to the motherland, its intensity is determined by one’s intellectual faith in the greatness of a country, besides the common emotional appeal. Perhaps the supreme concern of Nehru during the later part of the freedom movement was to achieve the unity of India as a nation.
