ABSTRACT
A dynamic and egocentric nationalism can only too easily develop into a substitute for religion with one’s own nation as its idol. The formation of ideologies is influenced by the conception of one’s own national character as well as that of foreign nations. The most extreme form of nationalism is linked with the doctrine of an identity of nation and race. In the first half of the nineteenth century, the Germans regarded many of the Slav races with a sympathy which amounted to enthusiasm. The differences between Germany and France arose less from Friderician ideology than from the Rhineland question. Many Germans contested the Allies’ decision in 1815 to leave Alsace to France, and some even demanded that other territories which had once belonged to the Holy Roman Empire should form part of Germany. Whereas South Germany and the Rhineland gravitated towards Paris, North Germany had always had close relations with England.
