How did nationalism related to imperialism?
Answers
Nationalism was both an inspiration to and a cause to the end of imperialism. That’s because, strangely, nationalism knows no boundaries. A key event was the defeat of imperial Russia by upstart nation Japan. It showed to the world that imperialist nations could be defeated. But that still would not mean much if nationalism - a component of imperialism - was not spread with it to ‘nations’ that were as yet unaware of it. After all, there was nothing that could reasonably be argued against any nation trying to assert itself. Well, except Western paternalism. But Western paternalism had an obvious smaller appeal among nations that were considered ‘inferior’ by it. After all, there was nothing that could be reasonably argued against non-Western nations using the very nationalism they had recently learned. Of course, when you’re in power you don’t really need arguments. You need those when your power is starting to wane. And clearly, after WW I that power was waning, when European powers needed colonial troops to fight an imperialist war in Europe. Soldiers fighting abroad learn things - even if they don’t want to. As do young intellectuals when educated. So the spread of nationalism beyond the imperialist powers was, more or less, inevitable. As were its consequences.