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Hi, need to submit a 2000 words essay on the topic How important was nationalism as a cause of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.In this paper, the term nationalism is used in the meaning of

Hi, need to submit a 2000 words essay on the topic How important was nationalism as a cause of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.

In this paper, the term nationalism is used in the meaning of political doctrine and ideology which is justified by a goal to make a certain nation succeed in pursuing its interests. In this context, a nation is understood as “a political, ethnic, territorial, cultural, or religious group united by a common economy, mass culture, common legal rights and duties, and a belief system that emphasizes either shared history and genealogy or other common myths distinguishing this group from others” (Smith, 1991: 14). Molchanov (2000: 264) observes that nationalism today is a product of modernization as well as mass education. It is also a product of the elites’ conscious manipulation of country’s masses. Nationalism is based on national feeling, i.e. a feeling of belonging to a community which is culturally distinct and goes beyond people’s circles of important others, covers the barriers of statuses and classes, and on a legitimate basis commands its members’ loyalty. In this respect, a national community is perceived as an imagined community with its contours being reconstructed during the process of national mobilization (Molchanov, 2000: 263). As for the national elite, it serves a mobilizing agent in this process. Its parochial interests get the status of national interests and become values for which all compatriots fight. Typically, the elite is made up of well-educated classes “from the indigenous nationality and local administrators” who have become dissatisfied with current social standing (Molchanov, 2000: 264).

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