Dictionary.com defines nationalism as: spirit or aspirations common to the whole of a nation, devotion an dloyalty to one's own country, excessive patriotism etc. Although, nationalism can also be described simply as a movement. A movement consisting of the people of a nation or country, in which pride in ones country swells in the heart of every citizen and the goals of the group outweigh the goals of the individual.
Algerians had, possibly, their greatest taste of nationalism back in the early 1960's after fighting to push the French rule off Algerian land. On the 3rd of July, 1962 it was official that Algeria had won its independence but some were not thrilled. Problems between true blood Algerians and citizens from European origins had cause a great rift between the two ethnic groups. It is estimated 800,00 people living in Algeria of European descent decided to pack up and move back to Europe (Algeria and War). This paved the way for those who stayed to continue the movement of nationalism in Algeria. With the country solely in the hands of the people of Algeria things looked positive but as history show plentifully shows, when you put a large group of people together with power up for grabs, big problems will eventually follow.
In The Post American World author Fareed Zakaria talks of nationalism being a possible threat to those who hold it most dear. To paraphrase one of his thoughts, nationalism could lead to confrontation between new and old enemies as more and more players in a specific region gain momentum and belief their cause is the true path (Zakaria). Zakaria's fears were put on display in Algeria in the 1990's. When government officials called off an election in 1991, it caused a divide between the people leading to a civil war between the Armed Islamic Group and the national armed forces (Algerian Civil War). The same thing happened in the United States. After the rule of Britain was lifted, the country continued on with a new sense of nationalism and pride in being the United States. But when that nationalism and country pride split the people down the middle, debating which the direction the country should go towards, a civil war was the result.
The Algerians' civil war came 30 years after gaining independence while the United States' came close to the 100 year anniversary of the country's independence. While this has no obvious correlation to the state or grade of the country, it is interesting to note that both wars had ties to each respected countries democratic voting process. If you were to make a bullet point list of reason for the American Civil War, slavery would most likely be #1. It's commonly known that the civil war in the United States was fought to win the freedom of African American slaves but the slaves freedom was not all that was being fought over. Up until the Three Fifths Compromise, African American males were not allowed to vote. This left a large majority of those living in the South unable to participate in the democratic process. When that was no longer the case, the southern states held more power in congress and the Senate. Similarly, in Algeria the Civil War was started as a result of democratic elections being unjust. The Islamic Salvation Front had gained a following in the election and soon started collecting votes. This was much to the disapproval of the current authorities, so they shut it down. When nationalism is alive in the hearts of the people, they will go through great lengths, even as far as war, to see their country thrive and they will not stand for being treated unjustly as has happened to the good people of Algeria and many more around the World.
Written by Tom Sanders
Bibliography
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nationalism
http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch23algeria.htm (Algeria and War)
Book - The Post American War by Fareed Zakaria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_Civil_War (Algerian Civil War)
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