The goal of national movements is to eventually create independent states, and some of them have already succeeded. After gaining independence, most liberation movements turn into political parties - ruling or opposition. The most recent of them to complete the process of decolonization on their territory was SWAPO, which founded Namibia in 1990.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC, formerly the Organization of the Islamic Conference) has also recognized some social and national movements.
Let's consider the characteristics and features of these movements on the example of three completely different countries - India, Spain and the USA. These examples show both the differences and the similarities of the national movements that exist around the world. But first you need to understand and explain for yourself what their essence is.
Causes of national movements
You canidentify several reasons for the emergence of such movements:
- arbitrariness on the part of the authorities/weakness of the state;
- discrimination;
- assimilation and suppression;
- Ineffective national policy.
The goals and causes of national liberation movements usually overlap. As a rule, they come down to two points:
- Giving the titular nation a special status in the state (if we are talking about the national majority).
- Separation from the state (in the case of a national minority).
India
Nationalist movements in India were organized as grassroots organizations emphasizing and raising issues concerning the interests of the people of India. In most of these movements, people themselves were encouraged to take action. Due to several factors, these movements failed to win independence for India. Nevertheless, they contributed to a feeling of nationalism among the inhabitants of the country, which is especially characteristic of the national movement of 1916. The failure of these movements affected many people when they left government offices, schools, factories and services. Although they managed to get a few concessions, such as those won by the S alt March in 1930, they did not help India much in terms of their goal.
Historical context
Indian nationalists focused on the historical states that once existed on the territory of Hindustan, such as the Nizamiyat, the local Nawabs of Oudh and Bengal and other smaller powers. Each of them was a strong regionalpower under the influence of their religious and ethnic identity. However, the East India Company eventually became the dominant force. One of the results of the social, economic and political changes that took place in the country during most of the 18th century was the growth of the Indian middle class. Although this middle class and its various political leaders were from different walks of life and from different parts of the country, this contributed to the growth of an "Indian" identity. The implementation and refinement of this concept of national identity gave rise to a rising tide of nationalism in India during the last decades of the 19th century. All this resulted in the national liberation movement of 1916.
Swadeshi (Swadeshi, Swadeshi)
The Swadeshi movement encouraged Indian people to stop using British products and start using their own handmade products. The original Swadeshi movement emerged from the partition of Bengal in 1905 and continued until 1908. The Swadeshi movement, which was part of the Indian freedom struggle, was a successful economic strategy to destroy the British Empire and improve economic conditions in India. The Swadeshi Movement will soon stimulate local entrepreneurship in many areas. Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Sri Aurobindo, Surendarnath Banerjee, Rabindranath Tagore were some of the prominent leaders of this movement. Trio alsoknown as LAL BAL PAL. The Swadeshi movement was the most successful. Lokmanya's name began to spread around and people began to follow him in all parts of the country.
The role of industrialists
The Indian textile industry also played an important role in India's freedom struggle. The textile industry pioneered the industrial revolution in India, and soon England began to produce cotton cloth in such large quantities that the domestic market was saturated and foreign markets were obliged to sell this product. On the other hand, India was rich in cotton and could supply the British factories with the raw materials they needed. It was a time when India was under British rule and the East India Company was already taking root in India. The raw material went to England at very low prices, and the fine quality cotton was returned to the country and sold here at very high prices. This drained India's economy and the country's textile industry suffered greatly. This caused great outrage among cotton growers and traders.
British reaction
To add fuel to the fire, Lord Curzon declared the partition of Bengal in 1905, and the people of Bengal came out with massive opposition. Initially, the partition plan was against the press campaign. The followers of such methods led to a boycott of British goods and the people of India promised to use only swadeshi or Indian goods and wear only Indian clothes. Imported garments were viewed with hatred. Public meetings were organized in many placesburning foreign clothing. Shops selling foreign clothes were closed. The cotton textile industry is rightly described as a Swiss industry. The period witnessed the growth of swadeshi textile mills. Swadeshi factories have popped up everywhere.
Result
According to Surendranath Banerjee, the Swadeshi movement has changed the entire structure of the country's social and family life. Songs written by Rabindranath Tagore, Rajanikanth Sen and Syed Abu Mohd became a driving force for the nationalists. The movement soon spread to the rest of the country, and on April 1, 1912, part of Bengal had to be firmly inhaled. The people were great.
Other movements
Grassroots movements failed to achieve their main goal of independence for India as they were often canceled before they ended naturally. However, they aroused nationalist sentiments among the Indian populace, figures such as Mahatama Gandhi united the nation for their non-violent philosophy, and undoubtedly exerted decisive pressure on the British occupation. While in later years of the Raj, economic factors such as the changing state of trade between Britain and India and the cost of stationing Indian military forces overseas, taxed on the British taxpayer by the Government of India Act 1935, were of increasing importance to the British administration. The united resistance further illuminated the growing disparity of British failures to achieve solidarity towards India. Actually,the nationalist movements in india were just another mark on how the british ever gnawed at control of their raj, facing so many problems that the mass movements ascribed but were not solely responsible for india's independence in 1947.
Spain
Movimiento Nacional (National Movement) - the name given to the nationalist mechanism during Francoist rule in Spain, which was allegedly the only channel for participation in Spanish public life. It responded to the doctrine of corporatism, in which only so-called "individuals" could express themselves: families, municipalities and unions.
The National Movement was led by Francisco Franco under the name "Gefe del Movimiento" (Head of the Movement), assisted by the "Minister General Secretary of the Movement". The hierarchy spread throughout the country, and each village had its own "local leader of the movement."
Blueshirts
People who identified strongly with the National Movement were colloquially known as Falangists or Azuls (blue), after the color of the shirts worn by José Antonio Primo de Rivera's fascist organization, created during the Second Spanish Republic. Camisas viejas (Old Shirts) had the honor of being historical members of the Falange, compared to Camisas nuevas (New Shirts), who could be accused of opportunism.
Ideology
The ideology of the national movement was embodied in the slogan "Una, Grande y Libre!", which denoted the indivisibility of the Spanish state and the rejection of any regionalism or decentralization, its imperial character (the non-existent Spanish Empire in the Americas and provided in Africa) and its independence from the alleged "Judeo-Masonic-Marxist international conspiracy" (Franco's personal obsession) materialized by the Soviet Union, the European democracies, the United States (before the Madrid Pact). In 1953, there was clearly a "foreign enemy" that could threaten the nation at any time, as well as a long list of "internal enemies" such as anti-Spanish, communists, separatists, liberals, Jews and Freemasons.
Frankism
Since one-party rule was introduced in Francoist Spain, the only way for pluralism was for the internal "families" (Familias del Régimen) to compete with each other in the National Movement. These include the Catholic "family" (which brought the support of the Roman Catholic Church and the ideology of national Catholicism), the monarchist "family" (or the conservative right, consisting of many former members of the Spanish Confederation of Autonomous Rights), the traditionalist "family" (published from Carlism), the military tendency (figures close to Franco himself, including the so-called africanistas) and the Azuls themselves or national syndicalists who controlled the bureaucracy of the so-called movement: Falange, Sindicato Vertical and manyother organizations such as the national group of veterans (Agrupación Nacional de Excombatientes), the women's section (Sección Femenina), etc.
Franco held onto his power by balancing this internal rivalry, being careful not to show any favoritism to either of them or compromise himself too much with anyone. Thus, everyone was united by a common interest, by Franco's continued defense of traditional Spanish society.
American Nationalists
The Nationalist Movement is a Mississippi-based white nationalist organization headquartered in Georgia that advocates what it calls a pro-majority stance. The Associated Press and Anti-Defamation League called him a white supremacist. Richard Barrett succeeded by unanimous vote as leader Thomas Reuther after Barrett's assassination. Its secretary was originally Barry Hackney, and the office of secretary was removed from office by Thomas Reuther. Thomas Reuter retained much of the Nationalist movement's assets and intellectual property after Barrett's assassination. The movement's symbol is the Crosstar.
In 2012, with the approval of Thomas Reiter, Travis Goley was sworn in as the leader of the Nationalist Movement. Like Reuters, Gauley was an early member of the Barrett-era Nationalist Movement. Goli moved the headquarters of the Nationalist Movement to the south, where the history of the US national movement entered a new phase. It still exists, butsemi-underground. Other American white national movement leaders include Stephen Bannon, Richard Spencer, David Lane, and Robert Jay Matthews.
