Ultranationalism
extreme form of nationalism
Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations, to pursue its specific interests. Ultranationalist entities have been associated with the engagement of political violence even during peacetime.
In ideological terms, the British political theorist Roger Griffin said that ultranationalism arises from seeing modern nation states as living organisms, and that in stark mythological ways, political campaigners have divided societies into those that are perceived as being degenerately inferior and those perceived as having great cultural destinies. Ultranationalism has been an aspect of fascism, with historic governments such as the regimes of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany building on ultranationalist foundations by using specific plans for supposed widespread national renewal. Another major example was the Khmer Rouge regime in Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) that promoted ultranationalism.
Background concepts and broader context
British political theorist Roger Griffin argued that ultranationalism is essentially founded on xenophobia in a way that finds supposed legitimacy "through deeply mythicized narratives of past cultural or political periods of historical greatness or of old scores to settle against alleged enemies". It can also draw on "vulgarized forms" of different aspects of the natural sciences such as anthropology and genetics, eugenics specifically playing a role, in order "to rationalize ideas of national superiority and destiny, of degeneracy and subhumanness" in Griffin's opinion. According to Griffin, ultranationalists view the modern nation state as a living organism directly akin to a physical person such that it can decay, grow, die, and additionally can experience rebirth. He highlighted Nazi Germany as a regime founded on ultranationalism.
Ultranationalist activism can adopt varying attitudes towards historical traditions within the populace.
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