Nationalists Essay, Research Paper
The extent to which Nationalists should pursue their goals is a complex
issue. The possible changes as well as the losses must be weighed.
There is a myriad of complex issues surrounding the situation. Without
Nationalists making changes, Italy would not be unified, Apartheid would
still exist in South Africa, and many other changes would not have
occurred on this planet. I believe that Nationalists should try to
solve their problems and get what they want without using violence as a
tool.
Guseppe Mazzini was a major factor in the unification of Italy. He
started his fight for unity with non-violent means. He tried wearing
black clothing to mourn the persecuted, and he attempted to educate the
people about the dangers of foreign rule in Italy. Gradually however he
escalated to more violent means of getting his way. He stirred feelings
of Nationalism, brotherhood and religion. In 1848 he started a
revolution in Rome. The Pope was forced to flee the city, and Mazzini
established a Roman Republic. The entire republic was built upon the
one-time rage of the masses.
Mazzini simply stirred the emotions of the people, but they didn?t
really feel that strongly about it. The population of Rome didn?t care
enough to fight for the retention of the city. The French were easily
able to re-take the city, and return it to the Pope.
Mahatma Gandhi represents the other side of the spectrum, throughout
his life he used only non-violent means to get what he wanted. His main
goal was to get Moslems and Hindus to live peacefully together. He was
quoted as saying ?All religions are almost as dear to me as my
Hinduism?. One instance of his attempts to use non-violent means to
accomplish his goal was his two hundred and thirty-kilometer march to
the ocean in order to extract salt illegally. This was in protest of
Britain?s salt monopoly in India. Other non-violent acts that he used
as tools to persuade the government to listen to his goals were his six
to twenty-one day fasts. At one time Gandhi used a fast to force his
release from prison. The prison would have been held responsible for
his death and would have major pressure put on it to close down. Gandhi
had become such a hero to the population that, if the government allowed
him to die due to starvation, he would become a martyr.
The South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandella is another testimony
to the ability to use non-violent methods in order to fight for
Nationality. He wanted to do away with apartheid in the area. In 1952
he helped to organize the Nonviolent Defiance Campaign. This was
obviously nonviolent in nature, and was an extremely helpful tool in the
abolition of apartheid. In 1964 he was tried for treason, and received
a sentence of life imprisonment. He was released in 1988, and ran for
Prime Minister of South Africa, and won. His struggle came to represent
the goal of freedom for Blacks in South Africa. He accomplished all of
this without using any violence at all.
Each of the preceding Nationalists? success was based on the violence
that was used in their quests. If someone fights for what they believe
in, using violence as a tool they will fail. The people supporting him
will want his leadership simply because he is strong, not smart. The
masses will lose support of their leader as soon as they realize that he
is not as strong as they think. The only right way to go about
nationalism is using nonviolent techniques. The ends do not justify the
means.