Chapter 17: Nationalism — Class 11 Political Science (Part B: Political Theory)
Welcome to HSLC Guru. On this page you will find complete question-and-answer notes for ASSEB (Assam State School Education Board) Class 11 / HS 1st Year Political Science Part B (Political Theory), Chapter 17 — Nationalism. The chapter examines what a nation is, the right to national self-determination, the idea of the nation-state, the different forms of nationalism, the dangers of extreme nationalism (fascism, jingoism, ethnic conflict and partition), Rabindranath Tagore’s critique of nationalism, Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of an inclusive Indian nationalism, the case for pluralism, and the place of nationalism in the contemporary world. Below we provide the chapter summary in English and Assamese (সাৰাংশ), the full NCERT textbook exercise solutions, additional short and long answer questions, MCQs, and a quick-reference table of key thinkers — everything you need to score high in the ASSEB HS 1st Year Final Examination.
Summary (English)
Nationalism is one of the most powerful political ideas of the past two centuries. It has both shaped and reshaped the political map of the world — bringing fragmented kingdoms together into unified nation-states (Germany and Italy in the 19th century), liberating colonised peoples in Asia and Africa from imperial rule, and at the same time breaking apart large empires such as the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empires after the First World War, and the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia at the end of the 20th century. Today the world is largely organised into nation-states, and most people identify themselves first and foremost with one nation or another. Yet despite its enormous influence, nationalism is not easy to define — neither language, nor religion, nor descent, nor ethnicity, nor a shared territory can by itself produce a nation. A nation is, as Benedict Anderson famously said, an “imagined community” — held together by the collective beliefs, aspirations, memories and imagination of its members.
The chapter identifies several elements that often contribute to the making of a nation: shared beliefs and a common political vision; a sense of common history and collective memory; an attachment to a particular territory or homeland; and a set of shared political ideals such as democracy, secularism and liberty. Nations seek the right of self-determination — the right to govern themselves and to determine their own political, economic and cultural future. The principle of national self-determination, given prominence by US President Woodrow Wilson at the end of the First World War, has produced the modern nation-state and inspired anti-colonial liberation movements; but it has also created serious challenges, because almost every state today contains more than one cultural community, and not every group claiming to be a nation can practically be granted a separate state. Endless partition would only produce more discontented minorities inside the new states.
Nationalism therefore has a dual character. In its liberating form it has united people against colonial rule, given them dignity and self-respect, and helped them build democratic institutions. In its extreme form, however, nationalism has shown a dangerous face — fascism in Italy and Nazism in Germany glorified the nation above the individual and led to genocide and world war; jingoism (aggressive, chauvinistic patriotism) has produced wars between neighbours; and the insistence on one-nation-one-culture has fuelled ethnic cleansing, communal violence and partition, as in the Indian subcontinent in 1947, in the former Yugoslavia, and in Rwanda. Rabindranath Tagore, while loving his country deeply, was one of the earliest and most powerful critics of aggressive nationalism. He distinguished between opposing Western imperialism and rejecting Western civilisation; he warned that the worship of the nation as if it were greater than humanity itself was a moral disaster. For Tagore, true patriotism could never override our commitment to humanity. Mahatma Gandhi too rejected a narrow, exclusive nationalism: his Indian nationalism was inclusive, non-violent and rooted in moral and spiritual values, embracing Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and people of every community.
The chapter argues that the best response to the challenge of multiple identities within a single state is pluralism. Once we abandon the impossible dream of “one culture, one state,” we can think creatively about how different cultures, languages and religions can flourish together within a single democratic political community. The Indian Constitution is a model of this approach — it grants extensive cultural, religious, linguistic and educational rights to minorities, recognises many languages, and rests political loyalty on shared constitutional values rather than on a single language, religion or ethnicity. Indian nationalism itself emerged during the freedom struggle as an inclusive, civic nationalism. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel Anandamath (1882) and the song Vande Mataram drawn from it gave the freedom movement an emotional language; the National Anthem Jana Gana Mana by Tagore, the National Flag, the Republic Day parade, Mahatma Gandhi and the freedom fighters all became enduring symbols of this composite nationalism. In the contemporary world, even as globalisation, transnational migration and supranational institutions like the United Nations and the European Union challenge the older idea of an absolute nation-state, nationalism remains a powerful force — both for democratic self-government and, when distorted, for exclusion and conflict. The task before democratic citizens is to nurture a confident, inclusive and pluralist nationalism that respects diversity, defends constitutional values, and refuses to slide into hatred of the “other.”
সাৰাংশ (Assamese Summary)
জাতীয়তাবাদ (Nationalism) যোৱা দুই শতিকাৰ অন্যতম শক্তিশালী ৰাজনৈতিক ধাৰণা। ই বহুতো ক্ষুদ্ৰ ৰাজ্যক একত্ৰিত কৰি জাতি-ৰাষ্ট্ৰ গঠন কৰিছে (যেনে — উনবিংশ শতিকাৰ জাৰ্মানী আৰু ইটালী), এছিয়া আৰু আফ্ৰিকাৰ ঔপনিৱেশিক জাতিসমূহক স্বাধীন কৰিছে, কিন্তু একে সময়তে অষ্ট্ৰো-হাঙ্গেৰীয়, অটোমান, ৰাছিয়ান, ছোভিয়েট সংঘ আৰু যুগোশ্লাভিয়াৰ দৰে বৃহৎ সাম্ৰাজ্যৰ ভঙনো ঘটাইছে। আজি বিশ্ব মূলত: জাতি-ৰাষ্ট্ৰৰ ৰূপত গঢ় লৈ আছে। কিন্তু “জাতি” (nation) মানে কি — সেইটো সংজ্ঞাবদ্ধ কৰা সহজ নহয়। ভাষা, ধৰ্ম, বংশ, জাতি বা একে ভূখণ্ড — এইবোৰৰ যিকোনো এটাই অকলে জাতি গঠন কৰিব নোৱাৰে। জাতি প্ৰকৃততে এক “কল্পিত সম্প্ৰদায়” (imagined community), যিটো সদস্যসকলৰ যৌথ বিশ্বাস, সপোন আৰু স্মৃতিৰ ভিত্তিত গঢ় লৈ উঠে।
জাতি গঠনত সহায় কৰা মূল উপাদানসমূহ হ’ল — সাধাৰণ বিশ্বাস আৰু ৰাজনৈতিক দৰ্শন, সমষ্টিগত ইতিহাস আৰু স্মৃতি, এক নিৰ্দিষ্ট ভূখণ্ডৰ প্ৰতি মমতা, আৰু গণতন্ত্ৰ-ধৰ্মনিৰপেক্ষতাৰ দৰে সাঁঝা ৰাজনৈতিক আদৰ্শ। প্ৰতিটো জাতিয়ে আত্মনিৰ্ণয়ৰ অধিকাৰ (right to self-determination) দাবী কৰে — অৰ্থাৎ বাহিৰৰ হস্তক্ষেপ অবিহনে নিজৰ ভৱিষ্যত নিৰ্ণয় কৰাৰ অধিকাৰ। এই নীতি ৱড্ৰ’ উইলছনৰ চৌদ্দ-দফা ভাষণ আৰু পিছত ৰাষ্ট্ৰসংঘৰ যোগেদি বিশ্বমান্য হোৱাত বহু জাতি-ৰাষ্ট্ৰৰ জন্ম আৰু ঔপনিৱেশিক বিৰোধী আন্দোলনৰ অনুপ্ৰেৰণা হৈ পৰে। কিন্তু একে সময়তে ই সমস্যাও সৃষ্টি কৰিছে — পৃথিৱীত প্ৰায় কোনো ৰাষ্ট্ৰই সম্পূৰ্ণ এক-সাংস্কৃতিক নহয়। যদি প্ৰতিটো গোটে স্বতন্ত্ৰ ৰাষ্ট্ৰ বিচাৰে, তেন্তে বিভাজনৰ অন্ত নাথাকিব আৰু নতুন ৰাষ্ট্ৰৰ ভিতৰতো আকৌ নতুন সংখ্যালঘু সৃষ্টি হ’ব।
সেয়েহে জাতীয়তাবাদৰ দুটা মুখ আছে। ইতিবাচক দিশত ই উপনিৱেশৰ পৰা মুক্তি দিছে, মৰ্যাদা দিছে আৰু গণতন্ত্ৰ গঢ়িবলৈ সহায় কৰিছে। কিন্তু চৰম ৰূপত ই বিপজ্জনক — ইটালীৰ ফাচিজম আৰু জাৰ্মানীৰ নাজীবাদে জাতিক ব্যক্তিৰ ওপৰত স্থান দি বিশ্বযুদ্ধ আৰু গণহত্যা মাতি আনিছিল; জিংগ’ইজম (jingoism) অৰ্থাৎ আগ্ৰাসী দেশপ্ৰেমে যুদ্ধ লগায়; “এক জাতি, এক সংস্কৃতি”ৰ দাবীয়ে ১৯৪৭ চনৰ ভাৰত-পাকিস্তান বিভাজন, যুগোশ্লাভিয়া আৰু ৰুৱাণ্ডাৰ দৰে জাতিগত সংঘাত আৰু গণহত্যা মাতি আনিছিল। ৰবীন্দ্ৰনাথ ঠাকুৰে দেশক ভাল পায়েই উগ্ৰ জাতীয়তাবাদৰ বিৰুদ্ধে সকীয়াই দিছিল — তেওঁৰ মতে পশ্চিমীয়া সাম্ৰাজ্যবাদৰ বিৰোধিতা কৰিলেও পশ্চিমীয়া সভ্যতাৰ ভাল কথাবোৰ গ্ৰহণ কৰিব লাগে; জাতিক মানৱতাৰ ওপৰত স্থান দিয়াটো নৈতিক ভুল। মহাত্মা গান্ধীৰ ভাৰতীয় জাতীয়তাবাদো আছিল অহিংস, সৰ্বধৰ্ম-সমন্বয়মূলক আৰু সংকীৰ্ণ নহয়।
সমাধান হিচাপে অধ্যায়টোত বহুত্ববাদ (Pluralism) ৰ কথা কোৱা হৈছে — অৰ্থাৎ “এক ৰাষ্ট্ৰ, এক সংস্কৃতি”ৰ অসম্ভৱ সপোনৰ পৰিৱৰ্তে এখন ৰাষ্ট্ৰৰ ভিতৰতে বিভিন্ন সংস্কৃতি, ভাষা আৰু ধৰ্মৰ সমৰ্থনত বাচি থকাৰ পথ গ্ৰহণ কৰা। ভাৰতীয় সংবিধান এই দৃষ্টিভংগীৰ এক উজ্জ্বল উদাহৰণ — ই সংখ্যালঘুক ভাষিক, ধাৰ্মিক, সাংস্কৃতিক আৰু শৈক্ষিক অধিকাৰ দিছে আৰু একক ভাষা/ধৰ্মৰ পৰিৱৰ্তে সংবিধানৰ মূল্যবোধত ৰাজনৈতিক আনুগত্য বিচাৰিছে। ভাৰতীয় জাতীয়তাবাদৰ উত্থান হৈছিল স্বাধীনতা সংগ্ৰামৰ সময়ত — বঙ্কিমচন্দ্ৰৰ আনন্দমঠ উপন্যাস (১৮৮২) আৰু ইয়াত পোৱা বন্দে মাতৰম্ গীতে আন্দোলনৰ অনুপ্ৰেৰণা যোগাইছিল; ৰবীন্দ্ৰনাথৰ “জনগণমন” ৰাষ্ট্ৰীয় সংগীত, ত্ৰিৰঙা ধ্বজা, প্ৰজাতন্ত্ৰ দিৱসৰ পেৰেড আৰু গান্ধীজী চিৰদিনৰ বাবে এই সমন্বয়ী জাতীয়তাবাদৰ প্ৰতীক হৈ ৰৈছে। সাম্প্ৰতিক বিশ্বত বিশ্বায়ন, প্ৰব্ৰজন, ৰাষ্ট্ৰসংঘ আৰু ইউৰোপীয় সংঘৰ দৰে আন্তঃৰাষ্ট্ৰীয় সংগঠনে জাতি-ৰাষ্ট্ৰৰ পুৰণি ধাৰণাক প্ৰত্যাহ্বান জনাইছে; কিন্তু জাতীয়তাবাদ এতিয়াও শক্তিশালী। গণতান্ত্ৰিক নাগৰিকৰ কৰ্তব্য হ’ল এক আত্মবিশ্বাসী, সৰ্বজনগ্ৰাহ্য আৰু বহুত্ববাদী জাতীয়তাবাদ গঢ়ি তোলা — যিয়ে বৈচিত্ৰ্যক সন্মান কৰে, সংবিধানক সুৰক্ষা দিয়ে আৰু “অন্য”ৰ প্ৰতি ঘৃণাত পৰিণত নহয়।
NCERT Textbook Exercise — Questions and Answers
1. How is a nation different from other forms of collective belonging?
Answer: A nation is a unique form of collective belonging that differs from families, tribes, clans and other groups in several important respects.
(i) Unlike families, members of a nation are not bound together by face-to-face contact or personal acquaintance. A family is a small unit in which everyone knows everyone else. A nation, by contrast, includes millions of people who will never meet and yet feel that they belong together.
(ii) Unlike tribes, clans or kinship groups, a nation is not based on real or imagined descent. Tribes and clans are united by ties of blood, marriage and lineage. A nation does not require that its members share ancestors.
(iii) Nations are not the same as religious or linguistic communities either. Many nations contain several languages (India, Switzerland, Canada) and several religions, while many religions and languages are spread across several nations.
(iv) A nation is largely an “imagined community” — its existence depends on the belief of its members that they belong to one nation. It is held together by shared aspirations, collective memory, a sense of common history, attachment to a territory and a vision of a common political future. This combination of features — large scale, the belief in a shared political destiny, attachment to territory and shared political ideals — sets the nation apart from every other form of collective belonging.
2. What do you understand by the right to national self-determination? How has this idea resulted in both the formation of and challenges to nation-states?
Answer: The right to national self-determination means the right of every nation freely to decide its own political status, that is, to govern itself and shape its own economic, social and cultural development without external interference. It implies that a community which sees itself as a nation is entitled to its own state, or at least to autonomous government within an existing state.
Formation of nation-states. The principle of self-determination, given clear expression by US President Woodrow Wilson in his Fourteen Points (1918) at the end of the First World War, provided the moral basis for the creation of many new states out of the collapsing Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Russian empires. After the Second World War the same principle inspired the great wave of decolonisation in Asia and Africa: India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, Ghana, Kenya, Algeria and many more colonised peoples won independence by claiming the right to govern themselves. The end of the Cold War once again brought self-determination to the front of the political stage, leading to the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.
Challenges to nation-states. The same principle has, however, posed serious problems for the modern state.
(a) Almost every state in the world today is multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious. If every group claiming to be a nation demanded its own state, there would be unending fragmentation.
(b) Even after a new state is created, fresh minorities are usually left within it, and they may in turn demand their own self-determination — a problem that is repeated indefinitely.
(c) Many self-determination movements have led to violent partition, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of populations — for example, the Partition of India in 1947 and the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.
(d) For these reasons, modern political theorists increasingly argue that, except in cases of extreme oppression, the right of self-determination should be understood as the right of cultural communities to enjoy democratic rights, autonomy and constitutional recognition within existing states, rather than as a right to endless secession.
3. “We have seen that nationalism can unite people as well as divide them, liberate them as well as generate bitterness and conflict.” Illustrate your answer with examples from the world and from India.
Answer: Nationalism is a deeply ambivalent force. The same emotion that liberates one people can oppress another, and the same loyalty that builds a nation can also tear it apart.
Nationalism as a uniting and liberating force.
(i) In the 19th century, nationalism united dozens of small kingdoms and principalities into the modern nation-states of Italy (1861) and Germany (1871).
(ii) In the 20th century, nationalism gave courage and unity to colonised peoples in Asia and Africa to fight British, French, Dutch and Portuguese rule. The Indian freedom struggle led by leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose, Maulana Azad and countless others is the outstanding example: people of every region, religion, language and caste came together under the banner of Indian nationalism to win independence in 1947.
(iii) Nationalism gives ordinary people a sense of dignity, self-respect and shared purpose, and it is the basis on which modern democratic citizenship has been built.
Nationalism as a dividing and conflict-generating force.
(i) Aggressive, exclusive nationalism produced fascism in Italy under Mussolini and Nazism in Germany under Hitler, leading to the Second World War and the Holocaust.
(ii) The two World Wars themselves were fuelled by competing nationalisms, including the imperial rivalries of European powers.
(iii) The doctrine of “one nation, one state” caused the painful Partition of India in 1947, in which more than a million people were killed and over ten million displaced.
(iv) Ethno-national conflicts have torn apart the former Yugoslavia, caused genocide in Rwanda (1994), and continue to fuel the demands of Kurds in West Asia, Tamils in Sri Lanka, Basques in Spain and many separatist movements around the world.
(v) Within India too, narrow regional or religious chauvinism has at times produced communal riots, attacks on linguistic minorities and bitter sub-national conflict.
The lesson is clear: nationalism by itself is neither good nor bad. It is liberating when it is inclusive, democratic and respectful of diversity, and dangerous when it becomes narrow, exclusive and aggressive.
4. “Neither descent, nor language, nor religion, ethnicity nor shared history can claim to be a common factor in nationalism worldwide.” Comment.
Answer: The statement is largely true. Although descent, language, religion, ethnicity and shared history have all been put forward at one time or another as the essential basis of nationhood, none of them turns out to be either necessary or sufficient.
(a) Descent or ethnicity. Most nations today are ethnically mixed. The United States, Canada, Australia and India are nations of many ethnic groups; even older European nations like France contain people of many ancestries.
(b) Language. Switzerland has four official languages (German, French, Italian, Romansh); Canada has two (English and French); India recognises 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. On the other hand, English is spoken in many different nations.
(c) Religion. India is officially secular and home to Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains. The same religion (Islam, Christianity) is the majority faith in many different nations, so religion alone does not produce one nation.
(d) Shared history. Even shared history is interpreted differently by different communities within a nation, and many “shared histories” turn out to be partly invented or constructed in modern times.
What actually makes a nation, therefore, is not any one of these objective factors but a combination of subjective elements — shared political beliefs, attachment to a territory, a sense of common destiny and shared political ideals such as democracy and liberty. As Benedict Anderson put it, the nation is an “imagined political community.”
5. State the factors that contribute to the making of a nation. Illustrate with examples.
Answer: Although no single factor is decisive, the textbook identifies five elements that often contribute to the making of a nation:
(i) Shared beliefs. A nation exists when its members believe that they belong together. Indians of every region and religion came to believe, during the freedom struggle, that they were one people.
(ii) History. Nations have a sense of continuous history that links the present generation with the past. Indians draw inspiration from the freedom struggle, the ancient civilisation of the subcontinent and figures such as Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore, Bose and Ambedkar.
(iii) Territory. Long residence on a common territory creates a feeling of attachment to a homeland. Patriotic songs, the geography of the country, sacred rivers, mountains and historical monuments all reinforce this bond.
(iv) Shared political ideals. The members of a democratic nation share a vision of the kind of state they want to build — a republic, a secular state, a state founded on liberty, equality and fraternity. The Preamble to the Indian Constitution expresses these ideals.
(v) Common political identity. Citizens see themselves as members of a single political community. In a multicultural society like India, this political identity must rest on the Constitution rather than on any one religion, language or ethnic group, because only then can a diverse nation hold together democratically.
6. Should every nation have its own state? Give arguments for and against.
Answer: Whether every nation should have its own state is one of the most difficult questions in political theory. Arguments can be made on both sides.
Arguments in favour:
(i) Self-determination is widely accepted as a basic political right; people who see themselves as a nation should be free to govern themselves.
(ii) An independent state is often the only sure way for a community to protect its language, religion and culture from suppression.
(iii) Statehood gives a nation an equal voice in the international community, in the United Nations and in negotiations with other states.
Arguments against:
(i) Nearly every existing state contains many cultural groups; granting each one a separate state would mean endless partition and instability.
(ii) New states almost always contain new minorities, who in turn may demand their own self-determination — a process with no end.
(iii) Forced redrawing of boundaries in the name of nationalism has produced violence, ethnic cleansing and population transfers, as in 1947 South Asia or 1990s Yugoslavia.
(iv) Many cultural aspirations can be met better by giving regional autonomy, language rights, religious freedom and federal political arrangements within an existing democratic state, rather than by carving out new states.
The balanced view, taken by most contemporary political theorists, is that the right of self-determination is best understood today as the right of cultural communities to enjoy political recognition, democratic rights and autonomy within existing states; secession should be a last resort, justified only by serious oppression.
7. What do you understand by pluralism? How does it help in nation-building?
Answer: Pluralism is the political and philosophical principle that a single state can — and should — recognise, accommodate and value the existence of many different cultures, languages, religions and communities within itself. Once we accept that the dream of “one culture, one state” is impossible, pluralism becomes the natural basis on which a multi-cultural nation can be built and held together.
Pluralism contributes to nation-building in several ways:
(i) It gives every cultural community confidence that its identity will be respected, which strengthens its loyalty to the larger nation.
(ii) It prevents the dominance of one community over others and reduces the threat of secession.
(iii) It promotes mutual understanding, dialogue and tolerance among different groups.
(iv) It enriches national life with diverse arts, languages, festivals and ways of thinking.
The Indian Constitution is a leading example of pluralism in action. It declares India to be a secular state, recognises 22 languages, gives religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish their own educational institutions (Articles 29 and 30), and grants extensive cultural rights. Indian nationalism, anchored in this pluralist Constitution, is the living example of how a nation of stupendous diversity can hold together.
Additional Short Answer Questions
1. Define a nation.
Answer: A nation is a large body of people who feel they belong together because of shared beliefs, history, attachment to a territory and a vision of a common political future. It is, in Benedict Anderson’s famous phrase, an “imagined political community.”
2. What is nationalism?
Answer: Nationalism is the political ideology and feeling of devotion that binds the members of a nation together and inspires them to seek self-government and protect their collective identity. In short, it is loyalty to one’s nation and the demand that the nation should rule itself.
3. What is a nation-state?
Answer: A nation-state is a sovereign political unit in which the boundaries of the state and the boundaries of the nation are intended to coincide — that is, the state claims to represent and govern a particular nation. Most modern states aspire to be nation-states, although in practice almost every state contains more than one nation or cultural group.
4. What is meant by an “imagined community”?
Answer: The phrase, coined by Benedict Anderson, means that a nation exists because its members imagine themselves to be part of one community, even though they will never know or meet most of their fellow nationals. The nation lives in the minds of its members through shared symbols, language, media and rituals.
5. Define self-determination.
Answer: Self-determination is the right of a nation freely to decide its own political status and to govern its own affairs without outside interference. It includes the right to choose one’s own form of government, to follow one’s own economic and cultural path, and, in extreme cases, to seek independence.
6. Who proposed the principle of self-determination at the end of the First World War?
Answer: US President Woodrow Wilson proposed the principle of national self-determination in his famous Fourteen Points speech in 1918.
7. Name two countries created by the unification of small kingdoms in the 19th century.
Answer: Italy (unified in 1861) and Germany (unified in 1871).
8. Name three multinational empires that broke up because of nationalism after the First World War.
Answer: The Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Russian Empire.
9. What is fascism?
Answer: Fascism is an extreme form of right-wing nationalism that glorifies the nation and the state above the individual, suppresses opposition, exalts a single leader and uses violence against minorities and foreigners. Mussolini’s regime in Italy (1922–43) is the classic example.
10. What is jingoism?
Answer: Jingoism is an aggressive, chauvinistic form of patriotism that demands a hostile foreign policy, glorifies one’s own country at the expense of others, and is often a prelude to war. It is the popular face of belligerent nationalism.
11. What is pluralism?
Answer: Pluralism is the principle that many different cultural, religious and linguistic communities can co-exist within a single political community, each enjoying recognition and rights, while owing political loyalty to a shared constitution.
12. Who wrote the novel Anandamath?
Answer: The Bengali novelist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote Anandamath, published in 1882. The novel contains the song Vande Mataram, which became one of the most powerful symbols of the Indian freedom struggle.
13. Who wrote India’s National Anthem?
Answer: Rabindranath Tagore wrote Jana Gana Mana, which was adopted as the National Anthem of India by the Constituent Assembly on 24 January 1950.
14. Who composed Vande Mataram?
Answer: The song Vande Mataram was composed by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and first appeared in his 1882 novel Anandamath. It was later adopted as the National Song of India.
15. Mention any two symbols of Indian nationalism.
Answer: The National Flag (the Tricolour or Tiranga) and the National Anthem (Jana Gana Mana) are two important symbols of Indian nationalism. Other symbols include the National Emblem (the Lion Capital of Ashoka), the Republic Day parade, and the figure of Mahatma Gandhi.
16. Why did Tagore criticise nationalism?
Answer: Tagore criticised aggressive, narrow nationalism because he believed it placed the nation above humanity, encouraged hatred of foreigners and threatened universal human values. He warned Indians not to imitate the worst features of Western nationalism even while opposing Western imperialism.
17. State two features of Mahatma Gandhi’s nationalism.
Answer: (i) Gandhi’s nationalism was non-violent and based on the moral force of satyagraha. (ii) It was inclusive and pluralist — embracing Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis and people of every caste and region as equal members of the Indian nation.
18. What is meant by “civic nationalism”?
Answer: Civic nationalism is the form of nationalism in which membership of the nation rests on shared political values, citizenship and loyalty to the constitution, rather than on a common ethnicity, language or religion. Indian nationalism is essentially civic in this sense.
19. What is meant by “ethnic nationalism”?
Answer: Ethnic nationalism is the form of nationalism that defines the nation in terms of a common ancestry, language, religion or ethnic background. It tends to exclude people who do not share these markers and can easily slip into intolerance.
20. Mention any two contemporary separatist movements.
Answer: The Kurdish movement for an independent Kurdistan in West Asia and the Basque movement in northern Spain are two well-known contemporary separatist movements. Other examples include the Tamil movement in Sri Lanka and movements in parts of Africa.
Long Answer Questions
1. Discuss the main features of a nation.
Answer: A nation is a unique kind of large-scale community whose distinctive features can be summarised as follows.
(i) Shared beliefs. A nation exists fundamentally because its members believe they belong together. This collective belief is more important than any single objective marker.
(ii) History and collective memory. Nations cherish a sense of continuous history. Stories of struggle, freedom fighters, ancient civilisations and shared sacrifices bind the present to the past.
(iii) Territory. Nations are usually attached to a specific territory or “homeland” — Bharat for Indians, the Hebrew homeland for Jews, the British Isles for the British. Geography, rivers, mountains and historical monuments become emotional anchors.
(iv) Shared political ideals. Modern democratic nations are bound together by common political ideals — equality, liberty, fraternity, secularism, the rule of law — usually enshrined in a written constitution.
(v) Common political identity. Members see themselves as fellow citizens of a single political community, not merely as members of a religion, caste or language group.
(vi) Symbols. A national flag, a national anthem, national festivals (such as Independence Day and Republic Day), and revered national figures function as visible expressions of the imagined community.
(vii) Imagined character. A nation is too large for face-to-face acquaintance, so it depends on imagination, education, mass media and shared rituals to keep alive the sense of common identity.
None of these features alone makes a nation; together they sustain it. The Indian nation, for example, possesses all of these — shared belief in the freedom struggle, a long history, a vast territory, the constitutional ideals of the Preamble, the political identity of “Indian citizen,” the Tiranga, and the songs Jana Gana Mana and Vande Mataram.
2. Explain the different types of nationalism.
Answer: Political theorists distinguish several types of nationalism, each with a different basis and different consequences.
(i) Civic (or political) nationalism. Membership of the nation rests on citizenship, loyalty to the constitution and shared political ideals, regardless of ethnicity or religion. France, the United States and India are usually placed in this category.
(ii) Ethnic nationalism. The nation is defined by common ancestry, language, race or religion. This kind of nationalism tends to be exclusive and treats minorities as outsiders. Nazi Germany is the most extreme historical example.
(iii) Cultural nationalism. Emphasises a shared culture — language, customs, literature and arts — as the basis of national identity, without necessarily denying citizenship to others. Many movements for the protection of regional languages fall in this category.
(iv) Anti-colonial or liberation nationalism. The nationalism of colonised peoples seeking freedom from foreign rule. The Indian, Vietnamese, Algerian and South African freedom struggles are leading examples. It tends to be inclusive and democratic in spirit.
(v) Liberal nationalism. Combines nationalism with liberal values such as individual rights, parliamentary democracy and tolerance. Mazzini’s nationalism in 19th-century Italy was of this type.
(vi) Aggressive or chauvinistic nationalism (jingoism, fascism). An extreme, militant form that glorifies the nation, demonises foreigners and minorities, and often leads to war or genocide.
(vii) Religious nationalism. Defines the nation in terms of a single religion, e.g. the demand for an Islamic state or for a Hindu rashtra. Such nationalism is in tension with secular and pluralist values.
(viii) Pluralist or composite nationalism. Recognises that the nation is made up of many cultures, languages and religions, and builds national unity on respect for that diversity. Indian nationalism, especially as articulated by Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore, Maulana Azad and the Constitution, is the model of this type.
The healthiest nationalism is one that combines liberal, civic and pluralist features.
3. Discuss the dangers of extreme nationalism.
Answer: While inclusive nationalism is a positive force, extreme or aggressive nationalism has been one of the most destructive forces in modern history. Its main dangers are:
(i) Fascism and authoritarianism. Extreme nationalism can produce regimes that suppress individual rights, ban opposition and concentrate power in a single leader. Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany show how nationalism, taken to extremes, destroys democracy from within.
(ii) War and conquest (jingoism). Aggressive nationalism encourages hostility towards other nations and a willingness to go to war. Both World Wars were fuelled by competing nationalisms.
(iii) Genocide and ethnic cleansing. The Holocaust during World War II, the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and the wars in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s are tragic reminders of what extreme nationalism can do to minority populations.
(iv) Partition and forced migration. The “one nation, one state” idea has caused painful partitions, the Partition of India in 1947 being the most catastrophic in our region — over a million dead and ten million displaced.
(v) Communal and sectarian violence. When nationalism is identified with one religion or one community, minorities suffer riots, discrimination and second-class citizenship.
(vi) Suppression of dissent. Extreme nationalists often label all critics of the government as “anti-national,” shrinking the space for free debate that democracy requires.
(vii) Cultural arrogance. Extreme nationalism breeds contempt for other cultures and refuses to learn from the rest of the world — a tendency that Tagore strongly warned against.
(viii) Endless fragmentation. If every sub-group claims separate nationhood, states are continuously broken up and minorities within new states demand further partition.
The remedy is a confident but inclusive nationalism rooted in democracy, pluralism, respect for human rights and a sense of shared humanity.
4. Discuss Tagore’s critique of nationalism.
Answer: Rabindranath Tagore is one of the earliest and most profound critics of aggressive nationalism. In his 1917 lectures published as Nationalism, and in his novel Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World), he developed the following critique.
(i) Tagore distinguished between patriotism (love of one’s country) and nationalism (the worship of the nation as a political and economic machine). He valued patriotism but warned against making the nation an idol.
(ii) He argued that the modern nation-state, especially in its Western imperialist form, treats human beings as means to power and profit, sacrificing humanity to the political organisation.
(iii) Tagore drew a sharp distinction between opposing Western imperialism and rejecting Western civilisation. He believed Indians should be deeply rooted in their own culture and heritage but at the same time should freely and gratefully learn from any source — Western, Eastern or African.
(iv) He warned that imitating Western aggressive nationalism would be a moral disaster for India, replacing one form of bondage with another.
(v) For Tagore, the highest loyalty was not to the nation but to humanity. He saw narrow nationalism as a danger to world peace and to India’s own spiritual traditions.
(vi) He celebrated India’s age-old tradition of vasudhaiva kutumbakam (“the world is one family”) and argued that India’s contribution to humanity must be the reconciliation of differences rather than their hardening.
Tagore’s critique remains relevant today: it reminds us that loving one’s country must never become hating other peoples, and that no political loyalty can override our basic obligations as human beings.
5. Examine Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of Indian nationalism.
Answer: Mahatma Gandhi articulated a distinctive vision of Indian nationalism whose main features were:
(i) Inclusive and pluralist. Gandhi insisted that Indian nationalism must embrace Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains and members of every caste and community on equal terms. He famously said his nationalism had a “house with many windows” through which the cultures of the world could blow in freely.
(ii) Non-violent. The struggle for the nation was to be conducted by satyagraha — truth-force — and not by hatred, terrorism or war. Non-violence was for Gandhi both a moral principle and the strongest political weapon of the weak.
(iii) Rooted in moral and spiritual values. Gandhi believed that swaraj meant not only political independence but also self-rule of the soul. The nation’s freedom was empty if individuals were enslaved by fear, greed and untouchability.
(iv) Concerned with the poorest. Gandhi tested every policy by the question: “Will it benefit the poorest and weakest member of society?” His talisman placed the daridra-narayan at the heart of the nation.
(v) Decentralised and based on village self-government. Gandhi’s ideal of gram swaraj visualised India as a federation of self-reliant village republics rather than a centralised industrial state.
(vi) Universalist in spirit. Although Gandhi’s nationalism was firmly anchored in Indian soil, he made it clear that he did not want India to win freedom on terms that hurt others. “I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed,” he wrote, echoing Tagore.
(vii) Anti-imperialist but not anti-British. Gandhi opposed imperialism but distinguished it from the British people, against whom he held no enmity.
Gandhi’s vision became the moral foundation of Indian nationalism and is reflected in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution.
6. Trace the development of Indian nationalism with special reference to Anandamath and Vande Mataram.
Answer: Indian nationalism developed gradually during the 19th and 20th centuries as a response to British colonial rule. Its growth can be sketched in stages.
(i) Early phase (1820s–1880s). Reformers like Raja Rammohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Dadabhai Naoroji laid the intellectual groundwork by introducing modern education, criticising social evils and exposing the “drain of wealth” by the British.
(ii) Cultural awakening. A literary and cultural revival in Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and elsewhere produced a new pride in Indian heritage. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee‘s novel Anandamath (1882) is the most influential work of this kind. The novel depicts a band of sannyasis rising against oppressive rule, and at its heart lies the song Vande Mataram, in which the motherland is invoked as a goddess. The song became the rallying cry of the freedom struggle, especially during the anti-Partition agitation in Bengal (1905) and was adopted as the National Song of India.
(iii) Foundation of the Indian National Congress (1885). Under Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, W.C. Bonnerjee and others, the Congress provided the first nation-wide political platform.
(iv) Extremist phase. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai and Sri Aurobindo took nationalism to the masses through festivals, journalism and the slogan “Swaraj is my birthright.”
(v) Gandhian phase (1920–1947). Mahatma Gandhi turned the Congress into a mass movement through Non-Cooperation (1920), Civil Disobedience (1930), and Quit India (1942), giving Indian nationalism its inclusive, non-violent and moral character.
(vi) Cultural symbols. Rabindranath Tagore’s Jana Gana Mana, the Tiranga (designed in its modern form by Pingali Venkayya), the figure of Bharat Mata and the freedom songs of Subramania Bharati and others gave nationalism a vibrant cultural life.
(vii) Constitutional consolidation. After Independence in 1947, the Constituent Assembly under Dr B.R. Ambedkar and Dr Rajendra Prasad framed a constitution that translated this composite, pluralist nationalism into a working democratic state, declaring India a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic.
Anandamath and Vande Mataram thus represent the emotional and cultural awakening at the heart of Indian nationalism, which Gandhi, Nehru, Tagore and the Constitution later transformed into an inclusive and democratic political programme.
7. What are the symbols of Indian nationalism? Why are they important?
Answer: National symbols are visible expressions of the imagined national community. The main symbols of Indian nationalism are:
(i) The National Flag (Tiranga) — saffron, white and green with the Ashoka Chakra in the centre, adopted on 22 July 1947.
(ii) The National Anthem — Jana Gana Mana, written by Rabindranath Tagore and adopted on 24 January 1950.
(iii) The National Song — Vande Mataram, taken from Bankim Chandra’s Anandamath.
(iv) The National Emblem — the Lion Capital of Ashoka with the motto “Satyameva Jayate” (“Truth Alone Triumphs”).
(v) National festivals — Independence Day (15 August), Republic Day (26 January) and Gandhi Jayanti (2 October), with the Republic Day parade in New Delhi being a major spectacle of national unity.
(vi) National figures — Mahatma Gandhi (Father of the Nation), Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Maulana Azad, Rabindranath Tagore and many others.
(vii) The Constitution and its Preamble — the supreme symbol of India’s political identity and pluralist nationhood.
Importance. These symbols (a) bind together a vast, diverse population in shared emotion; (b) link the present generation with the freedom struggle and ancient civilisation; (c) educate citizens in the values of liberty, equality, fraternity and secularism; (d) give visible expression to constitutional patriotism; and (e) are recognised internationally as the face of India.
8. Discuss the place of nationalism in the contemporary world.
Answer: Nationalism remains one of the most powerful political forces in the contemporary world, but it has had to adjust to several new realities.
(i) Globalisation. Trade, finance, mass media and the internet have made the world more interconnected, weakening some traditional functions of the nation-state but also producing nationalist reactions to perceived loss of identity.
(ii) International institutions. The United Nations, World Trade Organisation, World Bank, IMF, European Union and ASEAN limit the absolute sovereignty of nation-states, encouraging cooperation but also resentment.
(iii) Migration and multicultural societies. Large-scale migration has made many states multi-ethnic and multi-religious, putting pressure on older notions of “one nation.”
(iv) Ethnic and separatist movements. Even as some states integrate, others fragment — the breakup of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the secession of South Sudan in 2011, and ongoing demands of Catalans, Scots, Kurds and Tamils show that nationalism is far from dead.
(v) Resurgence of populist nationalism. In the 21st century many countries have witnessed a return of aggressive, anti-immigrant, anti-globalisation nationalism, raising fresh concerns about democracy and minority rights.
(vi) Anti-colonial legacies. For most countries of Asia and Africa, nationalism remains a positive force tied to memories of the freedom struggle and the project of nation-building.
(vii) The Indian case. India offers a model of pluralist, constitutional nationalism that has held a country of immense diversity together as a democracy. Its success and challenges are watched closely by political theorists everywhere.
The challenge of our age is to reconcile a healthy national pride with the demands of democracy, human rights, pluralism and global cooperation.
9. Distinguish between civic nationalism and ethnic nationalism. Which is more suited to a country like India and why?
Answer: Civic nationalism defines the nation in terms of shared political values, citizenship and constitutional loyalty. Anyone who is willing to abide by the constitution and laws of the country is fully a member of the nation, regardless of religion, language or ancestry. France, the United States, Canada and India are leading examples.
Ethnic nationalism, on the other hand, defines the nation in terms of common descent, language or religion. Membership in the nation is determined by birth into the dominant ethnic group; minorities are tolerated at best and excluded or persecuted at worst. Nazi Germany, certain Balkan states in the 1990s and some contemporary religious-nationalist regimes are examples.
Differences:
(a) Civic nationalism is inclusive, ethnic nationalism is exclusive.
(b) Civic nationalism rests on the constitution, ethnic nationalism on blood.
(c) Civic nationalism is compatible with pluralism and democracy; ethnic nationalism easily slides into authoritarianism and intolerance.
(d) Civic nationalism produces stable multi-cultural states; ethnic nationalism produces partition and ethnic cleansing.
Suitability for India. Civic nationalism is far better suited to India because India is a country of stupendous diversity — over a hundred languages, every major religion in the world, hundreds of communities and tribes. Ethnic nationalism would inevitably exclude vast sections of the population and tear the country apart, as the Partition of 1947 already showed. The Indian Constitution rightly bases the nation on shared citizenship, secularism and constitutional values, making it the most successful example of civic and pluralist nationalism in the world.
10. Why is pluralism essential for the unity of a multi-cultural nation like India?
Answer: India is one of the most culturally, linguistically and religiously diverse societies in the world. Such a country cannot be unified by imposing a single culture, language or religion. The only realistic and just basis of unity is pluralism, for the following reasons.
(i) Recognition gives loyalty. When every community feels that its language, religion and customs are respected, it gives wholehearted loyalty to the nation.
(ii) Prevents secession. Communities that feel oppressed turn to separatism. Pluralism removes this danger by giving them dignity and political space within the country.
(iii) Constitutional protection. Articles 25–30 of the Indian Constitution protect freedom of religion and the cultural and educational rights of minorities, putting pluralism on a legal footing.
(iv) Federalism and language policy. The reorganisation of states on linguistic lines and the recognition of 22 languages in the Eighth Schedule are practical examples of pluralist nation-building.
(v) Cultural enrichment. Pluralism turns diversity from a problem into an asset; every region, language and faith contributes to the wealth of the nation.
(vi) Democratic deepening. Pluralism teaches the habits of dialogue, tolerance and compromise that democracy requires.
(vii) Lessons of history. The trauma of Partition, communal riots and ethnic conflict shows what happens when pluralism is abandoned. India’s relative success as a stable democracy in the developing world is largely the result of its pluralist constitutional design.
For all these reasons, pluralism is not merely a desirable feature of Indian nationalism — it is its very condition of survival.
Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)
1. A nation is best described as —
(a) A group of people sharing the same blood relationship
(b) An imagined political community
(c) A linguistic group
(d) A religious community
Answer: (b) An imagined political community.
2. The phrase “imagined community” was coined by —
(a) Karl Marx
(b) Benedict Anderson
(c) Ernest Renan
(d) Anthony Smith
Answer: (b) Benedict Anderson.
3. The principle of national self-determination was popularised by —
(a) Joseph Stalin
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Woodrow Wilson
(d) Winston Churchill
Answer: (c) Woodrow Wilson.
4. The unification of Germany took place in —
(a) 1848
(b) 1861
(c) 1871
(d) 1919
Answer: (c) 1871.
5. The unification of Italy was completed in —
(a) 1848
(b) 1861
(c) 1871
(d) 1918
Answer: (b) 1861.
6. Which of these is NOT a symbol of Indian nationalism?
(a) National Flag
(b) Republic Day parade
(c) National Anthem
(d) Communal violence
Answer: (d) Communal violence.
7. The novel Anandamath was written by —
(a) Rabindranath Tagore
(b) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
(c) Sarat Chandra Chatterjee
(d) Michael Madhusudan Dutt
Answer: (b) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
8. The song Vande Mataram first appeared in —
(a) Gora
(b) Anandamath
(c) Devdas
(d) Geetanjali
Answer: (b) Anandamath.
9. India’s National Anthem Jana Gana Mana was written by —
(a) Bankim Chandra Chatterjee
(b) Sarojini Naidu
(c) Rabindranath Tagore
(d) Subramania Bharati
Answer: (c) Rabindranath Tagore.
10. Fascism was associated with —
(a) Lenin in Russia
(b) Hitler in Germany
(c) Mussolini in Italy
(d) Roosevelt in America
Answer: (c) Mussolini in Italy.
11. Nazism was the ideology of —
(a) Joseph Stalin
(b) Adolf Hitler
(c) Benito Mussolini
(d) Franco
Answer: (b) Adolf Hitler.
12. Jingoism refers to —
(a) Pacifism
(b) Aggressive, chauvinistic patriotism
(c) Religious tolerance
(d) Federalism
Answer: (b) Aggressive, chauvinistic patriotism.
13. Pluralism means —
(a) Rule of one party
(b) Co-existence of multiple cultures within one state
(c) Centralisation of power
(d) Same religion for all citizens
Answer: (b) Co-existence of multiple cultures within one state.
14. The Partition of India took place in —
(a) 1942
(b) 1945
(c) 1947
(d) 1950
Answer: (c) 1947.
15. The Soviet Union broke up in —
(a) 1989
(b) 1990
(c) 1991
(d) 2000
Answer: (c) 1991.
16. Tagore’s lectures on nationalism were published in —
(a) 1905
(b) 1917
(c) 1928
(d) 1942
Answer: (b) 1917.
17. Mahatma Gandhi’s method of struggle was based on —
(a) Armed revolution
(b) Satyagraha (non-violent resistance)
(c) Terrorism
(d) Diplomacy alone
Answer: (b) Satyagraha (non-violent resistance).
18. The Indian Constitution describes India as —
(a) A theocratic state
(b) A monarchy
(c) A Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic
(d) A confederation
Answer: (c) A Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, Democratic Republic.
19. The Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution recognises how many languages?
(a) 14
(b) 18
(c) 22
(d) 28
Answer: (c) 22.
20. Articles 29 and 30 of the Indian Constitution deal with —
(a) Right to property
(b) Cultural and educational rights of minorities
(c) Right to vote
(d) Emergency provisions
Answer: (b) Cultural and educational rights of minorities.
21. The Republic Day of India is celebrated on —
(a) 15 August
(b) 26 January
(c) 2 October
(d) 14 November
Answer: (b) 26 January.
22. Which of the following is an example of liberation nationalism?
(a) Nazi Germany
(b) The Indian freedom movement
(c) Fascist Italy
(d) Imperial Japan
Answer: (b) The Indian freedom movement.
23. The Holocaust was an outcome of —
(a) Civic nationalism
(b) Liberal nationalism
(c) Extreme ethnic nationalism (Nazism)
(d) Anti-colonial nationalism
Answer: (c) Extreme ethnic nationalism (Nazism).
24. The Father of the Indian Nation is —
(a) Subhas Chandra Bose
(b) Mahatma Gandhi
(c) Jawaharlal Nehru
(d) Bhagat Singh
Answer: (b) Mahatma Gandhi.
25. Indian nationalism is best described as —
(a) Religious nationalism
(b) Ethnic nationalism
(c) Pluralist, civic and constitutional nationalism
(d) Aggressive nationalism
Answer: (c) Pluralist, civic and constitutional nationalism.
Key Thinkers on Nationalism — Quick Reference
| Thinker | Country / Era | Main Idea / Contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Giuseppe Mazzini | Italy, 19th c. | Liberal nationalism; “Young Italy”; nation as a sacred democratic unit. |
| Ernest Renan | France, 1882 | “What is a Nation?” — nation is a “daily plebiscite,” based on shared will. |
| Woodrow Wilson | USA, 1918 | Fourteen Points; principle of national self-determination. |
| Benedict Anderson | UK, 1983 | Nation as an “imagined political community” sustained by print media. |
| Ernest Gellner | UK, 20th c. | Nationalism as a product of modern industrial society and mass education. |
| Anthony D. Smith | UK, 20th c. | Ethno-symbolic theory: modern nations rooted in older ethnic communities. |
| Eric Hobsbawm | UK, 20th c. | Nations and their traditions are largely “invented” in modern times. |
| Bankim Chandra Chatterjee | India, 1882 | Novel Anandamath; song Vande Mataram — emotional core of Indian nationalism. |
| Rabindranath Tagore | India, 1917 | Critique of aggressive nationalism; humanity above the nation; Jana Gana Mana. |
| Mahatma Gandhi | India, 20th c. | Inclusive, non-violent, pluralist Indian nationalism rooted in satyagraha. |
| Jawaharlal Nehru | India, 20th c. | Modern, secular, scientific Indian nationalism; The Discovery of India. |
| Maulana Abul Kalam Azad | India, 20th c. | Composite Indian nationalism; Hindu–Muslim unity as the heart of the nation. |
| Dr B.R. Ambedkar | India, 20th c. | Constitutional nationalism; nation built on liberty, equality and fraternity. |
| Benito Mussolini | Italy, 1922–43 | Founder of fascism — extreme nationalism, dictatorship, militarism. |
| Adolf Hitler | Germany, 1933–45 | Nazism — racial, ethnic nationalism leading to the Holocaust. |
This completes the ASSEB Class 11 Political Science Part B (Political Theory) Chapter 17 — Nationalism. Revise the summary, NCERT exercise solutions, additional questions, MCQs and the table of key thinkers carefully before the HS 1st Year Final Examination. For more chapter solutions, syllabus and ASSEB exam tips, keep visiting HSLC Guru.