Blood for Soil: The Fatal Temptations of Ethnic Politics

Foreign Affairs 98: 61–68.

Since the French Revolution, nationalism‐the idea that state borders should coincide with national communities‐has constituted the core source of political legitimacy around the world. As nationalism spread from western Europe in the early nineteenth century, it became increasingly ethnic in nature. In places where the state and the nation did not match up, such as Germany, Italy, and most of eastern Europe, the nation tended to be defined in terms of ethnicity, which led to violent processes of unification or secession. At the beginning of the …

Cederman, Lars-Erik. 2019. “Blood for Soil: The Fatal Temptations of Ethnic Politics.” Foreign Affairs 98: 61–68.

@article{blood-for-soil,
   title = {Blood for Soil: The Fatal Temptations of Ethnic Politics},
   author = {Cederman, Lars-Erik},
   journal = {Foreign Affairs},
   volume = {98},
   pages = {61-68},
   year = {2019},
   publisher = {HeinOnline},
   abstract = { Since the French Revolution, nationalism-the idea that state borders should coincide with
national communities-has constituted the core source of political legitimacy around the
world. As nationalism spread from western Europe in the early nineteenth century, it became
increasingly ethnic in nature. In places where the state and the nation did not match up, such
as Germany, Italy, and most of eastern Europe, the nation tended to be defined in terms of
ethnicity, which led to violent processes of unification or secession. At the beginning of the … }
}