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.