Developing the Modern European Complex: Nation-States, Citizens and Difference

Introduction

This chapter, together with the following one, is concerned with the emergence of the modern European social complex. In this complex the kinds of commonalities discussed earlier in Chapter 3 tend to play a background role, and differences connected with distinct nation-states present themselves as having a higher role both in ordinary people's perceptions and also often in academic analysis. The following chapter focuses in particular on one key dynamic, which drove the development of a Europe of national differences, namely war. This chapter provides a broader context for understanding what it was that war acted on as a catalyst, namely the three key factors of nationalism, statehood ...