Ultranationalism

Ultranationalism is "extreme nationalism that promotes the interest of one state or people above all others", or simply "extreme devotion to one's own nation".[1][2]

Wochenspruch der NSDAP 9 March 1941: "No task is so great, that a GERMAN could not master it!" — Hermann Göring

Ultranationalism combined with the notion of national rebirth is a key foundation of fascism.[3]

According to Janusz Bugajski, "in its most extreme or developed forms, ultra-nationalism resembles fascism, marked by a xenophobic disdain of other nations, support for authoritarian political arrangements verging on totalitarianism, and a mythical emphasis on the 'organic unity' between a charismatic leader, an organizationally amorphous movement-type party, and the nation".[4]

Roger Griffin asserts that ultranationalism is essentially xenophobic and is known to legitimise itself "through deeply mythicized narratives of past cultural or political periods of historical greatness or of old scores to settle against alleged enemies". It can also draw on "vulgarized forms of physical anthropology, genetics, and eugenics to rationalize ideas of national superiority and destiny, of degeneracy and subhumanness".[5]

Ultranationalist political parties

Currently represented in national legislatures

The following political parties have been characterised as ultranationalist.

• Bulgaria: Attack[6]
• Cyprus: ELAM[7]
• Germany: Alternative for Germany[8][9]
• Greece: Greek Solution[10]
• India: Shiv Sena[11]
• Israel: National Union-Tkuma[12]
• Italy: Brothers of Italy[13]
• Japan: Liberal Democratic Party[14] (faction)
• Poland: National Movement[15]
• Russia: Liberal Democratic Party of Russia,[16] Rodina[17]
• Serbia: Serbian Radical Party[18]
• Slovakia: Kotleba – People's Party Our Slovakia[19]
• Spain: Vox[20][21]
• Switzerland: Swiss People's Party[22]
• Turkey: Nationalist Movement Party,[23][24] Great Union Party[25]
• Ukraine: Freedom[26]

Ultranationalist political organizations

• Japan: Nippon Kaigi,[27][28][29][30][31] Zaitokukai[32][33]
• United Kingdom: English Defence League[34]

See also

• Far-right politics
• Integral nationalism
• National conservatism
• Palingenetic ultranationalism
• Right-wing authoritarianism
• Right-wing populism

References

1. Ultranationalism. Oxford English Dictionary. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
2. Ultranationalism. Collins English Dictionary. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
3. Roger Griffin, "Nationalism" in Cyprian Blamires, ed., World Fascism: A Historical Encyclopedia, vol. 2 (Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2006), pp. 451–53.
4. The Politics of National Minority Participation in Post-communist Europe. EastWest Institute. p.65. Section author - Janusz Bugajski. Book edited by Johnathan P.Stein. Published by M.E. Sharpe. Published in New York in 2000. Retrieved via Google Books.
5. World fascism: a historical encyclopedia. 2006. p. 452.
6. Katsikas, Stefanos (2011). "Negotiating Diplomacy in the New Europe: Foreign Policy in Post-Communist Bulgaria". I.B. Tauris: 64. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. Cyprus and the roadmap for peace - A critical interrogation of the conflict. p.87. Edited by Michalis S. Michael and Yucel Vural. Chapter authors - Yucel Vural, Sertac Sonan and Michalis S. Michael. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing in Cheltenham, UK. Published in 2018.
8. "The 1619 Project and the far-right fear of history". Washington Post. 20 August 2019. A leader of Germany's ultranationalist AfD party in 2017 bemoaned how the country's focus on atoning ...
9. "Frankenstein pact puts AfD in coalition". The Times. 23 July 2019. A married couple have run into trouble for forging the first local pact between Angela Merkel’s party and the ultranationalist Alternative for Germany (AfD) in defiance of the chancellor.
10. "Greek elections: landslide victory for centre-right New Democracy party". The Guardian. 7 July 2019. Smaller parties, such as the ultra-nationalist Greek Solution and leftist MeRA25, headed by Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister, were targeting younger Greeks.
11. Mark Magnier (8 March 2012). "In India, battle continues over Hindu temple's riches - latimes". Los Angeles Times. Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2015-12-02.
12. "Election Polls: 6-14 Seats for Bennett and Shaked's New Right-wing Party, Labor Party Crashes". Times of Israel. 30 December 2018.
13. "Can a left-wing alliance stop Salvini from forming a far-right government in Italy?". France 24. 2019-08-15. Retrieved 2020-03-15.
14. "Beautiful Harmony: Political Project Behind Japan's New Era Name – Analysis". eurasia review. 16 July 2019. The shifting dynamics around the new era name (gengō 元号) offers an opportunity to understand how the domestic politics of the LDP’s project of ultranationalism is shaping a new Japan and a new form of nationalism.
15. "Polish Interior Minister Issues Last-Minute Ban on Neo-Fascist Show of Force Outside Israeli Embassy in Warsaw". The Algemeiner. 31 January 2018.
16. "Ultranationalists Move to Slap Fines on Use of Foreign Words". 21 February 2013.
17. Van Herpen, Marcel H. (2015). Putin's Propaganda Machine: Soft Power and Russian Foreign Policy. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 34.
18. Ford, Peter (2018). "Serbian Radical Party surge may complicate reform". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
19. "Not Even a Prosperous Slovakia Is Immune to Doubts About the E.U." New York Times. 17 December 2016.
20. Acha, Beatriz (6 January 2019). "No, no es un partido (neo)fascista". Agenda Pública.
21. Antón-Mellón, Joan (29 April 2019). "Vox. Del nacional-catolicismo al ultranacionalismo neoliberal". Agenda Pública.
22. "Danger on the Swiss Stock Exchange". ING Group. 5 December 2018. The ultra-nationalist Swiss People's Party (SVP or UDC) - the most powerful political movement in the country - is campaigning against European agreements.
23. Arman, Murat Necip (2007). "The Sources Of Banality In Transforming Turkish Nationalism". CEU Political Science Journal (2): 133–151.
24. Eissenstat, Howard. (November 2002). Anatolianism: The History of a Failed Metaphor of Turkish Nationalism. Middle East Studies Association Conference. Washington, D.C.
25. Gocek, Fatma Muge (2014). Denial of Violence. Oxford University Press. p. 402.
26. "Svoboda: The rise of Ukraine's ultra-nationalists". BBC. 25 December 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
27. Nippon Kaigi: The ultra-nationalistic group trying to restore the might of the Japanese Empire. ABC News Online. Author - Matthew Carney. Published 2 December 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
28. "Abe's cabinet reshuffle". East Asia Forum. 14 September 2019. Abe also rewarded right-wing politicians who are close to him — so-called ‘ideological friends’ who are being increasingly pushed to the forefront of his administration — such as LDP Executive Acting Secretary-General Koichi Hagiuda who was appointed Education Minister. As a member of the ultranationalist Nippon Kaigi (Japan Conference), which seeks to promote patriotic education, he can be considered ‘reliable’ as the government’s policy leader on national education.
29. "Japanese minister becomes first in two years to visit Tokyo's controversial Yasukuni Shrine". South China Morning Post. 17 October 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2020. Eto is serving in his first cabinet position and is a member of the ultranationalist Nippon Kaigi organisation, whose aims are to revise the “national consciousness” surrounding the prosecution of Japan’s war criminals and to change the nation’s pacifist constitution implemented after the war. The group also promotes “patriotic education”.
30. Michal Kolmas, ed. (2019). National Identity and Japanese Revisionism. Routledge. ... and foreign policy are rightwing revisionists organized in groups such as the ultranationalist Nippon Kaigi ...
31. Ugo Dessì, ed. (2013). Japanese Religions and Globalization. Routledge. p. 146.
32. "Japan combats rise in hate speech". Al Jazeera. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2020. ... and many don’t speak Korean or have ties to Korea. Even so, ultranationalist groups like Zaitokukai have singled them out and used Japan’s very liberal protection of speech to harass, intimidate and silence Zainichi with noisy street protests and attacks online, often anonymously.
33. "Head of anti-foreigner group Zaitokukai to step down". Japan Times. 30 November 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2020. The longtime chairman of the ultranationalist group Zaitokukai has announced he will step down and even give up his membership in the group, saying the move will eventually bolster the organization’s influence.
34. Alessio, Dominic; Meredith, Kristen (2014). "Blackshirts for the Twenty–First Century? Fascism and the English Defence League". Social Identities. 20 (1). pp. 104–118. doi:10.1080/13504630.2013.843058.