Montesquieu- I am a father, before I am a Parisian. I am a Parisian before I am a Frenchman. I am a Frenchman before I am a European. But in a virtuous world I would run to the aid of a stranger as readily as I would to the aid of a friend.
We aspire to universality but our affinities appear to derive from our particularities.
So the catholic church (Holy Roman Empire) took on the Roman idea of the citizen, wherever born or residing, having the same rights and identity as all other Romans. Nationalism doesn’t really emerge until the later 18th century with the French revolution, before that you had to guard your soldiers to stop them deserting, as they were usually there only out of financial necessity, not any sense of national purpose.
French nationalism identifies with universal principles of egalite, liberte, fratenite. Other nationalisms are a response to that. Germany in particularly, that fractured landscape of petty dominions, has to invent a volksgeist in an attempt to unify in the face of the French paradigm.
Nationalism acquires a bad taste in the 20th century, seen as the opposite of universalism. Sovereignty is “denationalised”. There is a fear of a slippery slope from patriotism to nationalism to fascism. But what happens in Germany is profound socioeconomic changes, following the German revolution and abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918. The war was seen as lost, increasing numbers associated with the political left. German intellectuals (as in previous eras and other places) feared the democratic power of the masses and the emergence of the left, which meant leaning toward right wing elements for political support.
But nationalism is not necessarily oppositional to universal values. Nationhood is one of the ways in which solidarity develops between people, and how citizenship is expressed. Often it has very little substance (eg English nationalism), more often it is simply an expression of regionalism, in the face of a broader concept of nationhood eg UK vs EU, Scotland vs UK, Catalan vs Spain.
Particularly important when it comes to being a good citizen – you sacrifice certain freedoms for the sake of the group. As Hannah Arendt said, there must be pre-political reasons for group identity, which is constantly negotiated and adapted.
[Michael Sandel, Frank Furedi]