Although the documents mentioned in the question are not included, we can still explain the causes of the rise of nationalism during this period using other sources.
The idea of a "nation" is a modern creation. This idea is widely different to how people thought of themselves in premodern times. Prior to the development of nationalism, people thought of themselves as subjects or followers of a leader. They also identified themselves with their family or village, rather than a large community.
Nationalism only became possible after people began feeling a connection to those who shared their own language, culture and traditions, even when they had never met them before. Two important causes of this were the ideas of liberalism and the Romantic movement.
An important catalyst for this was the rise of liberalism. Liberal ideology encouraged the idea of representation of people in government. Therefore, people began to identify themselves with the government, and to think of themselves as a common people within a political unity. The permanence of people meant that the state did not equal the ruling dynasty. Instead, the king might change, but the nation prevailed.
Nationalism was also born out of Romanticism, which encouraged a romantic view of culture, traditions and common history. It also created a romantic view of land and nationhood. Because of this, there was an attempt to redraw borders to permanently match cultural and linguistic boundaries. Moreover, nationalism encouraged the idea of self-determination.
Answer:
Feudal lords controlled castles and had military strength that allowed them to create social and political order in vast areas. In several cases, the concentration of power and wealth in the hands of feudal lords allowed them to build some sort of powerful states. However, the fragmentation of political power paved the way for many dangers, like wars, invasions, and famine.
Explanation:
Feudalism is the denomination of the predominant political system in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages, characterized by the <u>decentralization of political power</u>. By relying on the diffusion of power from the cusp (where the emperor or the kings were in theory) to the base where local power was effectively exercised with great autonomy or independence by an aristocracy, called nobility, whose titles derived from governors of the Carolingian empire (dukes, marquises, counts) or had another origin. Feudalism responded to the insecurity and instability of the time of the invasions that were happening for centuries. Given the inability of state institutions, far away, the only security came from local authorities, lay nobles or ecclesiastics, who controlled castles or fortified monasteries in rural settings, converted into new centers of power in the face of the decay of cities.
Feudalism allowed the Lords to concentrate a great power and wealth in vast areas, which in time would derive in the creation of powerful states. It also led to constant conflicts and wars among several feuds. Since there was no clear higher power above the feudal lords, it created a fragile and unstable social and political order that paved the way for wars, invasions, and famine.
Although America fought in many wars since, World War 2 was the last time the nation declared war (actually against two nations at the time). One declaration of war with Japan, and one declaration of war with Germany. I hope this helped !!
