Important Questions: Nationalism | Political Science Class 11 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Q1: What is Nationalism?
Ans: Nationalism is a feeling for the commitment and sacrifice among the people. It is the feeling which attaches the people for the national honour, national glory, national cause, national interests. The feeling of nationalism subordinates the individual and regional interests to the national interests. Nationalism is a creed which is generated in the number of circumstances. Nationalism has a deep impact on the structure of the world. Decolonisation is the result of nationalism developed in Asian and African states which led to the emergence of newly independent nations in Asia and Africa.

Q2: Write some factors of rising of nationalism.
Ans: There are a number of circumstances/factors which give rise to the feeling of nationalism

• Common culture.
• Emotional attachment for territory.
• Common future aspiration.
• Common history.
• The threat to national integration.
• The glorification of the national flag, national symbols and national songs and past glory and achievements.

Q3: Mention some factors responsible for the rise of Indian nationalism.
Ans: India has been the victim of British colonialism which ultimately came to end in 1947. India fought a national war for independence and national movements, which was the result of Indian nationalism which was evoked through the following main factors.

• Impact of socio, religious and educational reforms.
• Impact of a British education.
• Impact of science and technological development.
• Impact of the press and other means of communication.
• Dedicated and enlighted leadership.
• Excess of the British government.
• Injustice and exploitation of Indians.

Q4: Write the utility of right of National self-determination.
Ans: Right of self-determination means every nationality or social group should have the right to determine the law and government and mode of governance of their choice. It has the following merits

• It will ensure the fuller development of the social group.
• It is more democratic.
• It is more natural.
• It will promote social integration.
• It will strengthen national unity.

Q5: What do you mean by pluralism?
Ans: Pluralism means living together of social groups of a different culture, religion, dialect, language and geographies as a nation. Pluralism stands for a diverse society. Today all the nation-states have diverse society i.e. plural society living together with regional aspirations and national objectives.

Q6: What rights should be given to the minority social and cultural groups?
Ans: Most of the social and cultural groups have been given Constitutional rights which includes the protection of language and religion of minority groups. Minority communities have also the right to representation as a group in legislative bodies and other state institutions. They are also given equal treatment and protection of the law for the cultural identity of such group.

Q7: What do you mean by Ration?
Ans: The nation is a territory or a state which is organised on the basis of nationality. A nationality is a group of people of common history, traditional culture, language, dialects, future aspirations and geography. In the nation, people are more patriotic and nationalists. They are emotionally and psychologically linked together with the national glory, national honour and national cause. The nation is not just a group of people. It is more cohesive organisation and is different from all other human groupings.

Short Answer Type Questions

Q8: Explain the meaning and attributes of Nation.
Ans: Nations are the states which are organised on the basis of nationality i.e. social groups of common identity. We can define the nations as the states constituted by a group of people who share common descent, language, religion or ethnicity. There may be some exception because there are many states who do not have a common language. In such Nations, there is a number of nationalities which live in the same territory. Canada is such an example which has English speaking persons as well as French-speaking people. India also has a large number of social and cultural groups which have a common political identity and living in the territory of India.

Q9: What were the main factors which were responsible for the rise of Indian Nationalism?
Ans: Rise of Indian nationalism led to the war of independence and starting of a national movement for the independence which ultimately got success in 1947. Following were the main factors responsible for Indian Nationalism:

• Injustice and unequal treatment and exploitations of Indians.
• Development of science, technology and means of communication.
• The spread of education and development of Press.
• Role of social and religious reforms movements.
• Rise of the middle class.
• Impact of international events.
• Impact of English literature.
• Role of nationalist leaders.

Q10: Mention the contribution of social reformers in the rise of Indian nationalism.
Ans: Although there are a number of factors that have contributed to the rise of Indian nationalism the contribution of the following social reformers is unique:

• Raja Ram Mohan Rai: He was a social reformer of liberal thinking. He wanted to build Indian society on the edifice of British culture. He started Brahma Samaj.
• Swami Dayanand: Swami Dayanand started Arya Samaj. He wanted to build Indian on the edifice of Indian culture.
• Swami Vivekanand: He wanted to build the character of Indians particularly of youth.

Q11: Discuss how the territory acts as an important attribute of Nation and nationalism?
Ans: The territory is one of the most important and effective attributes of the nation. It acts as a deep source of patriotism and nationalism. Sharing a common past and living together on particular territory over a long period of times creates a sense of common identity and collectivity. They start to imagine themselves as one. Territory i.e. the land which they occupy and live upon has a special significance for them. It is not just a piece of land. They attach emotional and spiritual significance to that part of the land. They call it Maa or motherland for which they guard and become ready to sacrifice anything for it. For example, Jewish people, in spite of being dispersed for a long time in different parts of the world, still claim that their original homeland is in Palestine. Indian have special significance for its rivers like Ganga, Saraswati etc, mountains and regions of the Indian subcontinent.

Q12: Discuss the impact of self-determination theory on the colonialism.
Ans: As after the end of First World War and as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Europe saw the reorganisation of states and emergence of new nation-states. Similarly, after the end of Second World War in 1945, the process of Decolonialism started with the reorganisation of the world and creation of new world order under UN supervision who had accepted the theory of self-determination. Asa result of the breakdown of empiricism and colonialism large number of independent new states emerged oh the map of the world in Asia and Africa and Latin American countries. National movements had started as the impact of the theory of self-determinations.

Q13: Discuss Indian has unity in diversity.
Ans: It is rightly said about India that India has unity in diversity. Indian society is a plural society which means it has diverse society having people of different caste, colour, regions, climate, traditions, culture and geographies but are linked together with the feeling of oneness which is generated with a common history and common future aspirations. This kind of feeling has helped immensely in generating nationalism which led to the organising national movement against British colonialism and ultimately got independence. Still, India is plural, secular and democratic, people and are linked together with the feeling of oneness on account of nationalism and patriotism. Therefore it is right that India has unity in diversity.

Long Answer Type Questions

Q14: What is Nationalism? Discuss various factors of rising of nationalism in India. How it has affected the world structure?
Ans: Nationalism is generally considered as the love and dedication for one’s nation which is organised on the basis of common nationality i.e. common history, common culture, common future aspirations and common geography. Nationalism is in fact a feeling which attaches a person to the national, cause, national interests and nationalism objectives. This is the feeling which makes the national interests more important than the personal and regional interest. Nationalism leads to patriotism which makes men emotional about the nation. It leads to a number of agitations and movements against the nation’s exploitation and political subjugation. Nationalism has been resulting in the number of factors which has inspired to start movements in different parts of the world to change the structure of the world. India has been one such country who witnessed the rise of nationalism and national movement as its impact.

Following are some important factors of rising of Indian Nationalism:-

• The exploitation of Indians in the hands of British administration.
• The spread of education and means of communication.
• Role of social and religious reformers.
• Impact of world events.
• Dedicated and visionary leadership.
• Role of the middle and intellectual class.

As a result of nationalism number of the national movement for national independence started in Asia, Africa and Latin American countries which changed the map of the world as the number of new nation-states appeared on the map of the world.

Q15: What do you mean by Nationalism? Explain the history of the development of Nationalism in different countries.
Ans: Nationalism is a very powerful force or feeling which unite the people of the nation to the glorious history, dignity, interests and objectives of the Nation-state. It is a feeling which subordinates the individual and regional feelings and interests to the national feelings and national interests. It is generated among the people of our nationality.
Nationalism has been the result of many factors and developments in the field of science technology, press, education and other means of communication. Nationalism has passed through many phases in the 19th century. It was developed in Europe which lead to the unification of Italy and Germany and the number of small kingdoms into larger nation-states. A large number of new states were also founded in Latin America. In 20th Century number of national movements were started as a result of nationalism which resulted in a number of newly independent states.

Q16: Discuss India as a Nation.
Ans: About India, it is said that India is not a country, it is a continent. It means it is a nation of the nations. All these ethics about the nature of Indian states are attributed because India is a plural society in which people of different caste, colour, race, regions, religions, faith and beliefs reside within the territory of India. All these nationalities have their political and cultural identity and all have contributed during the struggle for national independence. They are well-recognised identity. They have full support for the national song, national festivals, national celebrations and national Constitution, which has given all the rights and protection to all the minorities. All the part and parcel of national ethos and objectives. India has unity in diversity. Therefore we can say that India as a political unity is a unique nation. From Kashmir to Kanyakumari, people are linked together with the feeling of Indianness.

Q17: What is the theory of National Self-determination?
Ans: The theory of self-determination means the right to social and cultural groups to govern themselves and determine their future development. It is also right of the political community to be governed by the law which reflects their social-economic, political and cultural interests and aspirations. This theory was propounded by the former President; of USA, W. Wilson at the end of First World War.
As a result of this theory, a number of nation-states emerged in Europe after the disintegration of big empires and reorganisation of the boundaries of the states. The nation of one culture, one state began to gain acceptability at the time. The Treaty of Versailles established a number of small newly independent states. In making the claim of the right of self-determination, the nation seeks recognition and acceptance by the international community of its status as a distinct political entity.

Q18: Discuss the limitation of the theory of self-determination.
Ans: Most of the national movements were inspired by the theory of self-determination which gave the right to choose law and administration of their choice in which they found the reflection of their culture, ethos, aspirations and interests. Such national movements brought the end of colonialism and helped in the creation of a large number of new nation-states.
Most of the national movements were inspired by the goal of bringing justice rights and prosperity to the nation. But it became virtually impossible to ensure that each cultural group could achieve political independence and statehood Thus paradoxical situation developed when those countries refused to accept the demand of minorities, who themselves had received their own statehood on the right of self-determination. In fact, this right cannot be absolute. It has to be accepted in relativity.

Q19: Discuss the negative impact of the right of self-determination.
Ans: Whereas the right of self-determination has a number of positive features but it has created a number of problems also for the political communities in the matter of state organisation on the basis of the right of self-determination of different nationalities living together on a particular territory. It is also true that people had to suffer a lot for reordering boundaries in the way that culturally distinct communities could form separate nation-states.
It is not possible to ensure that the newly created states have only one ethenic community or the people of one nationality. In every nation-state, there is a number of sub-nationalities who in the course of time start to nurse their grievances and start to demand a separate state on the basis of the right of self-determination. Therefore this right of self-determination poses danger for national integration.

Q20: Discuss the merit of Right of Self-determination.
Ans: The theory of the right of self-determination is given by the former President of USA, W. Wilson, thus this theory became very popular and accepted in most of the parts of the world. This has a number of positive features. Some of these positive features are as under:-

• This is more democratic.
• This is more natural.
• Thisismorehumonistic.
• This promotes national integration.
• This checks the centralisation of powers.
• This promotes social and cultural integration.
• This promotes the development of the political community.