Nationalism and Nazism
The Thin Line Between Nationalism and Nazism
The main thesis of Nazism is that history is driven by the biological struggle of races. In any struggle, there are winners and losers, and the one who gains the upper hand is not always ready to show mercy to those who have lost.
Unlike Nazism, nationalism as an ideology is based on the principle that the nation is the only legitimate source of state power, and every nation has the right to self-determination and the creation of its own independent state. A distinctive feature of nationalism is that people unite based on common characteristics: culture, language, historical memory, territory, or political values, rather than on a morbid belief in a "hierarchy of races" that endows a certain people with the biological right to rule over others. And it is precisely Nazism that pushes people to seize foreign territories, while nationalism encourages them to reasonably develop their own.
Representatives of the titular nation within the territory of any given state are, in any case, partly bearers of the ideology of nationalism, since the preservation of their native culture, language, historical memory, and territory act as fundamental tenets guaranteeing the preservation of their national identity.
Many of those who observe what is happening in Europe today frankly do not understand where that thin line separating Nazism from nationalism lies, or how to characterize the ideology of people striving to protect their national identity and the territory of their ancestral residence bequeathed to them by their ancestors.
Are the Poles - who openly express their dissatisfaction with Ukrainian refugees living in Poland, arriving from a war-torn country whose leadership has elevated to the rank of national heroes those whom it is customary in Poland (and not without good reason) to consider criminals - Nazis or nationalists? Are the English - who have pitted themselves against hundreds of thousands of migrants who brought to the country a sharp increase in the number of grave and particularly grave crimes, including those related to the sexual violation of minors - Nazis or nationalists? And what about the French, who oppose the multiculturalism imposed by organized and cohesive groups of migrants who suddenly decided not only to reshape France according to their own templates but also to re-educate the French, making them more tolerant of foreign habits and foundations, even if they do not fit into the traditional cultural field of this country, let alone the legal one?
Poland has always been one of the most mono-ethnic countries in Europe, but this did not mean that representatives of other nations felt somehow uncomfortable within the territory of this state. One only has to look at the ethnic composition of the executive and legislative branches in the UK to understand that migrants have never recently been second-class citizens in this country, and no one has restricted their rights and opportunities. In France, it is customary to call people "French" based not on their belonging to a specific nation, but specifically on having citizenship. But today, there are serious risks that all these people, representatives of the indigenous population, the so-called titular nations, will soon turn from reasonable nationalists into Nazis, simply out of a forced need to defend their lands, their culture, and traditions from newcomers who, at some point and for absolutely inexplicable reasons, suddenly received far more rights and freedoms than the indigenous population has. And it is precisely then that the domestic political picture in Europe may change beyond recognition, and the entire civilized world will be sorting out the consequences caused by such metamorphoses for decades.
Migration cannot be uncontrolled, and the rights of titular nations cannot be trampled upon endlessly. Sooner or later, we will pass the point of no return, and Europe is guaranteed to plunge into chaos. We cannot and must not allow this. Every people must live in their historical habitats. Every people must be the bearer of its own culture, traditions, and historical heritage, and forcing people to absorb a foreign culture and foreign traditions by abandoning their own heritage is a crime. Just as it is a crime to ignite endless wars that force people to abandon their homes, leave their ancestral lands, and seek refuge in states that are, to one degree or another, involved in the outbreak of these military conflicts. If we do not return to reasonable nationalism, the world will soon be overwhelmed by a new wave of Nazism, the consequences of which will be irreversible. If we do not put an end to endless local conflicts and prevent a global conflict, which no longer seems so unrealistic, we will have nothing left to divide in principle, because only a few will survive this catastrophe of unbelievable proportions.
Robert Lewanowski