Making Connections (sort of)

Sitting down to write this blog post, I'm having a difficult time remembering what we covered in class this week. This worries me; however my notes tell me that we dabbled in such topics as: The Crimean War, Expansionism, and How to Make a Nation 101. From here I shall spring.

All three of the aforementioned topics are connected. So you're trying to unify, but you have internal problems...what better way to divert attention and encourage nationalism than a war? So that might be a reason to try to expand (not neglecting a generous acquisition of resources if you took say, Lorraine or something like the Prussians wanted). But of course, then expansion leads to a perceived upset in the balance of powers. While you, as a country (Russia), might be saying, "But it's (The Crimean Peninsula) only a little bit of land!", the rest of Europe glowers at you. Should you choose to press forward, then a war might erupt. Alliances you might have counted on could putter out (damn you Austrians) and you're left high and dry against the combined forces of both the established European powers and the unestablished but ambitious Piedmont-Sardinia.

I don't think it's an incredibly insightful comment to say that "Wow, everything's connected!" but nonetheless it's the one I'm making.

When examining the causal relationships between war, expansionism, and creating a nation I believe the following:
-Expansionism always causes war. Someone must have lived on/owned the land that you are so intent on taking.
-Creating a nation sometimes requires war(ring). Inevitably, people (like Metternich) will be archly opposed to the unification of your nation (in his case, Germany).
-Creating a nation sometimes requires expansionism. For the previously mentioned assertion that by expanding and therefore waging a war, a nation can further unify its citizens.

War lends identity to people. Rather than a conglomeration of several minority groups and religions, all of a sudden you're all insert nation's name heres.

I will acknowledge, however, the power of war to divide a nation as well, citing the past decade or so as an example.