In the years just before the Great War in Europe, tensions between different types of people began to arise. Discrimination against people of other nationalities became popular. Nationalist used patriotism to establish an aggressive state that would impose popular beliefs on everyone. Within a nationalistic state there were people with different beliefs and values. Popular belief would come to condemn those who lived different lives or who practiced a different religion. Society made it an abomination to be different rather to than to strengthen under individualism.

Jews and homosexuals were an unwanted cast in Europe. Jews and homosexuals were easy targets for discrimination. France had given full citizenship to Jews in 1791; however, anti-Semitism still lingered in the minds of conservatives (Levack 735). Britain, on the other hand, made it illegal to be a homosexual (Levack 762). In reality, this discrimination would cause tension and division within a country. Not only did the law prosecute different beliefs but also the people viewed the world through a tunnel, leaving anything that altered the “right” way to believe to be taboo.

Alfred Dreyfus was a Jew who had been convicted a traitor in France. Many believed Dreyfus to be guilty solely on his religion. Dreyfus was a French patriot. At this time, it was believed that a Jew was “the very opposite of a patriot.” Furthermore, it was believed that economic and political turmoil was the fault of the Jew. It was a fear that Jews would dominate France. Considering Jews were a minority in every European state, it was highly unlikely that they would come to dominate any nation. Fear arouse out of ignorance (Levack 735).

The case caused a series of more than seventy riots. The nation divided and its strength as a people was weakened. Nationalism strengthen but minorities, like Jews, suffered from prosecution by discrimination. For Dreyfus being Jewish was all the evidence that was needed to convict him (Levack 735). Nationalism had united a people and divided a nation. People wanted to be with people like them. Caucasian French Christians wanted to be with other Caucasian French Christians. Why would they want Jews in their communities? Jews were different. At this time, they didn’t think they were better than the Jews or it was wrong to be a Jew. They just wanted to be Jewish-free. They didn’t want to share their nation and their values with a different group of people. It was believed that two groups of people with unrelated backgrounds and values could not share the same space. There would be too much conflict of interest; however, this was a new idea that developed with nationalism. Before the rise of nationalism, many different types of people lived in harmony with one another as citizens within great nations or empires. Now that the people were ruling themselves, it was a different story. The people are no longer ruling others like them but also others that are not like them. This leaves the vulnerability of one of those not like them to rise to power. For example, Dreyfus was a military captain in charge of many Christian soldiers.

Another example of discrimination amongst a nation was the Trial of Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde was a “closeted” homosexual. Oscar Wilde sued a man for libel after being labeled a “sodomite.” In the duration of the lawsuit, Wilde the tables turned on Wilde. He had to defend his sexuality. Wilde decided to withdraw his case. A few days later, Wilde was arrested and later convicted of committing homosexual acts. He was sentenced to two years hard labor, which would eventually cause his death (Levack 762-763).

Oscar Wilde set a stereotype. Wilde was thought of as dandy. Dandy meant “a well dressed, irreverent, artistic, leisured… and effeminate man” (Levack 762). Men who were interested in the arts or acted feminine were labeled homosexual. People began to categorize people by what they were rather than who they were. People labeled others as homosexuals or Jews rather than as French or British. A lawsuit where the plaintiff becomes the defendant is clearly unjust.

People fear things that they do not understand. At this point in time, people couldn’t understand why these groups of minorities were mixed into their nation. If someone did not conform to the rest of society, they were outcast. Similarly, that same frame of reference is still apparent in our society today. If a piece of the social puzzle doesn’t fit, throw the piece out or place it somewhere else. People began to blame these minorities for all their troubles. Laws were passed to regulate these alternative lifestyles that most people morally protested against. The majority could not understand why these minorities could do such acts that were abominations in the Bible. Not only was the political thinking caused by social change but also by religious indifference. Previously, the people were not divided by their differences but rather they were united by their country. Now, people are being divided by simple everyday decisions. This is where the government began to step in and regulate daily life.

By the end of the nineteenth century, government had become to play an important role in everyday life. The government became more important in the lives on individuals. What had previously been viewed as a “private” matter soon became a matter of the state. The state started regulation work hours and requiring children to attend school. Among these new jurisdictions of the state was “the policing of sexual boundaries” (Levack 763).

The strength of the nation depended upon the unity of the people. If the population was not united, then there was no support for the government. In order for a government to be powerful, the people which make up that nation must be powerful. It is the people that make up the army, regulate the economy, and spread the influence of the nation. The people are the nation. If these people are divided and prosecuting one another then the strength of the nation is in jeopardy. Governments must maintain order in order for them to be strong. The nation was also weakened by the question of “What is the Nation?” Were Jews and homosexuals part of the nation? The definition of nationalism confused people as the modern era brought new ideas and new people into the nation.

Political and social unrest always leaves people pointing fingers at what caused the problem. Often those who are pointing are those who caused it in the beginning. Whatever the matter is, minorities have always been used and probably will continue to be used as scapegoats. Also, the spread of nationalism can be a good thing to unite people but a bad thing to separate different people. In the end, no one should be judged based on race, religion, or sexual orientation. In both these cases, these were innocent men who came under attack from a majority who did not like the ways of life these men portrayed. And in both cases, a nation discriminated and categorized its people, leading to segregation among different people with in a nation. This separation of lives and ideas would ultimately lead to the weakening of the government. A government can’t be united if its people are divided.

WORKS CITED

Levack, Brain, Edward Muir, Michael Maas, and Meredith Veldman. The West: Encounters and Transformations. New York: Pearson Longman, 2004.