The Expansionist Approach to Nationalism: From Unity to Imperialism

Nationalism wears many faces. In one form it inspires a colonised people to fight for freedom; in another, it drives powerful states to swallow weaker ones. The expansionist approach belongs firmly to the second category. It treats the nation not merely as a community deserving self-rule, but as a living organism that must grow, dominate, and conquer to survive. This approach gained force in the late nineteenth century, fused itself with imperialism, and eventually became a core ingredient of fascism. Understanding it is essential to grasping how an idea meant to unite people can also be twisted into a weapon of aggression.

What is the expansionist approach to nationalism? 🔗

Expansionist nationalism is an aggressive and radical form of nationalism that combines intense patriotic feeling with the belief that a nation has the right to extend its borders, power, and influence at the expense of its neighbours. It is most often built on the conviction that one’s own nation is superior to others, and that this superiority gives it a natural entitlement to dominate.

This sets it apart sharply from liberal nationalism. Liberal nationalism rests on the idea that every nation has an equal right to self-determination. Expansionist nationalism rejects this principle. Instead, it holds that nations are unequal, and that some possess qualities that make them more deserving of power than others. The British educational resource tutor2u notes that this form of nationalism is opposed to inclusion, diversity, and the right to national self-determination, and is typically marked by chauvinism and the aggressive language of jingoism.

The historical context: industrialization and the nation-state 🔗

The expansionist approach did not appear in a vacuum. It emerged in the nineteenth century, a period defined by rapid industrialization and the consolidation of strong nation-states. Industrial economies needed raw materials, new markets, and strategic resources. Factories demanded inputs that could not always be found at home, and growing industries searched for captive markets abroad.

At the same time, political unification efforts in countries like Germany and Italy created a powerful sense of collective identity. Once unified, these states began to measure their worth against rivals. National prestige became tied to the possession of an empire, and the competition for territory turned into a matter of survival and pride. The result was a climate in which expansion seemed not just desirable, but necessary.

Key thinkers behind the expansionist approach 🔗

Two writers are most closely associated with giving the expansionist approach its intellectual backbone: Ludwig Gumplowicz and Heinrich von Treitschke. Their ideas supplied the philosophical justification for what would otherwise look like naked aggression.

Ludwig Gumplowicz and the struggle for survival 🔗

Ludwig Gumplowicz (1838-1909) was an Austrian jurist and sociologist. Interestingly, he began as a Polish patriot and even took part in the Polish insurrection against Russia in 1863. He later settled at the University of Graz, where he developed his theories about social conflict.

Gumplowicz argued that human societies were locked in a permanent struggle for existence. Borrowing the general idea from Darwin, he saw conflict between racial groups, nation-states, and classes as the engine of social evolution. For him, the state’s most natural tendency was the incessant increase of power, with territorial expansion being so inevitable that rulers and people were powerless to resist it. In this view, stronger nations did not merely have the option to conquer weaker ones; they had a kind of natural compulsion to do so. His 1883 work, Race Struggle, is regarded by some scholars as an influence on the later development of Nazi racial theories.

Heinrich von Treitschke and the worship of the state 🔗

Heinrich von Treitschke (1834-1896) was a German historian and political writer who became one of the most widely read voices of his era. Like Gumplowicz, he started out with liberal sympathies, hoping for a united Germany under a parliamentary system. As he grew older, however, he became a strident nationalist and a proponent of authoritarian power politics, pressing for Germany’s rise to the status of a great imperialist power under Prussian leadership.

Treitschke placed the state at the centre of everything. He believed the state should be the focus of its citizens’ lives and should be led by authoritarian rulers without the restraint of a parliament. Crucially, he glorified war. According to Encyclopedia.com, he came to champion the power state and war as the noblest activity of man, describing it as a great purifier of the nation. His famous lectures on politics, attended by students from across the university, helped spread a militaristic and aggressive vision of national greatness to a generation of young Germans.

The link with Social Darwinism 🔗

The expansionist approach drew much of its persuasive power from Social Darwinism. This was the misapplication of Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” to human societies. It suggested that some races or nations had evolved further than others and were therefore naturally entitled to rule.

Social Darwinism turned conquest into something that looked respectable and even scientific. If a nation was “superior,” then dominating “inferior” peoples could be framed as a natural law rather than a crime. As the AP World History study material explains, imperial powers used Social Darwinism alongside nationalism and the idea of a “civilizing mission” to justify expanding their empires. This made political and economic control seem moral: ruling over others was presented as a way of helping them advance.

How expansionist nationalism fuelled imperialism 🔗

The most visible consequence of the expansionist approach was the age of high imperialism, and especially the “Scramble for Africa.” In the late nineteenth century, European powers raced to seize territory across the African continent. What separated this wave of imperialism from earlier colonial ventures was that it was driven by a climate of popular nationalism.

The scramble for Africa 🔗

During the Scramble for Africa, national prestige became increasingly tied to the possession of colonies. Each colonial victory was met with public celebration at home. According to Britannica, an important driver of the Scramble was the complex interplay of nationalism, the growth of social Darwinism, and a sense of racial superiority, all of which produced widespread popular support for imperial expansion.

The human cost was enormous. Vast regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas were conquered and colonised. Millions of people were subjected to exploitation, their resources extracted, and their political independence erased. The effects of this domination shaped these regions for generations and, in many cases, continue to be felt today.

Treitschke, colonialism, and Germany 🔗

Treitschke’s writings show how directly expansionist ideas connected to colonial ambition. He was a strong advocate of German colonial expansion and a fierce opponent of the British Empire. His major work, the History of Germany in the Nineteenth Century, argued that Germany should build a powerful empire, and he insisted that war would be necessary to achieve and control this territory. He praised colonialism as the mark of every “virile” people, warning that nations which failed to join the rivalry would play a pitiable role in the future.

Consequences: militarization and aggression 🔗

Beyond imperialism, the expansionist approach produced two further outcomes that reshaped global politics.

Militarization: When national strength is measured by the ability to conquer, military power becomes the highest priority. Societies that embraced expansionist nationalism poured resources into their armies and navies, glorified soldiers, and treated war as a noble pursuit rather than a tragedy. This arms-building and rivalry between major powers contributed directly to the tensions that erupted into the First World War.

Erosion of rights and diversity: Because the approach rests on the belief that one nation is superior, it has little room for the rights of others. The result is the violation of human rights, the suppression of minority cultures, and the erosion of diversity. Conquered peoples were rarely treated as equals; they were treated as subjects to be ruled and resources to be used.

From the scramble to fascism 🔗

The most extreme expression of the expansionist approach came in the twentieth century. Expansionist nationalism is closely associated with the fascist regimes of 1930s and 1940s Germany, Italy, and Japan, all of which believed themselves superior to and more deserving than other nations. Adolf Hitler’s concept of lebensraum, or “living space,” which demanded the conquest of territory in the East, was the logical and horrifying conclusion of the idea that a superior nation has the right to expand at others’ expense. Ultra-nationalism of this kind sits at the very core of fascist ideology.

Why this matters today 🔗

The expansionist approach might seem like a relic of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but its underlying logic has not disappeared. Whenever a state claims a historic right to a neighbour’s territory, frames its own people as superior, or treats military conquest as a path to national glory, the same intellectual machinery is at work. Recognising this pattern helps us tell the difference between nationalism that liberates and nationalism that dominates.

It also offers an important caution. Both Gumplowicz and Treitschke began their lives with liberal, even idealistic, views before drifting towards aggressive nationalism. That drift is a reminder that the line between pride in one’s nation and the belief in its right to dominate others can be thinner than it appears.

What do you think? Can a strong sense of national pride exist without sliding into the belief that one’s own nation is superior to others? And when you look at conflicts in the world today, do you see traces of the expansionist logic that Gumplowicz and Treitschke once defended?

References

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expansionist_nationalism
2. https://www.tutor2u.net/politics/reference/expansionist-nationalism
3. https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/social-sciences-and-law/political-science-biographies/ludwig-gumplowicz
4. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Heinrich-von-Treitschke
5. https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/history/historians-european-biographies/heinrich-von-treitschke
6. https://library.fiveable.me/ap-world/unit-6/rationales-imperialism/study-guide/SpRzOFVRtT5Quq4copYW
7. https://www.britannica.com/event/Scramble-for-Africa
8. https://spartacus-educational.com/HIStreitsche.htm
9. https://sites.google.com/site/thepoliticsteacherorg/expansionist-nationalism