Between 1850 and 1914 developing nation-states and imperial expansion altered the globe. In Europe, the Americas and Japan proponents of the nation-state, claimed that the entire world should be partitioned into groups who shared a common history, culture, territory and traditions, giving rise to nationalism. A number of politicians adopted this point of view leading state-led efforts to expand their territory, promote economic developments and spur the growth of a national identity. Through this process, some existing countries such as Japan and the United States emerged as new players on the international stage. In Europe, Germany and Italy became newly unified nations and disrupted the status quo. Multinational empire, such as Austria, Russia and the Ottoman were put under pressure by the growing nationalism movement. Nationalism also led to a new race for territorial expansion as each nation believed that adding land was necessary for their continuing development. Overseas expansion by Japan and the United States along with the growth of technologies particularly in communications and transportation brought the world ever closer and tied world economies into a larger superstructure. This also spurred the movement of large numbers of peoples as immigration soared. Yet territorial and economic expansion began to challenge the very premise of building the nation-state and raised the issue of could a nation and empire be compatible.

1. Reading assignments.

2. Interpretation of Images.

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