THE FRENCHNESS OF THE rIGHT VS THE FRENCHISM OF cONSERVATISM::

A little-known 1862 work called Nationality by Lord Acton can perhaps shed new light, too, on the topic. For Acton, there are two types of nationality: the one of 1688, the other of 1789, i.e., English or French nationalism, which "are connected in name only, and are in reality the opposite extremes of political thought."

French nationalism arose during the French Revolution, though this version would wreak havoc for much longer in Europe and still, some would argue, does to this day. Acton's main issue with this type of nationality is its utopian and idealist character, by elevating one's imaginary construct of the nation above anything else.

As all readers of Edmund Burke know (and Acton was certainly among them), the revolutionaries of 1789 broke not only with the ancien regime but with any tradition, with any notion of a history of France, that had existed before. Instead, a fully new concept would have to be implemented, though this "was no longer France, but some unknown country to which the nation was transported." As "every effaceable trace and relic of national history was carefully wiped away, ... France was no longer bounded by the limits she had received from the condemned influence of her history." A vision of French greatness in which this nation was to be more glorious than anything else was to be made a reality. On the path to this French greatness, the centralized power had the legitimacy to get rid of everything that stood in its way.

For the first time in history, "the notion of an abstract nationality" was expressed, as "nationality became a paramount claim, which was to assert itself alone," and which "was to prevail at the expense of every other cause." And as those in power were striving to national greatness, all others, that is, those that compose the nation, were made subject to an absolute ruler - it was more important to reach this ideal than anything else.

This "modern theory of nationality," as Acton called it, could eventually go much further down the path of despotism. To achieve this arbitrary conception of the nation, everything not considered fitting to it would need to be swept away. In a remarkable prediction of what would happen if this theory was to be taken to its extreme, Acton said that the extermination -- or at least servitude -- of what was deemed an inferior race would be the consequence. This eventually happened in fascist Germany, where, with the goal of achieving national supremacy and uniting the Germans -- everyone else, every un-German element would have to make way -- as well as other nations whose land and resources were deemed essential for German hegemony. In this sense, Hitler was a nationalist.

There is, however, another version of nationality for Acton, one that is liberal - and "its model would be England." This theory, "which represents nationality as an essential, but not a supreme element in determining the forms of the State," is described by Acton as follows:

It is distinguished from the other [the French version], because it tends to diversity and not to uniformity, to harmony and not to unity; because it aims not at an arbitrary change, but at careful respect for the existing conditions of political life, and because it obeys the laws and results of history, not the aspirations of an ideal future. While the theory of unity makes the nation a source of despotism and revolution, the theory of liberty regards it as the bulwark of self-government, and the foremost limit to the excessive power of the State.

This concept of nationhood arises from the past, building off of the nation's successes and learning from its mistakes. It is backward looking because it cherishes its history and doesn't bulldoze over traditions but prides itself in them. It is also progressive, though, in the sense that it wants to carry on this history, though with humility to the whole, not by pursuing a utopian ideal. This community comes into being naturally, from the bottom-up, indeed, from the heart of each individual, where one sees it as one's obligation to care for one's fellow people because the individual realizes he or she is part of a tradition that precedes them. Edmund Burke famously referred to this as "a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born."

Perhaps most importantly, this nation has to constitute a bulwark for liberty, not against it.

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