Blind nationalism

It was used to explain the totalitarian and authoritarian regimes in the Interwar period, which eventually led to World War II. The term is sometimes associated with American expansionism.

Origin

The earliest known use of the phrase "blind nationalism" is in the 1908 book Racial Problems in Hungary by British historian Robert William Seton-Watson:

Needlessly to say, the attitude of the Magyar Press corresponded to that of the parliamentary Jingoes; and even the Pester Lloyd, which treated the matter with conspicuous moderation, wrote as follows: "We shall say no more of the Hlinkas and the Hodžas. These are small fry, who live upon blind nationalism, just as those amongst us who rise to honours and riches through frenzied Chauvinism. People of that sort one seizes by the collar if they break the law, and the basta."