POLITICAL REORIENTATION Political city-state of the Mediterranean area has been the subject of many discussions, and here it is neces sary to say only that its existence in antiquity and its revival in the middle ages were hindrances to any tendencies towards the growth of the idea of nationality in that region. On the other hand, in the Paris basin and on the English plain, with their towns grow ing or reviving, from the i i th century onwards especially as foci of rural areas around them, ease of communication led to a growth of a common vernacular tradition which, with military considera tions to spur it, gave rise to the idea of a nation. This was, in the case of the Paris basin and the English plain, a group of people speaking one language, following one law and at first one form of religion, and inhabiting one continuous territory under one unified Government which controlled defence at least. The old unity under the Church was to some extent in opposition to the growth of national units and, in Germany, division as regards law and religion in the i6th century delayed the possibilities of growth of unity around the common language which the introduction of printing, and especially the printing of the Bible, was tending to standardize. The cheapening of printing, and the spread of book education to the middle classes in the early i9th century, was a contributory factor, alongside of a natural resistance of peoples to the enforcement of unity by Napoleon, of the phenomenal rise of nationalism in modern Europe, which has found its expression in such marked fashion in the treaties concluded after the war of 191.4-18. The basic factor of nationality is more and more group consciousness, and we have the attractive example of Switzerland to show that this can be strongly developed where there is neither unity of language nor unity of religion and where even unity of law is not of very ancient growth.
Hardly any nation except Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland and England (without Wales) had a complete unity of language before the war of 1914-18, and Wales is included with England for many political purposes, so that the claim to unity of language is not really effective, though all save a very few can understand English. France has a Breton, a Basque, a Flemish and an Alle manic-speaking region, Germany has Slavonic elements, much re duced since the war ; and most of the east-central European States created after 1918 have minorities differing in language, and some times in religion, from the governing group. The problems of na tional organization are much increased as a consequence of this, for in most cases there is a lack of that feeling of security, military and economic, which so greatly helps to keep Switzerland a group conscious unit. The Russian plain with its multiplicity of lan guages and customs, and the isolation of its communities in those immense areas, is difficult ground for the growth of a valid group consciousness. It is important to note that the i9th century nationalist movement achieved the unity of Italy, and the growth of its group-consciousness of recent years has been a very marked feature of European life. The ferment of nationalism in the Bal kans in the late i9th and early loth century, and the relations of the movements concerned to political powers outside, are well known to have been among the most important factors of the war of 1914-18. While the passion of nationalism has remodelled the map of Europe, has immensely increased the difficulties of tariff frontiers in Europe, and has caused currency troubles which have shaken credit very seriously, there are abundant signs of develop ments in a very different direction.
There have long been international congresses of specialists in branches of learning or of education, or of public health and wel fare, or of technology. In spite of post-war difficulties these are now reviving, and some nationalist enthusiasm is turning to rival ries in these activities. Of the importance of many of these con gresses, both for public welfare and for international effort, too much cannot be said. The network of banking is spreading across national frontiers, and this has greatly helped in the gradual re establishment of currencies ruined by the crisis of 1914-18. Many large industrial enterprises are increasingly spreading to most of the industrialized lands, and in some cases even to others, so as to have production behind the tariff wall. There are attempts at interna tional arrangement in railway, canal and river transport, not al ways happy or successful when dictated in treaties. There are important international labour movements and movements among university students. Most of all, there are the foundations of the Permanent Court of International Justice at The Hague and of the League of Nations at Geneva, with its related International Labour organization and the many committees of the League As sembly for health and humanitarian purposes, and finally, the International Institute of Intellectual Co-operation.
These are organizations, but in addition to such deliberate efforts there is a change in mind making itself felt, a growing conscious ness of the difficulties of self-sufficiency of the nation as an eco nomic unit, of the waste due to the multiplicity of organizations in many small States for doing or making the same things. The con trast between the small production in an average European coun try and the large scale production possible in the immense free trade area in the United States is striking.
Over against these forces working towards European unity have appeared others pressing in the opposite direction. The most as sertive of the centrifugal forces have recently found expression in the several nationalist parties that have pressed forward to seize dictatorial powers in many of the countries of central Europe. Not content with international triumphs, they have raised again the issue of European peace.