Rise of the Modern Nation State

In this module, we look at the rise of the modern nation state. We often forget that the world as it is organized into discrete named countries with hard borders is relatively new in the history of the world. The thinking goes like this: "We are French (or another national) because of shared history, language, culture. We've always been French because of those same things." This module asks us to really think about those assertions and take a closer look at the history of the rise of nation states and the process of creating and reinforcing the founding myths that make up countries. 

As you read the following assigned work, think about not only the founding myths or "origin stories" described in the readings, but the corrollaries to other countries with which you may be more familiar-- i.e. what is the origin story of France? Germany?