which nations existed before the Spring of Nations?
most people considered themselves to be "local" or "just from here", yet some clearly recognised the existence of what we would eventually call a nation, eg. the Swiss
>>1428220
Primož Trubar, the Slovene protestant who wrote the first books in the Slovene language, wrote of his "beloved Slovenes" in the middle of the 16th century.
>>1428292
The song of Roland a poem written in Old french, i think this is one of the oldest text where the franceis (french in old french) are mentioned
>>1428220
Various Italian writers such as Dante and Machiavelli wrote and expressed a desire for an independent Italy free from foreign domination such as that of the German Habsburgs and the Papal States.
>>1429021
>Machiavelli
He didn't really care for Italy. His sole allegiance lied with Florence.
Most of nations that exist today.
National sentiment was weaker and often equal with regional sentiment and feudal/dynastic ties, but it still existed.
"Nation came to be in 19th century" is a fraudelent and queer meme.
>countries only existed after 1800
>>1428292
>>1428997
Existence of nationality doesn't equal the existence of a political nation.
>>1428220
The existence of nations and self-government begins with the Westphalian Peace and then becomes a dominant political factor in the Napoleonic era. So yeah, the Swiss, as well as the United Provinces were one of the first.
In contrast, the British didn't have a political nation, despite having a democratic polity until well into the modern era. They had no left and right paradigm until 1930s too, iirc.
