Nationalism is still alive and well. After traveling to London and visiting the Imperial War Museum, I have noticed that everyone wants to be the hero of the WWII story. I have noticed some of the other students on the trip getting very excited about the success the United States brought to the Allies during the war. This is interesting to me because I had not heard them be patriotic until we stepped foot in the Imperial War Museum. Students have said things like “I’ve never felt so patriotic” and “they would have been nowhere without us.” I understand many of these comments are not to be taken too seriously, but I find it so interesting how nationalism rises when talking about war. I have not heard many students my age say they are proud to be an American while in America, for college students have strong opinions on what is going wrong in our country. This does not only stem from Americans, but I witnessed many people from other allied nations express nationalism.
The act of nationalism that was most surprising to me was the display of pride the Russians have for their contributions to the war. When we first arrived at the Imperial War Museum, there were Russians placing flowers at the foot of the memorial for the USSR soldiers since it was the anniversary of the end of WWII. This ceremony was being filmed. It was taken very seriously, for the area around it was silent. The people were even holding a USSR flag. It was a bit of an eerie sight because of the United States’ strong negative feelings towards Russia during and after the Cold War. I also overheard a schoolboy proclaim his patriotism towards the UK while in the museum. As I was looking at the Dunkirk display, the boy and his friends came up next to me. He pounded on his chest and proclaimed, “We saved them”. The boys then snickered and walked away. This statement was not directed at me, I just overheard this portion of the conversation. The boy looked to be a little younger than me, probably in high school. It was so cool to hear how people are excited to be a part of their country when they helped win such a devastating conflict. From the comments made by my peers, to the laying of flowers, to a schoolboy excited for his country to have been a part of the war, nationalism is still thriving in the context of war.
Above is a photo of the Russian citizens paying homage to the soldiers that died for their country. You can see the USSR flag in the middle of the small crowd.