Definition of Chauvinism – What we understand is related to love for the motherland or a nation is a Nationalism . Nationalism is the term we use to assess all forms of deeds and actions for someone who highly respects and defends their homeland or nation.
However, have you ever imagined or perhaps a question has arisen in your mind, what would happen if the love for the motherland becomes something excessive and seems fanatical , we fall into behaviors that feel superior to nations or races other than what we have?
Yes! For this phenomenon there is a term that is deemed appropriate enough to be used in categorizing such behavior, we can call it Chauvinism . What is Chauvinism ? How can we recognize Chauvinism ? What are the effects of Chauvinism ? And what are examples of Chauvinism like ?
Friends, of course many of us may not know about the term Chauvinism, this term may not be something that we often encounter in our daily lives, but the term Chauvinism itself has been around for a long time! And it has even colored the course of human history to this day. So friends, this time we will review a few things related to Chauvinism. Let’s review!
Definition of Chauvinism
The term Chauvinism is defined as an attitude or feeling of excessive love for the motherland .
Chauvinism is an extreme sense of loyalty to a nation or state. This is very close to the attitude or sense of nationalism, but these two things are of course different.
Nationalism is an attitude and mentality that almost everyone must have if they are good citizens and respect the country they live in. Unlike chauvinism. Chauvinism can belong to an understanding that can result in threatening the unity of a nation.
This can be caused by the impact produced by Chauvinism which creates the seeds of hostility between countries and other nations. This in the end can harm and destroy a country and nation, of course it also has an impact on the wider community.
Even though basically every citizen has an ideology and a feeling of love for the homeland they live in, if that sense of loyalty becomes excessive and seems extreme to the country it can lead to negative values. The term Chauvinism certainly refers to one or a certain group of people.
The presence of Chauvinism creates an understanding in certain groups to have feelings of hatred and also hostile intentions towards other groups that are different from them. Chauvinism does not only refer to a form of loyalty or bond with a community group but also includes feelings of hatred and hostility towards other groups that have contradictory beliefs.
The term Chauvinism was used quite often in the 1960s by certain groups to refer to the attitude of Chauvinism to a group that had aggressive views of other groups that were different from them.
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Definition of Chauvinism According to Experts
As discussed above, Chauvinism is a teaching that emphasizes that one must love one’s group and they hate and are hostile to other groups of people who are different. Chauvinism considers themselves to be the best group among other groups, nations, races, ethnic groups.
After getting a definition based on KBBI, we will refer to the meaning of the term Chauvinism according to experts. The following is the opinion of Chauvinism according to experts:
1. St-Times
Chauvinism is a feeling of love for the motherland in excess. The group that adheres to Chauvinism will voice that their nation is the best nation and demean other nations.
2. Inoviana
Chauvinism is an extreme form of loyalty and is used by one party without any effort to consider the views of the other party.
History of Chauvinism
After we have discussed Chauvinism based on its definition, we also need to know the origins of this Chauvinism and what caused it to create this term, as well as how it has developed in the present time.
In its early days, Chauvinism originated from the figure of a person who came from France in 1839 named Nicolas Chauvin, he was one of Napoleon’s Grand Armee soldiers, Chauvin so idolized his leader, Napoleon Bonaparte and the Old Empire, because of this attitude Chauvin was so excessive in boasting about Napoleon’s reign, he was considered to have an understanding of “excessive sense of trust and also feeling too superior over one’s race”
In 1870 the term Chauvin began to be widely heard and spread into English as the term “Chauvinism”. This term has a broader meaning and has been used to describe an attitude or support that is excessively prejudiced against a cause towards a group that is judged to be different.
After a century passed, then the term Chauvinism changed. During this period, the male connotative adjective was brought closer to the term Chauvinism to explain the attitude or view held by men that “the female sex is lower than them”.
The term Chauvinism can also be used in various beliefs and the most commonly used is as a synonym for the term Misogynism which simply means having an understanding of hatred towards women.
This happened during World War II where the balance of labor underwent changes at that time. The men left their positions as soldiers to go to war, in this case these positions began to be filled by women who replaced them. When the war was over, the men returned to their homes and looked for jobs, which were filled by women.
In the current period, the meaning of the term Chauvinism has begun to be shifted by women, this can be seen in the journal On Gender Chauvinism. Chauvinism in the hands of women is a belief or understanding that women in moral values can be higher than men.
Features of Chauvinism
In general, Chauvinism has a distinctive feature, namely love for a group, nation or country, but Chauvinism itself has a different view of the attitude of love for the motherland. Here are some characteristics of Chauvinism:
1. Looking down on other nations
This first feature is due to the notion that they (the nation/group) are the most superior, so adherents of Chauvinism want power and demean people other than their own. With this perspective, Chauvinists see other countries as weak and powerless.
2. Act casually towards other countries
Chauvinism has an impact on warfare. Countries and nations that adhere to Chauvinism often treat other countries or nations as they please. Chauvinism understands that the nation and state can stand alone without the need for the help of others.
3. Forms of dictatorial leadership
A feature that is often found in a country that has an understanding of Chauvinism is having a dictatorial leader, a country that has a leader who takes action by concentrating state power in the hands of a person can be said to be a dictator.
This kind of leadership attitude can make its citizens forced to carry out good or bad orders based on the leader’s orders. Leadership like this often uses violence and cannot be contested in carrying out its goals.
4. The attitude of fanaticism towards a race, ethnicity and nation
The thoughts of adherents of Chauvinism can make its citizens accept all the policies that the government provides and even they have to obey them and be loyal to their nation and country. If they disobeyed the orders given, they would receive severe punishment.
The Resulting Impact Of Chauvinism
After discussing the meaning, brief history, and characteristics of Chauvinism, it’s not complete if we don’t discuss the impact of Chauvinism itself. Do you already know the impact of Chauvinism? For more details, see the discussion below.
Positive impact
The following are some of the positive impacts of Chauvinism.
- Can create unity of its citizens so that they have a sense of submission to their leaders.
- Creating high fighting power to defend the nation and their homeland.
- Facilitate the government in running the government when moving the direction of the movement of the country.
- Making its citizens have unity in the goals of the state, whether to defeat the enemy (other countries) or surpass other countries.
Negative impact
The following are some of the negative impacts of Chauvinism
- It can cause war and destruction between nations and countries if there is no consistent understanding.
- Disturbing world peace because of being closed to other countries which means refusing all forms of cooperation.
- The difficulty of socializing with the outside world made progress towards the country delayed.
- The mindset resulting from Chauvinism can make it difficult to establish friendship and cooperation between countries and other nations.
Examples of Countries That Have Implemented Chauvinism
The notion of Chauvinism which feels that the country and its people are superior to other countries and nations.
If you look back on the history of mankind, there are 3 countries that have implemented Chauvinism. Who are these countries? Come on, let’s talk, buddy!
1. Germany
During World War I and II, the German state adhered to Chauvinism as the basis for understanding the state, the ideology adhered to by the leader, namely Adolf Hitler, saw that the German nation was a superior race and in the end the application of this Chauvinism led to war and racial annihilation. and other nations. This also triggers the events of World War II.
So, if you want to learn German, then a book with the title German by Yohanes Kristianto is the right time to be used as reading material. Through this book, it will be easier for readers to understand German in theory as well as in practice.
2. Japan
During the leadership of Tenno Heika or possibly Emperor Hirohito, Japan was a country that adhered to the understanding of Chauvinism. At this time, Japan became a country that looked down on other nations and countries.
3. Italy
Italy was a country that adhered to Chauvinism during the leadership of Benito Mussolini. It can be seen that Benito Mussolini has the view that other countries are imitators and are not creative in carrying out developments.
Conclusion
Based on what has been reviewed above, we can draw a conclusion to understand Chauvinism in general. In its early days, Chauvinism was taken from the name of a soldier who fanatically idolized Napoleon Bonaparte, the attitude of this soldier named Chauvin made him blindly worship Napoleon. Therefore, the term Chauvinism is an understanding that forms the basis of the movement of a country.
In addition, Chauvinism itself is an ideology that is considered quite dangerous because it instills sentimental values towards other nations, values that are embraced by a Chauvinist such as demeaning other nations and countries can give birth to a mindset that is harmful to other nations and groups because this can trigger the annihilation of a group or nation that is considered weak and inferior.
Along with the times, the term Chauvinism has also undergone several changes such as its use not only on state issues but on the basis of gender or the identity of a group, as women especially adherents of feminism, they use the term Chauvinism to assess a group of men who look down on women, it can be said that the group of men are adherents of Chauvinism.
So, friends, our article regarding the definition of Chauvinism has been completed, after knowing what Chauvinism is, are you interested and awakening your awareness to limit yourself to an excessive sense of love for the motherland? Because it can be bad.