Nacionalna država u Evropi: predodređena ili konstruisana zajednica?
The national state in Europe: a predestined community or a constructed one?

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this paper is to present the development of a modern European state, its transformation into a national state through the concept of national sovereignty. The concept of the nation and the nation-state is not just a phenomenon of the Balkan area, it is, actually, an «invention» that has spread throughout Europe, whose roots lie in Western Europe. Thanks to the idea of the nation, Europe did not fell apart again in civil and religious wars after the Reformation. The concept of nation today, in modern Europe, is not losing its relevance, because it still represents a powerful instrument of social cohesion. Only a national homogenized state could meet the challenges of industrialization in the 18th century and 19th century. The concept of national sovereignty is inevitably linked with the creation of the nation state, an idea that has legitimized the nation as the holder of sovereignty.

• Details
• Contents