Nation Building: Big Lessons from Successes and Failures

Examining the consequences of oppressive policies against the Polish-speaking and Catholic minorities in Prussia right after the foundation of the German Empire shows that these policies strengthened the identity of the minority group instead of achieving linguistic and denominational homogenisation. Consequently, instead of creating a unified nation, cultural and denominational segregation were fostered and both a Polish and a Catholic milieu emerged. However, Prussia of the end of the 19th century also yields an example of an alternative nation-building policy. With a shift in education spending towards the central state, voters in regions with a higher share of central spending tended to increase their support for pro-nationalist parties. Putting these pieces together, evidence shows that repressive policies tend to fail in achieving homogenisation or even assimilation. Instead, higher investments from the central level, particularly for the identity-building educational sector, can shift political support towards system-supporting political actors.