Reconquest And The Formation Of Spanish Nation

This paper makes a case study of Spain based on Anthony D.Smith’s ethnic origin theory.Anthony D.Smith emphasized that the ethnic basis is very important to the formation of modern nation.There is a close relationship between them.Ethnic identity is an important source of national identity.The construction of state power,military mobilization and organized religion play an important role in the formation of ethnic identity.Smith regards nationalism as a kind of collective cultural behavior,and based on a kind of shared feelings for a certain ancestral group.Historical continuity has a profound impact on the formation of the nation.The nationalism only reinterprets the existing cultural themes and the feelings and relations of the previous ethnicity.The previous ethnicity helped to shape the nation by providing cultural framework and boundaries.Only by analyzing the long-term collective cultural identity and paying attention to continuity and change,can we correctly understand the nation.But the past and the present can not be regarded as a one-way causal relationship.Because of the changes of external environment and internal conditions,there will be different types of evolution.With the help of Anthony D.Smith’s ethnic origin theory,this paper analyzes the formation and evolution of Spain.The Reconquest of Spain laid the foundation of its historical and cultural traditions.The monarchy,Christianity,feudalism,religious fanaticism,conquest tradition and colonial empire formed in the course of the Reconquest are all important factors of Spanish ethnic identity,and also determine the historical trend of Spain in the future.The French Revolution and its invasion of Spain greatly changed the evolution of Spain,which gradually changed the historical tradition.The principle of French Revolution deconstructed the Spanish tradition by democratization,secularization and smashed the empire.Spain is deeply influenced by the external environment in the transition from ethnicity to nation,which is not in line with its historical tradition.According to Anthony D.Smith’s theory,the root of the national dilemma encountered by contemporary Spain should probably be found in the long history of Spain.