Bloody Diversity - State Formation and Nation Building in England

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: Western Europe, grade: keine, Maastricht University, course: European Studies, language: English, abstract: This paper deals with the process of state formation and nation building in England from the high Middle Ages until the end of the nineteenth century. Furthermore, it discusses whether England had been first a state or a nation or if this process occurred concurrently. It aims to determine when, how and why these developments proceeded in England the way they did, and if England's changes differed from the rest of Europe. This paper claims that in the case of England, state and nation building went hand in hand resulting in an early English nation-state. The rise of a national consciousness as well as the establishment of a sovereign state protecting individual rights would not have been possible without the early formation of parliament. Therefore, this paper argues that the evolvement of Parliament was essential and played a crucial role in shaping England into a nation state.