Nationalism and imperialism have been closely linked throughout Western history. Nationalism is an extreme form of patriotism. Simply put, nationalism is the belief that one's nation is exceptional and its interests supersede the interests of other nations. Nationalists are sometimes willing to engage in unethical actions if they help make their nation "great." Thus imperialism often appears in nations with a pervasive nationalist spirit.
On a basic level, imperialism is the pursuit of empire, usually by military force. This can be accomplished by conquering other nations (such as Germany in World War II) or establishing colonies (such as England's American colonies in the New World). Imperialism generally requires violence; nationalists justify this violence by declaring that it is only done in the pursuit of increasing their nation's "greatness."
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