| Publication |
2014.
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| Summary/Abstract |
The journalist, Edward Dicey, made an original contribution to the mid-nineteenth century debate on the growing involvement of the mass of people in political affairs. He argued that political education initially encouraged nationalism, causing the series of wars on which he reported. Beginning as an enthusiast for Camillo Cavour, the Piedmontese statesman, and the unification of Italy, Dicey became increasingly aware of the destructive impact of Irish nationalism on Britain and the threat to the British Empire from the growth of nationalist feelings amongst colonial peoples. However, he forecast that in the end, the forces of what at present is known as globalisation would bring nations closer together. Dicey is not well remembered today, but his work is important for showing the way in which a well-travelled Briton reacted to the breakdown in European security in the mid-nineteenth century and the growth of extra-European nationalism.
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