The British: Reverence towards Nationality

Prof. Avihu Zakai, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, author of Exile and Kingdom: History and Apocalypse in the Puritan Migration to America (Cambridge University Press).

The series' purpose is to discover the true level of national identity within the European Union - whether specific state-nationality prevails, whether that nationality is solid and, if not, whether a consolidated process of pan-European nationality is taking the place of the state-nationality system. The series deals with ten groups: the Germans, the French, the Spanish, the Italians, the Dutch, the British, the Polish, the Hungarians, the Bulgarians, and the Swedes, and explains behavioral patterns within each group, how those were created, in what way history shaped each unique group, and what future role those groups may play in the European Union.

This volume is about the British. Its conclusions suggest that the British are unique among the ten groups: living on their island, they feel aloof from the Europeans, they have strong memories of their past empire, and they feel proud of their monarchy that symbolizes their glorious past - a feeling that strengthened them in times of peril during two World Wars. Thus the British do not seem inclined to exchange their identity for European nationality and economy, and they alone of the ten groups may eventually leave the EU in order to retain their identity.