Creole nationalism

Creole nationalism or Criollo nationalism refers to the ideology that emerged in independence movements among the Criollos (descendants of the European colonizers), especially in Latin America in the early 19th century. Creole nationalists wanted an end to control by European powers. That goal was facilitated when French Emperor Napoleon seized control of Spain and Portugal, breaking the chain of control from the Spanish and Portuguese kings to the local governors. Allegiance to the Napoleonic states was rejected, and increasingly the creoles demanded independence. They sought to overthrow the "peninsulars"--the temporary officials sent from the motherland to impose control. They achieved it after civil wars 1808-1826.[1] The term is generally applied to other colonies during Decolonization.

Historian Joshua Simon argues, "the Creoles enjoyed many privileges, benefiting in particular from the economic exploitation and political exclusion of the large Indigenous, African, and mixed-race populations....However, as the American subjects of European empires, Creoles were socially marginalized, denied equal representation in metropolitan councils and parliaments, and subjected to commercial policies designed to advance imperial interests at the colonies' expense." Consequently, the goal of Creole nationalism was independent nationhood under Creole control. They typically did not give weight to native or mixed-race peoples who comprised the great majority of the population in most colonies.[2] In Indonesia, however, the Creole movement was closer to the indigenous Indonesian element than it was to the European-born.[3]

In Mexico in 1813 at the Congress of Chilpancingo the first Mexican Declaration of Independence was promulgated, which express the sentiment of Creole nationalism. According to historian D. A. Brading, "Creole patriotism, which began as the articulation of the social identity of American Spaniards, was transmuted into the insurgent ideology of Mexican nationalism."[4] After independence, Creole nationalism deepened thanks to the expansion of the public sphere, the role of elections and political parties, increased availability of newspapers and pamphlets, and the emergence of a nationalistic middle-class which provided a highly supportive audience for imaginative projections of future national achievements. utopian fiction was an especially popular tool.[5]

In Peru, the 1836–9 Peruvian–Bolivian Confederation expressed demands for Peruvian Creole nationalism. Nationalist sentiments were expressed through the anti-confederationist press, especially in terms of satiric poetry, short stories and utopian concepts. There was a heavy emphasis upon a glorified version of the Inca past while rejecting the Indian present. The nationalist, even racist rhetoric pull together themes that had originated half a century earlier. This emotional rhetoric became the main expression of an ideology that pervades Peruvian history ever since. indeed the rhetoric climaxed in the 20th century, and it shows signs of crisis in the 21st century. [6][7]