IDEOLOGUES OF NATIONALISM AND CONSOLIDATION OF NATIONAL GROUPS IN CANADA ON THE CASE OF FRANCO-CANADIANS

Abstract

The purpose of the article is a comprehensive analysis of the views, and main concepts of ideologists of Franco-Canadian nationalism from its origins to the beginning of the 20th century. Research methods are based on the principle of historicism, taking into account the peculiarities of the XVIII – early XX century epoch. The method of comparative analysis is used to juxtapose the situation of national groups in Canada and the policies of the British administration. The chronological method allows for exploring different historical epochs in their sequence. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the fact that its author, one of the first in Ukrainian historiography, conducted a systematic analysis of Franco-Canadian socio-political currents and attempts by their leaders to implement their views in practical politics. The author concludes that the emergence and evolution of the Franco-Canadian national movement, expressed in the nationalist views of ideologists, were a response to consistent attempts at assimilation of the Franco-Canadian community by the British colonial administration. The first ideologist and systematic ideological leader of the Franco-Canadians was L.-J. Papineau. He articulated the necessity of preserving the distinctiveness of the Franco-Canadian community and proposed means to fight for it. L.-J. Papineau and his subsequent followers were characterized by attempts to achieve these goals through legal and reformist means. L.-H. LaFontaine and A. Mercier focused specifically on expanding the rights of French-speaking Quebec and protecting the rights of its residents from encroachments by the British administration. A representative of the next generation of this liberal trend, H. Bourassa, proposed not only to focus on Quebec’s affairs but also to extend the fight for the rights of Franco-Canadians to the entire Dominion of Canada, so that Franco-Canadians and Anglo-Canadians would not fight each other but would jointly defend the rights of the Dominion against London. The founders of the radical trend of the Franco-Canadian nationalist movement can be considered J. Nicholson and representatives of the subsequent generation of radicals such as J.-P. Tardivel and L. Grou. They argued for the necessity of fighting for an independent Laurentian state and proposed not to cooperate with the British administration but to defend the preservation of the Franco-Canadian community’s distinctiveness through the conservation of their language, religion, and culture against new changes, liberal, and reformist transformations.