Fatherland

Fatherland is a word used, most generally, to refer to the nation of one's "fathers" or "forefathers." It can be viewed as a nationalist concept, insofar as one sees the nation to which one belongs as a paternal? figure (compare to motherland and homeland); strictly speaking the word need not be used with such associations.

Groups that refer to their homeland as a "fatherland" (or rather, cognates of this English word in their languages), or, arguably, associate it primarily with paternal concepts include:

• Romans, as patria, the rootword for patriotism
• the Basque, particularly the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna , ETA) organization
• the Germans, as das Vaterland
  (Note, however, that "das" is grammatically neuter; das Vaterland is "the land of my father," not "the land that is my father." Die Heimat (the homeland) is grammatically feminine, as is "die Muttererde" (Mother Earth). The german "Vaterland" has been used since the 12th century with the meaning "native country". An adjective "vaterländisch" is used since the 18th century, meaning something like patriotic or nationalistic. The German "Mutterland" (motherland) refers to a mother country in contrast to its colonies.

"Fatherland" is also the title of a thriller novel by the English writer and journalist, [Robert Harris]?, which doubles as a work of [virtual history]? and postulates a world in which Nazi Germany was triumphant as a consequence of World War II.

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