Patriotism,nationalism and modernity: the patriotic societies in the Danish conglomerate state, 1769–1814

ABSTRACT. This article investigates sixty‐three patriotic societies established in the Danish conglomerate state during the Age of Enlightenment, since they can throw light on the pre‐national collective identities. It explains how the patriotic societies had both an external function in regard to society and an internal function among their members. It analyses how the members comprehended patriotism and how they propagated ideas of solidarity and good citizenship to a wider audience. The patriotism of the eighteenth century is also compared with the nationalism of the nineteenth century, and the way they reflect two different understandings of core concepts such as state, language and folk culture is explained. However, both ideologies correlate to modernity, since they reflect the same dialectic tension in the relationship between the individual, the social community and the modern state.