Homeland, patrie, Heimat, patria, pátria

It is a well-known fact that Europe was devastated many times due to numerous wars throughout the centuries and, consequently, frontiers changed frequently. At that time, kingdoms and empires were really a collection of principalities and counties. The rulers of those territories would pledge their allegiance to the King or the Emperor and they were under their authority from then onwards. Common people didn’t feel they belonged to a country or that they had a nationality. They would feel they would belong to a religion or a region.

Nationalism is a political ideology that aims to make people believe they have a national identity superior to all others. This means that only a group of people (those who are part of a certain identity and possess certain characteristics) are part of a “nation”. On the other hand, patriotism is the love for one’s country and includes everyone who was born there (or acquired its citizenship) regardless of the characteristics they may have. The difference may be thin, but it does exist.

Below, we will discuss patriotism in a linguistic (and cultural) perspective.

In English (Homeland) and in German (Heimat), the country where people are born is considered their “home”. In fact, when they are abroad and they say they are going back to their own country they usually say they are “going home”. Latin languages like Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese use variations of the Latin word patria, which means “country of birth”. That is a fact. In some countries, like in Germany and in the Netherlands, homeland can be called as fatherland whereas in other countries, like in Latvia and in Russia, it can be called as motherland. In these countries, the homeland is seen as a parent who nurtures and takes care of them since they were born and it will always be there for them.

Each country has two main dimensions of action: inside the country and outside. Their designation depends on how they see the world.

1) These are the departments, offices or ministries related to matters inside the country

. USA | Homeland Security
. UK | Home Office
. Australia | Home Affairs
. Germany | Bundesministerium des Innern und für Heimat [Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community]
. France | Ministère de l’Intérieur et des Outre-mer [Ministry of the Interior]
. Italy | Ministero Interno [ Ministry of the Interior]
. Spain | Ministerio del Interior [ Minister for Home Affairs]
. Portugal | Ministério da Administração Interna [Ministry of Home Affairs]

As we can see, in English speaking countries, the department/ office/ ministry related to these matters are called “Home”. Once again, we can confirm that the country of birth is like home for them and they manage country matters as they manage their own home. In fact, one of the most important economic indicators, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), also refers to “domestic”, that is, home. In Latin countries the GDP is Gross National Product (word-by-word translation). They don’t use home-related words in any case.

Latin countries designate this ministry (all of them refer to them as ministry and not as a department or an office) as the Ministry of the Interior (with some differences), which also happens in Germany. Interestingly, in the latter, the Ministry is called “Federal Ministry of the Interior and for the Homeland” (word-by-word translation), but they are officially translated by “Federal Ministry of the Interior and Community”. For some reason, they decided to replace “Homeland” by “Community” in the English version. Here we again see that these countries tell exactly what the matters are about: the interior of the country.

2) These are the departments, offices or ministries related to matters outside the country

. USA | Department of State
. UK | Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
. Australia | Foreign Affairs and Trade
. Germany | Auswärtiges Amt [Federal Foreign Office]
. France | Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Étrangères [Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs]
. Italy | Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale [Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation]
. Spain | Ministerio de Asuntos Exteriores, Unión Europea y Cooperación [Ministry for Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation]
. Portugal | Ministério de Estado e dos Negócios Estrangeiros [Ministry of State and Foreign Affairs]

The names for the departments/ offices/ ministries related to matters outside the country have much more differences between them. The USA calls it “Department of State”, which is weird as they seem to not consider international relations as an international matter. In a way, UK also has a vision that it is their responsibility to develop the world, especially the countries belonging to the Commonwealth (the former British colonies).

Italy and Spain are also interested in international cooperation, not as their responsibility, but as a partnership. Spain and France consider the European Union and Europe (this difference is not by chance) important enough to be part of the name of the ministry.

In Portugal, the current government also linked the State with the Foreign Affairs. Interestingly, in Portuguese, the Ministry is called “Ministry of State and Foreign Business” (word-by-word translation), which means that this ministry is about international business. International trade is also a great concern for Australia.