What is the distinction between "nation" and "state," according to nineteenth-century European standards?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The terms are easily confused in English, in which they are often used synonymously; however, they are very different concepts. The state is defined as a geopolitical entity with the power to levy taxes, raise armies, enforce laws, attend to certain bureaucratic tasks such as issuing passports, and build a state administrative apparatus. A nation, by contrast, is more a cultural construct, in which people are bound together in a common community defined by language, religion, tradition, or culture. Hence, as nationalism became a major movement in the nineteenth century, it could be promoted through appeal to the emotional characteristics in patriotism, in Romantic concepts such as folk tales, uniqueness of language, and historical traditions. These sought to unify people of diverse backgrounds into one common people in support of a government overseeing a state. These differences are perhaps best seen in Italy and Germany, each of which sought certain nationalist characteristics to unify the component states into one nation in the nineteenth century.