Homeland


A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nationalist connotations. A homeland may also be referred to as a fatherland, a motherland, or a mother country, depending on the culture and language of the nationality in question.

Motherland

Motherland refers to a mother country, i.e. the place in which somebody grew up or had lived for a long enough period that somebody has formed their own cultural identity, the place that one's ancestors lived for generations, or the place that somebody regards as home, or a Metropole in contrast to its colonies. People often refer to Mother Russia as a personification of the Russian nation. The Philippines is also considered as a motherland which is derived from the word "Inang Bayan" which means "Motherland". Within the British Empire, many natives in the colonies came to think of Britain as the mother country of one, large nation. India is often personified as Bharat Mata. The French commonly refer to France as "la mère patrie"; Hispanic countries that were former Spanish viceroyalties commonly referred to Spain as "la Madre Patria". Armenians refer to Armenia as "Mer Hayrenik". Kathleen Ni Houlihan is a mythical symbol of Irish nationalism found in literature and art including work by W.B. Yeats and Seán O'Casey, She was an emblem during colonial rule, and became associated with the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, especially during The Troubles.

Fatherland

Fatherland is the nation of one's "fathers", "forefathers", or ancestors. The word can also mean the country of nationality, the country in which somebody grew up, the country that somebody's ancestors lived in for generations, or the country that somebody regards as home, depending on how the individual uses it. It can be viewed as a nationalist concept, in so far as it is evocative of emotions related to family ties and links them to national identity and patriotism. It can be compared to motherland and homeland, and some languages will use more than one of these terms.
The Ancient Greek patris, fatherland, led to patrios, of our fathers and thence to the Latin patriota and Old French patriote, meaning compatriot; from these the English word patriotism is derived. Romans and the subjects of Rome saw Italy as the fatherland of the Roman Empire, in contrast to Roman provinces. The related Ancient Roman word Patria led to similar forms in modern Romance languages.
The term fatherland is used throughout Europe where a Germanic language is spoken. In Dutch vaderland is used in the national anthem, "Het Wilhelmus", which lyrics are written around 1570. It is also common to refer to the national history as vaderlandse geschiedenis.
In German, the term Vaterland became more prominent in the 19th century. It appears in numerous patriotic songs and poems, such as Hoffmann's song Lied der Deutschen which became the national anthem in 1922. German government propaganda used its appeal to nationalism when making references to Germany and the state. It was used in Mein Kampf, and on a sign in a German concentration camp, also signed, Adolf Hitler.
Because of the use of Vaterland in Nazi-German war propaganda, the term "Fatherland" in English has become associated with domestic British and American anti-Nazi propaganda during World War II. This is not the case in Germany itself, or in other Germanic speaking and Eastern European countries, where the word remains used in the usual patriotic contexts.
Terms equating "Fatherland" in Germanic languages:
  • Afrikaans: Vaderland
  • Danish: fædreland
  • Dutch : vaderland
  • West Frisian: heitelân
  • German: Vaterland
  • Icelandic: föðurland
  • Norwegian: fedreland
  • Swedish: fäderneslandet.
A corresponding term is often used in Slavic languages, in:
  • Russian otechestvo or otchizna
  • Polish ojczyzna in common language literally meaning "fatherland", ziemia ojców literally meaning "land of fathers", sometimes used in the phrase ziemia ojców naszych literally meaning "land of our fathers"
  • Ukrainian batʹkivshchyna or vitchyzna.
  • Czech otčina
  • the Belarusians as Бацькаўшчына
  • Serbo-Croatian otadžbina meaning "fatherland", domovina meaning "homeland", dedovina or djedovina meaning "grandfatherland" or "land of grandfathers"
  • Bulgarian татковина as well as otechestvo
  • Macedonian татковина

    Other groups that refer to their native country as a "fatherland"

Groups with languages that refer to their native country as a "fatherland" include:
In Romance languages, a common way to refer to one's home country is Patria/Pátria/Patrie which has the same connotation as Fatherland, that is, the nation of our parents/fathers. As patria has feminine gender, it is usually used in expressions related to one's mother, as in Italian la Madrepatria, Spanish la Madre Patria or Portuguese a Pátria Mãe. Examples include:
  • the Esperantists as patrio, patrolando or patrujo
  • Aragonese, Asturian, Franco-Provençal, Galician, Italian, Spanish : Patria
  • Catalan: Pàtria
  • Occitans: Patrìo
  • French: Patrie
  • Romanian: Patrie
  • Portuguese: ''Pátria''

    Multiple references to parental forms

  • the Armenians, as Hayrenik, home. The national anthem Mer Hayrenik translates as Our Fatherland
  • the Azerbaijanis as Ana vətən or Ata ocağı
  • the Bosniaks as Otadžbina, although Domovina is sometimes used colloquially meaning homeland
  • the Chinese as zǔguó, zǔguómǔqīn is frequently used.
  • the Czechs as vlast, power or otčina, fatherland
  • the Hungarians as szülőföld
  • the Indians as मातृभूमि literally meaning "motherland", or पितृभूमि translating to "fatherland" in the Indo-Aryan liturgical tradition
  • the Kurds as warê bav û kalan meaning "land of the fathers and the grandfathers"
  • the Japanese as sokoku
  • the Koreans as joguk
  • French speakers: Patrie, although they also use la mère patrie, which includes the idea of motherland
  • the Latvians as tēvija or tēvzeme
  • the Burmese as အမိမြေ literally meaning "motherland"
  • the Persians as Sarzamin e Pedari, Sarzamin e Mādari or Mihan
  • the Poles as ojczyzna, also an archaism macierz "mother" is rarely used.
  • the Russians, as Otechestvo or Otchizna, both words derived from отец, Russian for father. Otechestvo is neuter, otchizna is feminine.
  • the Slovenes as očetnjava, although domovina is more common.
  • the Swedes as fäderneslandet, although fosterlandet is more common
  • the Vietnamese as ''Tổ quốc''

    In Hebrew

, especially Modern-Day Israelis, use several different terms, all referring to Israel, including:
  • Moledet. The most analogous Hebrew word to the English term 'Homeland'.
  • Erets Israel. This is the most common usage.
  • Haarets. This is used by Israelis, and Jews abroad, when making distinctions between Israel and other countries in conversation.
  • Haarets Hamuvtachat. This is a term with historical and religious connotations.
  • Erets Zion. Notably use in The Israeli Anthem.
  • Erets Avot. This is a common biblical and literary usage. Equivalent to 'Fatherland'.
  • Erets Zavat Chalav Oudvash. This is a biblical term which is still sometimes used.
  • Haarets Hatova. Originated in the Book of Deuteronomy.

    Uses by country

  • The Soviet Union created homelands for some minorities in the 1920s, including the Volga German ASSR and the Jewish Autonomous Oblast. In the case of the Volga German ASSR, these homelands were later abolished, and their inhabitants deported to either Siberia or the Kazakh SSR.
  • In the United States, the Department of Homeland Security was created soon after the 11 September 2001, terrorist attacks, as a means to centralize response to various threats. In a June 2002 column, Republican consultant and speechwriter Peggy Noonan expressed the hope that the Bush administration would change the name of the department, writing that, "The name Homeland Security grates on a lot of people, understandably. Homeland isn't really an American word, it's not something we used to say or say now". Since the 2020 presidential election and Donald Trump's second presidential term, there has been an increase of the term Homeland used in American politics, with the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement often using phrases such as "Defend the Homeland" in campaign media and encouraging an implied defense of America by recruiting "patriotic, brave Americans" to remove "Murderers, rapists, terrorists, and child pedophiles" who are "criminal illegal aliens"
  • In the apartheid era in South Africa, the concept was given a different meaning. The white government had designated approximately 25% of its non-desert territory for black tribal settlement. Whites and other non-blacks were restricted from owning land or settling in those areas. After 1948 they were gradually granted an increasing level of "home-rule". From 1976 several of these regions were granted independence. Four of them were declared independent nations by South Africa, but were unrecognized as independent countries by any other nation besides each other and South Africa. The territories set aside for the African inhabitants were also known as bantustans.
  • In Australia, the term refers to relatively small Aboriginal settlements where people with close kinship ties share lands significant to them for cultural reasons. Many such homelands are found across Western Australia, the Northern Territory, and Queensland. The homeland movement gained momentum in the 1970 and 1980s. Not all homelands are permanently occupied owing to seasonal or cultural reasons. Much of their funding and support have been withdrawn since the 2000s.
  • In Turkish, the concept of "homeland", especially in the patriotic sense, is "ana vatan", while "baba ocağı" is used to refer to one's childhood home.