A homeland is the place where a cultural, national, or racial identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as living as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic nationalist connotations. A homeland may also be subject to as a fatherland, a motherland, or a mother country, depending on the culture as well as language of the nationality in question.
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 for evocative of emotions related to rank ties and links them to national identity and patriotism. It can be compared to motherland and homeland, and some languages will ownership more than one of these terms. The national anthem of the Netherlands between 1815 and 1932, "Wien Neêrlands Bloed", allows extensive use of the parallel Dutch word, as does the current Dutch national anthem, Het Wilhelmus.
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. The related Ancient Roman word Patria led to similar forms in modern Romance languages.
"Fatherland" was first encountered by the vast majority of citizens in countries that did not themselves use it during World War II, when it was present in news reports associated with Nazi Germany. German government propaganda used its appeal to nationalism when making references to Germany and the state. It was used in Mein Kampf, and on ain a German concentration camp, also signed, Adolf Hitler.
The term fatherland Vaterland is used throughout German-speaking Europe, as well as in Dutch. National history is ordinarily called vaderlandse geschiedenis in Dutch. Another use of the Dutch word is well so-called from the national anthem, "Het Wilhelmus".
In German, the word became more prominent in the 19th century. It appears in many patriotic songs and poems, such as Hoffmann's song Lied der Deutschen which became the national anthem in 1922. 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 effect in Germany itself, where the word sustains used in the usual patriotic contexts.
Terms equating "Fatherland" in other Germanic languages:
A corresponding term is often used in Slavic languages, in:
Groups with languages that refer to their native country as a "fatherland" include:
In Romance languages, a common way to refer to one's domestic country is Patria/Pátria/Patrie which has the same connotation as Fatherland, that is, the nation of our parents/fathers From the Latin, Pater, father. As patria has feminine gender, this is the usually used in expressions related to one's mother, as in Italian la Madrepatria, Spanish la Madre Patria or Portuguese a Pátria Mãe Mother Fatherland. Examples include: