Top Ten Most Influential Figures in Nationalism

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler (April 20, 1889 to April 30, 1945) was a German politician of Austrian descent who led the Nazi Party from 1921, served as Chancellor of Germany from 1933, and held the position of Führer from 1934. As dictator of Nazi Germany, he reversed the Treaty of Versailles, initiated World War II... read more

One of the most evil people on the list. Nazi means National Socialist. They used nationalism and non-Marxist socialism to gain power. He is why the term nationalist gets a lot of flak. He is a supremacist nationalist or chauvinist, which is the idea of a superior race and nation. Plain nationalism is just prioritizing your country first.

Theodor Herzl

(1860 - 1904), Jewish Austrian-Hungarian journalist, playwright, writer, and political activist. He founded the political form of Zionism, a movement to build a Jewish homeland in Palestine.

Mahatma Gandhi

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement in British-ruled India.

He's widely known for his philosophy of nonviolent resistance, or satyagraha, which helped lead India to independence in 1947. Gandhi's methods and beliefs influenced civil rights... read more

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born October 7, 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who is currently serving as the president of Russia, a position he has held since 2012. He previously served as president from 2000 to 2008 and was prime minister from 1999 to 2000, and again from... read more

There is one leader that attracts nationalists from both the right and the left, and that is Putin. Putin has made Russian nationalism rise and supports nationalist governments and movements in other countries.

Benito Mussolini

Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician, journalist, and leader of the National Fascist Party, ruling the country as Prime Minister from 1922 until he was ousted in 1943. He ruled constitutionally until 1925, when he established a legal dictatorship. Mussolini allied Italy with Nazi... read more

Again, another horrible person, but you cannot deny his historical significance. Mussolini and Italy are the original fascists. Fascism at the time was the alternative to Marxian socialism and capitalism.

Donald Trump

Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946, in Queens, New York) is an American businessman, television personality, politician, and the 45th and 47th President of the United States.

Born and raised in Queens, New York City, Donald J. Trump received an economics degree from the Wharton School of the... read more

Trump himself has said that he is a nationalist. You may love him or hate him, but you can't deny that he is absolutely influential in this century.

Dietrich Eckart

(1868 - 1923), German poet, playwright, journalist, and political activist. In 1919, Eckart was one of the founders of the DAP, which became the NSDAP in 1920. From 1921 to 1923, he was the chief editor of the party newspaper "Völkischer Beobachter." He was Adolf Hitler's first political mentor.

Amin al-Husseini

(Died 1974), Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Arab nationalist who played a key role in Arab resistance to Zionism. During his meeting with Hitler in 1941, he assured him that the Arabs "were Germany's natural friends because they had the same enemies as Germany, namely the English, the Jews, and the Communists."

Gabriele D'Annunzio

(1863 - 1938), the leading Italian writer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On 12 September 1919, he occupied the city of Fiume with a force of Italian nationalist irregulars. On 8 September 1920, he proclaimed the birth of the "Reggenza Italiana del Carnaro" (Regency of Carnaro) with himself as "Comandante" (Commander). At the end of December, he surrendered the city to the Italian Navy. The proto-fascist constitution and his style of leadership inspired Benito Mussolini, who adopted the balcony address and the Roman salute.

Subhas Chandra Bose

Subhas Chandra Bose was an Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India. He is known for his controversial alliance during World War II with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan in an attempt to free India from British rule. This alliance has left a troubled legacy because of the... read more

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Jean-Marie Le Pen

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Juan Perón

Giuseppe Mazzini

(1805 - 1872), Italian journalist and political activist, a champion of the movement for Italian unity known as the Risorgimento.

Paul de Lagarde

(1827 - 1891), a noted German orientalist. He promoted anti-Semitism and anti-Slavism and called for a German national religion. His ideas were highly influential on Nazi ideologist Alfred Rosenberg. Hitler studied his "Deutsche Schriften" (German Essays) thoroughly in the 1930s.

Giovanni Gentile

Fidel Castro

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, known as Fidel Castro (August 13, 1926 - November 25, 2016), was a Cuban politician and revolutionary. He governed the Republic of Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party... read more

Ideologically a Marxist - Leninist and Cuban nationalist, he also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from 1961 until 2011. Fidel was a major figure in national liberation, which most left-wing nationalists were a part of in the 20th century.

Narendra Modi

Narendra Damodardas Modi (born September 17, 1950) is the 15th and current Prime Minister of India. He has held the office since May 26, 2014. A leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi previously served as the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from Varanasi.... read more

Viktor Orban

Ernst Moritz Arndt

(1769 - 1860), German historian, writer, and poet. One of the main founders of German nationalism and a committed opponent of Napoleonic dominance over Germany. His anti-French statements were used in both World Wars.

Georg Ritter von Schönerer

Muammar al-Gaddafi

Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. Born in 1942 near Sirte, Libya, he rose to power through a military coup on September 1, 1969, which deposed King Idris I. Gaddafi initially served as the Revolutionary... read more

Gaddafi was an Arab Nationalist leader who advocated for the Third International Theory. This is a mix of Arab Nationalism, Islam, and Socialism.

Houston Stewart Chamberlain

Hideki Tojo

Hideki Tōjō was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the 27th Prime Minister of Japan, serving from October 17, 1941, to July 22, 1944. He also led the Imperial Rule Assistance Association during World War II. As Prime Minister, he authorized the attack on Pearl Harbor, which brought the United... read more

Josip Broz Tito

Josip Broz (May 7, 1892, Kumrovec - May 4, 1980, Ljubljana), commonly known as Tito, was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman. He served in various leadership roles until his death in 1980. During World War II, he led the Partisans, widely regarded as the most effective resistance movement... read more

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

Bashar al-Assad

Bashar Hafez al-Assad, born on July 11, 1965, is a Syrian politician who served as the 19th President of Syria from July 17, 2000, until December 8, 2024, when his government was overthrown by Syrian rebels. He was also the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces, General Secretary of the ruling... read more

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary and founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976.... read more

Another brutal historical figure. While he fought the Chinese Nationalists led by Chiang Kai-shek, Mao was also a nationalist, but with communist economics. In other words, the Chinese civil war was a war between two nationalist figures.
Mao, along with other leaders on this list, is proof that while nationalism is popular among right-wingers, it is not rare to find it on the left either. It is just usually in the East.