Nation-state instability came from treaties and refugees, not internal tradition

Evidence

MODERN POWER CONDITIONS which make national sovereignty a mockery except for giant states, the rise of imperialism, and the pan-movements undermined the stability of Europe’s nation-state system from the outside. None of these factors, however, had sprung directly from the tradition and the institutions of nation-states themselves. Their internal disintegration began only after the first World War, with the appearance of minorities created by the Peace Treaties and of a constantly growing refugee movement, the consequence of revolutions. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 672

Categorization

• XREF: The distinction between external pressure and internal disintegration is Arendt’s scaffolding for how the nation-state’s citizenship logic fails — relevant to the imagined-community toolkit.