The development of modern nations changed at the turn of the 20th Century. In the age of the growing perturbation related to the European integration project or the failure of the so called „post-politics” (which proclaims the end of the significance of a nation as an important subject of social life), the analysis of the origins of the intellectual concept of a „nation” assumes significance. Scholarly reflections contained in this article center around the following issues: the conceptual legacy of antiquity and the Middle Ages, elements of modern achievements (individualism and social contract theory), the contribution of ideas developed during revolutionary periods, and the comprehension of „nation” in the nineteenth century. Reflection on these issues delineates the basic structure of the article, which is preceded by an introduction and ends with a summary containing the synthetic conclusions derived from this analysis.
