Answer these questions completely in essay format:

What separates the modernist theory of nationalism from the other theories? Ernest Gellner mentions "... the fascinating relationship between the Reformation and nationalism"? Why does the Protestant Reformation act as a precursor to the rise of nationalism? What events led to the emergence of the nation at the point in time it did according to Ernest Gellner? Why was the formation of a nation necessary? How and why did the masses start to see themselves as part of the nation (i.e., origins of national consciousness)?