To forge a national identity in the modern age, a group of people required a common history, with a common mythology and treasure trove of memories, culture, and literature; a traditional territory; and a national language. Some nations acquired power over a territory and established a "nation-state"; smaller nations that lacked political sovereignty, especially within the Russian and Austro-Hungarian Empires, defined themselves by their culture and language. To that end, immense efforts were invested in reviving old, "dead" languages, such as Irish, Welsh, and Breton, but none of them became the base language of a nation. With one exaeption: Hebrew.
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