This chapter examines primordialized nationalism as a key intervening variable in the autocratization of Hungary and Macedonia. Rooted in pervasive national disillusionment, defined in Chapter 4 as an independent variable, it created fertile ground for activation by right-wing elites. Primordialized nationalism is defined here as the strategic recasting of identity as fixed, organic, and under existential threat, transforming long-standing historical grievances into resources of political legitimation. The chapter traces how elites in Hungary after the 2006 political crisis and in Macedonia following the 2004 decentralization referendum and the 2008 Greek veto of NATO membership drew on these narratives to mobilize support, polarize society, and weaken democratic checks and balances. In this process, nationalist discourse moralized political life, portraying regime dominance as national defense and, at times, casting opposition as betrayal. These framings supplied the legitimating environment in which the central mechanism of competing informal institutions could advance, combining formal redesign with informal domination. In this way, the chapter shows how primordialized nationalism bridged pervasive disillusionment and critical junctures with elite strategies, providing the discursive ground upon which autocratization was able to proceed.