How were Italy and Germany unified, and how did unification reshape the balance of power?
Topic 7.3 National Unification and Diplomatic Tensions: the unification of Italy and Germany through Realpolitik and war, and the diplomatic tensions and shift in the balance of power that followed.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.3, on the unification of Italy and Germany: the role of Cavour, Garibaldi, and Bismarck, the use of Realpolitik and war to build nation-states, and how the rise of a unified Germany shifted the European balance of power and bred new diplomatic tensions.
Reviewed by: AI editorial process; not yet individually human-reviewed
Have a quick question? Jump to the Q&A page
Jump to a section
What this topic is asking
Topic 7.3 asks you to explain the unification of Italy and Germany and the diplomatic tensions that followed. The College Board wants you to understand how nationalism was turned into nation-states through Realpolitik and war by leaders like Cavour, Garibaldi, and Bismarck, and how the rise of a unified Germany shifted the balance of power.
The unification of Italy
The unification of Germany
Why unification succeeded when 1848 had failed
Diplomatic tensions and the new balance
Why it mattered
The unification of Italy and Germany is the central political event of Unit 7. It turned the master force of nationalism into concrete, powerful nation-states; it demonstrated the triumph of Realpolitik and power over the popular revolution of 1848; and, above all, it created a unified Germany whose strength reshaped European diplomacy and set the stage for the catastrophe of 1914 (Unit 8). The shift in the balance of power it produced is one of the great hinges of modern history.
Try this
Q1. Name the key leaders of Italian and German unification. [Recall]
- Cue. Italy: Cavour (Piedmont's statesman) and Garibaldi (the nationalist soldier). Germany: Otto von Bismarck, chief minister of Prussia.
Q2. Explain why a unified Germany upset the European balance of power. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Unification created a large, populous, industrial, and militarily strong Germany at the center of Europe, overturning the equilibrium built at Vienna, leaving France resentful after 1871, and breeding the alliances and rivalries that would help cause the First World War.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of College Board exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
AP 2018 (style)3 marksBriefly describe ONE method used to unify Italy or Germany. Briefly explain ONE reason unification succeeded after 1850 when 1848 had failed. Briefly explain ONE effect of unification on the balance of power.Show worked answer →
A Short Answer Question (SAQ), 3 points, one per task.
A. Describe: Realpolitik and a series of carefully chosen wars led by Cavour in Italy or Bismarck in Germany.
B. Why it succeeded: unification came from above, led by a strong state (Piedmont, Prussia) using diplomacy and war, rather than from popular revolt as in 1848.
C. Effect on the balance of power: a large, powerful, industrial Germany at the center of Europe upset the old balance and bred new rivalries.
Markers want a method, a reason for success, and a consequence.
AP 2021 (style)6 marksEvaluate the most important reason the unification of Germany succeeded in the period c. 1850 to c. 1871.Show worked answer →
A Long Essay Question (LEQ), scored on the 6-point causation rubric.
Thesis (1): "German unification succeeded mainly because Bismarck used Realpolitik and Prussian power, diplomacy and a series of wars, to build the nation from above, harnessing nationalism without being ruled by it."
Contextualization (1): the rise of nationalism and the failure of 1848.
Evidence (2): the Zollverein and Prussian strength; the wars against Denmark, Austria, and France; Bismarck's diplomacy.
Analysis (2): rank Bismarck's statecraft while weighing Prussian industrial and military power and popular nationalism, then add complexity by noting the long-term tensions it created.
Related dot points
- Topic 7.2 Nationalism: the idea of the nation, its romantic and liberal roots, and how it became the dominant political force of the 19th century, uniting some peoples and dividing others.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.2, on 19th-century nationalism: the idea that peoples sharing a language, culture, and history should form their own nation-state, its romantic and liberal roots, and how it both unified peoples (Italy, Germany) and threatened the multinational empires.
- Topic 7.1 Contextualizing 19th-Century Perspectives and Political Developments: the legacy of revolution, nationalism, and industrialization that shaped the politics, ideas, and imperial expansion of the later 19th century.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.1, setting the scene for Unit 7: how the legacies of the French Revolution, the rise of nationalism, and industrialization combined to shape the nation-building, imperialism, and new ideas (from realism to Social Darwinism) of the later 19th century.
- Topic 7.6 New Imperialism: Motivations and Methods: the economic, political, and ideological motives for the late 19th-century scramble for empire, and the technologies and methods that made rapid conquest possible.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 7.6, on the New Imperialism: the economic, political, nationalist, and ideological motives that drove the late 19th-century scramble for Africa and Asia, and the technologies and methods (steamships, the Maxim gun, quinine, the Berlin Conference) that made rapid European conquest possible.
- Topic 6.6 Reactions and Revolutions: the wave of liberal and national revolutions that swept Europe, above all in 1848, their demands, and the reasons most of them failed.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 6.6, on the revolutions of the early 19th century and especially 1848: the liberal and national demands that drove them, why they erupted almost everywhere at once, and why most of them collapsed, with lasting effects despite their failure.
- Topic 3.6 Balance of Power: the decline of religion as a cause of war, the rise of balance-of-power diplomacy, and the great-power conflicts of the late 17th and 18th centuries.
A focused answer to AP European History Topic 3.6, covering the post-Westphalia decline of religious warfare, the rise of the balance of power as the organizing principle of European diplomacy, the wars of Louis XIV, and the emergence of the great powers and shifting alliances of the 18th century.
Sources & how we know this
- AP European History Course and Exam Description — College Board (2020)