How did nationalism reshape nineteenth-century Europe, and how were Italy and Germany unified?
Apply social science skills to understand nineteenth-century nationalism and the unification of Italy and Germany: the Congress of Vienna and the spread of nationalism, the unification of Italy under leaders such as Cavour and Garibaldi, and the unification of Germany under Bismarck through realpolitik and war (WHII.11).
A standards-level answer on nineteenth-century nationalism for the Virginia World History SOL: the Congress of Vienna, the rise of nationalism, and the unification of Italy (Cavour, Garibaldi) and Germany (Bismarck) through realpolitik and war, with worked exam questions.
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What this topic is asking
Standard WHII.11 covers nineteenth-century nationalism and the unification of Italy and Germany. After the French Revolution and Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna tried to restore the old order, but nationalism, the powerful idea that people who share a language, culture, and history should form their own nation, kept growing. The standard asks you to define nationalism, explain how it reshaped Europe, and describe how Italy and Germany, long divided into many states, were each unified into a single nation in the 1860s and 1870s. Nationalism is one of the most important forces of the modern era, and it sets up the tensions that lead to World War I.
The Congress of Vienna and the rise of nationalism
What nationalism is
The unification of Italy
The unification of Germany
Try this
Q1. Define nationalism and give one way it changed nineteenth-century Europe. [Short explanation]
- Cue. Nationalism is devotion and loyalty to one's nation based on shared language, culture, or history; it unified divided peoples into new nation-states (Italy and Germany) and could also break apart multi-ethnic empires.
Q2. Name the leader who unified Germany and the methods he used. [Recall]
- Cue. Otto von Bismarck of Prussia, who used realpolitik (practical, ruthless statecraft) and a series of wars to unite the German states into the German Empire in 1871.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of VDOE exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
VA SOL WHII (MC)1 marksNationalism is best defined as (A) the belief that government power comes from God; (B) a strong devotion and loyalty to one's nation, often based on shared language, culture, or history; (C) an economic system of free trade; (D) the rejection of all government.Show worked answer →
The correct answer is (B). Nationalism is a strong sense of pride, loyalty, and devotion to one's nation, usually based on a shared language, culture, history, or territory. In the nineteenth century it inspired peoples to seek their own unified nation-states.
Why the others are wrong: (A) is the divine right of kings; (C) describes free-trade economics; (D) describes anarchism. Markers reward identifying nationalism as devotion to one's nation based on shared identity.
VA SOL WHII (MC)1 marksThe unification of Germany in 1871 was achieved largely through the leadership of (A) Simon Bolivar; (B) Otto von Bismarck, who used realpolitik and a series of wars; (C) Napoleon Bonaparte; (D) Martin Luther.Show worked answer →
The correct answer is (B). Otto von Bismarck, the chancellor of Prussia, unified the German states into the German Empire in 1871 through a policy of realpolitik ("politics of reality", practical and ruthless statecraft) and a series of wars that rallied the German states around Prussia.
Why the others are wrong: (A) Bolivar led Latin American independence; (C) Napoleon's empire came earlier; (D) Luther led the Reformation. Markers reward identifying Bismarck, realpolitik, and unification by war.
Related dot points
- Apply social science skills to understand the American and French Revolutions: how Enlightenment ideas shaped them, the causes and key documents of the American Revolution, the causes and course of the French Revolution including the Declaration of the Rights of Man, the Reign of Terror, and Napoleon (WHII.6 and WHII.8).
A standards-level answer on the American and French Revolutions for the Virginia World History SOL: how Enlightenment ideas shaped them, the causes and documents of the American Revolution, and the causes, course, and aftermath of the French Revolution including Napoleon, with worked exam questions.
- Apply social science skills to understand the Latin American independence movements: the rigid colonial class structure and the resentment of creoles, the influence of the American, French, and Haitian revolutions and Enlightenment ideas, the weakening of Spain under Napoleon, and the leadership of figures such as Simon Bolivar and Jose de San Martin (WHII.11).
A standards-level answer on the Latin American independence movements for the Virginia World History SOL: the colonial class structure, the influence of the Atlantic revolutions and Enlightenment ideas, the weakening of Spain, and leaders such as Bolivar and San Martin, with worked exam questions.
- Apply social science skills to understand the Industrial Revolution: its origins in Britain, the new technologies and the factory system, the social and economic effects including urbanization, child labor, and the rise of the middle class, and the responses including labor unions and the ideas of capitalism and socialism (WHII.9 and WHII.10).
A standards-level answer on the Industrial Revolution for the Virginia World History SOL: its origins in Britain, the factory system and new technology, the social and economic effects such as urbanization and child labor, and the responses including labor unions, capitalism, and socialism, with worked exam questions.
- Apply social science skills to understand the impact of European imperialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the economic, political, and ideological motives, the domination of Africa and Asia (the Scramble for Africa, British India, French Indochina), and the responses and resistance of colonized peoples (WHII.12).
A standards-level answer on the age of imperialism for the Virginia World History SOL: the economic, political, and ideological motives, the European domination of Africa and Asia, and the responses and resistance of colonized peoples, with worked exam questions.
- Apply social science skills to understand the causes and effects of World War I: the long-term causes of militarism, alliances, imperialism, and nationalism (MAIN) and the immediate cause of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the new technology of total war, and the consequences including the collapse of empires, the Treaty of Versailles, and the League of Nations (WHII.13).
A standards-level answer on World War I for the Virginia World History SOL: the long-term causes (militarism, alliances, imperialism, nationalism) and the immediate cause, the new technology of total war, and the consequences including the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations, with worked exam questions.