Question

western civilization- explain in 50 to 75 words the most important reason why Germany OR Italy became a unified nation in the 1860s (Do not write about both).

Answer 1

Germany was previously divided into many different german cities and states under the Holy Roman Empire in which the empire was not centralized under a government and civil wars between the emperor and the dukes destroyed any hope of uniting it into a nation. When Napoleon conquered the empire, Franz II of habsburg which was the emperor at that time had to abolish it to prevent Napoleon from claiming his inherited crownlands and he created his new austrian empire instead. German nationalism began to take form as they were influenced by the french revolution and to defend against french aggression in their lands.

After Napoleon's defeat, during the Vienna congress a new German confederation was established with former electorates becoming kingdoms and annexing several free cities. Both Prussia and Austria had lands inside and outside the German union, causing tensions between them as the Austrian emperor was the ruler, but the Prussian king was increasingly questioning his position. The Germans formed a parliament in Frankfurt during the March Revolution of 1848 but it was short lived as no other German states were willing to support it.

With its newly annexed land around Westphalia, Prussia started to industrialize as it was rich in resources. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck launched a tariff-free policy aimed at reducing tariffs and promoting free trade in the union and heavily expanded Prussian population, including its military. Because Austria had settled in the lands of Hungary, Croatia, Galicia, etc., many non-Germans, Prussia took this opportunity to fight against Austria and prevailed to leave Austria alone. France sought a solution for its neutrality under Napoleon III, and Bismarck purposely changed the material of the telegram Ems Dispatch, which angered France. France declared war on Prussia, and southern German states such as Bavaria joined the war to stop French invasion beyond the Rhine. France lost and the Prussian King from Berlin proclaimed a new German empire