Question -
Answer -
Focus countries – Germany and Italy.
Germany
1. Nationalist sentiments were often mobilised by conservatives for promoting state power and achieving political domination over Europe. This can be observed in the process by which Germany and Italy came to be unified as nation-states.
2. Middle-class Germans tried to unite the different regions of German Confederation, but their plans were not materialised due to actions of large landowners called the ‘Junkers of Prussia’. Three wars over seven years with Austria, Denmark, and France ended in a Prussian victory. In Jan 1871, the Prussian King William I was proclaimed German emperor.
3. Importance was given to modernising the currency, banking, legal and judicial systems in Germany.
Italy
1. During the 1830s, Mazzini sought to unify Italy. He had formed a secret society called ‘Young Italy’, and It had failed. Hence, the responsibility fell on Sardinia-Piedmont under its ruler King Victor Emmanuel II, to unify Italian states through war.
2. Austrian forces were defeated in 1859. Apart from Sardinia-Piedmont, a large number of volunteers had joined the cause under the leadership of Giuseppe Garibaldi. In 1860, they marched to South Italy and managed to defeat Spanish rulers. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed as the king of Italy.