Social Sciences and History / Unit 16 SSH 1508 worked example, 60 to 90 seconds
Sample Question Eight: Who Unified a Nation
The idea
The stem asks which of the following accomplished the national unification of his or her country. The options: Catherine the Great; Napoleon I; Otto von Bismarck; Giuseppe Mazzini; Lech Walesa. The key is C. Entry 0329 gives the anchor's account: Bismarck, chancellor to the Prussian king, unified Germany through war, provoking Austria then France, with the German Empire proclaimed in eighteen seventy-one. The distractors: Catherine expanded an already unified Russia, taught at 0320; Napoleon conquered Europe and spread nationalism, taught at 0323, but unified no divided nation; Mazzini was Italy's romantic nationalist whose Young Italy inspired but did not unify, the work falling to Cavour and Garibaldi; Walesa led Poland's Solidarity against a state already one nation, taught at 0338.
In practice
The test is a divided people made one state by the person named. Only Germany and Bismarck fit.
Where people slip
The trap is Mazzini, an Italian unifier in aspiration but not in accomplishment. The second trap is Brooks's "inventor of Realpolitik", a characterization, attributed.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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