Chapter 25: The Age of Nationalism Reading Questions
Napoleon III in France
1. Why did the voters of France elect Louis Napoleon president in 1848? What were some of the benefits
Napoleon bestowed on his subjects? How did he manage to gain the position of emperor?
2. How and why did Napoleon III liberalize his rule?
Nation Building in Italy and Germany
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Replaced by the maps and timelines on the following pages.
Nation Building in the United States
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Don’t care. Skip it.
The Modernization of Russia and the Ottoman Empire
10. What was the status of the Russian economy in the early nineteenth century? Why was the Crimean
War a turning point in Russian history? How beneficial were the “Great Reforms” in improving the
overall economy and the basic rights of the people?
11. What were the causes of the Revolution of 1905? How did the tsar regain control in the midst of so
much revolutionary activity? Did the revolution produce real change? Why or why not?
12. How and why did the Ottoman Turks attempt major reforms in this period? How effective were the
reforms?
The Responsive National State, 1871-1914
13. How did emerging mass politics and intensifying national loyalty impact the direction of change in
Europe in this period?
14. Where did power reside in the Germany of 1871? What was Bismarck’s relationship (after 1871) with
the Catholic Church, the liberals, and the socialists? How did power change after 1890?
15. Discuss the Paris Commune, including its impact on France. How and why did the French government
change after 1871? What reforms followed?
16. What were the major political developments and issues in Britain and Ireland in the late nineteenth
century?
17. What were the major political developments in the Austrian Empire in the late nineteenth century? Why
did these changes not produce greater stability within the empire?
18. When and in what ways did European Jews begin to experience civil equality- and why and what forms
did anti-Jewish prejudice (anti-Semitism) take place? What was the Jewish response?
Marxism and the Socialist Movement
19. How does one account for the rapid growth of socialist parties in Europe in the last quarter of the
nineteenth century?
20. What was the purpose of the Socialist International? What were the general arguments of the
revisionist socialists?
Chapter 25: The Age of Nationalism Reading Questions
Italian Unification Timeline (As you read pages 818-821, answer the following questions on the back of the map.)
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Italy to 1850 (Describe the political situation in general, describe the three potential scenarios for a
unified Italy)
Impacts of 1848 (How did the revolutions of 1848 affect the above options?)
Role of Count Cavour to 1858 (Who was he? Where? How did he shape Sardinia?)
Austro-Sardinian War (Why did Cavour start it? What was the outcome?)
Cavour in 1860 (Who did Sardinia unite with? How did Cavour buy French support?)
Garibaldi and the Red Shirts in 1860 (Who were they? Where did they conquer? )
1860 Plebiscite (Who voted? What did they decide?)
1866 Expansion (What was added?)
1870 Expansion (What was added?)
Italy after 1870 (Describe the political setup and social divides.)
Italian Unification Map
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Shade the map in different colors for each of the following events (Make sure to add a key)
o Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in 1859
o Land gained in the Austro-Sardinian War
o Lands ceded (given) to France
o Lands unified by Garibaldi and ceded to Sardinia
o Lands added in 1866
o Lands added in 1870
Chapter 25: The Age of Nationalism Reading Questions
Chapter 25: The Age of Nationalism Reading Questions
German Unification Timeline (As you read pages 821-825, answer the following questions on the back of the
map. Add the approximate year where appropriate.)
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Austria and Prussia after 1848 (What was the goal of each? Who had been blocked from uniting the
German states?)
Effect of the Zollverein (How did it aid in unification? How did it isolate Austria?)
Wilhelm I (William I) made king (What was his major reform and its effect?)
Prussian military budget/ Parliament (How were the two related? What was parliament’s goal?)
Bismarck made chancellor (What was he chosen to do? Describe his personality?)
Danish-Prussian War (What were they fighting over? Who aided Prussia? What was the outcome?)
Austro-Prussian War (What were the various outcomes of the war? How did it change the political
structure of the German States?)
Federal Constitution (What did it create? How was the political system set up? How did it contribute to
the creation of a unified Germany?)
Franco-Prussian War begins (How did the war begin? Who engineered it? Why?)
Napoleon III Captured (What was the French response to the capture of Napoleon?)
Paris surrenders/ conditions (What happened in Paris?)
Wilhelm I proclaimed emperor (What was he the emperor of?)
What did France give to Germany?
German Unification Map
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Shade the map in different colors for each of the following events (Make sure to add a key)
o Original lands of Prussia
o Lands gained from Austro-Prussian War
o Lands that joined North German Confederation
o Lands that joined Prussia during Franco-Prussian War
o Lands ceded by France to Germany after Franco-Prussian War
Chapter 25: The Age of Nationalism Reading Questions