Social Studies VSQ (2 Marks)

Otto von Bismarck was the Prime Minister of the Prussian king Kaiser William-I. He was the architect of German Unification.
i. He made Prussia to take over the leadership of the movement of national unification. He followed the policy of Blood and Iron.
ii. The land owners in Prussia were in support of the movement. He materialized this nationalist sentiment.
iii. He sought the help of the Prussian army & made many secret alliances to fight wars.
iv. Finally, he defeated Austria, Denmark and France and German Unification was declared with King William-I as the head of the state.

The nationalist feelings were kept alive in Poland in the eighteenth and nineteenth century in the following ways :
i. They used music to keep their unity and identity. Karol Kurpinski, kept up the national struggle by staging his polish operas and music.
ii. The Polish people used dances like polonaise and mazurka making them into nationalist symbols.
iii. The use of Polish came to be seen as a symbol of struggle against Russian dominance. In 1831, there was a Polish armed rebellion against Russian rule but the rebellion was crushed.