History Optional · Paper II · World History
Nation-State System Notes · PYQs · Solved Answers
Free notes, every previous year question and the solved answers for Nation-State System (Paper II, World History), arranged so you can read a topic and immediately see how UPSC has asked it. Syllabus: Rise of nationalism, state-building in Germany and Italy, Eastern Question, disintegration of empires.
33
Solved PYQs
1985–2025
Years covered
33
Questions listed
10
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Free notes Previous year questions Solved answers All History Optional units
Paper II · Unit 19
Nation-State System notes
Topic-wise notes for this unit in syllabus order. Read a topic, then open its previous year questions below.
Free notes
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19th Century European revolutions
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Comparison between Italian Unification and German Unification
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Eastern Question: Crimean War
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Eastern Question: From Treaty of Paris to Treaty of Berlin
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Eastern Question: Rise and it’s Development
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Emergence of Nation State System
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Nationalism: State-building in Germany
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Nationalism: State-building in Italy
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Rise of Nationalism in 19th Century (Nation State)
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Unification of Italy
Free practice
Previous year questions: Nation-State System
Every question UPSC has asked from this unit, year-wise, with a link to its solved answer.
Topic-wise question list
Year-wise question papers
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UPSC History Optional Question Paper 2026
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UPSC History Optional Question Paper 2025
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History Optional Question Paper: 2024
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History Optional Question Paper: 2023
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History Optional Question Paper: 2012
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History Optional Question Paper: 2011
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History Optional Question Paper: 2013
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History Optional Question Paper: 2014
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History Optional Question Paper: 2015
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History Optional Question Paper: 2016
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History Optional Question Paper: 2017
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History Optional Question Paper: 2018
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History Optional Question Paper: 2019
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History Optional Question Paper: 2021
History PYQ Master Pack
Solved PYQ answers: Nation-State System
Topic-wise model answers, newest exam year first. Members open the full answer; everyone else sees the question and can join the pack.
PYQ Solutions
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“Nationalism in the 19th century was a driving force for both integration and disintegration.” Illustrate with examples from Europe and other parts of the world.
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The unification of Germany was as much a product of coal and iron as it was of blood and iron.
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Discuss the different stages of the unification of Italy from 1848 to the occupation of Rome in 1870.
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The rise of nationalism across nations shattered the chains which held together the empires of modem Europe. Discuss.
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“From Bismarck’s ‘Blood and Iron’ speech and his forceful actions to achieve German unification, Bismarck came to be known as the Iron Chancellor.” Critically examine.
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Do you subscribe to the view that the Greek War of Independence was mired in contrasts of the best and the worst episodes? How did it affect the Concert of Europe.
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How was Italy transformed from a ‘geographical expression’ to a nation-state?
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Examine the role of Bismarck in state building in Germany.
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Critically examine: At the end of the Battle of Sedan (1870), “Europe lost a mistress and gained a master.”
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What determinant factors, along with diplomatic, shaped the process of German Unification?
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“The Berlin Congress (1878) failed to unlock the Eastern Question. Though there was no major war in Europe for nearly three decades after the Treaty of Berlin, it contained the seeds of many future wars.” Critically evaluate.
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Critically examine: “Mazzini’s conception of Italian nationality was not exclusive and his dominant ideal was the recreation of moral unity of mankind.”
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“The language of narrow nationalism held at Frankfurt destroyed the German Revolution; as the fatal idea of aggrandisement of the House of Savoy destroyed the Italian Revolution.” Discuss.
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Was German unification achieved more by ‘coal and iron’ than by ‘blood and iron’?
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“The Eastern Question has always been an international question.” Elucidate.
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‘They have stopped me from making Italy by diplomacy from the North, I will make it by revolution from the South.’
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‘To Bismarck the conclusion of the Treaty of May 20, 1882, was the culmination of this system.’ Comment.
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‘Bismarck united Germany not by majority of votes and speeches but by a policy of “blood and iron”. In the light of this statement assess the contribution of Bismarck to the unification of Germany.
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“Napoleon kindled the national sentiment, but German unity was achieved by Bismarck.” Discuss.
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“Bismarck created a new Germany with the policy of ‘blood and iron’.” Comment.
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“The Crimean War was the most useless war ever waged.” Comment.
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The political unification of Germany was accomplished solely by Bismarck. Comment.
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Lord Beaconsfield after his return from the Congress of Berlin (1878) boasted: “I have brought peace with honour” Comment.
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Isolation of France constituted the keystone of Bismarck’s foreign policy. Elucidate.
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“The unification of Italy completed the destruction of the European order.” Comment.
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The unification of Italy and that of Germany constituted a contrast in respect of the ways they were affected and the impact they left on later international politics. Elucidate.
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At the end of the battle of Sedan (1870), “Europe lost a mistress and gained a master.” Comment.
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What were the obstacles to Italian unification till 1852? How and with what methods was the unification of Italy achieved?
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‘Nominally the new Turkey was republican and democratic.’ Comment.
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‘The comparion between Cavour’s and Bismark’s achievements reveals ‘striking points of resemblance and no less striking points of dissimilarity.’ Comment in about 200 words.
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‘The Eastern Question has always been an international question’. Comment.
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‘The Unification of Germany was the one thing Bismarck was determined to prevent.’ Comment in about 200 words.
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“They have stopped me from making Italy by diplomacy from the North, I will make it by revolution from the South.”
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