National Unification and Diplomatic Tensions Practice Test

Secondary-source excerpt (c. 90 words): A political historian notes that “Italy’s road to unity exposed a persistent conflict between liberal nationalism and papal sovereignty. Even when the Kingdom of Italy expanded through plebiscites and military campaigns, the question of Rome remained a symbolic and diplomatic fault line. The papacy’s refusal to recognize the new state helped create a domestic ‘Roman Question’ and influenced Italy’s relations with Catholic powers until the late nineteenth century.”

Which event most directly resolved the territorial dimension of the ‘Roman Question’ described in the excerpt?

Secondary-source excerpt (c. 100 words): A historian argues that “the diplomatic crisis of 1870 demonstrated how fragile European peace had become after the reshaping of central Europe. French leaders sought compensation for Prussia’s growing power, while Prussian leaders aimed to secure southern German support by framing France as the principal threat. The resulting war completed German unification and transformed European diplomacy by weakening France and proclaiming a new empire in a setting designed to humiliate the defeated.”

Which consequence most directly completed German unification as referenced in the excerpt?