German unification was achieved largely as a result of the territorial and political ambitions of its “iron chancellor,” Otto von Bismarck. German nationalism had long existed as a tenuous and optimistic ideal, but the fragmented nature of the Holy Roman Empire and the German principalities made such a unification very difficult. It was not until the ascension of Prussia as one of the preeminent powers in Europe that German national unification was anything more than a pipe dream. Bismarck governed Prussia effectively and realized the way to engender German nationalism was to create a common enemy—France and Austria. A series of wars with both these countries created support for a unified Germany.

Tsar Alexander II is generally remembered as a liberalizing monarch who effected widespread social, economic, and political upheaval during his reign. He is most often remembered for his 1861 Emancipation of the Serfs Act. Prior to Alexander’s interference, the Russian economy had functioned much like a European medieval feudal system with the serf-peasantry comprable to slaves.

Following his return to Russia from exile in the spring of 1917, Lenin published his famous April Theses, in which he promised the Russian people “Peace! Land! Bread!” During World War One, the Russian people suffered horribly in unprecedented numbers; when Lenin returned to Russia, a large portion of the Russian population was ready for an end to the war with the Central Powers ("Peace!"); an end to the abhorrent policies of land distribution that saw the majority of the population unable to own property ("Land!"); and an end to the widespread famine that had gripped Russia in the previous two years ("Bread!").

The Committee of Public Safety was the de facto government of Paris, and France, at the height of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror. In December of 1793, the Committee conferred formal executive power to itself and Robespierre became something of a totalitarian dictator, summarily executing any and all suspected opposition. Sadly for Robespierre, the abuses of his reign were too much for the exhausted people of Paris to endure, and he was himself deposed and executed the following year, thus ending the Reign of Terror and the Committee’s power over France.

Mahatma Gandhi was the spiritual and, at times, political leader of the Indian nationalist movement working towards independence from the British. Gandhi encouraged the Indian people to practice non-violent cooperation as a peaceful alternative to violent revolution. He also urged the Indian people to work together to achieve self-sufficiency and to realize their Indian identity. According to Gandhi, this could be achieved by refusing to buy British products and instead buying directly from Indians as well as by refusing to attend government schools, as these provided an English type of education. Although Gandhi was devoutly Hindu, he would never have encouraged Indians to protect Hindu interests over Muslim interests; Gandhi was primarily about peace and unity, not about creating discord.

Hatshepsut reigned over Ancient Egypt from 1508-1458 B.C.E. She is both one of the most successful pharaohs of Egyptian history and one of the earliest known female rulers with which history is familiar.

The two primary leaders of the Italian unification movement were Camillo di Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi; however, the two men differed greatly in circumstance and organizational efforts. Whereas Garibaldi was most prominent in Southern Italy and notable for his ability to work “outside of the system,” Cavour was much more significant in Northern Italy and, as Prime Minister of Piedmont, able to work effectively within the system. Cavour was the first Prime Minister of Italy.

Frederick the Great reigned over the Kingdom of Prussia from 1740 to 1786 and, along with Catherine the Great, is most commonly remembered as an “enlightened despot”; Catherine, for her own part, reigned as Tsarina of Russia from 1762 to 1796; William Pitt the Younger served as British Prime Minister at various times throughout the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; and Louis XIV reigned over France for an astonishing seventy-two years from 1643 until his death in 1715. Of the presented answer choices, only King Charles II of England did not rule in the eighteenth century. Charles II reigned over England, Ireland, and Scotland at a time of great upheaval in British history. Depending on who you ask, his reign even began in 1649, following the execution of his father at the climax of the English Civil War, or, more practically, in 1660, following the death of Oliver Cromwell.

The Medici family was an aristocratic family and banking dynasty that rose to prominence in fourteenth-century Florence under the leadership of Cosimo de Medici. The Medici family would go on to produce several popes, two queens of France, and the dynasty that ruled over Grand Duchy of Tuscany for two hundred years.

Zheng He was a Chinese naval commander in the fourteenth century who famously explored much of South East Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa. He was for a long time forgotten in his own country, but rose to prominence in the twentieth century as is now seen as a Columbus-like figure; indeed, many historians believe it is possible that Zheng He may have arrived in the New World a full century before Europeans did, although this is primarily conjecture.