Question

Examine the 'Nation State Building' process in Germany after 1848.
OR
Examine the impact of the 'Great Depression' of 1930s on Vietnam.

Answer 1

The Great Depression of 1930's had a profound impact on Vietnam. The prices of rubber and rice fell, leading to rising rural debts, unemployment and rural uprisings, such as in the provinces of Nghea and Ha Tinh.

Answer 2

Answer:

1. The nationalist sentiments among the middle-class Germans forced them to unite different regions of the German Confederation into a nation-state (governed by an elected parliament) in 1848.

 

2. This initiative of nation-building was however repressed by the combined forces of monarchy and the military, supported by large landowners of Prussia.

 

3. Following these repressive measures, Prussia took on the task of national unification. Otto Von Bismarck was the chief architect of this process, along with the Prussian army and the bureaucracy.

 

4. Three wars fought over seven years - with Denmark, France and Austria ended in Prussian victory and thus completing the unification process. In January 1871, the Prussian King, William I, was thereafter proclaimed the German emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles.

 

5. The new state in Germany further went on to initiate a strong emphasis on modernising currency, banking, legal and judicial systems.

   

                          OR

The Great Depression of the 1930s which shattered most economies of the world had a severe impact on Vietnam too.

(i) The prices of rubber and rice fell, leading to rising rural debts, unemployment and rural uprisings, such as in the provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh.  

(ii) These provinces were amongst the poorest, had an old radical tradition and were called the ‘electrical fuses’ of Vietnam. When the Great Depression started showing its impact, people started demonstrating against the colonial government.  

(iii) The Great Depression and the brutality of the French against the workers provided an opportunity to the nationalist leaders to group together.  

(iv) The French had started educating Vietnamese earlier in France to become low level civil servants in Vietnam, but the reality of the colonies was much different. A variety of movements for change arose.  

(v) In response to falling prices of the great depression the colonial government devalued the currency and increased taxes on the people.