In the 19th century both Italy and Germany were split into many separate ruling states. The German and Italian unification began with the rising tides of nationalism and liberalism. From nationalism a desire for unification was born. Italian Unification was more complex than German unification. Italy had not been a single political unit since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century. Italian Unification is referred to in Italian as the Risorgimento. …showed first 75 words of 328 total…

…showed last 75 words of 328 total…would foster a period of imperialization and would set the stage for the outbreak of World War I. The Unification of Germany took place on January 18, 1871, when Otto von Bismarck managed to unify independent states into one nation, this created the German Empire. Nationalistic movements in Italy and Germany resulted in unified empires. By 1871, Europe was washed away with the rise of two newly united nations - the Kingdom of Italy and the German Empire.