The document discusses Italian and German unification in the 19th century driven by nationalism. It outlines the barriers that previously divided Italy and Germany, as well as the key figures involved in unification. Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini worked to inspire nationalism in Italy. Otto von Bismarck used "blood and iron" tactics to defeat opponents and skillfully manipulate geopolitics to unite Germany's states under Prussian leadership by 1871. Both newly unified countries still faced internal problems adjusting to nationhood.