Day: August 18, 2024

Q. “Napoleon kindled the national sentiment, but German unity was achieved by Bismarck.” Discuss. [UPSC- 1981, 2002] Ans: Before the nineteenth century, “Germany” consisted of numerous politically fragmented states within the Holy Roman Empire. The Napoleonic era transformed this situation dramatically. French conquest destroyed many old political structures, introduced administrative reforms and, paradoxically, stimulated resistance […]

Q. “After World War II, the strategy of the West towards Soviet bloc crystallized as a ‘policy of containment’.” Comment. [UPSC- 2008] Ans: The wartime alliance between the Western powers and the Soviet Union rapidly deteriorated after 1945 as disagreements emerged over Eastern Europe, Germany and the post-war political order. Against this background, the United […]

Q. Would you argue that the Non-Aligned Movement played a crucial role in promoting a climate of peace? [UPSC- 2011, UPPSC- 2017] Ans: The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) emerged formally at the Belgrade Summit of 1961, against the background of Cold War bipolarity, decolonisation and the nuclear arms race. Led initially by figures such as Jawaharlal […]

Q. “Napoleon was the child of the Revolution, but in many ways he reversed the aims and principles of the movement from which he sprang.” Comment. [UPSC- 1986, 1992, 2004] Ans: Napoleon Bonaparte rose to power from the political and social transformation created by the French Revolution of 1789. Without the destruction of aristocratic privilege […]

Q. How far is it correct to say that every feature of the American Constitution was ultimately of English Origin? [UPSC- 2010] Ans: The American Constitution of 1787 emerged from a society deeply shaped by English political institutions, common law and colonial experience. Concepts such as representative government, rule of law, jury trial, legislative control […]