To what extent was economic success (1815- 1971) responsible for the unification of Germany?

History questions are never as straight forward as they seem. So it's really important to fully analyse what the question is asking you to talk about. The question may appear at first to just be asking about economic success in the German states and how they contributed to unification, but the 'to what extent' aspect is implying that there are other factors that could be more important and have contributed. So the question is really asking you 1. Did economic success contribute to German Unification? 2. Was it essential in achieving unification 3. Were there other, equally important or notable factors (the answer is usually yes), which contributed to German Unification? 4. Overall what was mainly RESPONSIBLE.

So next, you have to try and think about themes/ concepts/ events, and try and tie them together into larger points which could be responsible for unification. For example Bismarck/ culture and language etc. Once you have tied together some factors and themes, and have a conclusion on what factor is most responsible, think about how they relate to each other and can be structured in paragraphs to flow and set out your argument.

Next actually answering the questions. A good introduction always helps the examiner, set out what your argument is and how you plan to answer it - short and sweet. Being concise is a really good skill to have, and often writing in short sentences for difficult themes can bring clarity to your answer.

Always remember to try and PEEL: Point: Start a paragraph/ section by explaining what factor you're talking about, why this relates to the question and how it helps your argument. I always use the wording of the question because it immediately flags up 'look I'm answering the question. Evidence: This is where you throw in all your facts which support the point you just made. For example - 'Economic prosperity was essential in achieving German Unification in 1971 because in endeavouring to become economically strong, states joined together to create the Zollverein/German Customs Union, which was led by Prussia and established a free trade block, fostering trade and products across Germany'. It's a chance for you to show off your revision. Explain: So you've given your point now you need to analyse it and really hammer in why this was so important to unification. This is the part where you argue, you persuade and you bring everything you've mentioned in the paragraph together. Link: Sum everything up, and make a small connection to the next paragraph you'll write so the flow will continue.

Conclusion: sum up everything and confirm again (though you should be doing this all the way through) your conclusion. Do not bring in any new information here, it's a conclusion and any attempts to be mysterious/ trying to bring a climax to your essay will be met with confusion.