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We give an explicit and character-free construction of a complete set of orthogonal primitive idempotents of a rational group algebra of a finite nilpotent group and a full description of the Wedderburn decomposition of such algebras. An immediate consequence is a well-known result of Roquette on the Schur indices of the simple components of group algebras of finite nilpotent groups. As an application, we obtain that the unit group of the integral group ring $\Z G$ of a finite nilpotent group $G$ has a subgroup of finite index that is generated by three nilpotent groups for which we have an explicit description of their generators. Another application is a new construction of free subgroups in the unit group. In all the constructions dealt with, pairs of subgroups $(H,K)$, called strong Shoda pairs, and explicit constructed central elements $e(G,H,K)$ play a crucial role. For arbitrary finite groups we prove that the primitive central idempotents of the rational group algebras are rational linear combinations of such $e(G,H,K)$, with $(H,K)$ strong Shoda pairs in subgroups of $G$.