Unique quadratic subfield of $\mathbb{Q}(\zeta_p)$ is $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{p})$ if $p \equiv 1$ $(4)$, and $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-p})$ if $p \equiv 3$ $(4)$

My favorite way to prove this is to explicitly write down the quadratic Gauss sum: $$g_p = \sum_{a \in \mathbb F_p} \left( \frac{a}{p} \right) \zeta_p^{a}$$ Then you can show $g_p^2 = (-1)^{\frac{p-1}{2}} p$ by direct manipulation. This gives the result very explicitly!


See this exercise sheet for a more or less guided solution. Re uniqueness: what is the Galois group of the cyclotomic field? What does the Galois correspondence tell you?