Italian Unification

Historical background
 1815 – Congress of Vienna restored independent governments, many ruled by foreign
powers
 1820-31 – unsuccessful revolutions led by Carbonari: – secret conspiratorial organization –
patriots and liberals focused on unified Italy
 1848-9 – revolutions in the Italian states; goals: – liberal governments – elimination of
Austrian control – the unification of Italy

First Phase First Independence War 1848-49

 January 1848
 a revolution in Sicily against Bourbons
 The independent state lasted 16 months
 the liberal democratic constitution was the proposal of an Italian confederation of
states
 March 1848
 Metternich falls from power in Austria
 the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia declares independence
 King Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia declares war on Austria
 Troops from all over Italy come to help
 Till the summer of 1849
 the Roman Republic is founded and soon defeated by French soldiers
o Pope Pius IX turns from a liberal view to a conservative one and moves to
the Vatican
 Piedmont-Sardinia is defeated by Austria twice (battles of Custoza and Novara)
o King Charles Albert resigns in favor of his son Victor Emanuel II
o constitution survives even after the Italian unification
 In Sicily, the Bourbon army takes back control by force
 In Lombardy-Venetia Austrian rule is restored
 Italian revolutions of 1848-9 were not successful

Key people:
Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-72)
 the Beating Heart of Italy
 politician, journalist, and activist
 founder of Young Italy – an organization focused on the creation of a united Italian republic
by popular uprising – failed

Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-82)

  general and politician
 commander of military campaigns that led to the formation of a unified Italy
 leader of the Red Shirts volunteers

Camillo Cavour (1810-61)

 liberal politician of aristocrat origin
 leading figure in the Italian unification
 great diplomat
 Prime Minister of the Kingdom of PiedmontSardinia
 1 st Prime Minister of Italy

Victor Emmanuel II (1820-78)

 King of Piedmont-Sardinia
 1 st King of Italy
 Father of the Homeland (Padre della Patria)
 [Viva VERDI = Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia – Viva Victor Emmanuel King of Italy]

Second Independence War (1859)

 Camillo Cavour became Prime Minister of PiedmontSardinia in 1852
 He supported UK and France in Crimean War (1853- 56) only to gain their support during the
peace conference but without success
 In 1858 Cavour signed a secret agreement with Napoleon III of France about provoking the
war with Austria to gain Lombardy and Venetia
 The deal: Nice and Savoy would be rewarded to France
 In 1859, after provoking Austria, Piedmont-Sardinia and France defeated Austrians in the
battles of Magenta and Solferino (Henry Dunant founded the Red Cross)
 Results (1860):
 Piedmont-Sardinia annexed Lombardy, Parma, Modena, and Tuscany
 France was given Savoy and Nice
 Austria retains Venetia
 In the spring of 1860 volunteers led by Giuseppe Garibaldi landed in Sicily
 Till March 1861 Expedition of the Thousand conquered the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
 On 17 March 1861, the first Italian Parliament in Turin proclaimed Victor Emmanuel II King
of Italy
 Rome was declared the Capital of Italy, even though it was not in the new Kingdom

Third Independence War (1866)

 The Kingdom of Italy seized the opportunity to capture Venetia from Austria during the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866
 In spite of Italy's defeat at Custoza, Prussia's success obliged Austria to cede Venetia in
October 1866
Rome (1870)
 After the Franco-Prussian War began in 1870, Napoleon III recalled his garrison from Rome
 Pope Pius IX was not willing to surrender
 On 20 September 1870 Italian army entered Rome
 Pope declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican
 Rome became the capital in July 1871 – the official date of the end of Risorgimento