History Paper V

5th Semester
Unification of Italy
Italy was a land of small states of arbitrary government and of Austrian domination. Till 1870 Italy was
not a nation state as it lacked sovereignty. The Napoleonic regime had infused a new life into Italy and
given an impulse to union. The administrative unification under Napoleon hastened the development of
the Risorgiments or the resurrection of Italian thoughts. The Vienna settlement which met on 1815 after
the fall of Napoleon failed to unify Italy. As a matter of fact Italy was divided into a large number of
states under different rulers.
1. Lombardy and Venetia was ruled by Austria to whom it belonged.
2. The Papal States was ruled by the reactionary pope.
3. The kingdom of Naples and Sicily was restored to the Bourbon rulers of France.
4. The three duchies of Parma, Modena and Tuscany were given to members of the Hapsburg family
of Austria
5. Only Sardinia was added to the kingdom of Piedmont who followed a really independent policy
under Victor Emanuel I.
It was on account of the division of Italy into independent states that Metternich referred to Italy as a
‘mere geographical expression’. The spirit of nationality and freedom was nowhere recognized. Secret
society began to appear all over Italy and the Carbonari Society or the Society of Charcoal Burners was
the most important.. But as long as Metternich was at the helm every effort was made to crush such
aspirations. In March 1821 an insurrection broke out in Piedmont which finally led Victor Emanuel to
abdicate in favour of his brother Prince Charles Albert. But the movement of the Carbonari failed because
the democratic efforts were disunited and not systematic. People were not ready for revolution and unity
was a cry of few leaders and not of the masses
Fortunately the deepest aspirations of the Italian people finally found a voice in the person of
Joseph Mazzini. He joined the Carbonari Society and was arrested in 1830. After his release from prison
he founded the Young Italy in 1831. Its motto was God and the People. He believed that the young men
of Italy could bring about the unification of Italy. He wrote massively on this account and greatly aroused
the enthusiasm of Italians to keep alight the sacred flames of nationalism. The aim of the society was that
Austria must be driven out and that Italians must not rely on foreign help but upon their own strength. He
was known as the Italian thinker and philosopher of the movement. Italy, ultimately, was not made as he
wished it nevertheless he is one of the chief makers of Italy.
The year 1848 saw the outbreak of the February Revolution in France and soon spread to other
parts of Europe including Italy. There was a demand to end Austrian domination in Italy. Charles Albert
the king of Piedmont declared war against Austria but he was defeated in the Battle of Custozza in July
1848. Albert renewed the war but was again defeated at Novara and Custozza. He abdicated in favour of
his son Victor Emanuel II who keenly observed the noble path followed by his father and was fully
determined to achieve the union of Italy. Fortunately he found a great minister in the person of Count
Cavour who became the prime minister of Italy in 1852. He was destined to do more work than others for
the cause of Italy. He first set to make Piedmont a model state and introduced many reforms in the field of
railways, factories, banks, mills agriculture and business enterprise. He realized that Italian unification
was possible only with foreign help.
With this objective in mind he joined the Crimean War on the side of England and France against
Russia. After the victory at the Congress of Paris he was able to meet Napoleon III of France. He
presented the case of Italy against Austria and won their sympathy. Two years later in 1858 an agreement
was reached between Napoleon and Cavour by signing the Pact of Plombiers in July 1858. According to
this agreement France would cooperate in freeing Italy from the Alps to the Adriatic. Piedmont should be
given Lombardy and Venetia. France should get Nice and Savoy. In May 1859 war broke out between
Austria and Piedmont. Napoleon came to the aid of Piedmont. The greatest allied victory was at Salferino
in June 1859 and Magenta June 4th. Lombardy was conquered and Milan was occupied. Venetia was to be
overrun but suddenly Napoleon halted in the full tide of success. He sought an interview with the
Emperor of Austria at Villfranca and there on July 11 th without consulting his ally concluded a famous
armistice. The terms agreed were Lombardy should pass to Piednont. Austria will retain Venetia. Cavour
and other patriotic Sardinians were bitterly disappointed by Napoleon’s betrayal.
During the War suddenly and unexpectedly, so also encouraged by the union of Lombardy and
Sardinia the people of Modena, Tuscany and Parma revolted against the Hapsburg rulers and wanted
union with Piedmont-Sardinia. A plebiscite was held and the people of these states voted unanimously in
favour of annexation. Victor Emanuel accepted the sovereignty and thus on 2 nd April 1860 the first
parliament of the enlarged kingdom met at Turin. The first Italian parliament met at Turin in February
1861. Cavour died in June 6 1861. But Italy is made. All is safe Cavour created Italy for the Italians.
Much had been achieved but much still remained to be achieved before the unification of Italy
could be completed. Venetia the larger part of the Papal States and the kingdom of Naples still stood
outside Italy. This created an opportunity for a man already famous, Guiseppe Garibaldi. A member of
the Young Italy, he had fled to the U.S when a price was put on his head. The events of 1859 once again
brought him into the War against Austria. He was determined to unite Sicily and Naples to the new
kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. He reorganized his army known as the Red Shirts and decided to aid the
Sicilians who had revolted against the Francis II of Naples.
On May 1860 the expedition of the thousand Red Shirts embarked from Genoa and after a
campaign of few weeks Francis II fled to Rome and Garibaldi occupied Sicily in the name of Victor
Emanuel II. Naples was occupied on September 1860. Garibaldi now began to talk of pushing on to
Rome. Meanwhile a Sardinian army invaded the Papal States and Victor Emanuel announced Sardinia’s
appropriation of the whole Papal States except Rome. The kingdom of Sardinia now gave way to the
Kingdom of Italy. During the Austro-Prussian War 1866 Italy joined the side of Prussia after the victory
secured Venetia. Cavour was keen to make Rome the capital of Italy. Rome was occupied in September
1870 after the Franco-Prussian War and a slight resistance from the Papal troops. The unity of Italy was
now consummated and Rome became the capital of the kingdom in 1870 as a result of the efforts of the
Italian patriots, foreign help and the forces of circumstances.