Analyse the aims, motives and policies of Cavour between 1852 and 1861

In a letter to an Italian friend, Napoleon wrote, “I do not wish to see Italy united. I want only independence. Unity would bring danger to me…” (Doc 11). Despite all of the bitter resentment, Cavour was pleasantly surprised when the northern and central states of Italy called for a fusion, and he returned to power in 1860 (McKay et al

They both based their tactics of influence on their knowledge of the people they tried to convince. Lady Macbeth, cognizant of Macbeth’s concern for his masculinity and appearance in front of others, she emasculates him with her words, “What beast was’t then,/ That made you break this enterprise to me?/ When you durst do it, then you were a man;/ And to be more than what you were, you would/ Be so much more the man” (Shakespeare 1.7. 48-52) Lady Macbeth takes advantage of her knowledge of Macbeth to convince him to kill Duncan like she wants him to, demonstrating the power she has over his decision making and her success in making him think the same way she does. Machiavelli also utilized his knowledge of those he wanted to persuade to his benefit, as he “...observed and tried to influence the shifting alliances between the Italian city-states” (“Historiography”). He utilized the information he had about the Italian city-states to manipulate them into taking action the way he wanted them to, similarly to Lady Macbeth’s influence on Macbeth’s decision to kill Duncan by pandering him with what she knew about him. The philosopher has been acknowledged by a modest amount of scholars for his impact on the Florentine militia of 1506. “The fact that Machiavelli was the real instigator and the driving force behind the project inaugurated in 1506 seems to be a matter beyond doubt. His central role in the venture is corroborated by a number of independent sources [from] Francesco Guicciardini… Francesco Soderini, Filippo Casavecchia, Agostino Vespucci, and Leonardo Bartolini. Today, most scholars also agree that Machiavelli was the real promoter of the operation” (Hornqvist); without a doubt, Machiavelli was highly successful in persuading people into acting the way he wanted them to. Eventually, Lady Macbeth also succeeds in convincing Macbeth to

Therefore, they strategically persuaded European powers to fight against Austria…Italy provoked Austria into war Cavour then used Garibaldi’s popular appeal to his benefit. “When Garibaldi and Emmanuel rode through Naples to cheering crowds, they symbolically sealed the union of north and south, of monarch and people.” (McKay, 837) Italy was now unified.

Whoever ignores this love of the individual regions of Italy will always build on sand.” (DOC 2) People believed the diverse social classes and power would not make for a unified country. Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, a politician from Piedmont-Sardinia, said, “Active power resides almost exclusively in the middle class and part of the upper class, both of which have ultraconservative interests to defend.” (DOC 4) Daniele Manin, a politician from Venice, wrote, “Peoples who have different origins and customs should not be forced together, because otherwise civil war will follow the war of independence.” (DOC 6) People against unification felt that bringing the diverse states together would cause more problems and do more harm than good. There were obvious pros and cons to the unification if Italy, but some civilians were on the fence.

* Lorenzo’s brother had been assassinated by a rival family, the Pazzi, who had long plotted with the pope against the Medicis which made Lorenzo a cautious ruler

After being separated since the fall of the Roman Empire and acting as only “a geographic expression,” Italy finally underwent the process of unification and succeeded in 1870. For hundreds of years, Italy was ruled under city-states, therefore the peninsula was unable to form a unified nation. However, through several political leaders, such as Giuseppe Mazzini and Camillo Cavour, helped manifest the Italian unification process to success in the 19th century. As Italy struggled for unity and national identity in the period circa 1830-1870, contrasting viewpoints emerged on what type of government should rule over the peninsula, with options such as a republic, papacy, or not unifying at all.

“Under Prussian leadership, all the German states north of the Main River now formed the North German Confederation” (698). Bismarck had finally achieved his goal by unifying Germany, but he had the southern German states to get. In the Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck created another war by creating friction between Prussia and France through a telegram. During the war, North German Confederation supported France, while the southern German states helped Prussia. The war eventually led to the defeat of France and at the Battle of Sedan, they were able to capture Napoleon III.

Giolitti’s government was extremely unsuccessful in promoting political stability in Italy. It seemed that the Italian liberal state suffered from political divisions all over the country; this was something no other Liberal western power had experience in the years 1903 to 1914. However under the ‘political divisions’, Giolitti was trying to reform and modernise Italy during his periods in power as Prime Minister. Giolitti and his government attempted to broaden support for Liberalism by appealing to traditionally hostile groups such as the Catholics and the working-class, created a grand trasformismo (a key concept used to

War is inevitable, as it is simply the manifestation of the strength and vigour of the Italian people that wishes to expand itself, never looking back. Peace was considered as merely a “mask to surrender and cowardice.” Mussolini stressed that Italians required “forces, duty, and sacrifice” in order to rise again to their former greatness, that of the Roman Empire. This is also Mussolini’s rationale for harsh and severe actions against any who would resist or try and undermine fascism.

When discussing Florence’s government Bruni stated that “no city has ever been so well governed and established that it was completely without evil men” (158). Bruni is under the false impression that the Florence republic has always united because the majority view has always been identical to the view of the best citizens. The best citizens he is referring to are the

Giuseppe Mazzini was instrumental in unifying the Italian nation as his ideals spread throughout Italy’s intellectual community. Although many of his attempts at rallying the common people to a revolution failed, he circulated and popularized the idea of a fully unified Italy for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire. In his work “The Duties of Man,” Mazzini establishes that he is largely a romantic nationalist, since he draws heavily on history; however, he utilizes the power of certain liberal nationalist sentiments such as individuals’ rights in his own work.

A post Middle Age Italy was afflicted by medieval wars and the bubonic plague. A change was needed to restore the vision of what Italy could become. This change was found within one family: the Medici’s, who helped to return the glory and influence to Florence. The Medici’s saw the value in contributing to the advancement of the greatest minds of the period. This was evident in their patronage of leading Artists such as Michelangelo and of renowned Teachers such as Galileo. The sphere of influence the Medici’s enjoyed also extended to the political arena, which happened to be heavily influenced by the Catholic Church at the time. The Medici’s were able to capitalize on the power of the Church and through this influence and the use of

In this essay, I will be discussing the origins and relevancy of Rome’s conquest of Italy during the Middle Republic. Included will be Rome’s governing structure of it’s allied states, and the treaties, both of which aided in the long term success of Rome.

We see other clear cut examples of nationalism in Italy as well. The journey that Italy took to statehood in the 1800s involved various figureheads performing different roles. The nationalism of Italy began with Mazzini who laid the ideological base for a united Italy. He wrote many pamphlets, papers, and dissertations on the manifest destiny, if you will, of the Italian people to unify. This rhetoric was stirring to the young middle class individuals of Italy who accepted this ideology and supported ideological efforts for a unified Italy. Cavour, of the province of Piedmont is where the basis of a real Italian resurgence would begin. Cavour wanted Piedmont to be the basis of the Risorgimento, or the Italian resurgence. Piedmont was developing well from an industrial perspective and by siphoning trade agreements away from Austria was able to develop into an industrial base for further operations. The actual, boots on the ground venture was led by Garibaldi who recruited many young men to serve in “The Expedition of The Thousand.” The rising nationalism of the time period, as well as the efforts of Mazzini stirred these young middle and

In the early days of Mussolini’s regime (he came to power in 1922), Italian foreign policy seemed rather confused: Mussolini knew what he wanted, which was ‘to make Italy great, respected and feared.’ But he was not sure how to achieve this, apart from agitating for a revision of the 1919 peace settlement in Italy’s favour. At first he seemed to think an adventurous foreign policy was his best line of action, hence the Corfu Incident and the occupation of Fiume in 1923. By an agreement signed at Rapallo in 1920, Fiume was to be a ‘free city’, used jointly by Italy and Yugoslavia; after Italian troops moved in, Yugoslavia agreed that it should belong to Italy. After these early successes, Mussolini became