Italian Unification Essay

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

The political history of Italy is quite extensive. The Greeks were the first to settle in Italy and established colonies in the southern part of the country and in Sicily. There was not a sense of political reality as much as there was a civilization (Windows on Italy- History). While the Greeks controlled the south the Gauls, or Celtic people, ruled the north and the Po Valley. But the most important group to settle in Italy was the Etruscans. Because of their advanced civilization, the Etruscans were the only ones to establish political and cultural ideas before the Roman Empire (Windows on Italy- History). At the end of the Etruscans rule, Rome began a unification of Italy and established Latin to be the general language (Defusco).

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.

After the Congress of Vienna Italy consisted of six separate states. Controversy over whether or not Italy should be unified stirred up during the mid to late 1800’s. The unification of the Italian states was an ongoing debate for quite some time. During the years of the debates people found the unification to be positive change, a negative change, and some had different opinions for their own certain reasons.

Later that year, Sicily and Naples became apart of the newly unified Italy. A year following, Emmanuel II became the king of Italy. “The political framework of the united Italy could not overcome these problems” (693). Although Italy had gained

1815 after the fall of Napoleon, the concert of Concert of Europe and the Congress of Vienna the conservative forces of Europe restored Italy back to its pre-napoleonic ways to make French invasion harder and to stop Italy's liberalist and nationalist movements. Austria was given direct control over Lombardy and Venetia and controlling some northern states indirectly. Many of these restored governments tried to stop the Italian unification. Ferdinand I ruled Naples and Sicily suppressing freedom of speech. In the Papal States used inquisition and torture to stop nationalism and liberalism.In 1820 a revolution in Spain triggered a revolt in Naples. Ferdinand I agreed to grant a series of laws but Metternich worried about the success of the

Each revolution was very much focused in a particular state or region. Rebels did not join together across the kingdoms. After Napoleon was defeated, the states were returned to their previous boundaries and the monarchs were restored. In 1820, Naples and Sicily had two separate revolutions even though they had been unified once again. Censorship and public funding cuts increasing, prompted rebels in

There were three obstacles in the way of Italian unification: Austria, France, and the Roman Catholic Church. Austria ruled all of Northern Italy and thus did not want to give it up. This mindset was similar to the mindset of the French who also ruled land and were also very involved in Italian politics. Because Italian unification would greatly limit their ability to govern in Italy the French also opposed Italian Unification. The last and final obstacle was the Roman Catholic Church which opposed Italian unification because the Pope would have to give up his land, the Papal States. Eventually people started to take action and start nationalistic movements against the Austrians, French, and the Roman Catholic Church. In 1832 Joseph Mazzini, also known as the Father of Nationalism, created a group called “Young Italy” through which he spread his nationalistic views to the Italian Youth. In the end Camillo Benso di Cavour, the prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, another revolutionary made a pan and slowly united Italy to form one country. The same nationalistic movement also occurred in Germany which left Germany united as well. In response to all of the violent nationalistic movements the idea of integration was born.

Italy in the Middle Ages was branched into multiple political units because of a rivalry between the European states for influence in the region as well as internal tussles for power. When Sicily came under rule of the Aragonese kings in 1409, and was reunited with the mainland kingdom in 1443 when Alfonso V of Aragon entered the city of Naples. However, the two kingdoms split apart again after Alfonso’s death in 1448. The Kingdom of Naples went to his illegitimate son Ferdinand I (reigned 1448-1494) whose rule was troubled by Angevin claims to the throne of Naples. After his death in 1494, Italy was invaded by Charles VIII of France (reigned 1483-1498), an Angevin through his grandmother to assert his claim to the Kingdom of Naples. Charles’

It became the foundation of the fascist movement in Italy following World War I. Mussolini used the newspaper to spread his ideas of fascism. On June 6, 1919, an issue of Il Popolo d’Italia listed and described the goals of fascism. However, fascism did not begin to take off until October of 1922.

The Restoration of Europe in the first half of the nineteenth century also contributed to the revolutionary movement that occurred in 1848. The leaders that assembled in the Congress of Vienna embraced the conservative idea of monarchial legitimacy, where the right to rule a government was decided by hereditary succession, with close association with the church.

The revolutionaries in Italy had longstanding grievances, some were nationalists and some were liberals. Despite all having different ideas and aims they all resoundingly agreed that Italy needed change. The hopes of the various revolutionary groups had been raised by the election of Pope Pius and Charles Albert the King of Piedmont Sardinia. However, their hopes and resulting revolutions were crushed due to many concerning factors.

Italy holds a long and rich history, starting from how it became one country during ancient times. For thousands of years, people have lived in Italy, relying on its vast amount of assets and resources. There was no established group of settlers to arrive first, because the chief pioneers entailed many different types of people who spoke different languages. Italy was at first preceded by several non-Italian cultures, including Greeks. The Greeks occupied southern Italy, including areas around Sicily. This remained a wealthy extent of land because of the tremendously fertile soil, which then caused the sprout of new cities and civilization. These Greek cities ultimately stood taken over by Roman control. As far as northern city-states, the Etruscans lived in areas influenced by Greek culture. The Etruscans stayed well-known engineers, builders, and traders. Italy was always back and forth in the control of foreign authorities, but finally landed in the power of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire took over at about 450 B.C., but eventually collapsed. The land that now stands as Italy was ruled by Julius Caesar. There were many civil wars before and after Julius Caesar’s death. The land was then restored by Octavian, Caesar’s son, who later passed his throne to his son Tiberius. Although ancient Italy had been taken over by diverse commands, it still held on to its vast culture and

The Italian Unification brought a rise to Nationalism. Nationalism is when a nation is joined together in ways of government, leaders, or religion. Nationalism is Italy gives freedom of press and power to the government or one ruler. This is exactly what had been done in the Italian Unification. They united under one rule and became a singular country. They also received freedom of the press and a new Parliament during the time of Camillo di Cavour. Mazzini, Cavour, and Garibaldi all used their ideas to help with the unification witch

”My goal, which was, I believe, shared by most italians at that time, was to unite the country and rid it of foreign powers. Those who gave Italy her freedom would earn her people’s gratitude” (Garibaldi, page 6). During the age of Italian unification, there were three men who fought for her (Italy’s) freedom. Those men were Cavour the brains, Mazzini the soul, and Garibaldi the sword (Chastain).