The process of unification occurred over a 100 year period, and was spurred on by a number of individuals, both Italians such as Cavour and Crispi and foreigners such as napoleon the III. There were, however, different stages of unification throughout the entire process.
The actions of each key individual must be assessed within each stage they influenced and how their actions affected unification in a positive or negative way.
The first stage of unification was 1800 to 1815, where Napoleon I was the primary mover. He made a huge number of changes such as changing ruling dynasties , simplifying trade boundaries, and most importantly, establishing his ‘Code Napoleon’ as law. Mack Smith argues that these reforms made Italy change
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It can therefore be concluded that the advancements Napoleon made were only short term and he intended to just create a satellite of France, and giving the Italians too much of a unification spirit would have made them too strong. However, he did have a long-term political significance; he for political unity and inadvertently encouraged the Italians’ dislike of foreigners through his enforced conscription policies, which encouraged a sense of nationalism for the first time.
The next stage was 1815 to 1849, involving primarily the Austrian Chancellor Prince Clemens von Metternich and the Italian political idealist Giuseppe Mazzini.
They had an almost symbiotic relationship, ether justifying the others existence. This is argued by Sarti who implies Mazzini and Metternich helped unification through their hatred of each other; Mazzini served as the ideologist and Metternich the oppressor, each justified the other’s involvement in italy. Berkley says that there was “truth in Metternich’s thousand-times reiterated assertion that he was defending law and order” because if Mazzini’s revolutions had been successful, “there would have been bloodshed and utter anarchy ” . It is certainly
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
During this time period, there were alterations in many civilizations. Some had multiple major fluctuations, while others did not change much but were long lasting. The Mongols, for instance, did similar (if not the same things) over and over again throughout their reign. What they did was successful and because of that, their empire was long lasting. Unlike the Mongols, Italy had much change during this period of time. Both of these things caused the two different societies to flourish and last. The Mongols had the greatest continuity over time, but Italy had the greatest change over time, ending in good results for both of the civilizations.
The political situation that prompted Machiavelli to write The Prince was that Italy wasn’t a unified country yet. It was a bunch of city states.
Italy’s problems started with the fact that it didn’t have one main ruler, but two people and a concept, resulting in a different approach to the unification. Gulseppe Mazzini had a radical program focusing on a centralized democratic republic based on universal suffrage and the will of the people. Vincenzo Gioberti, who was a catholic priest called for a federation of existing states
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.
Along with the Fascist Party, came the idea of a "perfect" race of man, and persecution. Hitler’s idea of a non-Jewish race appealed to Mussolini. Before the war began, Benito Mussolini and his army started their persecution of the Jews in Italy. This did not last long, however, because Mussolini’s popularity began to fall. As his popularity among his people began to decline, so did his relations with many European nations. Much of Italy’s foreign relations depended solely on treaties and pacts. (5) As Germany and Italy moved together towards a uniform society, the strength and honor of the treaties were in jeopardy.
Many years later, in a galaxy far far away, on the date of August 15, 1769 another war hero and emperor was born, Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon reigned over the French from May 18, 1804 to April 11, 1814 and ruled Italy over the years from March 17, 1805 to April 11, 1814. Napoleon I, Emperor of the French, set up Napoleonic Code; it was a major influence in civil law jurisdictions. Napoleon is best recognized for his role in the wars against France, known as the Napoleonic Wars. His success in these multiple battles led Napoleon to be known as one of the best military leaders of all time. His strategies and campaigns are studied at military schools around the world.
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.
3. In the mid-nineteenth century, Italy wasn’t unified. Italy was made up of independent states that nationalist wanted unified, but failed. Mazzini was “the most important nationalist leader in Europe and brought new fervor to the cause” (690). Mazzini desperately wanted Italy to be united and it finally was and became the Italian Republic. In 1860, the country shaped boot became a nation-state. After the war with Austria, “the forces of romantic republican nationalism compelled Cavour to pursue the complete unification of northern and southern Italy” (691).
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
The one constant theme from any period in history we examine seems to be that of change. As Europe began to take shape, it did so with an expansion and contraction rate that was dramatically impacted by changes in political organizations, positive and negative economic forces, and through shifts in social structure. The path to the creation of the European empires was a long and tedious journey. Sixth century feudalism gave way to the creation of a central authority. The thirteenth century was scarred by the Black Death but it brought about economic changes that would resonate well into the Renaissance period of the fifteenth century. Nation-states began their formation as the need for a centralized government dictated. With each step
Relying on the needs of the society of that time, Machiavelli comes to the conclusion that the most important task is the formation of a single Italian state (Machiavelli 15). Developing his thoughts, the author comes to the following inference: only a prince can become a leader capable of leading people and building a unified state. It is not a concrete historical personality but someone abstract, symbolic, possessing such qualities that in the aggregate are inaccessible to any living ruler. That is why Machiavelli devotes most of his research to the issue of what qualities should the prince possess to fulfill the historical task of developing a new state. The written work is constructed strictly logically and objectively. Even though the image of an ideal prince is abstract, Machiavelli argues that he should be ruthless, deceiving, and selfish.
The Italian Unification is a time period during which Italy becomes unified as one country. While trying to unify the country there were obstacles faced and conquered by Mazzini, Cavour, and Garibaldi as they continued to unify Italy. They pushed Nationalism on the people. The problems that were faced during the time of the unification were the Austrian occupation of Lombardy and Venice. Also, the land still belonged to the Pope and not the government which meant that it did not really belong to everyone and didn’t symbolize unification. The last problem is there is an existence of many independent states which means there were states ruling themselves.
”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).