Chapter 10 Nationalism Triumphs in Europe

Section 3

Unifying Italy

Setting the Scene

At the Congress of Vienna, Italian nationalists hoped to end centuries of foreign rule and

achieve unity. To Metternich, the idea of a unified Italy was laughable. Italy, he was convinced, was

a mere "geographic expression/'

Although the people of the Italian peninsula spoke the same language, they had not

experienced political unity since Roman times. By the early 1800s, though, Italian patriots were

determined to build a new, united Italy. As in Germany, unification was brought about by the efforts of a strong state and a shrewd, ruthless

politician—Count Camillo Cavour.

I. Obstacles to Italian Unity

In Italy, people identified with local regions rather than with the idea of an Italian nation

I. Obstacles to Italian Unity

Napoleon’s invasion sparked dreams of national unity, but the Congress of Vienna ignored the nationalists

I. Obstacles to Italian UnityBetween 1820 and 1848, nationalist revolts exploded across the region but were crushed by Austria

I. Obstacles to Italian Unity

In the 1830s, the nationalist leader Giuseppe Mazzini founded Young Italy

I. Obstacles to Italian Unity

Nationalists like Mazzini felt a united Italy made sense because of geography and a common language and history

II. The Struggle for Italy

After 1848, leadership of the Risorgimento passed to Victor Emmanuel II’s kingdom of Sardinia

II. The Struggle for ItalyIn 1852 Victor Emmanuel made Count Camillo Cavour, a monarchist who believed in Realpolitik, his prime minister

II. The Struggle for Italy

In 1859, Cavour provoked war with and defeated Austria, and several other northern Italian states joined with Sardinia

II. The Struggle for Italy

In southern Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi recruited a force of 1,000 "Red Shirts'' and won control of Sicily and southern Italy

II. The Struggle for ItalySardinian troops overran the Papal States and joined Garibaldi’s forces in Naples. In 1861, Victor Emmanuel II was crowned king of Italy

III. Challenges Facing the New Nation

Italy had no tradition of unity and few Italians felt ties to the new nation

III. Challenges Facing the New Nation

The greatest division was between the richer, urban north and the poorer, rural south

Merano, Italy

III. Challenges Facing the New NationHostility between Italy and the Roman Catholic Church further divided the nation

III. Challenges Facing the New NationItaly was a constitutional monarchy with a two-house legislature, but only a small number of men could vote

III. Challenges Facing the New Nation

Radical socialists and anarchists forced the government to extended suffrage and improve social conditions

III. Challenges Facing the New Nation

Industrialization brought urbanization, and reformers caused improvements in education and working conditions

III. Challenges Facing the New NationA population explosion resulted in many people emigrating for the United States, Canada, and Latin American nations

Family waiting to land at Ellis Island