Italian Unification1815-1870

Revolutions of 1820

• Naples– Ferdinand– Church– Financial problems– Withdrawal of Austrian garrison– Sicily– Carbonari– Example of revolt in Spain (Jan. 1820)

Revolutions of 1820 contd• Garrison revolted in Naples (June, 1820)• Leader: Gen. Guglielmo Pepe• Ferdinand I promised constitution (July, 1820)• Pepe appointed to lead new government• Separate rising in Sicily demanding more

autonomy; opposed by Pepe government• Rising discussed at Congress of Troppau• Ferdinand attended Congress of Laibach and

asked for assistance in suppressing revolt

Naples 1820 contd• Rising suppressed by Austrian troops with

diplomatic support from Russia and Prussia

• Followed by vicious suppression by Ferdinand’s restored government

Piedmont, 1820-21

• Victor Emmanuel I restored in 1815• Strengthened by addition of Genoa• All French reforms suppressed• Growth of support for Carbonari especially after

Naples rising• Student riots in Turin (Jan), military revolt (Mar)

forced abdication of Victor Emmanuel• Charles Albert vs Charles Felix• Austrian repression

Revolutions of 1831• Effects of July Revolution in France: “When

Paris sneezes, Europe catches cold…”• February, 1831: liberal risings in Modena and

Parma; savagely repressed by Duke Francis of Modena by end of March

• Various uprisings throughout Papal States during 1831-32 suppressed by Austrian and Papal forces

Reasons for Failure in 1821 & 1831

• No support from Louis Philippe• No support from Great Britain• Weakness of Carbonari

– Isolated groups; no coordination– Middle class support only

• No mass support for liberalism or nationalism

• Strength of Austria and Metternich

Il Risorgimento• Early calls for Italian nation during French

Revolution (eg. Alfieri, Denina)• Guiseppe Mazzini

– From Genoa– Joined Carbonari in 1827– Arrested and imprisoned in 1830– Rejected Carbonari aims– Founded Young Italy (1831)

Mazzini’s Nationalism• Strongly believed in God, but not in Church• Believed in individual rights, but also in duties• Believed in equality of men and races• Pledged to create “one, free independent

republican nation” in Italy• Cooperation with constitutional monarchies was

just a tactical move on the way to the end of a unitary republic

• Armed revolution national regeneration

Mazzini, contd• Organized revolt after revolt, all of them

failures, some of them ridiculously so• Came to personify the Risorgimento

throughout Italy• Popularized Italian cause throughout

Europe and America• Helped create the idea of Italy

Other roads to national unity• Vincenzo Gioberti and the Papacy

– Of the Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians (1843)– Proposed Italian federation under leadership of the

Pope since church was fundamental institution in Italian life

– Book sold widely and was generally well-received; seen as more moderate alternative to Mazzini’s republicanism, BUT• Papal States were among most backward and repressive

parts of Italy• Pope showed no interest in his ideas

"Del primato morale e civile degli Italiani" "Del primato morale e civile degli Italiani" "Del primato morale e civile degli Italiani"

Pius IX and Italian Unification• Elected in 1846; known to have liberal

sympathies• Elected unexpectedly• Granted amnesty to all political prisoners• Proposed reforms to administration, education

and legal systems giving laymen more role • Ended press censorship• Sponsored formation of civic guard to protect

property and prevent violence

Pius IX contd• Proposed customs union with Piedmont and

Tuscany (1847)• Resisted Austrian attempts to extend garrison

rights in Ferrara• Initially, seemed favorable to Italian cause during

1848 disturbancesBUT:• His intervention against revolutionary change

was an important factor in their failure.

1848 Revolutions

• Causes– Liberal demands for constitutions– Unpopularity of Austrians– Harvest failures in 1846 and 1847– Reforms in Papal States– Influence of Mazzini

1848 Revolutions contd• Revolts in Sicily and Naples (January)• Sicilians wanted independence from Naples – had taken

over most of island by April• In Naples, King Ferdinand II agreed to share power with

a parliament but hung on to most of his power• Ferdinand used excuse of rioting to appoint right-wing

government (May)• In September, sent troops to re-take Sicily• Ferdinand abolished all reforms made since January

1848

1848 Revolutions contd• Tuscany and Piedmont offered limited

constitutions (Feb); constitution revolts in Parma and Modena

• Tobacco boycott in Milan (Lombardy) “The Five Days” (March 17-22) of riots and fighting.

• Due to disturbances and fall of Metternich in Vienna, Radetsky removed troops from Milan

• Revolutionary provisional government appealed to Charles Albert for help

• Charles Albert declared war on Austria• March 22: Independent Republic of St Mark

(Venice)

1848 Revolutions cont’d• May: Commander of Papal troops marched to

support Charles Albert widespread belief that anti-Austrian movement had support of Pope

• Pope made declaration “repudiating… those who would have the Roman Pontiff to be the head … of some sort of novel Republic of the whole Italian people.”

• Nationalist movement began to take on anti-clerical character

• July: Austrians defeated Charles Albert at Battle of Custozza. Charles Albert signed armistice and withdrew to Piedmont

1848 Revolutions contd• July: Mazzini arrived back in Italy. Declared “war

of the princes” over and “war of the people” to begin.

• November: Chief Minister of Papal States assassinated; Pope fled to Naples; new government called for representatives from all over Italy to attend a constituent assembly in Rome

• Assembly met in Feb. 1849 – Garibaldi was one of the deputies

• March: Mazzini elected head of Triumvirate to run government of Roman Republic

1848 Revolutions contd• Pope appealed for help from France,

Spain and Naples to suppress republic• New French Republic sent 20,000 troops

to put Pope back on throne• City defended against great odds by

volunteers led by Garibaldi• City captured by French troops end of

June, 1849

1848 Revolutions contd• March 1849: Charles Albert denounced

armistice and went to war with Austria again• April 1849: heavily defeated at Battle of

Novara; abdicated in favor of son, Victor Emmanuel II

• May-June 1849: Austrian troops defeated revolutionary governments in Tuscany, Modena and Parma

• August 1849: Venice surrendered to besieging Austrian forces.

Why did the 1848 Revolutions Fail?

• Lack of unity between different groups– Sicilians and Neapolitans– Manin refused to send representatives to Roman

Constituent Assembly– Attitude of Charles Albert– No recognized national leader (Pope, Charles Albert,

Mazzini??) or nationalist ideology• Inexperience of provisional governments• Little or no popular support (no land reform, no

social reform)

Positive Effects of 1848 Revolutions

• Helped create “Italian national mythology” (heroic defense of Rome by Garibaldi, Venice by Daniel Manin)

• Established constitutional monarchy in Piedmont

• Eliminated Papacy as alternative focus of national aspirations

• Established Piedmont and Savoy Dynasty as sole defender of national dream

Cavour and Italian Unification• Austria didn’t insist on territorial compensation after Novara – believed

this, or forcing return to absolutism, might play into hands of nationalist republicans

• Thousands of nationalist and liberal refugees flooded into Piedmont (20,000 in Genoa alone) and influenced domestic politics

• Count Camillo di Cavour became member of Piedmont parliament in 1848

• Supported the “middle way” between radical (Mazzini) nationalists and absolutism and reaction

• Appointed Minister of Trade and Agriculture in 1850, Prime Minster in 1852

• Brought in series of reforms including: state railroads, reducing customs duties, encouragement of agricultural improvement, founding of state savings banks

• Trade doubled during the 1850s• Attacked power of Church as “impediment to social progress”• Used bribery, chicanery and shady political deals to maintain his

majority

Cavour contd

Foreign Policy• Participation in Crimean War

– No vital Sardinian interests involved– Brought Piedmont benefits:

• Sympathy from Britain and France• Gave Piedmont seat at Paris Peace Conference at

which she could push Italian interests• Split Austrians and Russians

Cavour contd• Cavour & Napoleon III

– Assassination attempt by Felice Orsini (Jan. 1858)

– Napoleon allowed publication of Orsini’s letter to him from condemned cell

– July 1858: Cavour & Napoleon met at Plombieres

Cavour contd

The Plombières Agreement– France would join Piedmont in a

“defensive” war against Austria– Piedmont would annex Lombardy, Venetia,

Parma and Modena– Napoleon III’s cousin, Prince Napoleon,

would marry Victor Emmanuel II’s daughter

– France would get Nice and Savoy from Piedmont

Plombières Agreement contd(After that, it all gets a bit vague – not stated clearly

at all)– Piedmont might get northern Papal States

(Romagna)– Overthrow of Ferdinand in Naples might see the

throne pass to Lucien Murat– Pope might be made head of new Italian

Confederation– French (Bonaparte) candidate might be made

King of Central Italy (including part of Papal States and Tuscany)

Franco-Austrian War (1859)• Pressure from GB & Russia forced Napoleon to give

demobilization order and agree to international congress to discuss Italy

• Austria issued ultimatum to Piedmont demanding immediate disarmament

• This alienated GB so Napoleon was again able to mobilize and then attack Austria

• Invading army: 200,000 French, 63,000 Piedmontese• Won bloody battles at Magenta and Solferino in June• July: Napoleon agreed separate peace with Austria at

Villafranca which only gave Piedmont Lombardy

Villafranca Terms• Austria ceded Lombardy (except Mantua and Peschiera)

to France – France would then transfer it to Piedmont• Rulers of Central Duchies would return as part of a

confederation under Pope, but no force could be used to enforce this

• No mention of Nice and Savoy• Meanwhile, in Parma, Modena and Romagna,Luigi Farini

(ex-education minister under Cavour and later minister of commerce) declared himself dictator of “Emilia” and called for incorporation under Victor Emmanuel

• Bettino Ricasoli, another Cavour ally, did same in Tuscany.

Franco-Austrian War (1859) contd• Why did Napoleon III stop short?

– Appalled by loss of life at Magenta and Solferino– Piedmont had supplied only 1/3rd of 100,000 troops

promised– Piedmontese agents were active in Tuscany and the

Papal States trying to arrange “spontaneous” popular risings demanding incorporation into Piedmont

– Napoleon didn’t want to see a united Italy: “I will not have [Italian] unity… France would not be pleased to see rise beside her a great nation which might diminish her preponderance”

– Worried by signs that Prussia might exert pressure on behalf of Austria

Franco-Austrian War (1859) contd

• Cavour resigned (July, 1859) in protest when Victor Emmanuel II refused to continue war alone

• Elected assemblies in Modena, Tuscany, Parma and Romanga voted for incorporation into Piedmont

• Cavour returned to power (Feb, 1860) and did deal with Napoleon III (Treaty of Turin, March, 1860): France would agree to incorporation of Central Italy into Piedmont, Piedmont would cede Nice and Savoy to France

• Plebiscites to confirm deal – probably rigged – held in March-April, 1860

Cavour’s Plans in 1860• Cavour recognized that Mazzini’s National War of

Liberation was not a realistic option• Piedmontese expansion into the leading Italian power

could only come about with support of larger European powers, especially France

• France was only likely to support Kingdom of Northern Italy under Victor Emmanuel; not likely to support further expansion

• Cavour probably wanted to stop and consolidate after annexation of Central Italy

• “I omitted nothing to persuade Garibaldi to drop his mad scheme”

Garibaldi and Cavour• In March, 1860, Garibaldi was considering an

armed expedition to Nice to prevent incorporation into France

• Disliked and mistrusted by Cavour – Garibaldi seizure of Southern Italy might lead to demands for united republican Italy

• Premature establishment of united Italy might precipitate French and Austria intervention

• By 1860, Cavour probably saw unification as “historically inevitable” but favored caution

The Sicilian Revolt• Started in Palermo, April 4, 1860• Led by Crispi & Pilo (Mazzini republicans)• No support from Cavour• Supported by peasants demanding land reform• Garibaldi stole two ships in Genoa and sailed with 1000

volunteers to help rebels

• Cavour certainly didn’t help Garibaldi; historians divided as to how much he hindered

• By May 30 had captured Palermo and forced surrender and withdrawal of royal troops

• Cavour even more worried by prospect of invasion of Naples

Invasion of Naples• “If Garibaldi crosses over to the mainland and seizes the

Kingdom of Naples … he becomes the master of the situation. King Victor Emmanuel loses more or less all his prestige; in the eyes of the great majority of Italians he is no more than Garibaldi’s friend. With the resources of a kingdom of nine million inhabitants at his disposal, surrounded as he is by irresistible popular prestige, it is impossible for us to struggle against him.”

• Garibaldi invaded on August 22; on September 6, king fled and Garibaldi’s troops occupied Naples

• Garibaldi clearly intended to pursue defeated Neapolitan troops into Papal States and unite Italy…

Cavour’s Reaction• September 12th: having stirred up unrest in the Papal

States, Cavour informed the powers that Piedmont would be obliged to intervene to restore order!

• Defeated Papal troops at Castelfidardo and occupied all the Papal States except Rome itself

• At Teano (near Naples) Garibaldi met Victor Emmanuel and agreed to hand over his conquests to him (October 26)

• Plebiscites in Naples, Sicily and Papal States voted for incorporation into a Kingdom of Italy under Victor Emmanuel II; essentially, Piedmont had annexed the rest of Italy!

• Thus the Kingdom of Italy now covered all Italy except Venice and Rome.

Completion of UnificationVenice• Two attempts by Garibaldi’s followers to foment

uprisings (1862 and 1864) failed• In 1865, the Italian government offered to buy

Venetia from the Austrians; rejected• April, 1866: military alliance with Prussia which

would give Italy Venetia in return for help in war against Austria

• Defeated on land (Custozza) and at sea (Lissa)• Prussian victory at Sadowa cession of Venetia

Completion of Unification, contd

Rome• Garibaldi attempted to add Rome to Italy

twice (1862 & 1867) but failed because– Opposed by Piedmont– No support from local population– Presence of French troops