Italian Unification Part 2

Camillo Cavour and Realpolitik

Realpolitik

After the failure of the 1848 revolutions, many people realized that ideas alone were not enough to change the world.

Many powerful people across Europe realized that Nationalism and Liberalism were powerful forces that could not be fought forever.

Therefore, if you can’t beat them, join them. Use the ideas to help get what you want.

Realpolitik means politics by any means necessary. Get want you want and use any method to do it. War, Peace, Honesty, Dishonesty, Loyalty, Betrayal. Everything was fair game

The users of Realpolitik achieved lasting change because they used the ideas of Liberalism and Nationalism while at the same time being dishonest, underhanded and cunning

THE BRAINS OF ITALIAN UNIFICATION

CAMILLO CAVOUR

Camillo Cavour Camillo Benso, Conte di Cavour, was born in Turin, in

Northern Italian State of Piedmont His Father forced him to go to Military School Although he was very intelligent, he did poorly in

school He was too head-strong and independent for military

life and hated the conformity He read the works of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart

Mill (Famous Liberalists) He quit the Military out of boredom and traveled Europe Upon return to his families land, he was able to impact

his entire community with a series of economic and agricultural reforms

The move to politics After 1848, Liberalism became more

acceptable in Italy At this point, Cavour decides to enter politics During his impressive political career, he

earned the reputation as being a “Moderate Liberal”

He eventually earned the position of Prime Minister

Cavour loved Piedmont, but he understood the power of Nationalism in Italy

Therefore, in order to save Piedmont . . . he must destroy it

He would seek to create Italy . . . Under the rule of the Royal House of Piedmont

How to you create a country?Obstacles1. Austria – Controls much of Northern Italy2. France – The Bourbon family controls most of

Southern Italy3. The Church – the Papal States split Italy in

Half4. Political Division – Italy has numerous small

states - they have traditionally fought each against each other rather than work together

You are Camillo Cavour . . . What would you do first?

Step 1: The Nucleus State Cavour thought of the concept of

the Nucleus State Nationalist revolutions have

traditionally failed because there is always the question of leadership

Cavour would build Sardinia-Piedmont into a powerful, wealthy and modern state

Therefore, people across Italy would recognize their leadership

He built new roads, railways, schools

He created jobs and encouraged new industry and investment

Under his leadership, Sardinia-Piedmont became the greatest of the small Italian States

Step 2: Make a Powerful Friend Cavour knew that the

first major obstacle was Austria

Austria was far too powerful to be dealt with by anyone other that a major power

Therefore he went looking for friends

To do this, he thrust his little kingdom into the largest war of the Century . . . The Crimean War

The Eastern Question and the Crimean War The Ottoman Empire was once very powerful However, in the 19th the Ottomans did not Industrialize and became

a poor and disorganized state The Greeks and Serbians were able to successfully break free and

Egyptians rose up against the ottomans and almost conquered the entire empire

The Ottoman Empire was called “The Sick Man of Europe” and was on the verger of breaking apart

The Question of who got to control all this territory is know in history as “THE EASTERN QUESTION”

The Crimean War is the Result of the Eastern Question Russia, as part of the Quadruple Alliance (Congress of Vienna)

helped many European countries avoid revolution . . . They felt earned them the right to be left alone to profit from the Ottoman demise

The rest of Europe didn’t see it that way This was a massive and ugly conflict

Step 3: Convince your Friend to help you During the Crimean War, Cavour was

able to make several contacts with the French Government

He also gained several Audiences with Emperior Louis Napoleon

Cavour realized that the Emperors ambition to be as great as his Uncle could be used against him

Cavour convinced France to help him against Austria in Exchange for Nice (then part of Piedmont – now the French Riviera)

War broke out and the French and Piedmontese forces were able to dive the Austrians out of Lombardy – however, Louis grew tired of the war and pulled out

Venetia stayed in Austrian hands But a great victory had been

accomplished

Step 4: Talk others into Joining you Cavour was ready for final step He had an alliance with the French, he had defeated

Austria and was in control of the dominant country in Italy

Promising protection against Austria and the benefits of his great economy, he managed to convince all of the small states of Northern Italy to join him

At the same time, Garibaldi was conquering southern Italy and poised to take over the Papal States

Cavour could not anger France, so he sent his army to stop Garibaldi – this led to the famous meeting on the bridge

What happened on the Bridge? Garibaldi was faced with a

choice First, give up his conquest to

Piedmont and unify most of italy

Or Second, keep going and try to unify all of Italy under democracy . . . His life long dream

He choose to surrender his forces and unify most of Italy under the leadership of Victor Emmanuel – who was really Cavour’s puppet!

The Nation of Italy is born!

Italy gets the rest! Cavour dies shortly after he forms Italy Doctors bleed him to help him recovery from

illness The bleeding causes a stroke and he dies His last words are “ITALY IS MADE, ALL IS

SAFE” Italy gets Venetia a few years later while the

Austrians are embarrassed in war with another European power

Italy gets the Papal States and Rome after that when France gets embarrassed in war with another European power

Italy as we now know it is formed in 1871.

Not a Happy Ending The new Italy was culturally divided – the

Industrial North and the Agricultural South – a problem Italy still has today

The greatest obstacle facing Italy was the Catholic Church

After losing control of the Papal States and Rome – the Pope had nothing left

The Catholic Church sabotaged the new Italian state by order all Catholics to resist the Italian government in any way possible

This caused most programs and reforms in Italy to fail and doomed Italy to poverty and backwardness

The Pope was only able to make peace with Italy in 1929 – with Mussolini

The Vatican was made into its own country in exchange for his support for Mussolini’s rule