Italian unificationRisorgimento

Five Days of Milan, 1822 March 1848.Date 18151871Location ItalyParticipants Italian society, Kingdom of Sardinia,

Provisional Government of Milan,Republic of San Marco, Kingdom ofSicily, Roman Republic, Carbonari,French Empire, Red Shirts, Hungarianlegion, Southern Army, UnitedProvinces of Central Italy, Kingdomof Italy

OutcomeItalian revolutions of 1820Italian revolutions of 1830Revolutions of 1848 in theItalian statesFirst Italian War ofIndependenceSecond Italian War ofIndependenceExpedition of the ThousandProclamation of the Kingdomof ItalyThird Italian War ofIndependenceCapture of RomeRome becomes the capital ofthe Kingdom of Italy

Italian unificationFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Italian unification (Italian: Risorgimento [risordimento], meaningthe Resurgence) was the political and social movement thatagglomerated different states of the Italian peninsula into the singlestate of the Kingdom of Italy in the 19th century. Despite a lack ofconsensus on the exact dates for the beginning and end of this period,many scholars agree that the process began in 1815 with the Congressof Vienna and the end of Napoleonic rule, and ended in 1871 whenRome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy.[1][2] Some of theterre irredente did not, however, join the Kingdom of Italy until afterWorld War I with the Treaty of Saint-Germain. Some nationalists seethe November 3, 1918 Armistice of Villa Giusti as the end ofunification.[3]

Contents1 Background2 Early revolutionary activity

2.1 Two Sicilies insurrection2.2 Piedmont insurrection2.3 1830 insurrections

3 Revolutions of 18481849 and First Italian IndependenceWar4 Towards the Kingdom of Italy

4.1 The Second Italian Independence War of 1859 andits aftermath4.2 The Mille expedition4.3 Defeat of the Kingdom of Naples4.4 Roman Question

5 Third War of Independence (1866)6 Rome

6.1 Mentana and Villa Glori6.2 Memorial6.3 Capture of Rome

7 Post-Risorgimento problems8 Risorgimento and Irredentism

8.1 Irredentism and the two World Wars8.2 After World War II

9 Anniversary of Risorgimento10 Culture and Risorgimento

10.1 Art10.2 Literature10.3 Music

Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy

Dante Alighieri

10.4 Films11 Maps of Italy during Italian unification

11.1 Maps of Italy before Italian unification12 References13 Bibliography

13.1 Italian14 External links

BackgroundAfter the fall of the Western Roman Empire, theRoman province of Italy remained united under theOstrogothic Kingdom and later disputed between theKingdom of the Lombards and the Byzantine(Eastern Roman) Empire. During the ByzantineEmpire crisis and decline, Italy gradually developedinto a system of city-states. This system lastedthrough the Renaissance but began to deterioratewith the rise of modern nation-states in the earlymodern period. Italy, including the Papal States, then

became the site of proxy fights between the major powers, notably the Holy Roman Empire(later Austria) and France. Between the 1300s and 1500s, Italian writers such as DanteAlighieri, Francesco Petrarca, Boccaccio, Niccol Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardinihad expressed their opposition to foreign domination. For example, Petrarch's Italia Miastated that the "ancient valor in Italian hearts is not yet dead". Four verses from Italia Miawere quoted in Niccol Machiavelli's The Prince, which looked for a political leader who would unite Italy "to free herfrom the barbarians".[4] Some historians and scholars consider the Italian states' treaties against foreign domination asthe Italic League or the foreign policy of Cosimo De Medici and Lorenzo De Medici a harbinger for a national unity.[5]

A sense of Italian national identity was reflected in Gian Rinaldo Carli's Della Patria degli Italiani,[6] written in 1764, avery famous "much-quoted article telling how a stranger entered a caf in Milan and puzzled its occupants by saying thathe was neither a foreigner nor a Milanese. 'Then what are you?' they asked. 'I am an Italian,' he explained."[7]

The Italian campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars destroyed the old structures of feudality in Italy. The newFrench Republic supported the spread of republican principles. The institution of republican governments promotedcitizenship over the rule of the royal families, primarily the Bourbons and Habsburgs, and set the stage for theappearance of nationalist sentiment in Italy, which greatly influenced the course of European history (see 1830 andRevolutions of 1848). The various principalities and states were replaced by sister republics.

Nationalism increased in the early 19th century, when Italy, like much of Europe, fell under the sway of Napoleon. In1805, Napoleon I endeavoured to attach the Italian heritage to France again and was crowned king of Italy with the IronCrown of Lombardy at the Milan Cathedral.

As Napoleon's reign began to fail, the rulers he had installed tried to keep their thrones by feeding nationalisticsentiments, setting the stage for the revolutions to come. Among these monarchs were the viceroy of Italy, Eugne deBeauharnais, and the king of Naples, Joachim Murat. De Beauharnais tried to get Austrian approval for his succession tothe new Kingdom of Italy. On 30 March 1815, Murat issued the Rimini Proclamation, which called on Italians to revoltagainst their Austrian occupiers. Another important figure of this period was Francesco Melzi d'Eril, serving as vice-president of the Napoleonic Italian Republic (18021805) and consistent supporter of the Italian unification ideals thatwould lead to the Italian Risorgimento shortly after his death.[8] Following the defeat of Napoleonic France, the

Niccol Machiavelli

Italian unification

Congress of Vienna (1815) was convened to redraw the map of Europe. In Italy, the Congress restored the pre-Napoleonic patchwork of independent governments, either directly ruled or strongly influenced by the prevailingEuropean powers, particularly Austria.[9]

At the time, the struggle for Italian unification was perceived to be waged primarily against the Austrian Empire and theHabsburgs, since they directly controlled the predominantly Italian-speaking northeastern part of present-day Italy andwere, together, the most powerful force against unification. The Austrian Empire vigorously repressed nationalistsentiment growing on the Italian peninsula, as well as in the other parts of Habsburg domains. The Austrian diplomatKlemens von Metternich, an influential diplomat at the Congress of Vienna, stated that the word Italy was nothing morethan "a geographic expression".[10]

Artistic and literary sentiment also turned towards nationalism; Vittorio Alfieri and NiccolTommaseo are generally considered two great literary precursors of Italian nationalism butthe most famous of proto-nationalist works was Alessandro Manzoni's I Promessi Sposi(The Betrothed). Some read this novel as a thinly veiled allegorical critique of Austrian rule.The novel was published in 1827 and extensively revised in the following years. The 1840version of I Promessi Sposi used a standardized version of the Tuscan dialect, a consciouseffort by the author to provide a language and force people to learn it.[11]

Those in favour of unification also faced opposition from the Holy See, particularly afterfailed attempts to broker a confederation with the Papal States, which would have left thePapacy with some measure of autonomy over the region. The pope at the time, Pius IX,feared that giving up power in the region could mean the persecution of ItalianCatholics.[12]

Even among those who wanted to see the peninsula unified as one country, different groups could not agree on whatform a unified state would take. Vincenzo Gioberti, a Piedmontese priest, had suggested a confederation of Italian statesunder rulership of the Pope. His book, Of the Moral and Civil Primacy of the Italians, was published in 1843 and createda link between the Papacy and the Risorgimento. Carlo Cattaneo wanted the unification of Italy under a federal republicwhile Cesare Balbo supported a confederation of separate Italian states led by Piedmont.[13]

One of the most influential revolutionary groups was the Carbonari(coalmongers), a secret organization formed in Southern Italy early in the19th century. Inspired by the principles of the French Revolution, itsmembers were mainly drawn from the middle class and intellectuals. Afterthe Congress of Vienna divided the Italian peninsula among the Europeanpowers, the Carbonari movement spread into the Papal States, the Kingdomof Sardinia, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Modena, and theKingdom of Lombardy-Venetia. The revolutionaries were so feared that thereigning authorities passed an ordinance condemning to death anyone whoattended a Carbonari meeting. The society, however, continued to exist andwas at the root of many of the political disturbances in Italy from 1820 untilafter unification. The Carbonari condemned Napoleon III who, as a youngman, had fought on the side of the Carbonari to death for failing to uniteItaly, and the group almost succeeded in assassinating him in 1858. Manyleaders of the unification movement were at one time members of thisorganization. Many leading revolutionaries wanted a republic, but eventuallyit was a king and his chief minister who had the power to unite the Italianstates as a monarchy.[14]

Two prominent radical figures in the unification movement were Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi. The mostconservative constitutional monarchic figures included Count Cavour and Victor Emmanuel II, who would later becomethe first king of a united Italy. Mazzini's activity in revolutionary movements caused him to be imprisoned soon after hejoined. While in prison, he concluded that Italy could and therefore should be unified and formulated his programfor establishing a free, independent, and republican nation with Rome as its capital. After Mazzini's release in 1831, hewent to Marseille, where he organized a new political society called La Giovine Italia (Young Italy). The new society,

Guglielmo Pepe

The Arrest of Silvio Pellico andPiero Maroncelli, Saluzzo, civicmuseum.

whose motto was "God and the People", sought the unification of Italy. Garibaldi, a native of Nice (then part of theKingdom of Sardinia), participated in an uprising in Piedmont in 1834, was sentenced to death, and escaped to SouthAmerica. He spent fourteen years there, taking part in several wars, and returned to Italy in 1848.[15]

Early revolutionary activityTwo Sicilies insurrectionIn 1820, Spaniards successfully revolted over disputes about their Constitution, whichinfluenced the development of a similar movement in Italy. Inspired by the Spaniards (who,in 1812, had created their constitution), a regiment in the army of the Kingdom of TwoSicilies, commanded by Guglielmo Pepe, a Carbonaro, mutinied, conquering the peninsularpart of Two Sicilies. The king, Ferdinand I, agreed to enact a new constitution. Therevolutionaries, though, failed to court popular support and fell to Austrian troops of theHoly Alliance. Ferdinand abolished the constitution and began systematically persecutingknown revolutionaries. Many supporters of revolution in Sicily, including the scholarMichele Amari, were forced into exile during the decades that followed.[16]

Piedmont insurrectionThe leader of the 1821 revolutionary movement in Piedmont was Santorre diSantarosa, who wanted to remove the Austrians and unify Italy under the House ofSavoy. The Piedmont revolt started in Alessandria, where troops adopted the green,white, and red tricolore of the Cisalpine Republic. The king's regent, prince CharlesAlbert, acting while the king Charles Felix was away, approved a new constitutionto appease the revolutionaries, but when the king returned he disavowed theconstitution and requested assistance from the Holy Alliance. Di Santarosa's troopswere defeated, and the would-be Piedmontese revolutionary fled to Paris.[17]

In Milan, Silvio Pellico and Pietro Maroncelli organised several attempts to weakenthe hold of the Austrian despotism by indirect educational means. In October 1820,Pellico and Maroncelli were arrested on the charge of carbonarism and conveyed tothe Santa Margherita prison. The sentence of death pronounced on them in February 1822 was finally commuted tofifteen and twenty years of jail in harsh condition, and in the following April they were placed in the Spielberg, at Brnn(today's Brno), where they were transferred via Udine and Ljubljana.[18]

1830 insurrectionsBy 1830, revolutionary sentiment in favour of a unified Italy began to experience a resurgence, and a series ofinsurrections laid the groundwork for the creation of one nation along the Italian peninsula.

The Duke of Modena, Francis IV, was an ambitious noble, and he hoped to become king of Northern Italy by increasinghis territory. In 1826, Francis made it clear that he would not act against those who subverted opposition toward theunification of Italy. Encouraged by the declaration, revolutionaries in the region began to organize.

During the July Revolution of 1830 in France, revolutionaries forced the king to abdicate and created the July Monarchywith encouragement from the new French king, Louis-Philippe. Louis-Philippe had promised revolutionaries such asCiro Menotti that he would intervene if Austria tried to interfere in Italy with troops. Fearing he would lose his throne,Louis-Philippe did not, however, intervene in Menotti's planned uprising. The Duke of Modena abandoned hisCarbonari supporters, arrested Menotti and other conspirators in 1831, and once again conquered his duchy with helpfrom the Austrian troops. Menotti was executed, and the idea of a revolution centered in Modena faded.

At the same time, other insurrections arose in the Papal Legations of Bologna, Forl, Ravenna, Imola, Ferrara, Pesaroand Urbino. These successful revolutions, which adopted the tricolore in favour of the Papal flag, quickly spread tocover all the Papal Legations, and their newly installed local governments proclaimed the creation of a united Italian

Ciro Menotti

Execution of theBandiera Brothers

Ruggero Settimo

nation. The revolts in Modena and the Papal Legations inspired similar activity in the Duchy of Parma, where thetricolore flag was adopted. The Parmese duchess Marie Louise left the city during the political upheaval.

Insurrected provinces planned to unite as the Province Italiane unite (united Italian Provinces), which prompted PopeGregory XVI to ask for Austrian help against the rebels. Metternich warned Louis-Philippe that Austria had no intentionof letting Italian matters be, and that French intervention would not be tolerated. Louis-Philippe withheld any militaryhelp and even arrested Italian patriots living in France.

In the spring of 1831, the Austrian army began its march across the Italian peninsula, slowly crushing resistance in eachprovince that had revolted. This military action suppressed much of the fledgling revolutionary movement, and resultedin the arrest of many radical leaders.[19]

Revolutions of 18481849 and First Italian IndependenceWar

In 1844, two brothers from Venice, Attilio and Emilio Bandiera,members of the Giovine Italia, planned to make a raid on theCalabrian coast against the Kingdom of Two Sicilies and inname of Italian Unification. They assembled a band of abouttwenty men ready to sacrifice their lives, and set sail on theirventure on 12 June 1844. Four days later they landed nearCrotone, intending to go to Cosenza, liberate the politicalprisoners and issue their proclamations. Tragically for theBandiera brothers, they did not find the insurgent band they were told awaited them, so theymoved towards La Sila. They were ultimately betrayed by one of their party, the CorsicanBoccheciampe, and by some peasants who believed them to be Turkish pirates. Adetachment of gendarmes and volunteers were sent against them, and after a short fight thewhole band was taken prisoner and escorted to Cosenza, where a number of Calabrians whohad taken part in a previous rising were also under arrest. The Bandiera brothers and their

nine companions were executed by firing squad; some accounts state they cried "Viva lItalia!" (Long live Italy!) as theyfell. The moral effect was enormous throughout Italy, the action of the authorities was universally condemned, and themartyrdom of the Bandiera brothers bore fruit in the subsequent revolutions.[20]

On 5 January 1848, the revolutionary disturbances began with a civil disobedience strike inLombardy, as citizens stopped smoking and playing the lottery, which denied Austria theassociated tax revenue. Shortly after this, revolts began on the island of Sicily and in Naplesagainst King Ferdinand, who conceded as he had in 1821 and granted The Kingdom of TwoSicilies a constitution, as well as releasing political prisoners. In Sicily the revolt resulted inthe proclamation of the Kingdom of Sicily with Ruggero Settimo as Chairman of theindependent state until 1849 when the Bourbon army took back full control of the island on15 May 1849 by force.[21]

In February 1848, there were revolts in Tuscany that were relatively nonviolent, after whichGrand Duke Ferdinand granted the Tuscans a constitution. A breakaway republicanprovisional government formed in Tuscany during February shortly after this concession.On 21 February, Pope Pius IX granted a constitution to the Papal States, which was bothunexpected and surprising considering the historical recalcitrance of the Papacy. On 23February 1848, King Louis Philippe of France was forced to flee Paris, and a republic was proclaimed. By the time therevolution in Paris occurred, three states of Italy had constitutions four if one considers Sicily to be a separate state.

Meanwhile, in Lombardy, tensions increased until the Milanese and Venetians rose in revolt on 18 March 1848. Theinsurrection in Milan succeeded in expelling the Austrian garrison after five days of street fights 18 March till 22March (Cinque giornate di Milano). An Austrian army under Marshal Josef Radetzky besieged Milan, but due todefection of many of his troops and the support of the Milanese for the revolt, they were forced to retreat.

Battle of Goito

Giuseppe Mazzini

Daniele Manin and Niccol Tommaseoafter the proclamation of the Republic ofSan Marco.

Soon, Charles Albert, the King of Sardinia (who ruled Piedmont and Savoy), urged by the Venetians and Milanese to aidtheir cause, decided this was the moment to unify Italy and declared war on Austria (First Italian Independence War).After initial successes at Goito and Peschiera, he was decisively defeated by Radetzky at the Battle of Custoza on 24July. An armistice was agreed to, and Radetzky regained control of all of Lombardy-Venetia save Venice itself, wherethe Republic of San Marco was proclaimed under Daniele Manin.[22]

While Radetzky consolidated control of Lombardy-Venetia and CharlesAlbert licked his wounds, matters took a more serious turn in other parts ofItaly. The monarchs who had reluctantly agreed to constitutions in Marchcame into conflict with their constitutional ministers. At first, the republicshad the upper hand, forcing the monarchs to flee their capitals, includingPope Pius IX.

Initially, Pius IX had been something of a reformer, but conflicts with therevolutionaries soured him on the idea of constitutional government. InNovember 1848, following the assassination of his Minister Pellegrino

Rossi, Pius IX fled just before Giuseppe Garibaldi and other patriots arrived in Rome. Inearly 1849, elections were held for a Constituent Assembly, which proclaimed a RomanRepublic on February 9. On 2 February 1849, at a political rally held in the Apollo Theater,a young Roman priest, the Abb Arduini, had made a speech in which he had declared thatthe temporal power of the popes was a "historical lie, a political imposture, and a religiousimmorality.".[23] In early March 1849, Giuseppe Mazzini arrived in Rome and wasappointed Chief Minister. In the Constitution of the Roman Republic,[24] religious freedomwas guaranteed by article 7, the independence of the pope as head of the Catholic Churchwas guaranteed by article 8 of the Principi fondamentali, while the death penalty wasabolished by article 5, and free public education was provided by article 8 of the Titolo I.

Before the powers could respond to thefounding of the Roman Republic, Charles Albert, whose army had beentrained by the exiled Polish general Albert Chrzanowski, renewed the warwith Austria. He was quickly defeated by Radetzky at Novara on 23 March1849. Charles Albert abdicated in favour of his son, Victor Emmanuel II,and Piedmontese ambitions to unite Italy or conquer Lombardy were, for themoment, brought to an end. The war ended with a treaty signed on 9 August.A popular revolt broke out in Brescia on the same day as the defeat atNovara, but was suppressed by the Austrians ten days later.

There remained the Roman and Venetian Republics. In April, a French forceunder Charles Oudinot was sent to Rome. Apparently, the French firstwished to mediate between the Pope and his subjects, but soon the Frenchwere determined to restore the Pope. After a two-month siege, Romecapitulated on 29 June 1849 and the Pope was restored. Garibaldi andMazzini once again fled into exile in 1850 Garibaldi went to New YorkCity. Meanwhile, the Austrians besieged Venice defended by a volunteer army led by Daniele Manin and GuglielmoPepe, which were forced to surrender on 24 August. Pro-independence fighters were hanged en masse in Belfiore, whilethe Austrians moved to restore order in central Italy, restoring the princes who had been expelled and establishing theircontrol over the Papal Legations. The revolutions were thus completely crushed.[25]

Towards the Kingdom of ItalyThe Second Italian Independence War of 1859 and its aftermathAlthough Charles Albert had been soundly defeated in his bid to drive the Austrians from Italy, the Piedmontese did notabandon all hope of Italian domination. Camillo di Cavour, who became president of the Council of Ministers in 1852,also had expansionist ambitions. Cavour saw that Piedmont would not be able to add to its territory singlehandedly.

King Victor Emmanuel IIof Italy

Camillo Benso, Count ofCavour, 1st PrimeMinister of Italy

Battle of Palestro

Instead, he hoped for aid from Britain and France in expellingAustria from Italy. An attempt to gain British and French favour bysupporting them in the Crimean War was unsuccessful, as Italianmatters were ignored at the Congress of Paris. Nevertheless, thewar achieved a useful objective it left Austria, which haduncomfortably tried a balance between the two sides during thewar, dangerously isolated.[26]

In 1857, Carlo Pisacane, a man from Naples who decided to leavethe Neapolitan army and to embrace Mazzinian ideas, organized anexpedition to provoke a rising in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.Pisacane offered himself for the task, and sailed from Genoa with afew followers (including Giovanni Nicotera) on board the steamerCagliari on 25 June 1857. They landed on the island of Ponza,where the guards were overpowered and some hundreds ofprisoners liberated, and on 28 of the same month arrived at Sapriin Campania and attempted to reach the Cilento. But hardly any assistance from the inhabitants was forthcoming, andthe invaders were quickly overpowered at Padula, Pisacane himself being brutally stabbed with a knife then killed atSanza by angry locals who did not recognise him believing him to be a wandering gypsy who was stealing their food.[27]

On 14 January 1858 the Italian nationalist Felice Orsini attempted to assassinate the French Emperor Napoleon III.Writing from prison, Orsini did not plead for his life, accepting death for his role in the failed assassination, but ratherappealed to Napoleon III to fulfill his destiny by aiding the forces of Italian nationalism. Napoleon, who had belonged tothe Carbonari in his youth, and saw himself as in tune with the ideas of the day, became convinced it was his destiny todo something for Italy. In the summer of 1858, Cavour met with Napoleon III at Plombires and the two signed a secretagreement, known as the Patto di Plombires ("Pact of Plombires").[28]

Battle of Magenta

Victor Emmanuel II and Napoleon III enterMilan

Cavour and Napoleon III agreed to a joint war against Austria. Piedmont would gain the Austrian territories ofLombardy and Venetia and some territories of the former Venetian Commonwealth in the Adriatic, as well as theDuchies of Parma and Modena, while France would be rewarded with Piedmont's territories in Savoy and Nice. Centraland Southern Italy, being largely under-developed and of little interest to the wealthier north, would remain largely as itwas, although there was some talk that the Emperor's cousin Prince Napoleon would replace the Habsburgs in Tuscany.To allow France to intervene without appearing as an aggressor, Cavour was to provoke Austria by encouragingrevolutionary activity in Lombardy.[29]

At first, things did not work out as planned. Austria, ignorant of the Plombires agreement, was surprisingly patient indealing with the Piedmontese-inspired insurrections. Piedmont's mobilization in March 1859 was something of anadmission of defeat, as it appeared that the strategy of provoking Austria into aggression had failed. Without Austrianaggression, France could not intervene; and without French support, Cavour was unwilling to risk war. However, Austriaconveniently made their opponents' task easier by sending an ultimatum to Piedmont demanding demobilization.Piedmont could conveniently reject this and, by making Austria seem the aggressor, allowed France to intervene.

The war itself was quite short. The Austrian advance into Piedmont wasincompetent, and they were unable to secure the Alpine passes before thearrival of the French army, led personally by Napoleon III. At the Battle ofMagenta on 4 June, the French and Piedmontese were victorious over theAustrian army of Count Ferencz Gyulai, leading to Austrian withdrawalfrom most of Lombardy and a triumphal entry by Napoleon and VictorEmmanuel into Milan. On 24 June a second battle was fought between thetwo armies at Solferino. This bloody engagement, at which the AustrianEmperor Franz Joseph had taken personal command of his troops, saw littleskill demonstrated by either emperor, but the French were victorious. TheAustrians withdrew behind the Quadrilateral of fortresses on the borders of

Venetia. A French and Piedmontese landing force conquered the Island of Lussino (today Losinj).

Napoleon III sought peace at this point. Upon touring the Solferino battlefield, he was aghast at the casualties. He fearedthat a long and bloody campaign would be necessary to conquer Venetia, which, coupled with fear for his position athome, worry about possible intervention by German states, and dislike of a too-powerful Piedmont-Sardinia, led him tolook for a way out. On 11 July he met privately with Franz Joseph at Villafranca, without the knowledge of hisPiedmontese allies.

The two agreed on a settlement to the conflict. Austria would retain Venetia,but would cede Lombardy to France, who would then immediately cede it toPiedmont (the Austrians were unwilling to cede the area to Piedmontdirectly). Otherwise, the Italian borders would remain unchanged. In CentralItaly, where the authorities had been expelled following the outbreak of war,the rulers of Tuscany, Modena, and Parma, who had fled to Austria, wouldbe restored, while Papal control of the Legations would be resumed.Because Napoleon had not fulfilled the terms of his agreement withPiedmont, he would not gain Savoy and Nice.

The Piedmontese were outraged at this betrayal. Cavour demanded that thewar be carried on regardless and resigned when Victor Emmanuel saw thatacquiescence was the only realistic option. But most of the Villafrancaagreement would prove a dead letter long before it was formalized by the Treaty of Zrich in November. Sardiniantroops occupied the smaller Italian states and the Legations, and France was unwilling to pressure them to withdraw andallow the restoration of the old order, while Austria no longer had the power to compel it. In December, Tuscany, Parma,Modena, and the Legations were unified into the United Provinces of Central Italy, and, encouraged by Britain, beganseeking annexation by the Piedmont.

Cavour, who triumphantly returned to power in January 1860, wished to annex the territories, but realized that Frenchacquiescence was necessary. Napoleon III agreed to recognize the Piedmontese annexation in exchange for Savoy andNice. On 20 March 1860, the annexations occurred. Now Piedmont controlled most of Northern and Central Italy.[30]

Giuseppe Garibaldi

Battle of Calatafimi

The Mille expeditionThus, by the spring of 1860, only four states remained in Italy the Austrians inVenetia, the Papal States (now minus the Legations), the new expanded Kingdom ofPiedmont-Sardinia, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.[31][32][33]

Francis II of the Two Sicilies, the son and successor of Ferdinand II (the infamous "KingBomba"), had a well-organized army of 150,000 men. But his father's tyranny hadinspired many secret societies, and the kingdom's Swiss Mercenaries were unexpectedlyrecalled home under the terms of a new Swiss law that forbade Swiss citizens to serve asmercenaries. This left Francis with only his mostly-unreliable native troops. It was acritical opportunity for the unification movement. In April 1860, separate insurrectionsbegan in Messina and Palermo in Sicily, both of which had demonstrated a history ofopposing Neapolitan rule. These rebellions were easily suppressed by loyal troops.

In the meantime, Garibaldi, a native of Nice, was deeply resentful of the Frenchannexation of his home city. He hoped to use his supporters to regain the territory.Cavour, terrified of Garibaldi provoking a war with France, persuaded Garibaldi to instead use his forces in the Sicilianrebellions. On 6 May 1860, Garibaldi and his cadre of about a thousand Italian volunteers (called I Mille), steamed fromQuarto near Genoa, and, after a stop in Talamone on 11 May, landed near Marsala on the west coast of Sicily.

Near Salemi, Garibaldi's army attracted scattered bands of rebels, and the combined forces defeated the opposing armyat Calatafimi on 13 May. Within three days, the invading force had swelled to 4,000 men. On 14 May Garibaldiproclaimed himself dictator of Sicily, in the name of Victor Emmanuel. After waging various successful but hard-foughtbattles, Garibaldi advanced upon the Sicilian capital of Palermo, announcing his arrival by beacon-fires kindled at night.On 27 May the force laid siege to the Porta Termini of Palermo, while a mass uprising of street and barricade fightingbroke out within the city.

With Palermo deemed insurgent, Neapolitan general Ferdinando Lanza,arriving in Sicily with some 25,000 troops, furiously bombarded Palermonearly to ruins. With the intervention of a British admiral, an armistice wasdeclared, leading to the Neapolitan troops' departure and surrender of thetown to Garibaldi and his much smaller army.

This resounding success demonstrated the weakness of the Neapolitangovernment. Garibaldi's fame spread and many Italians began to considerhim a national hero. Doubt, confusion, and dismay overtook the Neapolitancourt the king hastily summoned his ministry and offered to restore anearlier constitution, but these efforts failed to rebuild the peoples' trust inBourbon governance.

Six weeks after the surrender of Palermo, Garibaldi attacked Messina. Within a week, its citadel surrendered. Havingconquered Sicily, Garibaldi proceeded to the mainland, crossing the Strait of Messina with the Neapolitan fleet at hand.The garrison at Reggio Calabria promptly surrendered. As he marched northward, the populace everywhere hailed him,and military resistance faded: on 18 and 21 August, the people of Basilicata and Puglia, two regions of the Kingdom ofNaples, autonomously declared their annexation to the Kingdom of Italy. At the end of August, Garibaldi was atCosenza, and, on 5 September, at Eboli, near Salerno. Meanwhile, Naples had declared a state of siege, and on 6September the king gathered the 4,000 troops still faithful to him and retreated over the Volturno river. The next day,Garibaldi, with a few followers, entered by train into Naples, where the people openly welcomed him.[34]

Defeat of the Kingdom of NaplesThough Garibaldi had easily taken the capital, the Neapolitan army had not joined the rebellion en masse, holding firmalong the Volturno River. Garibaldi's irregular bands of about 25,000 men could not drive away the king or take thefortresses of Capua and Gaeta without the help of the Sardinian army.

People cheering as GiuseppeGaribaldi enters Naples in acarriageBattle of Volturno

Victor Emmanuel meets Garibaldinear Teano.

The Sardinian army, however, could only arrive by traversing the Papal States, which extended across the entire centerof the peninsula. Ignoring the political will of the Holy See, Garibaldi announced his intent to proclaim a "Kingdom ofItaly" from Rome, the capital city of Pope Pius IX. Seeing this as a threat to the domain of the Catholic Church, Piusthreatened excommunication for those who supported such an effort. Afraid that Garibaldi would attack Rome,Catholics worldwide sent money and volunteers for the Papal Army, which wascommanded by General Louis Lamoricire, a French exile.

The settling of the peninsular standoff nowrested with Napoleon III. If he let Garibaldihave his way, Garibaldi would likely end thetemporal sovereignty of the Pope and makeRome the capital of Italy. Napoleon, however,may have arranged with Cavour to leave theking of Sardinia free to take possession ofNaples, Umbria and the other provinces,provided that Rome and the "Patrimony of St.Peter" were left intact.[35]

It was in this situation that a Sardinian force of two army corps, under Fanti and Cialdini, marched to the frontier of thePapal States, its objective being not Rome but Naples. The Papal troops under Lamoricire advanced against Cialdini,but were quickly defeated and besieged in the fortress of Ancona, finally surrendering on 29 September. On 9 October,Victor Emmanuel arrived and took command. There was no longer a papal army to oppose him, and the marchsouthward proceeded unopposed.

Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy

The Injured Garibaldi in theAspromonte Mountains (oil oncanvas)

Garibaldi distrusted the pragmatic Cavour, particularly due to Cavour's role in the French annexation of Nice, Garibaldi'sbirthplace. Nevertheless, he accepted the command of Victor Emmanuel. When the king entered Sessa Aurunca at thehead of his army, Garibaldi willingly handed over his dictatorial power. After greeting Victor Emmanuel in Teano withthe title of King of Italy, Garibaldi entered Naples riding beside the king. Garibaldi then retired to the island of Caprera,while the remaining work of unifying the peninsula was left to Victor Emmanuel.

The progress of the Sardinian army compelled Francis II to give up his line along the river, and he eventually tookrefuge with his best troops in the fortress of Gaeta. His courage boosted by his resolute young wife, Duchess MarieSophie of Bavaria, Francis mounted a stubborn defence that lasted three months. But European allies refused him aid,food and munitions became scarce, and disease set in, so the garrison was forced to surrender. Nonetheless, ragtaggroups of Neapolitans loyal to Francis fought on against the Italian government for years to come.

The fall of Gaeta brought the unification movement to the brink of fruition only Rome and Venetia remained to beadded. On 18 February 1861, Victor Emmanuel assembled the deputies of the first Italian Parliament in Turin. On 17March 1861, the Parliament proclaimed Victor Emmanuel King of Italy, and on 27 March 1861 Rome was declaredCapital of Italy, even though it was not actually in the new Kingdom.[36]

Three months later Cavour, having seen his life's work nearly complete, died. When he was given the last rites, Cavourpurportedly said: "Italy is made. All is safe."[37]

Roman QuestionMazzini was discontented with the perpetuation of monarchical government,and continued to agitate for a republic. With the motto "Free from the Alpsto the Adriatic", the unification movement set its gaze on Rome and Venice.There were obstacles, however. A challenge against the Pope's temporaldomain was viewed with great distrust by Catholics around the world, andFrench troops were stationed in Rome. Victor Emmanuel was wary of theinternational repercussions of attacking the Papal States, and discouraged hissubjects from participating in revolutionary ventures with suchintentions.[38]

Nonetheless, Garibaldi believed that the government would support him if heattacked Rome. Frustrated at inaction by the king, and bristling over perceivedsnubs, he came out of retirement to organize a new venture. In June 1862, hesailed from Genoa and landed again at Palermo, where he gathered volunteers forthe campaign, under the slogan Roma o Morte ("Rome or Death"). The garrisonof Messina, loyal to the king's instructions, barred their passage to the mainland.Garibaldi's force, now numbering two thousand, turned south and set sail fromCatania. Garibaldi declared that he would enter Rome as a victor or perishbeneath its walls. He landed at Melito on 14 August and marched at once into theCalabrian mountains.

Far from supporting this endeavour, the Italian government was quitedisapproving. General Cialdini dispatched a division of the regular army, underColonel Pallavicino, against the volunteer bands. On 28 August the two forces

met in the Aspromonte. One of the regulars fired a chance shot, and several volleys followed, but Garibaldi forbade hismen to return fire on fellow subjects of the Kingdom of Italy. The volunteers suffered several casualties, and Garibaldihimself was wounded; many were taken prisoner. Garibaldi was taken by steamer to Varignano, where he was honorablyimprisoned for a time, but finally released.

Meanwhile, Victor Emmanuel sought a safer means to the acquisition of the remaining Papal territory. He negotiatedwith Napoleon III for the removal of the French troops from Rome through a treaty. They agreed to the SeptemberConvention in September 1864, by which Napoleon agreed to withdraw the troops within two years. The Pope was to

Battle of Custoza

Victor Emmanuel II in Venice

expand his own army during that time so as to be self-sufficient. In December 1866, the last of the French troopsdeparted from Rome, in spite of the efforts of the pope to retain them. By their withdrawal, Italy (excluding Venetia andSavoy) was freed from the presence of foreign soldiers.[39]

The seat of government was moved in 1865 from Turin, the old Sardinian capital, to Florence, where the first Italianparliament was summoned. This arrangement created such disturbances in Turin that the king was forced to leave thatcity hastily for his new capital. [40]

Third War of Independence (1866)In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Austria contested with Prussia theposition of leadership among the German states. The Kingdom of Italyseized the opportunity to capture Venetia from Austrian rule and allied itselfwith Prussia. Austria tried to persuade the Italian government to acceptVenetia in exchange for non-intervention. However, on 8 April, Italy andPrussia signed an agreement that supported Italy's acquisition of Venetia,and on 20 June Italy declared war on Austria. Within the context of Italianunification, the Austro-Prussian war is called Third Independence War, afterthe First (1848) and the Second (1859).[41]

Victor Emmanuel hastened to lead an army across the Mincio to the invasionof Venetia, while Garibaldi was to invade the Tyrol with his Hunters of theAlps. The enterprise ended in disaster. The Italian army encountered the Austrians at Custoza on 24 June and suffered adefeat. On 20 July the Regia Marina was defeated in the battle of Lissa. Italy's fortunes were not all so dismal, though.The following day, Garibaldi's volunteers defeated an Austrian force in the battle of Bezzecca, and moved towardTrento.[42]

Meanwhile, Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck saw that his own ends in the war had been achieved, and signed anarmistice with Austria on 27 July. Italy officially laid down its arms on 12 August. Garibaldi was called back from hissuccessful march and resigned with a brief telegram reading only "Obbedisco" ("I obey").

In spite of Italy's poor showing, Prussia's success on the northern frontobliged Austria to cede Venetia. Under the terms of a peace treaty signed inVienna on October 12, Emperor Franz Joseph had already agreed to cedeVenetia to Napoleon III in exchange for non-intervention in the Austro-Prussian War and thus Napoleon III ceded Venetia to Italy on 19 October inexchange for the earlier Italian acquiescence to the French annexation ofSavoy and Nice.

In the peace treaty of Vienna, it was written that the annexation of Venetiawould have become effective only after a referendum taken on 21 and 22October to let the Venetian people express their will about being annexedor not to the Kingdom of Italy. Historians suggest that the referendum inVenetia was held under military pressure,[43] as a mere 0.01% of voters (69out of more than 642,000 ballots) voted against the annexation.[44] However it should be admitted that the re-establishment of a Republic of Venice orphan of Istria and Dalmatia had little chances to develop.

Austrian forces put up some opposition to the invading Italians, to little effect. Victor Emmanuel entered Venice andVenetian land, and performed an act of homage in the Piazza San Marco.[45]

RomeMentana and Villa Glori

Garibaldi at Mentana, 3rd November 1867

Capture of Rome

The national party, with Garibaldi at its head, still aimed at the possession ofRome, as the historic capital of the peninsula. In 1867 Garibaldi made asecond attempt to capture Rome, but the papal army, strengthened with anew French auxiliary force, defeated his badly armed volunteers at Mentana.Subsequently, a French garrison remained in Civitavecchia until August1870, when it was recalled following the outbreak of the Franco-PrussianWar.

Before the defeat at Mentana, Enrico Cairoli, his brother Giovanni and 70companions had made a daring attempt to take Rome. The group hadembarked in Terni and floated down the Tiber. Their arrival in Rome was tocoincide with an uprising inside the city. On 22 October 1867, the revolutionaries inside Rome seized control of theCapitoline Hill and of Piazza Colonna. Unfortunately for the Cairolis and their companions, by the time they arrived atVilla Glori, on the northern outskirts of Rome, the uprising had already been suppressed. During the night of 22 October1867, the group was surrounded by Papal Zouaves, and Giovanni was severely wounded. Enrico was mortally woundedand bled to death in Giovanni's arms.

With the Cairoli dead, command was assumed by Giovanni Tabacchi who had retreated back with the remainingvolunteers into the villa, where they continued to fire at the papal soldiers, which drew back in the evening and retired toRome. The survivors retreated to the positions of Garibaldi, the Italian border.[46]

MemorialAt the summit of Villa Glori, near the spot where Enrico died, there is a plain white column dedicated to the Cairolibrothers and their 70 companions. About 100 meters to the left from the top of the Spanish Steps, there is a bronzemonument of Giovanni holding the dying Enrico in his arm. A plaque lists the names of their companions. Giovanninever recovered from his wounds and from the tragic events of 1867. According to an eyewitness,[47] when Giovannidied on 11 September 1869:

In the last moments, he had a vision of Garibaldi and seemed to greet him with enthusiasm. I heard (so saysa friend who was present) him say three times: "The union of the French to the papal political supporterswas the terrible fact!" he was thinking about Mentana. Many times he called Enrico, that he might help him!then he said: "but we will certainly win; we will go to Rome!"

Capture of RomeIn July 1870, the Franco-Prussian War began. In early August, the FrenchEmperor Napoleon III recalled his garrison from Rome, thus no longerproviding protection to the Papal State. Widespread public demonstrationsillustrated the demand that the Italian government take Rome. The Italiangovernment took no direct action until the collapse of the Second FrenchEmpire at the Battle of Sedan. King Victor Emmanuel II sent Count GustavoPonza di San Martino to Pius IX with a personal letter offering a face-savingproposal that would have allowed the peaceful entry of the Italian Army intoRome, under the guise of offering protection to the pope. The Papacy,however, exhibited something less than enthusiasm for the plan:

The Popes reception of San Martino (10 September 1870) wasunfriendly. Pius IX allowed violent outbursts to escape him. Throwingthe Kings letter upon the table he exclaimed, "Fine loyalty! You areall a set of vipers, of whited sepulchres, and wanting in faith." He wasperhaps alluding to other letters received from the King. After,

The Quirinal Palace in Rome became thehead of state of Italy's official residence(royal residence of the Kings of Italy andafter the Italian constitutional referendum,1946 residence and workplace for thePresidents of the Italian Republic).

growing calmer, he exclaimed: "I am no prophet, nor son of a prophet,but I tell you, you will never enter Rome!" San Martino was somortified that he left the next day.[48]

The Italian Army, commanded by General Raffaele Cadorna, crossed the papal frontier on 11 September and advancedslowly toward Rome, hoping that a peaceful entry could be negotiated. The Italian Army reached the Aurelian Walls on19 September and placed Rome under a state of siege. Although now convinced of his unavoidable defeat, Pius IXremained intransigent to the bitter end and forced his troops to put up a token resistance. On 20 September, after acannonade of three hours had breached the Aurelian Walls at Porta Pia, the Bersaglieri entered Rome and marched downVia Pia, which was subsequently renamed Via XX Settembre. 49 Italian soldiers and four officers, and 19 papal troopsdied. Rome and Latium were annexed to the Kingdom of Italy after a plebiscite held on 2 October. The results of thisplebiscite were accepted by decree of 9 October.

Initially the Italian government had offered to let the pope keep the LeonineCity, but the Pope rejected the offer because acceptance would have been animplied endorsement of the legitimacy of the Italian kingdom's rule over hisformer domain. Pius IX declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican, althoughhe was not actually restrained from coming and going. Rather, beingdeposed and stripped of much of his former power also removed a measureof personal protection if he had walked the streets of Rome he mighthave been in danger from political opponents who had formerly kept theirviews private. Officially, the capital was not moved from Florence to Romeuntil July 1871.[49]

Historian Raffaele de Cesare made the following observations about Italianunification:

The Roman question was the stone tied to Napoleons feet thatdragged him into the abyss. He never forgot, even in August 1870, amonth before Sedan, that he was a sovereign of a Catholic country,that he had been made Emperor, and was supported by the votes of theConservatives and the influence of the clergy; and that it was hissupreme duty not to abandon the Pontiff.[50]

For twenty years Napoleon III had been the true sovereign of Rome, where he had many friends andrelations. Without him the temporal power would never have been reconstituted, nor, being reconstituted,would have endured.[51]

Post-Risorgimento problemsItalian unification is still a topic of debate. According to Massimo d'Azeglio, centuries of foreign dominations havecreated remarkable differences in several parts of Italy in terms of society, and the role of the newly formed governmentis to face these differences and to create a united Italian society. Still today the most famous quote of Massimo d'Azegliois: "L'Italia fatta. Restano da fare gli italiani" (literally: Italy has been made. Now it remains to make Italians; but it isoften reported more colloquially as: We have made Italy. Now we must make Italians).[52]

Several scholars studied positive and negative aspects of Italian Unification. The economist and politician FrancescoSaverio Nitti wrote that the newly created state didn't take in consideration the economic differences between NorthernItaly (that already had an advanced free market economy) and Southern Italy (that based its development on the stateprotectionism of few private initiatives with a limited use of new technologies); when the Kingdom of Italy extended thefree market economy to the rest of the country, it was totally helpless for the South as well as destructive for its already

Caricature of the Post-Risorgimento:Italia Turrita at the centre points outto Enrico Cialdini (on the right) allher enemies around Napoleon III(turned into a tree): from the left,Pope Pius IX, Bourbons, clergy, andbrigands. In the background,Giuseppe Garibaldi plows up his landin Caprera.

Massimo d'Azeglio

weak economy. He thought that this change shouldhave been much more constant in order to allow thebirth of an adequate entrepreneurial class able tomake strong investments and initiatives in the south.These mistakes were the cause of the economic andsocial problems known as Southern Question(Questione Meridionale).[53][54]

The politician, historian and writer GaetanoSalvemini said that even though Italian Unification isa strong opportunity of a moral and economic rebirthof Italy's Mezzogiorno (Southern Italy), most of theItalian politicians didn't understand the importanceof the battle against corruption and organized crimein the South as well as in the North. The political theorist Antonio Gramscicriticized Italian Unification for the limited presence of the masses as well as thelack of a modern land reform.[55] [56]

Revisionism of Risorgimento produced a clear radicalization in mid-twentiethcentury, after the fall of the Savoy monarchy and fascism, for which Risorgimento was considered an intangible myth.Reviews of the historical facts concerning Italian unification have also been undertaken by some foreign academicauthors, such as Denis Mack Smith, Christopher Duggan, and Lucy Riall. Historians have also developed two additionaltopics: the role of the masonic lodges and foreign powers (Great Britain and France in particular) and the controversialsuppression of brigandage.[57]

Risorgimento and IrredentismThe process of unification of the Italian people in a national State was not completed in the nineteenth century. ManyItalians remained outside the borders of the Kingdom of Italy and this situation created the Italian irredentism.

Italia irredenta (Unredeemed Italy) was an Italian nationalist opinion movement that emerged after Italian unification. Itadvocated irredentism among the Italian people as well as other nationalities who were willing to become Italian and asa movement; it is also known as "Italian irredentism". Not a formal organization, it was just an opinion movement thatclaimed that Italy had to reach its "natural borders". Similar patriotic and nationalistic ideas were common in Europe inthe 19th century.[58]

Irredentism and the two World WarsDuring the post-unification era, some Italians were dissatisfied with the current state of the Italian Kingdom since theywanted the kingdom to include Trieste, Istria, and other adjacent territories, as well. This Italian irredentism succeededin World War I with the annexation of Trieste and Trento, with the respective territories of Venezia Giulia and Trentino.

The Kingdom of Italy had declared neutrality at the beginning of the war, officially because the Triple Alliance withGermany and Austria-Hungary was a defensive one, requiring its members to come under attack first. Many Italianswere still hostile to Austria's continuing occupation of ethnically Italian areas, and Italy chose not to enter. Austria-Hungary requested Italian neutrality, while the Triple Entente (which included Great Britain, France and Russia)requested its intervention. With the London Pact, signed in April 1915, Italy agreed to declare war against the CentralPowers, in exchange for the irredent territories of Friuli, Trentino, and Dalmatia (see Italia irredenta).

Italian irredentism obtained an important result after the First World War, when Italy gained Trieste, Gorizia, Istria, andthe city of Zara. During the Second World War, after the Axis attack on Yugoslavia, Italy created the "Governatorato diDalmazia" (from 1941 to September 1943), so the Kingdom of Italy annexed temporarily even Split(Italian Spalato),Kotor (Cattaro), and most of coastal Dalmatia. From 1942 to 1943, even Corsica and Nice (Italian Nizza) weretemporarily annexed to the Kingdom of Italy, nearly fulfilling in those years the ambitions of Italian irredentism.

Celebration in Florence

Palazzo Vecchio, Florence

The Vittoriano in Rome, honoringKing Victor Emmanuel andcelebrating the unity of Italy. Thedecision to build it was reached in1878, shortly after the king's deaththat year; the site on the CapitolineHill was chosen in 1882; and thedesign of 28 year-old GiuseppeSacconi was selected in 1884.Construction began in 1885 and themonument was inaugurated in 1911,although features were subsequentlyadded or altered during the fascistperiod.

Anniversary of Risorgimento

Monument to Italia Turrita in Reggio Calabria

For its avowed purpose the movement had the "emancipation" of all Italian landsstill subject to foreign rule after Italian unification. The Irredentists tooklanguage as the test of the alleged Italian nationality of the countries theyproposed to emancipate, which were Trentino, Trieste, Dalmatia, Istria, Gorizia,Ticino, Nice (Nizza), Corsica, and Malta. Austria-Hungary promoted Croatinterests in Dalmatia and Istria to weaken Italian claims in the western Balkansbefore the First World War.[59]

After World War IIAfter WWII the irredentism movement faded away in Italian politics. Only a fewthousand Italians remain in Istria and Dalmatia as a consequence of the Italiandefeat in WWII and of the slaughter of few thousands of Italians as reprisals forfascist atrocities and the subsequent choice to keep Italian citizenship by anadditional approximately 400,000 people in what became known as the Istrianexodus. However only 350,000 refugees were ethnic Italians (76% of which bornin the territories surrendered), the others being ethnic Slovenians, ethnicCroatians, and ethnic Istro-Romanians, choosing to maintain Italiancitizenship.[60]

Anniversary of RisorgimentoItaly celebrates the Anniversary of Risorgimento every fifty years, onMarch 17 (date of proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy).

The anniversary occurred in 1911 (50th), 1961 (100th) and 2011(150th) with several celebrations throughout the country.[61]

150th Anniversary of Risorgimento

A castle near Modena

Mole Antonelliana during theanniversary, Turin

Rieti

Banner in Milan

Observed by ItalyType NationalSignificance Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy

on March 17, 1861Celebrations Parades, Fireworks, Concerts,

Picnics, Balls, Trade showsDate March 17Frequency every fifty years

Fiat Mirafiori Motor Village, Turin

Ferrari with the logo of the 150thanniversary of Risorgimento

Mourning Italia turrita on thetomb to Vittorio Alfieri byAntonio Canova.

Culture and RisorgimentoArtIn art, this period was characterised by the Neoclassicism that draws inspiration fromthe "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome. The main Italiansculptor was Antonio Canova who became famous for his marble sculptures thatdelicately rendered nude flesh. The mourning Italia turrita on the tomb to VittorioAlfieri is one of the main works of Risorgimento by Canova.

Francesco Hayez was another remarkable artist of this period whose works oftencontain allegories about Italian unification. His most known painting The Kiss aims toportray the spirit of the Risorgimento: the man wears red, white and green,representing the Italian patriots fighting for independence from the Austro-Hungarianempire while the girl's pale blue dress signifies France, which in 1859 (the year of thepainting's creation) made an alliance with the Kingdom of Piedmont and Sardiniaenabling the latter to unify the many states of the Italian peninsula into the newkingdom of Italy. Hayez's three paintings on the Sicilian Vespers are an implicit protestagainst the foreign domination of Italy.

Andrea Appiani and Domenico Induno are also known for their patriotic canvases.Risorgimento was also represented by works not necessarily linked to Neoclassicismas in the case of Giovanni Fattori who was one of the leaders of the group known asthe Macchiaioli that soon became a leading Italian plein-airists, painting landscapes, rural scenes, and scenes of militarylife during the Italian unification.[62]

LiteratureIn literature, lots of works were dedicated to Risorgimento since the beginning. The most known writer of Risorgimentois Alessandro Manzoni whose works are a symbol of the Italian unification, both for its patriotic message and because ofhis efforts in the development of the modern, unified Italian language; he is famous for the novel The Betrothed (orig.Italian: I Promessi Sposi) (1827), generally ranked among the masterpieces of world literature.

Vittorio Alfieri, considered as the founder of a new school in the Italian drama, expressed in several occasions hissuffering about the foreign domination's tyranny.

Ugo Foscolo describes in his works the passion and love for the fatherland and the glorious history of the Italian people;these two concepts are respectively well expressed in two masterpieces, The Last Letters of Jacopo Ortis and DeiSepolcri.

The Kiss (1859) by FrancescoHayez Portrait of Alessandro Manzoni

(1841) by Francesco Hayez

Portrait of Francesco DeSanctis (1890) by FrancescoSaverio Altamura

Vincenzo Monti, known for the Italian translation ofthe Iliad, described in his works both enthusiasmsand disappointments of Risorgimento until his death.

Giovanni Berchet wrote a poetry characterised by ahigh moral, popular and social content; he alsocontributed to Il Conciliatore, a progressive bi-weekly scientific and literary journal, influential inthe early Risorgimento that was published in Milanfrom September 1818 until October 1819 when itwas closed by the Austrian censors; its writersincluded also Lodovico di Breme, Giuseppe Nicoliniand Silvio Pellico.

Giacomo Leopardi is generally considered one of themost important poets of Risorgimento thanks toworks such as Canzone all'Italia and Risorgimento.

Niccol Tommaseo, the editor of the Italian Language Dictionary in eight volumes, isconsidered a precursor of the Italian irredentism and his works are a rare examples of ametropolitan culture above nationalism; he supported the liberal revolution headed byDaniele Manin against the Austrian Empire and he will always support the unificationof Italy.

Francesco de Sanctis is considered one of the most important scholars of Italianlanguage and literature in the 19th century; he supported the Revolution of 1848 inNaples and for this reason he was imprisoned for three years; his reputation as alecturer on Dante in Turin brought him the appointment of professor at ETH Zrich in1856; he returned to Naples as minister of public instruction after the unification ofItaly.

The writer and patriot Luigi Settembrini published anonymously the Protest of thePeople of the Two Sicilies, a scathing indictment of the Bourbon government and wasimprisoned and exiled several times by the Bourbons because of his support toRisorgimento; after the formation of the Kingdom of Italy, he was appointed professor of Italian literature at theUniversity of Naples.

Ippolito Nievo is another main representant of Risorgimento with his novel Confessioni d'un italiano; he fought withGiuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand.

Risorgimento was also depicted in several famous novels: The Leopard written by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa,Heart by Edmondo De Amicis and Piccolo mondo antico by Antonio Fogazzaro.[63]

MusicRisorgimento was characterised by the support of several famous Italian composers. In his L'italiana in Algeri (TheItalian Girl in Algiers), Gioachino Rossini expressed his support to the unification of Italy; the patriotic line Pensa allapatria, e intrepido il tuo dover adempi: vedi per tutta Italia rinascere gli esempi dardir e di valor / "Think about thefatherland and intrepid do your duty: see for all Italy the birth of the examples of courage and value" was censored in theKingdom of Two Sicilies.

Vincenzo Bellini was a member of the Carbonari and in his masterpiece I puritani (The Puritans), the last part of Act 2is an allegory to Italian unification. Another Bellini opera, Norma, was at the center of an unexpected standing ovationduring its performance in Milan in 1859: while the chorus was performing Guerra, guerra! Le galliche selve (War, war!The Gallic forests) in Act 2, the Italians began to greet the chorus with loud applause and to yell the word "War!" severaltimes towards the Austrian officers at the opera house.[64]

Verdi's bust outside the TeatroMassimo in Palermo

The final scene of the opera Risorgimento! byLorenzo Ferrero

The relationship between Gaetano Donizetti and the Risorgimento is still controversial; even though Giuseppe Mazzinitried to use some of Donizetti's works for promoting the Italian cause, Donizetti had always preferred not to get involvedin politics.[65]

Nevertheless, Giuseppe Verdi is considered the most important composer and an emblematic figure of the Risorgimento;many of his works are linked to Italian unification. In particular, the Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves (known as Va,pensiero) from the third act of the opera Nabucco was intended to be an anthem for Italian patriots, who were seeking tounify their country and free it from foreign control in the years up to 1861 (the chorus's theme of exiles singing abouttheir homeland, and its lines like O mia patria, si bella e perduta / "O my country, so lovely and so lost" was thought tohave resonated with many Italians).[66] Beginning in Naples in 1859 and spreading throughout Italy, the slogan "VivaVERDI" was used as an acronym for Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re D'Italia (Viva Victor Emmanuel King of Italy),referring to Victor Emmanuel II.[67][68]

Goffredo Mameli and Michele Novaro are known to be respectively the writer and the composer of Il Canto degliItaliani (The Song of the Italians) which would be adopted as the Italian national anthem after the birth of the ItalianRepublic even though it was already common during Risorgimento, and Giuseppe Verdi chose Il Canto degli Italiani torepresent Italy in the London International Exhibition of 1862.[69]

The Resurgence is the subject of an opera, Risorgimento! (2011) by Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero, written tocommemorate the 150th anniversary of the Italian unification.

FilmsThe Leopard is a film from 1963, based on the novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, and directed by LuchinoVisconti. It features Burt Lancaster as the eponymous character, the Prince of Salina. The film depicts his reaction to theRisorgimento, and his vain attempts to retain his social standing.

There are other movies set in this period:

1860 (1934), by Alessandro BlasettiPiccolo mondo antico (1941), by Mario SoldatiUn garibaldino al convento (1942), by Vittorio De SicaHeart and Soul (1948), by Vittorio De SicaSenso (1954), by Luchino ViscontiGaribaldi (1961), by Roberto Rossellini1870 (1971), by Alfredo GiannettiIl generale (serial) (1987), by Luigi MagniNoi credevamo (2010), by Mario Martone

Maps of Italy during Italian unification

Garibaldi and Cavour making Italy ina satirical cartoon of 1861.

Italy in 1859: orangeKingdom of Sardinia,blue Kingdom ofLombardyVenetia(Austrian Empire), lightgreen Duchy of Parma,green Duchy ofModena, dark greenGrand Duchy ofTuscany, red PapalStates, yellow Kingdomof Two Sicilies.

Italy in 1860: orangeKingdom of Sardinia,blue Kingdom ofLombardyVenetia(Austrian Empire), pinkUnited Provinces ofCentral Italy, red PapalStates, yellow Kingdomof Two Sicilies.

Italy in 1861: orangeKingdom of Italy, blueKingdom of LombardyVenetia (AustrianEmpire), red PapalStates.

Kingdom of Italy in1870

Kingdom of Italy in1919

Maps of Italy before Italian unification

Italy in 1494

Italy in 1796

Italy in 1810

References1. ^ Collier, Martin (2003). Italian unification, 182071. Heinemann Advanced History (First ed.). Oxford: Heinemann. p. 2.

ISBN 0-435-32754-2. "The Risorgimento is the name given to the process that ended with the political unification of Italy in 1871"2. ^ Riall, Lucy (1994). The Italian Risorgimento: state, society, and national unification (First ed.). London: Routledge. p. 1.

ISBN 0-203-41234-6. "The functional importance of the Risorgimento to both Italian politics and Italian historiography has madethis short period (181560) one of the most contested and controversial in modern Italian history"

3. ^ Arnaldi, Girolamo : Italy and Its Invaders. Harvard University Press, 2005. Page 194. ISBN 0-674-01870-24. ^ Machiavelli and Empire Mikael Hrnqvist Google Books (http://books.google.com/?

id=wLY2tlPZqvsC&pg=PA257&dq=petrarch+l'antico+valor#v=onepage&q=petrarch%20l'antico%20valor&f=false).Books.google.com. 2004-11-25. ISBN 9781139456340. Retrieved 2012-08-01.

5. ^ Essays on Petrarch Ugo Foscolo, Lady Barbarina Dacre Google Books (http://books.google.com/?id=uOsZAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA132&dq=petrarch+l'antico+valor#v=onepage&q=petrarch%20l'antico%20valor&f=false).Books.google.com. 1823. Retrieved 2012-08-01.

6. ^ Manuale della letteratura italiana Alessandro D'Ancona, Orazio Bacci Google Boeken (http://books.google.com/books?id=o0YLAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA380#v=onepage&q&f=false). Books.google.com. 1906. Retrieved 2012-08-01.

7. ^ Holt, Edgar (1971). The Making of Italy: 18151870. New York: Murray Printing Company. pp. 2223.8. ^ Nicassio, Susan Vandiver (2009). Imperial City: Rome Under Napoleon (University of Chicago Press ed.). United States of

America: University of Chicago Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-226-57973-3.9. ^ http://www.napoleon.org/en/reading_room/articles/files/hicks_napoleon_kingitaly.asp

10. ^ Astarita, Tommaso (2000). Between Salt Water And Holy Water: A History Of Southern Italy. p. 264.11. ^ http://digitool.fcla.edu/R/EBBLV18785TVXBTP8VTCSM1AGUFD9JRFEN5LEDSE9H5NAQX8VU-02053?func=dbin-jump-

full&object_id=3084790&local_base=GEN01&pds_handle=GUEST12. ^ E.E.Y. Hales (1954). Pio Nono: A Study in European Politics and Religion in the Nineteenth Century. P.J. Kenedy.13. ^ http://www.italiaunita150.fondazionespirito.it/relazione_breschi.pdf14. ^ Galt, Anthony (December 1994). "The Good Cousins' Domain of Belonging: Tropes in Southern Italian Secret Society Symbol

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External linksThe Risorgimento: A Time for Reunification(http://www.pirandello.com/risorg.html)Women of the Risorgimento (http://www.florin.ms/laurel.html)Garibaldi & The Risorgimento (http://dl.lib.brown.edu/garibaldi)Cavour and the Unification of Italy (http://www.age-of-the-sage.org/history/italian_unification.html)

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