Revision – Session 1 The Unification of Italy

Italy  Treaty of Vienna 1815 Italy divided into 4 main areas  Naples  Papal States  Austrian Lands (Lombardy, Venetia, The Duchies)  Piedmont-Sardinia

Italy  King of Naples, The Pope and the Austrians were not interested in changing the way Italy was governed  Piedmont wanted change

Cavour’s domestic policies  Owned large estates and used modern farming methods  Encouraged development of banking and railways  Founded newspaper – Il Risorgimento – in 1847  Looked at Britain and France as examples  Supported creation of Piedmontese constitution  Reduced the power of the Catholic church  Abolished church courts

Cavour’s domestic policies  1850 he became a government minister  He raised taxes and borrowed from French banks to clear debt and build railways  He invited foreign banks to invest in Piedmont  1852 he became Prime Minister  He abolished monasteries  He insisted on only speaking Italian  He persuaded the king Victor Emmanuel II that parliament should stay

Cavour’s domestic policies  Main aim = to make Piedmont strong and modern  Economy and industry = the strongest in Italy  Wanted to get rid of foreign rulers in Italy  After failure of war with Austria seems too difficult  He needed to get help of a foreign power like Britain or France

The Defeat of Austria  Cavour would get the help of Britain or France by helping them in the Crimean war (1854-5)  At the Paris Peace Conference at the end of the war – Europe listened to Cavour’s problems  Nothing happened until 1858 when Orsini tried to assasinate Napoleon III – Cavour helped the French find the culprit  Orsini’s at his arrest made desparate plea for help with Italy’s problems made Napoleon decide to help

The Defeat of Austria  Napoleon met Cavour in secret at Plombieres  In December 1858 a treaty was signed to say that France would help Piedmont in a war against Austria in return for Nice and Savoy  Cavour provoked the Austrians into war by ordering his army reserves to report for duty

The Defeat of Austria  French forces helped the Piedmontese win victories at Magenta and Solferino  The second battle was so bloody that Napoleon sought an armistice  Napoleon was also worried things were getting out of hand  People in the Austrian duchies had driven out their rulers…

The Defeat of Austria  Napoleon offered an armistice without consulting Cavour  He met the Austrian Emperor at Villafranca in July 1859  They agreed that Lombardy should be given over and Venetia would remain Austrian  Austrian dukes were reinstated to their duchies  Cavour was furious and resigned

Defeat of Austria  But when the Austrian dukes returned to their duchies they were expelled and the people voted to join Piedmont  Cavour became Prime Minister again in 1860 and persuaded Napoleon III to agree to their Treaty – in return for Nice and Savoy Piedmont kept Lombardy and the duchies.  Austria stilll controlled Venetia  The campaign was partly successful

Garibaldi  Revolts against their rulers occured in south as well as north Italy  1860 revolt against the king of Naples – it was crushed but did not go unnoticed  Garibaldi, a freedom fighter, decided to support the people of Naples  He had supported Cavour but did NOT support the fact that he had handed Nice over to the French  He was about to go to Nice and help defend it from the French when he heard of the troubles in Sicily and went there instead

Garibaldi  In May 1860 he set sail for Sicily with a thousand volunteer ‘soldiers’ – the redshirts  They defeated the king of Naples army in Sicily by the end of July  Then went to the mainland – they were able to cross the sea because they were mistaken for British soldiers  Garibaldi took the city of Naples and the king fled  Garibaldi then planned to march onto the Papal States and possibly to Venetia

The Papal States  Cavour had watched on as Garibaldi conquered Naples  He was that Garibaldi might attack Rome as this would prompt the French to defend  Cavour ordered Piedmontese troops to march south and stop Garibaldi  The two armies met and Garibaldi handed over his conquests to Victor Emmanuel

The Papal States  Most of the Papal states broke away from the Pope and voted to join Piedmont  Naples and Sicily did the same  Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed March 1861  Victor Emmanuel was first king  Rome and a small area around it and Venetia (still controlled by the Austrians) were not part of the kingdom – although it was what many Venetians wanted

Venetia and Rome  1862 Garibaldi tried again to occupy Rome but was stopped by Piedmont  1864 Napoleon agreed to move his troops from Rome if Italian capital was moved to Florence  1866 French removed troops from Rome  May 1866 Italy signed a Treaty with Prussia  Prussia went to war with Austria  Austria signed a secret Treaty with France (so the French would stay out of the war – terms = hand Venetia over to Italy)

Venetia and Rome  Prussia defeated Austria  Austria leaves Venetia – Venetia becomes part of Italy 1866  Garibaldi attempted to occupy Rome AGAIN and results in more French troops being sent to Rome  1870 Franco-Prussian war = withdrawal of French troops  Piedmontese army occupy Rome in September 1870  Becomes part of Italy in October and is proclaimed capital