1. Unifying Italy: Nationalism #3
Italian Peninsula:
Spoke same language
No political unity
HOWEVER --- Italians are used to identifying with local regions: Venice – Venetians; Naples – Neapolitans, etc.

2. Obstacles to Italian Unity
The Congress of Vienna gave much of the Italian peninsula to Austria, and France.
Italians want that land back – they want their own unified nation.

3. Unification Made Sense:
Common geography (peninsula)
Common language
Common history
Return to glories of ancient Rome
Practical economic sense
Slowly but surely, under the leadership of Mazzini, Cavour, and Garibaldi - and their followers, the Italian people won back Rome and all the other provinces.

4. For the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire, Italy becomes a united land!!!

5. Challenges Facing the New Nation
Difficult to cement so many different states into one united nation
North – richer, more cities, factories
South – rural, poor, farmland

6. Challenges Facing the New Nation
Catholic Church / Popes resented take over of Papal States & Rome
Pope urged Catholics not to cooperate w/new government

7. Economic Progress After 1900 – very slow economic progress
Few natural resources like coal –
Urbanization – peasants moved to cities for jobs in factories –dangerous, overcrowded cities, dirty slums, discontent.

8. Overcrowding, too few jobs and bad conditions led to EMIGRATION – the movement of people away from their homeland
Overcrowding created tension
Many Italians left for the United States, Canada and Latin America
By 1914 – Italy much better off than in 1861
BUT – Italy was NOT prepared for the great war that broke out later that year