You will all be responsible to post at least twice about the following questions. Be sure not to repeat information and try to build off of one anothers posts. Try to post links and videos that might help to explain your point of view and allow the conversation to go where your intellectual curiosity takes you.
Discuss the motives and methods of the driving forces behind Italian unification.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDR71qy05vE&feature=related
ReplyDeleteIn Italy, and important journalist and activist was Giuseppe Mazzini. Named the Heart of Italian unification, his writings voiced the plights of the people, namely the working class. He was widely read by people from all over Italy and by all social classes, including the wealthy, influential people of the upper class. The treachery Italians had to face at the hands of their government was sympathized by all and created a nationalistic feeling that moved the people to want a change in society. He took the soul of Italy and put it on paper, and he became the voice of revolution.
ReplyDeleteMazzini also created a nationalist group called Young Italy. However, this group was suppressed and ended by France and Austria. Fortunately, Mazzini’s writings had already sent the Italian people on a nationalist movement. They not only called for reform but for a revolution and independence from the powers controlling them. They all wanted political freedom and individual freedom, and Mazzini’s writings showed the people that they shared common enemies, which would be an important driving force to their unification.
This is a little hard to hear at first, make sure your volume is all the way, but the info is good.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ye0A-pBoPE&feature=related
This was a good informitive video as well.... and they Rhyme!!! :)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YCQnq-1Wxk&feature=related
In 1848, Italian liberals made an aborted attempt to create an Italian state. Although the attempt failed, the dream for a state never disappeared. Following the collapse of the short-lived Roman Republic, Pope Pius IX, when his authority in Rome was restored, inspired increasingly reactionary policies. Liberals no longer saw any potential for the realization of a federation of Italian states headed by the pope. Although some liberals wanted nothing less than that creating of an Italian republic, an increasing number looked with hope to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, the one Italian state that had preserved its liberal constitution since the year of revolutions.
ReplyDeleteThe true architect of Italian unification, or what is referred to in Italian as the Risorgimento, was not the King of Piedmont-Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel II, but Camillo di Cavour, his chief minister. Cavour was quite different from earlier Italian nationalists like Giuseppe Mazzini, who saw state-building in romanticized terms. Cavour was a far more practical individual who primarily sought ways to enhance the power of the Sardinian state.
Cavour realized that creating an Italian state would require the expulsion of Austria from the Italian peninsula. Events in 1848 foreshadowed the impossibility of succeeding in this expulsion without the aid of some other European state, so Cavour entered into a secret alliance with France. Cavour has sent the groundwork for this relationship by cleverly entering the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia in the Crimean War on the side of France and Britain, and although its participation was minimal, it earned Napoleon III’s gratitude. Napoleon III was additionally interested in aiding the Sardinians because Austria was a traditional enemy of the French state. Napoleon III also periodically looked for foreign military adventures, so that he could live up to his famous namesake.
ReplyDeleteThis video is pure genius and everyone has to check it out!!!!!!! It is an AP Euro project on Italian Unification presented with legos and toy soldiers. Despite this comical fact, it is very accurate and interesting.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBZ-JDpQyu0
Heres a decent video on Italian unification, it has nice background music and pictures.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHh76Jd2csA&feature=related
The Italian Unification was based off the need for its country to become heavily nationalistic and supportive of the attempt to unify Italy into one country. The unification was a reaction against the congress of Vienna which allowed for there to become direct Austrian rule in many of the Italian states. However, since Italy was occupied by France during the Napoleonic wars many of the Italians had been affected by the revolutionary ideas such as the French Revolution’s pursuit for liberty, fraternity, and equality. For some Italians, such as conservative politicians, unification was supported because it enabled economic development (which was especially important for Northern Italy, who was going under industrialization.) The conservatives believed that unification would lead to a larger market, a more uniformed currency, better manufacturing standards, improved transportation, and either the reduction or elimination of tariffs. Unifying Italy was the only way for its country to move forward in history in order to prosper. One leader in the process towards unification was Joseph Mazzini who was also greatly influenced by the French Revolution and believed that the central theme of nationalism was the goal to have a sharing of language, customs, historical tradition, hope and geographical stability. Mazzini believed that a unified Italy would hopefully lead to a better unified state.
ReplyDeleteUnifying Italy was not an easy task, as we can see. As Valerie had mentioned, Italy needed to be unified under nationalism in order to get anywhere else in the world. You can’t have a country that is made up of a variety of people with different views on how certain things should be run and what should be changed here and there and expect them to cooperate. War was something that Giuseppe Garibaldi had focused on the most during this long period of unification. War brings people and nations together, even though it seems like it is doing the opposite at some points. We can look at the United States for instance, during the Civil War. You had the North against the South, two very different areas of the U.S., fighting over slavery. One thought it was right, the other, wrong, thus making creating a divided nation. It took war to unite a nation. The downfall to war was that there were many casualties. As we can see by the Civil War, many brave men lost there lives fighting for what they each believed was right. The Italian unification movement was very similar, in the sense that Garibaldi believed that, if people could ban together in times of war, they would be more likely to put aside there differences later on. Nationalism is often amplified in times of war because people who are fighting for the same cause throw away all of their indifferences and unite with one another in order to fight for what they all believe in.
ReplyDeleteThere were three main people who really had a huge impact and were able to get Italy to unification. Giuseppe Mazzini, Camillo di Cavour, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, these men were all very important in the unification process but Ill focus on Garibaldi. Known as the sword due to his military tactics involved in the the unification of Italy. He joined the movement of working to get Italy independance and unification. Even narrowly missing death a few times. Garibaldi eventually stepped into the direction of helping Italy gain unification by forming an alliance with Victor Emmanuel II. Garabaldi managed to conquer both Sicily and then Naples. In Sicily he set up a government and he delivered Naples to King Emmanuel. Italy was finally unified once the annexation of Umbria and Marches from the papal government happened. However Rome and Venice still remained un unified with Italy.
ReplyDeleteI feel that one of the major factors that led to the unification of Italy was the group referred to as the Romantic Republicans. A group that can often be associated with the Republicans is the Carbonari. However, their revolts would fail in 1831. The eventual leader of the Republican group would be Giuseppe Mazzini. Another famous Republican was Giuseppe Garibaldi. These two people wer involved in the Roman Republic of 1849. I feel that they wanted to create a new Roman Empire. They wanted to return to a strong and unified Italy. This can be compared to Mussolini in World War Two and his dreams of a second Roman Empire. It was a sense of nationalism that all the Italians on the peninsula shared. Furthermore, the people as a whole shared the idea of unification. However, it varied from region to region. Cavour for example did not agree with the Republicans. He believed that the country should be ruled under a Monarch. He along with the other fathers of Italian unification realized it was there time to act. Garibaldi and his Risorgimento would be a strong influence on the Italians. The Italians saw risorgimento as a form of political and social unity. Garibaldi would conquer the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which would liberate a portion of the peninsula from foreign rule. Also, Cavour with the help of Napoleon III was able to remove some Austrian influence in northern Italy. Piedmont-Sardinia was the strongest Italian province and eventually Italy would unite under it. Once Italy was unified there was a need for a strong figure who would be widely accepted. King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia was the man for the job. He had royal blood and previous experience as a king. Garibaldi would even decline the throne because he believed there needed to be a recognized leader with royal blood.
ReplyDelete"Realpolitik" is the notion that politics must be conducted in terms of the realistic assessment of power and the self-interest of individual nation-states and Cavour used it superbly. In 1855, as prime minister of Sardinia, he involved the kingdom on the British and French side of the Crimean War, using the peace conference to give international publicity to the cause of Italian unification. In 1858, he formed an alliance with France, one that included a pledge of military support if necessary, against Austria, Italy's major obstacle to unification. After a planned provocation of Vienna, Austria declared war against Sardinia in 1859 and was easily defeated by the French army. The peace, signed in November 1959 in Zurich, Switzerland, joined Lombardy, a formerly Austrian province, with Sardinia. In return, France received Savoy and Nice from Italy-a small price to pay for paving the way to unification.
ReplyDeleteInspired by Cavour's success against Austria, revolutionary assemblies in the central Italian provinces of Tuscany, Parma, Modena, and Romagna voted in favor of unification with Sardinia in the summer of 1859. In the spring of 1860, Garibaldi came out of his self-imposed exile to lead a latter day Red Shirt army, known as the Thousand, in southern Italy. By the end of the year, Garibaldi had liberated Sicily and Naples, which together made up the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Cavour, however, worried that Garibaldi, a democrat, was replacing Sardinia, a constitutional monarchy, as the unifier of Italy. To put an end to Garibaldi's offensive, Cavour ordered Sardinian troops into the Papal States and the Kingdom of Naples. After securing important victories in these regions, Cavour organized plebiscites, or popular votes, to annex Naples to Sardinia. Garibaldi, outmaneuvered by the experienced realist Cavour, yielded his territories to Cavour in the name of Italian unification. In 1861, Italy was declared a united nation-state under the Sardinian king Victor Immanuel II.
ReplyDeleteThis website describes the Italian unification very succinctly. It even has a timeline that I find to be pretty helpful.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/ItalianUnification.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSFyPzFtChM&feature=related
ReplyDeletethis is good for both German and Italian unification, I put it here because it starts with Italy.
Giuseppe Garibaldi essentially was a major key player in the unification of Italy due to the fact that he enforced the words spoken by people like Giuseppe Mazzini who inspired nationalism, and unity within Italy. In 1860 Garibaldi landed in Sicily with 1,000 Red Shirts determined to liberate Rome, and join it under a united Italy but failed essentially. After a battle on the Volturno River Garibaldi now sucessfully joined remaining Southern Italian states, and proclaimed Victor Emmanuel as king of a newly united Italy (except for Rome). Approximately 10 years later the Franco Prussian War broke out, and the French forces in which protected Rome withdrew from the state. Leaving the city vulnerable, allowing for a complete unification of Italy and the fall of the Papacy. Garibaldi ultimately made unification a reality through his actions, for many can talk and promote change but one must essentially act in order to see true change.
ReplyDeleteThe three main forces behind Italian unification are Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour. They each brought their own unique abilities to the table in the fight for Italian unification. Mazzini was the heart, Garibaldi was the fighter, and Cavour was the brains of the operation. Together, these three were able to gather support and devise the plans to expel Austria from the land. Despite the tough going during the war efforts, these men kept the effort from being a failure. After pondering the matter for a long time, Napoleon finally signed a secret agreement with Cavour to aid Italy against Austria. If victory was achieved, Piedmont would acquire Lombardy, Venetia, some territories in the Adriatic, and the Duchies of Parma and Modena. France would then gain Piedmont's territories in Savoy and Nice. Tis was one of the major steps in giving Italy the resources to overthrow the Austrians and achieve their own unification.
ReplyDeleteI liked Matt's comment on how unification was not easy. In the case of Italy, unification not only meant getting rid of Austria, but unifying a nation that is divided into different regions inhabited by different people.
ReplyDeleteMazzini was certainly the voice of the revolution, rallying the people up. Cavour, however, was the man that brought the words to action. He successfully won the trust of Napoleon III through aid of the Crimean war and used Napoleon's aid to defeat the Austrians away from Italy, forming a unified Northern Italy. Victor Emmanuel was the guy to rule over the relatively new nation, having the acquired nations gained from Austria handed over from France.
All this took about a decade to complete, so unification did not come easy indeed.
As many people had stated, Italy had the help of Cavour, Garibaldi, Mazzini, and Emmanuel to aid in the unification of Italy. Each possessed a different strength that aided in the unification process. I don’t believe anyone had touched upon Napoleon I and his influence on all of this. Napoleon was the one who persuaded the French people to unify with one another in order to make change happen. He bascailly helped to promote nationalism early on. After his defeat though, monarchs returned to all the nations that had fallen under Napoleon’s control. In 1815, restoration began by the Congress of Vienna. Italy was soon divided into different city states, and different rulers ruled the different areas. All of the Italians though, were still connected by their culture. Idealists at the time had the dream of having a politically and economically united Italy, and none of them knew that that dream would soon become a reality. Mazzini had taken over soon after and tried to gain the support of his people through his nationalistic efforts. Cavour had stepped into the picture, and wanted to control the North of Italy at first, but Austria was in the way, which is why he had to go for Napoleon III for assistance in fighting them. Garibaldi helped to promote patriotism through his war efforts, which helped to get more people to work together with one another. Italy’s unification was somewhat complex, but after all of the struggles, a united Italy finally came to be. As we stated in class though, Italy may have become unified, but the North and the South were still very different from one another. While the North region was industrial based, the South was agriculturally based, which leads me to believe that a nation, despite how unified it may seem, will always have its internal differences.
ReplyDeleteThats an interesting point, it seems France was the one to really start these series of revolutions in Europe. France's involvement in this isn't so detached when you think about it, But Italian unification had to come from the people in order to be successful.
ReplyDeleteWhen you think of history as a ripple, things tie in together and you get a better understanding of the whole picture. I also like the idea that Italy was sole based on the people and actions rather than a forced change. People wanted change, they wrote about it, but someone had to make the move. Thank God for Cavour, without him Italy would have waited a lot more for their unification.
Italy would have never become what it was without France's revolution, and Germany too. I think what we can agree on is that history is just one big domino effect, if one moves they all move. France moved, all of Europe moved.
Two important driving forces of the Italian unification were pride and religion. In Mazzini’s An Essay on the Duty of Man Addressed to the Workingmen, he writes:
ReplyDelete“If you do not embrace the whole human family in your affection; if you do not bear witness to your belief in the Unity of that family, consequent upon the Unity of God, and in that fraternity among the peoples which is destined to reduce that Unity to action; if, wheresoever a fellow-creature suffers, or the dignity of human nature is violated by falsehood or tyranny - you are not ready, if able, to aid the unhappy, and do not feel called upon to combat, if able, for the redemption of the betrayed and oppressed - you violate your law of life, you comprehend not that Religion which will be the guide and blessing of the future.”
He is basically stating that it is the duty of the Italian people to love on another and cooperate simply because they are all humans under the Law of God. It also states that they must fight for the rights given to them by nature and oppose the powers that take away those rights, or they are the oppressors of their own life. This document was very important in inspiring nationalism in Italy, which led to their unification. Their pride in humanity arcs over their pride to be Italian; that was what motivated them to act against the oppression of Austria. From there, they built on their pride as a nation, which is what helped them stand together and become an independent country.
Just as Jose said, Cavour was a major driving force in the unification of Italy. Through gaining the trust of King Emmanuel II. This simple step greatly assisted Cavour in his influence over the single states of Italy. He influenced the city state of Piedmont in a positive way, both socially and economically. And once he decided to offer assistance to the Italian National Society, which was a secret organization that assists anti-Austrian revolts in the Italian city states. In addition to all of this, Cavour gained the assistance of France's army, due to his secret meeting with Napoleon III. When the Austrians attacked Piedmont, they were able to drive them back, with the help of the French army. You see, the major driving force for Italian unification was to get Austrian rule out of Italy; along with that, nationalism would be at an all time high. With his simple steps, Cavour was able to take the first step on the road to setting up the foundation to the unification of his country.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Matt, those who are listed truly did their part in aiding the unification of Italy. However, there are some who aren't listed here, those whose names are not written down in history books. The countless people in Piedmont, who had fought to the bitter end for their country to be Austrian free had an equal part in gaining the unification of Italy. Running on their pride alone, with a little bit of assistance from the French, they were able to drive the Austrians out, leaving King Emmanuel II to become king of the Kingdom of Italy. Without their constant participation in the war against Austrian control, there wouldn't have been a chance for the unification to occur. Oftentimes this is skipped over in history books, because they aren't individual names; however, their pride and nationalism being their driving force, they were able to assist in the unification of their country. The people of Piedmont wanted their country to rid themselves of Austrian power; in other words, they wanted to have the chance to stand on their own two feet. With their economy greatly improving, they held an amazing amount of pride in their little city state.
ReplyDeleteMost of the blogs have been about the sword (Garibaldi), the heart (Mazzini), and the head (Cavour). Since Mr. Lubisco is not letting us repeat a word anyone else posts I figured why not do a post dedicated to the man who inherited the hard work of these three great men. He was the first King of Italy since the sixth century. Shouldn’t he get a little love from everybody? Victor Emmanuel II or Vittorio Emmanuel Maria Alberto Eugenio Ferdinando Tommaso for short was originally the king of Sardinia. Once the men did their part of the unification, Victor followed up with his part by becoming the king of this nation. Being a king is hard enough and couple that along with being the king of a newly unified country and forget about it. The economy would be the hardest part of getting the country on board of unification. The southern part of the country was very agricultural while the north was very industrial. If these two systems were to have a conflict, the unification process could end up in shambles. Victor got around these issues including an issue about taking the title of King Victor Emmanuel I of Italy. He decided to keep his regular name of King Victor Emmanuel II. This was rough for his public relations considering the people of Italy wanted a fresh start to every aspect of the unification. Nevertheless, he finished the rest of his years and helped this nation start off on the right foot.
ReplyDeleteWell, absolutely nothing is worse than blogging late. There were various motives and methods of the driving forces behind Italian unification. The previous posts I read did a fantastic job of detailing Italy’s unique path to nationhood. I really liked Jose’s point about the different events of history being the result of a previous event. These events do not happen after each other, they happen because of each other.
ReplyDeleteA majority of the posts started with the Italian nationalists, but I personally believe Italian nationalism has roots back during the Napoleonic Age. Napoleon sparked dreams of unity (indirectly) all around the continent. However, it was the Congress of Vienna that proved to be a catalyst for unification and nationalism in some nations, like in Germany where the Holy Roman Empire was abolished and the number of states reduced (that will be discussed in the next post). However, in Italy the opposite took place. The Congress of Vienna confined the regions of Italy and made the road to unification extremely difficult.
At the Congress of Vienna Metternich insisted that Italy be a geographic expression” instead of a united nation. The Congress divided the country into the following states:
• The rich, northern industrialized provinces of Lombardy and Venetia were ruled by Austria
• The duchies of Parma, Tuscany, and Modena were under local rulers but controlled by Austria
• The Papal States were under Church control
• The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in the southern half of the boot, and the poorest section of the nation, was under local rulers by Austria.
• The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, consisting of the northwestern provinces of Nice, Savoy, and Piedmont, was the only independent state in Italy.
See? Some of the most essential ingredients for the unification of Italy began back in 1815… Ironically, Metternich indirectly paved the way for nation-states and the end of conservatism. Italy’s prime obstacle, Austria, is clearly outlined here. It literally ran the boot. Also, it only made sense that the Sardinia would be the epicenter of unification, even if it was only supposed to be a “buffer.” It was between 1815 and 1848 (the year of the failed revolutions) that unification began to appeal to the Italianos. Thus, the Carbonari and eventually Young Italy society were formed with the goal of liberating Italy.
Then of course, those failed revolutions of 1848 had a huge impact on Italian unification. They had not satisfied the demands of the Italian nationalists. Cavour, the modern nationalist prime minister of Piedmont-Sardinia, realized that they independent Kingdom of Italy could be unified into a single political state only by combining force with diplomacy. The stage had been set and the three players, Giuseppe Mazzini, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Camillo Cavour, ultimately were instrumental in promoting Il Risorgimento, or Italian unification.
I would also like to mention that Camillo Cavour, the prime minister of Sardinia, is by far my favorite individual in the Italian unification. Yes, he did get the job done and officially unified Italy as The Kingdom of Italy in 1861. However, that’s not why he was “the man.”
ReplyDeleteCavour was a really interesting figure. He actually started his political career as a strong conservative, but then gradually became more moderate. He was also deeply imbued with the ideas of the Enlightenment, classical economics, and utilitarianism. Here’s that ripple effect again. The events of the past decades had a profound impact on the Italian nationalists. I cannot say enough about how important the Enlightenment was in the history of Europe. It’s insane.
Through my research I began to see that Cavour was a new kind of nationalist. Even though he and Mazzini were two of the central Italian nationalists that worked toward the common goal of unification, Cavour had absolutely no respect for Mazzini’s ideals. Unlike Mazzini and Garibaldi, who both desired to make Italy a democratic republic, Cavour was a strong monarchist. He believed that economic and material progress, rather than the romantic ideals, would unify Italy. Simply, he believed that id the Italians proved themselves to be efficient and economically progressive, it may be decided that Italy could rule itself. Yes, the “fuzzy” feelings of romanticism were important and Cavour also acknowledged the need to capture the loyalties of those Italianos who believed in other varieties of nationalism.
Mazzini did a great job of inspiring the people and Garibaldi was successful in conquering the south, but Cavour was brought all of the parts together.
He was working domestically and internationally to achieve his goal and did so with unparalleled intelligence. To begin, he worked to strengthen the country by encouraging industrial development, building railroads, fostering education, and freeing peasants. With such progressive actions, he sought to make Sardinia the model of a liberal constitutional government as a way to gain support. His strategy proved to be successful because Sardinia would be the unifying force. Nations freely joined it and others were annexed into it. He even fostered the Nationalist Society, which established chapters in other Italian states to press for unification under the leadership of Piedmont to achieve this goal.
I could ramble on for days about his military genius and domination of diplomacy. However, I only want to mention his involving Italy in the Crimean War and its significance for the steps in Italian unity. Cavour used the Crimean War bring Italy into European politics. Sardinia joined the war on the side of France and Britain, supplying only 10,000 troops. Even though it sent only this small group of troops and didn’t receive any land at the Paris conference, Cavour impressed everyone with his political capacity and intelligence. More importantly, he gained the sympathy of Napoleon III and achieved international respectability. Cavour would then go on to make a secret diplomatic alliance with France to rid Austria from the north, thus paving the way for an unobstructed unification of Italy.
LANGUAGE, CULTURE, AND GEOGRAPHY! three major needs for a unification. To be a singular unit, the separate pieces must coexist for a common purpose. It is much like any modern sports team. You watch these high paid athletes on the knicks who can't get wins then here comes a nobody like Jeremy Lin that can coexist with his teammates and boom, you got instant success. The only way a group can be a successful unit is if they have a common idea or purpose which the Italians did. They spoke the same LANGUAGE. They had the same CULTURE. And they all seemed to fit inside that boot quite nicely. Also, as mentioned, once their nationalism was unveiled there was nothing to stop them from being 1.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ATlTWjy5zs&feature=related
ReplyDelete*this video is pretty neat. It traces the development of italy and talks about the economic divisions in the nation all the way up to today. There are clear divisions in the North and South.
*it even talks about the cultural unity because even after it was officially unified, people spoke regional dialects.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnKHXGUy7y0
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv2iPMIKhoU&feature=related
These two clips show the Italian Unification through how Mazzini was a help in persuading the Italians and how he helped.
The first is a Commercial of Mazzini and the other is a rap created about him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnKHXGUy7y0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv2iPMIKhoU&feature=related
These two clips show the Italian Unification through how Mazzini was a help in persuading the Italians and how he helped.
The first is a Commercial of Mazzini and the other is a rap created about him.
i enjoyed the rap. it really showed the situation well amongst the leaders. They showed Mazzini as the soul of Italy and Garibaldi as the sword. They expressed Mazzini's ability to represent the feelings of the peoplewith his voice amd Garibaldi's ability to do so with his army. These two men were two very valuable assets in unifying Italy this video proves it. And apparently Mazzini drives a lamborghini lol. But on a serious note you can see just how well these two men did their jobs to get Italy together.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UpFwkpd_A8
ReplyDeleteThis Clip shows the Main figures in the Unification and how they came up through their years and became well known people. They also show how they helped in the cause. But importantly it shows the events that happened before coming back to italy or emerging as a factor in the Unification.
http://www.youtube.com/watchv=zNRNfo4Wo9c&feature=related
ReplyDeleteI found this video to be very factual, and depicted both the unification of Germany and Italy quite accurately as well as giving insightful input on such historical events.
As other people have stated the Italians were being oppressed by various nations. Austria in the north, the bourbons in the south, the pope in the middle. These were extremely strong empires. Austria for example would hold an extreme amount of influence in Europe at the time. Italy taking on this powerful country can be seen as crazy. Cavour would even realize that it could not be done by just his province. He would initiate an alliance with the French. This worked until the French bailed from the alliance for Austria. The Pope was powerful and had the aid of the French. The Bourbon kingdom in the south was a difficult enemy for the Italians. The oppresion of these people would help motivate the Italian people. Italy was able to unite the entire peninsula. The Italians essentially were able to dissolve three empires that existed in the area. This is amazing because they were not even united yet. As separate states they were able to defeat these powers. This is why I believe that Nationalism is one of the most powerful ism's. Italy along with German unification relied strongly on nationalism and a shared culture,religion and history. The people of the Italian peninsula used nationalism along with oppression as the driving forces of their unification.
ReplyDeleteIf you consider the amount of pressure Victor Emmanuel was under to keep his country unified after Garibaldi, Mazzini and Cavour did their parts, it was immense. He had to make sure the north and the south did not start a civil war and destroy the economy. He had to make sure that the pope and the Papal States understood the meaning of a separation from church and state. They had to also get out any foreign influence in their country to start fresh. He had to always look behind him for an enemy invading. They were very smart in creating alliances right away so if any country did invade their unification would not be spoiled by a takeover by another force. They would always have help from Prussia. They also had to watch out for the Austrians. Even though the Italians tried to gain support from Britain and France by siding with them in the Crimean War, the Congress of Paris ignored Italy. There was one useful thing that came out of it though: it left Austria dangerously isolated because it tried to balance between the two sides during war.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/ItalianUnification.htm
ReplyDeleteThe Italian unification was driven by great leaders like Garibaldi, Mazzini,and Cavour who all contributed to the unification. Mazzini pictured an independent integrated republic system. His idea spread quickly among many of the Italian people around the Italian Peninsula. Garibaldi joined Mazzini in the effort to unify Italy. Garibaldi made the idea of "risorgimento" which was the movement to unify Italy. Later on he ends up leaving Mazzini and joining with King Emmanuel of Sardinia. with his move many people followed him and he went on to lead an expedition of war against the Austrians. Cavour was the Prime Minister of Sardinia. He secretly planned a war with Austria with Napoleon. The Austrians lost major battles like Magenta and Solferino. The Austrians surrendered which basically began the break of the Vienna Congress which gave Austria control of Italian land in 1815.
ReplyDeleteThe motive for Italian unification was discontent over the matter of being controlled by the Austrians, the Bourbons, and even the Pope. It seemed like a classic example of an underdog story because there was really no chance for Italy to defeat Austria, let alone all these groups together. The Italian unification reminds me of the American Revolution because in both cases, France's help sort of made the goal achievable. It seemed like insane goals for just Italy/America to complete alone, but when France stepped in, the hope increased (until France bailed on the Italians for the other groups). However, like America, all Italy needed was a dream and people to lead them along the way. Mazzini, Garibaldi, and Cavour combined to be like America's George Washington. With these three leaders inspiring nationalism into the country, Italy stood a chance against the powers holding them down. That's why despite losses in battles such as the one to retake Venice, Italy was able to recover and eventually achieve their own unification.
ReplyDeleteThere were three main figures that lead to the unification of Italy. The first is Cavour. Cavour was the Prime Minister of Sardinia and is often reffered to as the "head". He used his cunning to help formulate a plan to keep Italy together. One prime example of Cavour's genuis was shown after a crushing defeat Cavour was able to secure French support for his cause. The next leader was the "heart" Guiseppe Mazzini. Mazzini was a journalist for the cause who wrote a pro-unification paper to help gain the support of the common people. The final peice of the puzzle was the "sword" Guiseppe Girabaldi, who along with his army of red shirts swept through Italy ridding it of the Austrian influence as well as anyone who sttod in the way of unification.Because of his work Italy had no opposition to unification and eventually did.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I had a hard time getting interested into the Italian Unification and its leaders because I found Bismarck to be more interesting. Then I watched this one podcast and it helped clear things up for me and grab my interest a little bit more. Last year in APUSH we listened to a "Stuff You Missed in History Class" podcast, with the two cheery girls talking, remember? Okay well I just listened to the same girls talk about the Italian Unification, and it was a really good podcast so if anyone is interested it's called "Who were Garibaldi's 1000?" on iTunes. This one is really short, only 18 minutes but it goes through the topic of the unification pretty well. Its title is about Garibaldi but during the first 8 or so minutes it talks about the major leaders we talked about in class, and I like how it meshes them together in one story and connects them rather than kind of separating them like we have in class.
ReplyDeleteSo this might be a silly question, but why the heck would Garibaldi just step aside and let Victor Emmanuel rule and not rule himself? I'm so confused by that.
DeleteThe last ten minutes of the podcast talks mostly about the Red Shirts and Garibaldi's leadership. They say that Garibaldi is so popular that Abe Lincoln invites him to be a Union commander in the Civil War. Interesting fact for ya.
DeleteI liked how the podcast I listened to mentioned how the Risorgimento wasn't just a political movement, but it was an ideology and a "romance of reclaiming the shared history" of Italy. That phrase caught my attention, because after hearing "romance" I immediately thought about Romanticism in France. I thought about Delacroix and the nationalistic painters of the Romantic period. It's ironic, because those Romanticists were worrying about bringing together a nation that was already a whole (France), while in Italy, on the other hand, the leaders were trying to bring together a nation that was completely separated into regions. These were Italian states, but it was as if they were different nations with different beliefs and different leaders and different motives. Personally, I think their task seems so much more difficult than the French's task, but then why does it take Italy so much less time to unify than it takes France?
ReplyDelete...and although the Risorgimento seems to contrast with Romanticism in that outlook, it does bring some of the nationalistic ideas from Romanticism into play during the Italian Unification. I guess you could call Mazzini the Romantic of the Italian Unification Period, because he was the soul of the period whose speeches and writings brought passion to the people of Italy and gave them motives to come together.
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