3. Italian City-States
The Italian Peninsula
was a series of
competing city-states
since the fall of the
Roman Empire
The Kingdom of
Piedmont-Sardinia
emerged as the
leading city-state at
the time of unification
5. Count Cavour
He is “the head” of
Italian unification
Prime minister of
Piedmont-Sardinia
Originally never
wanted unification
“Realpolitik” – put
the people’s
needs ahead of
his wants
6. Giuseppe Mazzini
Was considered
“the heart” of
unification
Wanted to create
a unified,
independent,
Italian republic
Believed that
revolts would
result in a unified
Italy
7. Giuseppe Garibaldi
He is “the sword”
of Italian
unification
He was obsessed
with fighting and
helped unite
Southern Italy
United Sicily and
gave it to
Piedmont-Sardinia
8. King Victor Emmanuel II
He is the ruler of
Piedmont-Sardinia
He helps Cavour unify
Italy
He is unsatisfied with
being the ruler of
Piedmont-Sardinia
and wishes to rule all
of Italy
9. BASED ON THE FOLLOWING SLIDES:
WHAT OBSTACLES DID THE
LEADERS OF UNIFICATION RUN
INTO?
10. Italian Unification - Obstacles
“’Italy’ is nothing more than a mere geographical
expression.”
Prince Klemmens von Metternich
“Italian unification is impossible as long as Austria
dominates much of central and northern Italy.
Italian unification is impossible without the
blessings of either France or Great Britain or both.
Piedmont-Sardinia is too weak to defeat Habsburg
Austria alone.”
From Camilio di Cavour to King Victor Emmanuel
11. Italian Unification - Obstacles
“The nationalists in our army do nothing but shower each
other with flowers, drink red wine, dance, sing and shout
slogans of the Carbonari. There is only naïve enthusiasm,
no organization, few supplies, and little military training.
They recite slogans of Mazzini, yet they know nothing of
war.”
Anonymous Piedmontese Commander
“The patriotism of the Italians is like that of the Ancient
Greeks, and is love of a single town, not of a country; it is
the feeling of a tribe, not of the nation. Only by foreign
conquest have the Italians ever been united.”
Marshal Count Joseph Radetzky, Austrian General
14. The Crimean War (1854-1856)
Russia vs. Ottoman Empire, Great Britain,
France and Piedmont-Sardinia
Russia wanted control of the aging
Ottoman Empire
Would disrupt balance of power and
Russia went to war against the English,
Ottomans, and French
Piedmont-Sardinia joined to gain allies to
help with unification
15. Cavour and Napoleon III Meet at
Plombieres
Napoleon III agreed to help Cavour if France was
granted the territories of Nice and Savoy
16. Austro-Sardinian War, 1859
Nicknamed the Second
Italian Independence
War
The Austrian army had
140,000 men and
Sardinia only had
70,000
Napoleon III aided the
Sardinians
Piedmont-Sardinia
gained Lombardy from
Austria
18. The Red Shirts
Red Shirts are the
followers of
Garibaldi
In July 1860, they
gained control of
Sicily
In September,
they had Naples
19. The Final Step to Unification
In 1870, Garibaldi’s Red Shirts and
Cavour’s troops surround the French
occupied Rome
Napoleon III withdraws from Rome,
unifying the final Italian city-state
The Papal States is reduced to Vatican
City within Rome
20. Kingdom of Italy is Founded
The Kingdom of Italy is
founded in 1871
The capital of Italy is
Rome
King Victor Emmanuel
of Piedmont-Sardinia
becomes the
constitutional monarch
of Italy
22. Italian Unification -
Government
“Your Highness! Congratularions on crushing the
followers of Mazzini in Lombardy and for your
intense efforts to root out the viper of republicanism
where ever it may lay.”
Note from King Victor Emmanuel to Emperor Francis
Joseph of Austria
“We will fight forever for a democratic republic,
based on universal male suffrage. Italy in revolution
would be strong enough to defeat three Austria’s!
Giuseppe Mazzini