The leaders of Italian unification faced significant obstacles, as the Italian states were divided and Austria dominated much of the region, making unification seem impossible. However, Piedmont-Sardinia was able to gain allies by joining the Crimean War, and then Napoleon III agreed to aid their fight against Austria if certain territories were surrendered. This allowed Piedmont-Sardinia, with French support, to defeat Austria and gradually unite the other Italian states through military campaigns and uprisings led by Giuseppe Garibaldi.

1. Italian Unification

2. Machiavelli was
the first one
to discuss
Italian
unification,
written in his
book The
Prince.

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

4. Italian
Unification
LeadersCount Cavour
Giuseppe
Mazzini
Giuseppe
Garibaldi
King Victor
Emmanuel II

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

12. STILL, PIEDMONT-SARDINIA
WANTED TO UNITE ALL THE CITY-
STATES UNDER ONE FLAG
HOW DID THEY ACCOMPLISH THAT
WITH SUCH A SMALL ARMY?

13. They entered the
Crimean War

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

17. Austro-Prussian War, 1866
 Austria is not able to keep Venetia
 Italy gains the city-state of Venetia

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

21. WHAT ARE THE
PROBLEMS WITH A
UNITED 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