Revision Session 1 The Unification of Italy Italy

Revision – Session 1 The Unification of Italy

Italy 1852 -70 o Treaty of Vienna 1815 Italy divided into 4 main areas o Naples o Papal States o Austrian Lands (Lombardy, Venetia, The Duchies) o Piedmont-Sardinia

Italy 1852 -70 o King of Naples, The Pope and the Austrians were not interested in changing the way Italy was governed o Piedmont wanted change

Cavour’s domestic policies o Owned large estates and used modern farming o o o 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 o 1850 he became a government minister o He raised taxes and borrowed from French o o o 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 o Main aim = to make Piedmont strong and modern o Economy and industry = the strongest in Italy o Wanted to get rid of foreign rulers in Italy o After failure of 1848 -9 war with Austria seems too difficult o He needed to get help of a foreign power like Britain or France

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

The Defeat of Austria o Napoleon met Cavour in secret at Plombieres o 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 o Cavour provoked the Austrians into war by ordering his army reserves to report for duty

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

The Defeat of Austria o Napoleon offered an armistice without o o 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 dukes were reinstated to their duchies Cavour was furious and resigned

Defeat of Austria o But when the Austrian dukes returned to their duchies they were expelled and the people voted to join Piedmont o 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. o Austria stilll controlled Venetia o The campaign was partly successful

Garibaldi o Revolts against their rulers occured in south as o o 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 o In May 1860 he set sail for Sicily with a o o 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 o Cavour had watched on as Garibaldi conquered Naples o He was that Garibaldi might attack Rome as this would prompt the French to defend o Cavour ordered Piedmontese troops to march south and stop Garibaldi o The two armies met and Garibaldi handed over his conquests to Victor Emmanuel

The Papal States o Most of the Papal states broke away from the o o 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 o 1862 Garibaldi tried again to occupy Rome but o o o 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 went to war with 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 o Prussia defeated Austria o Austria leaves Venetia – Venetia becomes part o o 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