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The Risorgimento
Creating an Italian Nation-State
Eric Beckman, Anoka HS (MN)
Most material adapted from John Merriman,
A History of Modern Europe
from the Renaissance to the Present, 1997.
Political Unification of the
Italian Peninsula, 1859-1870
 The Kingdom of PiedmontSardinia, a modern state,
manipulated great power
politics, nationalist
sentiments, and popular
insurrections to politically
unite the Italian peninsula
by creating the nationstate of Italy.
Barriers to Italian Unification:
Italy, “a mere geographic expression.”
 Regional differences
 Cultural
 Economic
 Political
 Great power politics
 Papacy
 Political ideologies
Forces Pushing for Unification
 Common cultural
elements
 Nationalism
 Ascendance of
Piedmont-Sardinia
 Great power
politics
King Victor-Emmanuel II of
Piedmont-Sardinia, and later of Italy
Common cultural elements
 Catholicism
 Written
Italian
St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome
Nationalism
 Revolutionary
tradition: Carbonari
 Liberals and
Republicans
 Mazzini
 Garibaldi
 Resentment of great
power interference
Guissepe Mazzini, founder of Giovine Italia (Young Italy)
Nationalism: Politics
“The history of every age proves that no people can attain a
high degree of intelligence and morality unless its feeling of
nationality is strongly developed. This noteworthy fact is an
inevitable consequence of the laws that rule human nature. . .
Therefore, if we so ardently desire the emancipation of Italy--if
we declare that in the face of this great question all the petty
questions that divide us must be silenced--it is not only that we
may see our country glorious and powerful but that above all we
may elevate her in intelligence and moral development up to
the plane of the most civilized nations. . . Nationalism has
become general; it grows daily; and it has already grown strong
enough to keep all parts of Italy united despite the differences
that distinguish them.”
-The Program of Count di Cavour, 1846
Future Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia
Nationalism
 Romantic Theater:
William Tell
“This art of music which
is based solely on
sentiment and ideals
cannot escape the
influence of the times
we live in, and the
sentiment and the ideals
of the present day are
wholly concerned with
steam, rapine, and
barricades.”
-Rossini
The Kingdom of
Piedmont-Sardinia
 Modern state
 Constitutional
monarchy
 Efficient bureaucracy
 Economically
successful
 Able political
leadership, Cavour
Count Camillo di Cavour
Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia
Piedmont-Sardinia Played
Great Power Politics
 Crimean War
 Alliance with France
 Commercial treaty
 Diplomatic marriage
 Mutual defense treaty
 French interest
 Commerce
 Nice and Savoy
 Rome
Napoleon III
Emperor of France
Isolated Austria
 Piedmont-Sardinia
provoked war with
Austria
 P-S Isolated Austria
 French support for P-S
 Austria defeated
 Battles in northern Italy
 France limits support
 P-S gains Lombardy
Francis Joseph
Emperor of Austria
Francis Joseph
eventually
adopted the
appropriate
facial hair for
an old school
monarch of his
generation
Annexations enlarged
Piedmont-sardinia
 Cavour encouraged
revolutions
 Successful: Romagna,
Tuscany, Modena, and Parma
 Annexed by P-S, approved by
plebiscites
 Unsuccessful: Rome
 P-S treaty with France
 F: recognized annexations
 P-S: ceded Nice and Savoy
Giuseppe Garibaldi Led
Insurrections in the South
 Garibaldi
 Nationalist and
Republican
 Mutual distrust with
Cavour
 Commanded volunteer
army: Red Shirts
 Joined rebellions in
Sicily (against milling
taxes and bread
prices) and Naples (led
by urban workers)
Giuseppe Garibaldi, 1860
Garibaldi’s Move south
“The General has ridden through the
city on horseback. When the
population sees him, they take fire.
There is a magic in his look and in his
name. It is only Garibaldi they want.”
–a soldier
The Enlarged Kingdom of
Piedmont-Sardinia Added the
Mezzogiorno
 Garibaldi’s forces and local
rebellions unseated the King of
the Two Sicilies
 P-S troops marched to Rome
 Pope opposed unification
 Garibaldi & Victor-Emmanuel
 Victor-Emmanuel II: First King of
Italy
“Free, and nearly entirely united, the opinion of civilized
nations is favorable to us; the just and liberal principles, now
prevailing in the councils of Europe, are favorable to us. Italy
herself, too, will become a guarantee of order and peace, and
will once more be an efficacious instrument of universal
civilization. . . .These facts have inspired the nation with great
confidence in its own destinies. I take pleasure in manifesting
to the first Parliament of Italy the joy I feel in my heart as
king and soldier.”
Victor Emmanuel, 1861
Garibaldi’s
Legacy
Memorial in
Washington Square,
New York City
Garabaldi on Horseback, 1900,
Via dell' Independenza, Bologna
Garibaldi Memorial
in Taganrog, Russia
Sculpture by Erminio Blotta,
Argentina
Additions to Italy
 1866- Prussia
defeated Austria,
Italy gained
Venetia
 1870- Prussia
defeated France,
Italy gained Rome
 Italia IrredentaNationalists
agitate to add
“unredeemed”
lands to Italy
The New State
 “We have made Italy; now we must make
Italians.”
 Constitutional monarchy, limited male
franchise
 Number of male voters grew: 1871 (600,000),
1882 (2 million), 1912 (4 million)
 National identity limited by illiteracy
 70% in 1871, 50% in 1900
Continued Divisions
 Weak sense of national identity.
 “What is Italy?”
 North vs. South
 Increasing prosperity gap: landowners
vs. rural proletariat
 Migration
 Social unrest
 Political diversity
Resistance to the State
 Rebellions in South
 Impoverished, unemployed, landless
 Sympathy for bandits
 Local sources of authority in the South
 Organized crime
 Notables
 Repression of crime and rebellion in the
south killed more people than all of the
wars of the risorgimento
 Anarchism
 Opposition to the state
 Assassination of King Umberto I (1900)
A Nationalist State
 Desire for national greatness through
colonialism
 Conquest of Eritrea (1889), Somalia (1890) and
Libya (1911)
 Failed attempt to conquer Ethiopia-1896
 Initially neutral, irredentism motivated Italian
leaders to join WWI
 Post-WWI fascism
Conclusions
 Between 1859 and 1870, PiedmontSardinia took the lead in forging an
Italian nation-state
 War, foreign intervention, nationalism,
and popular insurrections all contributed
to replacing eight political units with one
Kingdom of Italy
 The new state sought to extend its
powers at home and abroad