The Italian unification was a long process, which was achieved by a
variety of treaties, as well as a variety of individuals. The most
important persons are considered to be Mazzini, Cavour and Garibaldi.
But their differences in beliefs and their contributions to the
unification of Italy had many factors that had to be considered.
After
the French Control in Italy came to an end in 1815, by the defeat of
Napoleon at Waterloo, it was replaced by Austrian powers. This was
decided at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 , because it occurred to be
the best way to prevent any future threats of French invasion.
Throughout this time there were different political ideas present in
Italy, which created the Secret Societies and led to Revolutions.
The
Liberals believed that everyone had the right to free speech towards
the government and that the best way would be through a representative
assembly or a parliament. Their intentions were mostly non-violent and
their followers mainly from the middle-class who favoured a
constitutional monarchy.
Another political group were followers of
the radicals; who had much more extreme views and were ready to use
violence to obtain set goals. They wanted social reforms and fair
distributions of wealth. The ones that were members of Secret Societies
believed that people should have the right to political decisions and
not only the parliament, unless it was elected so by men over the age of
25. Women or peasants did not count as having the same right.
The Nationalists , however, had different aspects which did not
contribute well to either the Liberals nor the Radicals. They believed
that people of the same race, language, culture and tradition should be
united independently, with geographical a boundary which clearly shows
each nation, so that no-one would be a subject of control by another
nation.
Finally there was also Metternich´s view which was
considered to be entirely negative. He opposed to all the other
political views and had no intention of accepting any ideas which could
spread and undermine Austrian control over Italy. The fact that separate
states were ruled by monarchs and that there were no full ´Italians`,
it would keep Italy weak, divided, easily controlled by Austria and an
Unity would continue not to exist.
These political views expanded
and created secret societies which had been established similarly in the
1790s, whose main purpose was to drive out the French, but after 1815
it changed to overthrow the restored monarchs and drive out the
Austrians. These groups were viewed as anti-Catholic and dangerous to
social order, because of their mutual protection and semi-religious
rituals. The revolutions in Spain encouraged Liberals in Naples to take
own action which led to a widespread uprising. This did not succeed
fully because the King could not defend and establish their wishes.
Meanwhile other separate revolts had begun in Sicily to fight
independence. Metternich was disturbed by the revolutions because they
ruined the settled peace within a country. Even In Piedmont revolutions
erupt in 1820 but did not manage to change the constitution of 1770,
therefore it would remain an absolute monarchy in spite of the pressures
of the Liberals. Until 1831 all revolutions granted minimal changes if
any at all. They failed because they were mainly local affairs which
included little communication and fewer co-operations outside the
limited areas. Co-ordination was non existent because the aims of each
secret society or revolutionary group was based differently.
A
member of one of the secret societies ( Carbonari) was Giuseppe Mazzini
who was a true Nationalist and founder of the new secret society `Young
Italy´. Mazzini worked for the independence and unification of Italy
and based his beliefs upon the existence of God, equality of men and
races each individually and the progress of mankind. He wanted to
replace the Christian religion with a straight forward democracy and
lead decisions made by the people, not by God. This included the
creation of his new society.
In 1833 Mazzini planned a revolt on
Piedmont , in which he based himself in Switzerland and collected
Polish, German and Italian refugees as volunteers for an own army. The
military command was entrusted to Ramorino from Genoa. He got money to
raise and organize the army but instead he misused it and returned to
Mazzini without the money and without an army. Now all that was useful
were the ones left of Mazzinis collection, but before departure to
Piedmont the Swiss authorities disbanded the German and Polish
volunteers, which left fewer than two hundred men. This way it was
impossible to precede the expedition.
His dream of a United Italy
could not be realised in the 1830s but it did have an important event in
1833 when Giuseppe Garibaldi got involved in a Revolt led by Mazzini in
Genoa. It failed once again but the young man managed to escape before
his trial and death sentence. It is said that Mazzinis ideas were too
intellectual and impractical for a real basis for revolution. He had a
major weakness in his written works, which consistent of incoherency and
lack of attention towards the needs of peasants and working reforms in
the countryside. The highest point of his life was after his return in
which he became the head of the Roman Republic (1849).
Another
important character for the unification of Italy was Count Camillo Benso
di Cavour. He was the author of the publication `Il Risorgimento´ in
1847, after Charles Albert freed the press from censorship, which was
used to publicise his political ideas. In October 1850 he was appointed
Minister of Agriculture, Commerce and the Navy which allowed him to
practice his economic theories and make free-trade treaties with
Britain, Belgium and France. He then also became Minster of finance in
1851 but already in 1852 he resigned from the government and went abroad
to France, meeting with Louis Napoleon. Though meanwhile in his absence
a political crisis broke out in Piedmont when new rules about civil
marriage were passed out and the Church complained heavily. As the Prime
minister resigned Cavour was chosen as his successor, he agreed on this
and became the new prime minister in 1852, dropping the civil marriage
bill. He remained in this position until his early death in 1861.
Even
if he expressed a vague wish of the Italian Unification in the 1830s,
he did not take his aims realistically until the 1860s. His main focus
had always been to drive out the Austrians and establish a bigger
Kingdom of Piedmont, but the overall Unification was a considerable
thought that began to have a slight importance to him, much later.
His
decision to join in the war with Russia was affected by two main
factors, which were considered right after he took office and the
Crimean War started. One reason was the fact that he could ally with two
of the Great Powers; Britain and France, which would give support
against Austria. The other reason was gaining a seat at the Peace
Conference which would give him the possibility to negotiate in a wider
range and increase his reputation as well as from Piedmont. He did
achieve this in 1856, where he negotiated at almost equal terms with the
Great Powers and kept in touch throughout the next two years with
Napoleon. The meetings were kept secret, especially the invitation to
Plombieres, where Cavour and Napoleon discussed the possibilities to
start a war with Austria. Throughout the discussions no major reason
could be found, to start this war, so Cavour wrote a speech for Victor
Emmanuel, that was presented at the Opening of the Parliament in 1859,
which was anti-Austrian. It should provoke Austria into starting the
War, because Napoleon believed that Austria would have to appear as the
aggressor. In April 1859 the Austrian set an ultimatum to Piedmont to
demobilize her army, and she had already mobilized an army in northern
Italy, but due to her bad economic status, could not afford to keep it
ready for very long. At this point Cavour had accomplished his goal and
refused Austrian demands. Austria declared war on the 29th of April 1859
and a short but violent war started.
It lasted only 7 weeks
because of the unorganized slaughter that was creating a further mess.
On the 11th of July 1859 Napoleon made a truce with Austria without
consulting Cavour. Piedmont received Lombardy and Austria still kept
Venetia, which meant that they stayed a powerful influence in Italy.
While
Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel tried to transfer Savoy and Nice to France
after treaties and the armistice of Villafranca, there were many who
questioned the purpose. One of them was Garibaldi, who was born in Nice
and was a representative of the Piedmontese parliament who was
currently preparing a military expedition in order to prevent Nice being
taken over by France. But then he got diverted by an outbreak of
revolution in southern Italy.
Garibaldi was a soldier and leader
of men which follwed his goals in a clear, and simple way. In 1931 he
had been under the influence of Mazzini but then he decided to abandon
his republican ideals and follow Victor Emmanuel II becoming a
monarchist instead. He constantly changed his nationalist beliefs but
still remained focused on the same aim; of wanting to unite Italy and
send out the Austrians. Also he wanted Rome and Venetia and Naples and
Sicily to be a part of the Unification. After having led an Italian
legion of guerrilla fighters in Uruguay, he decided to go back home ,
when he heard rumours of a revolution in Italy. He immediately offered
his military services to the King of Piedmont, which denied his offer.
The reason for Garibaldi to act this way, was due to his changement from
a republican to a royalist. He believed that the King of Piedmont was
the only one with the necessary resources to defeat the Austrians and
unite Italy. This change was the end of a good relationship between
Mazzini and Garibaldi.
The Roman Republic in 1849 was declared
after the Pope refused to make changes in Rome, and had to escape to the
south. The Republic was led by Mazzini and two other politicians which
had been governed mainly under his influence. As Garibaldi reached Rome,
Cavour mistrusted his intentions and asked the French for help which
then intervened. Garibaldi fought with his men, without achieving his
goal and travelling back to the south. In which he took possession of
Palermo and also the island of Sicily. His aims at that time were to
raise an army to conquer first Naples, then Rome and in the end Venice.
During this time Cavour tried to stop Garibaldi, because he feared that
Britain and France would see his revolts and actions as a threat to
their countries and intervene even against Cavour. He asked Victor
Emmanuel to command Garibaldi to stop his actions, which happened, but
then he contradicted himself by saying Garibaldi should ignore the
previous command. He slowly fought his way up to the city of Naples and
discovered that the King had left, so that Garibaldi could rule as a
dictator over the city.
Though he could not advance any further
because the way was blocked by a Neapolitan military stronghold in the
north. His plan was to advance through the Napal states onto Rome and
therefore complete the Unification of Italy. This process of planning
took a longer period of time which gave Cavour the possibility to act in
advance. His major fear was that due to the followers of Garibaldi,
which were mostly Mazzinians, the church and the Pope in Rome would be
in great danger, and this could also affect France and the rest of the
Catholic Europe. The only way for Cavour to stop Garibaldi before he
reached Rome, was to send troops from Piedmont through the Papal States,
with the excuse that the Pope could not deal with a revolt in his
territory. When Victor Emmanuel and his troops reached Naples, there
should have been a brutal ending, but instead it became a harmless
meeting in which both sides marched friendly through Naples. At this
point Garibaldi and his troops were disbanded and Victor Emmanuel and
Cavour believed that Garibaldis political job was done, since all of
Italy was united except Rome and Venetia.
In 1862, he returned to
Sicily from Caprera and collected over 3000 volunteers to set up an army
for the conquest of Rome. This attempt failed and Garibaldi was sent
back to Caprera, but already in 1867 he again set up an army when the
French withdrew from Rome. Again he got defeated by Italian troops and
by the return of the French.
After the defeat of Napoleon III by
the Prussian army, Garibaldi offered his service to the new French
republic and with a little hesitation got elected to the French National
Assembly. Meanwhile the French troops had to be withdrawn from Rome to
help at home against the Prussians, which gave Italian troops in 1870
the chance to attack and finally capture their capital.
The
importance of all three men contribution to the unification of Italy is
unquestioned. Mazzini seen as a true Nationalist and creator of the
´young Italy`, which used democracy instead of Christianity, longing for
the Unification and going beyond the middle class, to the actual
essence of Italy. Cavour who fought for Piedmont, rather than for the
unification of Italy, helped in spreading Italian influence over
different nations and therefore was responsible for driving our major
French influences. Garibaldi was the hero, seen as a humanist at last,
changing his beliefs but remaining true to his main goal; the
unification of Italy, which he achieved at last. Their Contributions
were of different importance, but put together, led to the overall
Unification.
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