Italian Unification In 1850, Austria was still the dominant power on the Italian Peninsula. After the failure of the revolution of 1848, people began to look toward Piedmont for leadership in achieving the unification of Italy. The Kingdom of Piedmont included Piedmont, Sardinia, Nice, and Savoy. The ruler of this kingdom was King Victor Emmanuel II. His prime minister, Camillo di Cavour, knew that Piedmont's army was not strong enough to defeat the Austrians, so he made an alliance with the French emperor Louis-Napoleon. He then provoked the Austrians into invading Piedmont in 1859. Piedmont took Lombardy from Austrian control, and Nice and Savoy were given to France in return for helping them. Austria still held control of Venetia, however.
Cavour's success caused nationalists in some other northern states (Parma, Modena, and Tuscany) to overthrow their governments and join their states to Piedmont. |
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Giuseppe Garibaldi an Italian patriot, raised an army of a thousand volunteers . Italian revolutionary hero and leader in the struggle for Italian unification. Born in 1807 in Nice, France, he joined Mazzini's movement in 1833. He escaped to South America, where he lived for 12 years. In 1848, Garibaldi traveled to the United States settled in Staten Island, New York, and later became a US citizen. During the same year he returned to Italy and participated in the movement for Italian freedom and unification. Garibaldi defended Rome against French forces, but in the end was forced to "settle" with the French. He was allowed to depart from Rome with about 5000 of his followers. However, the line of retreat reached directly through Austrians controlled territory. Garibaldi's force was killed, captured, or dispersed during his attempt to retreat, and Garibaldi had to flee Italy to save his life.
Camillo di Cavour became prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia in 1852. Under his leadership, the unification of Italy led for a little more than a decade. Cavour was able to persuade Napoleon to plan war against Austria. Giuseppe Mazzini an Italian patriot who lead a ravolutionary movement. His ideas spread quickly among the Italian nation. |