Cavour Vs. Garibaldi The idea of nationalism dominated Western civilization during the period 1850 to 1871. Liberal ideas spread viciously from France and Britain throughout Europe. French reforms gave Italy an enormous motivation to reach liberalism. Eager to be freed from foreign domination, Italy underwent a series of political events which established the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 (1). The Italian Unification, also known as Risorgimento, was mainly lead by two important figureheads: Count Camillo di Cavour and Giuseppe Garibaldi.
It is agreed by most, that Napoleon III, Napoleon Bonaparte’s nephew, was a key factor in the unification but the real debate lies within the question; was he a hindrance or a assistance? It was certain that Napoleon left his mark on Italy, involving himself immensely, but there is debate over how many states he affected in a positive way. On one hand, and very importantly, when talking about Lombardy’s annexation from Piedmont, there is no doubt that Napoleon played a large factor. Napoleon and Italian nationalist Cavour met at Plombieres were an agreement was formed. A war was planned between Austria and a mixture of French and Piedmontese troops, with a hope for victory in favour of Piedmont.
However Italians such as Garibaldi, Cavour, Victor Emanuel and Mazzini sought to unify the area and create one nation. Separatism was an important factor in Italian Unification; however to first understand separatism it must be defined in the context of Italian Unification. Separatism in Italy at the time was the divided nature of the “geographical area known as Italy”, with its different states, rules and languages. The splitting up of Italy into these sets of smaller Pre-Napoleonic states at the Congress of Vienna was the main reason behind the increased feeling of separatism felt at the time in Italy. Separatism contributed positively to Italian unification in some ways, for instance it led to a sense of pride in certain states which led to an increased feeling of resentment towards foreign powers that were occupying, or held power over some states in Italy at the time.
Cavour, on the other hand, was essential to foreign negotiation as in the summer of 1858 he made the Pact of Plombieres with Napoleon III. The pact was secured French support in the war against Austria, was indispensable to Italian unification as the pre 1849 revolution had shown
France might have also been frightenend by the progressing German unification. There were other more politically domestic long term reasons for the war. These were that Bismarck wanted to unify the land that he had won as a result of the Austrian and Prussian war in 1866. Bismarck also used France as a common enemy of Germany all together so that unification could take place much more easily. France thought the war would not only help by stopping Germany’s increase in power.
Italy wanted to become a country instead of individual states. This would make them more powerful against the other big countries across Europe. They had tried to do this previously with revolutions in the 1820’s and 30’s but failed. They hoped they would be more successful in 1848 with the appointment of Pope Pius X1. The main reasons I will be looking at for why the revolutions failed are The Pope’s Allocution, they didn’t have a common goal, France, lack of foreign support and also the power of Austria.
Great Britain, France, and Russia all formed the Allies while Germany, Austria- Hungary, and Italy formed the Central Powers. The position of Germany might have led to an early declaration of was because it was surrounded by the allied powers. Nationalism and extreme patriotism towards the country was also a reason for the outbreak of the war. This over-confidence gave birth to a fatal misconception: that in the event of war in Europe, one’s own country would be victorious
The pact was the final cause of war as Hitler could now invade Poland without any interference from Stalin. Britain and France had declared war on Germany as they guaranteed Poland’s independence. However, the policy of appeasement in the 1930’s also played a big role in causing the Second World War. Appeasement had led Hitler to believe that Britain and France were weak. Britain and France gave Germany the Rhineland, the Sudetenland and they were allowed to have an Anschluss with Austria.
Short term significance of the Austro Prussian war to Italian politics and society. The Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Austria contested with Prussia the position of leadership among the German states. The Kingdom of Italy seized the opportunity to capture Venetia from Austrian rule and allied itself with Prussia. Austria tried to persuade the Italian government to accept Venetia in exchange for non-intervention. However, on 8 April, Italy and Prussia signed an agreement that supported Italy's acquisition of Venetia, and on 20 June Italy declared war on Austria.
The organisation was accompanied by a journal called ‘Young Italy’. This journal was important in spreading nationalism, as many of Mazzini’s ideas were explained and encouraged. These ideas included Mazzini’s republican views; he wanted a united Italian republic with Charles Albert, the king of Piedmont, at the head of the movement. Mazzini differed to other patriots because he envisaged a union of all Italian-speaking provinces, including the south (Sicily and Sardinia). The ideas of Young Italy were to spread from Marseilles in France, which was Mazzini’s base, to Piedmont, the Papal States and Tuscany.