January 2011 How far do you agree that the revolutions of 1848–49 in Italy were caused primarily by economic grievances? To what extent was French involvement an obstacle to the unification of Italy in the years 1848–70? June 2011 To what extent had the provisions of the Vienna Settlement (1815) relating to Italy been overthrown by 1849? How significant was Victor Emmanuel in promoting Italian unification in the years 1850–70? January 2012 Why did Piedmont become, and remain, the driving force towards closer Italian unity in the years 1848–61?
Benito Mussolini came to power in 1922 after many years of hardship and bad leadership within Italy after world war I. A combination of the weakness of the Liberals, who were in control at this time and the strength of the Fascist regime quickly catapulted Mussolini to great power. When Mussolini marched on Rome the Italian king failed to use military force to stop him, as a result of this the Liberals quit their position as the leading government and the Fascist stepped in. Once in parliament the liberals supported Mussolini , this in turn allowed Mussolini to manipulate laws and very quickly become a dictator of Italy. Once in control Mussolini had to act fast to try to gain and keep complete control of Italy.
Austria, however, did not want to unify at all. This caused Italian states to revolt, which was not successful and also lead to war. War with Austria united southern Europe, later leading to Italy’s unification, becoming one of the most powerful countries in Europe. Second, reforms created safety conditions, public health, free education, slave trade, etc. These economic changes promoted unity through Europe.
Prior to his taking of Abyssinia, Mussolini’s foreign policy seemed to differ greatly from Hitler’s, for example in 1934 Mussolini sent troops to the Italian border with Austria in reaction to Hitler’s attempt to invade Austria. This move indicates that Mussolini was untrusting of Hitler and made a concentrated effort to ensure that Hitler’s position in the region remain largely unchanged. Moreover his joining of the Stresa Front in 1935 along with Britain and France in a bid to contain Germany would indicate once more that prior to Abyssinia, Mussolini’s position in regards to Germany was one of reluctance and hesitance. However, following Abyssinia, Italy’s international position shifted, with Britain and France condemning the move. Crucially however, Hitler supported Mussolini’s invasion and did not condemn it, and Hitler soon appeared to be Italy’s stronger option within Europe, and so Mussolini steadily synchronised his foreign policy with Hitler’s and it could be argued that it was at this point Mussolini’s foreign policy took the greatest shift.
By 1815, the aims of these secret societies changed in the direction of driving out the Austrians and restoring old Monarchs. Consequently, these factors paved the way for revolts and armed the peasants with something they never had had before – power. In a large number, the masses could stand against the oppressive rule of the Austrians. Therefore, the events that followed in the years 1820 – 1849 were all underpinned by the resentment of this from Metternich and the importance he placed on controlling Italy. Metternich was the Austrian chancellor and saw the danger of Italian nationalism and the potentially threatening ideas that
Benito Mussolini had a very important role in his rise to the power of Italy. There were some factors that made the people think in a change in the politic system, and this was taken by him to consolidate his arrival to power. On the one hand, Mussolini made several moves that helped him get closer to the mandate of Italy. He promised to the people of Italy a political stability. By that time the political situation was chaotic, after the Paris conference very little beneficial resolutions were made for Italy.
In a secret meeting in Plombieres between Cavour and Napoleon III in summer 1858, it was agreed that a joint war against Austria would take place. In return for this war, Italy would gain from Austria the possession of Lombardy, Venetia, as well as the duchies of Parma and Modena. France would regain Savoy and Nice from Italy. If the war was to be successful for the French and Italians, Italy would take control of the regions that have been for so long controlled by Austria. Back in Italian possession would be a major step to Unification.
Italian vs German Unification The 1800s were a time of great political developments for Europe. The shattered nations of previous centuries came under the unified, controlled leadership of strong figureheads and diplomats such as Otto Von Bismarck of Germany and Count Camillo Cavour of Italy. Nationalism was a major base of the time, epitomized by Giuseppe Mazzini. The Congress of Vienna (1815) had rearranged boundaries to form the Confederation of the Rhine (in harmony with previous monarchial boundaries), rather than ethnicity or nationality. This action upset the Nationalist movement, and several leaders used intellectual diplomacy and alliances to successfully achieve their nationalist policies.
Many historians argue the Military Revolution made possible, and indeed made necessary, formation of strong central governments in order to maximize military strength that could enable conquest and prevent being conquered. New monarchies are hard to deal with, even the sort of new ones that are just adding a territory onto an old monarchy. Machiavelli calls these mixed monarchies. Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian historian, politician, diplomat, philosopher, humanist, and writer, who is recognized as the founder of modern political science and political ethics. He was for many years an official in the Florentine Republic, with responsibilities in diplomatic and military affairs.
“"Fascism" was the ideology of the movement that, under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, seized power in Italy in 1922 and held power until the Allied invasion of Italy in World War II” 18. “An attempt to provide fascism with a fully articulated theory was made by an Italian neo-Hegelian philosopher of some distinction, Giovanni Gentile, who was converted to fascism after Mussolini's coup.” 19. “But fascism equally opposed socialism, which preached class war and trade unionism and thus served only to divide the nation” 20. “Revolutionized society in such a way that the socialist critique was no longer relevant” 21. “Fascism's debts to the more extreme and fanatic elements of the nineteenth-century left wing” 22.