Mar. 25

The Unification of Italy

I. Creation of Italy an act of political will.

II. To move through Italy, north to south, in the mid-nineteenth century was to move through the centuries of European history.

A. Most developed areas in the north, Piedmont-Savoy in the northwest, and to the east, Lombardy, then the Veneto. Latter two dominated by Austria.
B. To the south series of independent states under Austrian domination.
C. Papal states.
D. Far south, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies ruled by Bourbon kings.

III. Napoleonic invasion 1796 had brought French ideology and legislation to northern Italy.

IV. Peace of Vienna 1815 reestablishes series of states in Italy.

V. The making of the nation.

A. Mazzini and liberal nationalism.
B. The revolutions of 1848-49.

1. Key role of Piedmont Savoy and the ruling House of Savoy under Charles Albert.
2. Defeat by Austrians at Custoza July 1848, then at Novara Marsh 1849.

C. Cavour and Piedmont-Savoy: the makers of the nation.
D. Garibaldi and radical nationalism.

VI. An incomplete Italy established in 1861, then, with the defeat of Austria by Prussia in 1866 and the occupation of the Papal states in 1870, unified Italy completed in 1871.

A. "We have made Italy, now we need to make Italians."