The Risorgimento

Creating an Italian Nation-State

Eric Beckman, Anoka HS (MN)Most material adapted from John Merriman,

A History of Modern Europe from the Renaissance to the Present, 1997.

Political Unification of the Italian Peninsula, 1859-

1870 The Kingdom of Piedmont-

Sardinia, a modern state, manipulated great power politics, nationalist sentiments, and popular insurrections to politically unite the Italian peninsula by creating the nation-state of Italy.

Barriers to Italian Unification:Italy, “a mere geographic expression.”

Regional differences Cultural Economic Political

Great power politics Papacy Political ideologies

Forces Pushing for Unification

Common cultural elements

Nationalism Ascendance of

Piedmont-Sardinia Great power

politics

King Victor-Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia, and later of Italy

Common cultural elements

Catholicism Written

Italian

St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome

Nationalism

Revolutionary tradition: Carbonari

Liberals and Republicans Mazzini Garibaldi

Resentment of great power interference

Guissepe Mazzini, founder of Giovine Italia (Young Italy)

Nationalism: Politics

“The history of every age proves that no people can attain a high degree of intelligence and morality unless its feeling of nationality is strongly developed. This noteworthy fact is an inevitable consequence of the laws that rule human nature. . . Therefore, if we so ardently desire the emancipation of Italy--if we declare that in the face of this great question all the petty questions that divide us must be silenced--it is not only that we may see our country glorious and powerful but that above all we may elevate her in intelligence and moral development up to the plane of the most civilized nations. . . Nationalism has become general; it grows daily; and it has already grown strong enough to keep all parts of Italy united despite the differences that distinguish them.”

-The Program of Count di Cavour, 1846Future Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia

Nationalism

Romantic Theater: William Tell

“This art of music which is based solely on sentiment and ideals cannot escape the influence of the times we live in, and the sentiment and the ideals of the present day are wholly concerned with steam, rapine, and barricades.”

-Rossini

The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia

Modern state Constitutional

monarchy Efficient bureaucracy

Economically successful

Able political leadership, Cavour

Count Camillo di CavourPrime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia

Piedmont-Sardinia Played Great Power Politics

Crimean War

Alliance with France Commercial treaty Diplomatic marriage Mutual defense treaty

French interest Commerce Nice and Savoy Rome

Napoleon III Emperor of France

Isolated Austria Piedmont-Sardinia

provoked war with Austria

P-S Isolated Austria French support for P-S

Austria defeated Battles in northern Italy France limits support P-S gains Lombardy

Francis JosephEmperor of Austria

Francis Joseph eventually adopted the appropriate facial hair for an old school monarch of his generation

Annexations enlarged Piedmont-sardinia

Cavour encouraged revolutions Successful: Romagna,

Tuscany, Modena, and Parma Annexed by P-S, approved by

plebiscites Unsuccessful: Rome

P-S treaty with France F: recognized annexations P-S: ceded Nice and Savoy

Giuseppe Garibaldi Led Insurrections in the

South Garibaldi

Nationalist and Republican

Mutual distrust with Cavour

Commanded volunteer army: Red Shirts

Joined rebellions in Sicily (against milling taxes and bread prices) and Naples (led by urban workers)

Giuseppe Garibaldi, 1860

Garibaldi’s Move South

“The General has ridden through the city on horseback. When the population sees him, they take fire. There is a magic in his look and in his name. It is only Garibaldi they want.” –a soldier

The Enlarged Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia Added the

Mezzogiorno Garibaldi’s forces and local

rebellions unseated the King of the Two Sicilies

P-S troops marched to Rome Pope opposed unification Garibaldi & Victor-Emmanuel

Victor-Emmanuel II: First King of Italy

“Free, and nearly entirely united, the opinion of civilized nations is favorable to us; the just and liberal principles, now prevailing in the councils of Europe, are favorable to us. Italy herself, too, will become a guarantee of order and peace, and will once more be an efficacious instrument of universal civilization. . . .These facts have inspired the nation with great confidence in its own destinies. I take pleasure in manifesting to the first Parliament of Italy the joy I feel in my heart as king and soldier.”

Victor Emmanuel, 1861

Garibaldi’s Legacy

Garabaldi on Horseback, 1900, Via dell' Independenza, Bologna

Memorial in Washington Square, New York City

Sculpture by Erminio Blotta, Argentina

Garibaldi Memorialin Taganrog, Russia

Additions to Italy

1866- Prussia defeated Austria, Italy gained Venetia

1870- Prussia defeated France, Italy gained Rome

Italia Irredenta-Nationalists agitate to add “unredeemed” lands to Italy

The New State “We have made Italy; now we must make

Italians.” Constitutional monarchy, limited male

franchise Number of male voters grew: 1871 (600,000),

1882 (2 million), 1912 (4 million) National identity limited by illiteracy

70% in 1871, 50% in 1900

Continued Divisions

Weak sense of national identity. “What is Italy?”

North vs. South Increasing prosperity gap: landowners vs.

rural proletariat Migration Social unrest

Political diversity

Resistance to the State

Rebellions in South Impoverished, unemployed, landless Sympathy for bandits

Local sources of authority in the South Organized crime Notables

Repression of crime and rebellion in the south killed more people than all of the wars of the risorgimento

Anarchism Opposition to the state Assassination of King Umberto I (1900)

A Nationalist State Desire for national greatness through

colonialism Conquest of Eritrea (1889), Somalia (1890) and

Libya (1911) Failed attempt to conquer Ethiopia-1896

Initially neutral, irredentism motivated Italian leaders to join WWI

Post-WWI fascism

Conclusions

Between 1859 and 1870, Piedmont-Sardinia took the lead in forging an Italian nation-state

War, foreign intervention, nationalism, and popular insurrections all contributed to replacing eight political units with one Kingdom of Italy

The new state sought to extend its powers at home and abroad