The Contribution of Cavour, Garibaldi and Napoleon III to the Unification of Italy

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The Contribution of Cavour, Garibaldi and Napoleon III to the Unification of Italy

The “Risorgimento” or “Resurrection” culminated in the declaration of

the Kingdom of Italy and was finalized and put beyond all doubt when

Rome, capital of the Papal States, was conquered in 1870. There were

three key members of this gradual process who made the unification of

Italy possible.

Cavour, born into a noble Piedmontese family, started his career in

the military but, due to his liberal views he was forced to leave and

he resigned in 1831. After Pope Pius IX’s election in 1846, Cavour

felt that the chance for him to advocate reform had come. He failed in

revolutions but he became Prime Minister of Piedmont-Sardinia and at

the outbreak of the Crimean War he joined forces with Great Britain

and France and, by this, proved himself to be a fine statesman for

foreign affairs. And indeed it was his affairs with Napoleon III that

helped Sardinia expand in a big way. After meeting with the man

himself, Cavour agreed that if Austria were to attack Sardinia, French

Fleets would enter the war on Sardinia's side. Cavour immediately set

to provoking Austria into war, and in April 1859 Austria attacked the

small Italian state. However, after ferocious victories, Napoleon

decided to withdraw his troops. A compromise was formed and it allowed

the Austrians to keep Venetia and transferred the territories

conquered by the Sardinians to their former rulers. Sardinia received

only Lombardy. Although Cavour was furious at Napoleon, the situation

soon reversed itself when the citizens of Tuscany, Modena, Parma and

Bologna voted to become part of Sardinia anyway.

Garibaldi’s influence, it seems to me, was small in the big scheme of

things and although he was influenced by Mazzini, who has been left

out in the title but played a great role in organising and initiating

the transformation, there is reason to believe he just arrived at the

end and picked up the spoils and glory that came with it. The

Red-Shirts took Sicily and he hailed himself Dictator of the island.

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