Unification of Italy

1195 Words3 Pages

Italy, before its process of revolution began, was mostly ruled by foreign powers and absolute monarchs. The country’s citizens decided they wanted a change in their government and freedom from the many rulers they experienced. In the beginning, the revolt was not organized and resulted in failure until they united and fought as one large group. With the help of some historical revolutionaries such as Mazzini, Garibaldi, Cavour and the combination of multiple independence wars, Italy finally saw a reconstruction of its government and a unification of the nation. According to John Grooch, William Ewart Gladstone described Italy’s fight for unification as “among the greatest marvels of our time”. After the country had been reconstructed and unified, it saw a sudden flow of people and a massive overpopulation. Without the combined efforts of a large portion of the Italian population, the peninsula would have never seen its unification, political restructuring, and the encouragement of a drastic population emigration.
B. The beginning of a revolution
1. Life before revolution
Before Italy gained independence, most of the country was controlled by the French. The provinces annexed to France, the Kingdom of Italy and the Kingdom of Naples were the main areas of control the French had dominated. By 1810, all of northern and central Italy became united under this new foreign rule and “gave the northern half of the peninsula its first experience with political unity since ancient times” says Salvatore Saladino. Napoleon Bonaparte ruled the Kingdom of Italy while the Kingdom of Naples was first ruled by Joseph Bonaparte and then by Napoleon’s brother-in-law Joachim Murat in 1808. In November 1799 Napoleon seized control of the ...

... middle of paper ...

...aly. London: Taylor & Francis Group, 2001.
Killinger, Charles. The History of Italy. Westport: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Saladino, Salvatore. Italy from Unification to 1919: Growth and Decay of a Liberal Regime. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1970.
Journals
Buonaiuto, Claudia, and Marie-Helene Laforest. "Spelling Out Exclusion in Southern Italy." Social Identities. no. 1 (2011): 41-59.
Cavaioli, Frank. "Patterns of Italian Immigration to the United States." The Catholic Social Science Review. (2008): 213-229.
Finotelli, Claudia, and Giuseppe Sciortino. "The Importance of Being Southern: The Making of Policies of Immigration Control in Italy." European Journal of Migration and Law. no. 2 (2009): 119-138.
Hoffheimer, Michael, and Anne Quinney. "Fatal Duality: Alexandre Dumas on Garabaldi, Cavour, and the myth of the Risorgimento." Clio. no. 2 (2012): 162-185.

Open Document