THE ITALIAN UNIFICATION: 1848 - 1870

By Sultan Khokhar

Until 1861, Italy was not one unified state. All the way through the Middle Ages, until as late as the mid-19th century, Italy was made up of a number of smaller Italian states and city-states, such as Florence, Milan, Venice and the Papal States. A sense of national, Italian identity first began to emerge during the late 18th century, notably in Carli’s Della Patria degli Italiani, written in 1764. The Habsburgs ruled Italy for a significant period too until Napoleon’s campaigns in France brought an end to their rule and older feudal ideas were destroyed and replaced with more modern ideas. After the fall of Napoleon, the Habsburgs and Austrian Empire resumed control of much of northern Italy. However, nationalism and ideas of unification were spreading. Movements like the Carboneria gained popularity and these pro-Italian unification sentiments culminated in the First Italian War of Independence in 1848.

Poor harvests in 1846 and 1847 had set the stage for revolution. The addition of growing nationalist sentiment into the mix meant that in 1848, King Charles Albert of Piedmont-Sardinia (modern-day Sardinia) declared war on Austria. However, Pope Pius distanced himself from the conflict and upon Mazzini’s proclamation of a Roman Republic, he fled to France, gathering 20,000 French troops to retake Rome from Mazzini and Garibaldi. The city eventually fell in July 1949 and the Catholic Church would henceforward be an obstacle to Italian unification. Charles Albert was also defeated at the Battle of Custoza and the Battle of Novara after he re-entered the war. His defeat at Novara also led to his abdication in favour of his son Victor Emmanuel II. The revolution achieved little to nothing, with the only surviving constitution of the conflict being Charles Albert’s Statuto, which was far from democratic anyway. The key lesson that the failure of the 1848-1849 revolution in Italy delivered was that mere idealism was not enough to challenge the existing order: force was needed. Nationalists like Garibaldi who participated in the revolution concluded that Italian unification and independence could not be achieved without military strength and the use of force. The failure in 1848-1849 had crushed the hopes of many liberals and nationals. However, it did not destroy the ideals of Italian unification.

In 1852, Count Camillo di Cavour became the Prime Minister of Piedmont. He was to play a major role in Italian unification, but he was more immediately concerned with freeing Piedmont from Austrian influence and annexing territory in northern and central Italy. In 1855, Piedmont joined Britain and France in the Crimean War and, although he made no territorial gain, this was beneficial to Cavour as Austria was left isolated due to Britain, France and Russia being angry that it had not joined them in the war. In January 1959, Cavour and Napoleon III of France signed a secret treaty agreeing that Cavour would provoke Austria into war and France would help Piedmont to take Lombardy and Venetia, gaining Savoy and Nice for themselves. Napoleon initially lost his nerve after Britain and Russia intervened on Austria’s behalf, but after Austria declared war on Piedmont on 29 April 1859, France sent 100,000 troops across the Alps, defeating Austria in two major battles at Magenta and Solferino. Victor Emmanuel made a speech addressing the “people of Italy”, telling them he will “fight for the right of the whole nation”. Although his words had a limited effect in rallying Italians to his cause, it did make clear that he supported and desired a free, united Italian state. This message of unity is certainly notable because a mere two years later, the Kingdom of Italy was formed. The Second Italian Independence War had a mixed effect, provoking popular uprisings in Tuscany, Parma and Modena and leading to the removal of these places’ leaders, as well as the challenging of papal authority in the Romagna. Napoleon, however, concerned about this escalation of events within Italy, signed an armistice with Austria, whereby they were able to keep Venetia and some deposed leaders were restored. The Armistice of Villafranca failed to quell the desire for unification though and the nationalist provisional governments set up in central Italy voted to unite with Piedmont. When Cavour returned to power in January 1860, he found a Napoleon who was ready for Piedmontese expansion. Thus, after plebiscites in central Italy through March, Northern and Central Italy, with the exception of Venetia, were finally united under the rule of King Victor Emmanuel. This was a tremendous victory for the unification movement, as it showed that through diplomatic wrangling but most importantly patience, it was possible to achieve your aims. It sent the message that the conflict, bloodshed and time that this moment had cost was not futile and that with determination anything was possible. However, it did not stop there.

In April 1860, a revolt broke out in Sicily, partly as a result of the events that had taken place in Italy between 1859 and 1860, but primarily due to the conservatism of the new King Francis II of the Two Sicilies. The people’s dismay was unsurprising, seeing as the past year had seen such significant change in and around Italy. It was only natural that the Sicilian people would be disappointed with a conservative rule when it had become apparent that constitutional reform was no longer an ideal but a real possibility. Giuseppe Garibaldi, a popular proponent of the cause of Italian unity, raised a force to invade Sicily, in the hope of igniting nationalist sentiments and uprisings which could unite Italy in its entirety. In May 1860, Garibaldi set sail for Sicily with a paltry force of 1,089 volunteers. Success seemed extremely unlikely against Francis II’s 25,000 troops, but Garibaldi was able to utilise the people; he promised land reform and tax reduction, winning many over to his cause and even acquiring new recruits. After his victory at the Battle of Calatafimi, against an enemy which outnumbered his forces almost two to one, and the withdrawal of Neapolitan troops, Garibaldi had conquered Sicily. He promptly appointed himself dictator, in the name of Victor Emmanuel, and began preparing to attack the mainland and Naples. What is significant here is the role of the people. It is unlikely that Garibaldi would have been successful if he had not won over the people; his meagre army was supplemented by rebels who opposed Francis II’s rule and his invading force swelled to nearly four times its original size within three days of landing at Sicily. Therefore, it cannot be understated how integral popular support was to Garibaldi’s conquest and it truly demonstrated the power of the people in bringing about change.

King Francis had fled to Naples and nervous about Garibaldi’s ambitions to encroach further onto his territory he attempted to win back support by accepting a new constitution and bringing in liberal ministers. However, his efforts failed to earn back his people’s trust in his leadership, especially since his weakness had already been demonstrated by Giuseppe Garibaldi’s takeover of Sicily. In August, Garibaldi and just over 3,000 men reached the Italian mainland and moved northwards, enjoying easy victories the whole way, with some garrisons surrendering, others welcoming him as military resistance towards the man many considered a national hero faded. Quickly, two regions in the Kingdom of Naples essentially broke away from their leadership, declaring their annexation by the Kingdom of Italy. The poorer peasants and other people that populated this region supported him and his cause. By early September, Francis had fled from Naples, his capital, and Garibaldi was welcomed by the people of Naples into their city. This made it clear to the people of Italy and, more widely, of Europe that popular causes were gaining traction. This was no longer a time when monarchs could largely remain unconcerned with the political desires of their people, rather Garibaldi’s conquest of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies made it known that what the population wanted mattered. Had the people of Sicily supported their king, Garibaldi may have never enjoyed the success that he did. He certainly would not have been able to totally overpower a sovereign king if he had not won over the people and increased his force fifty-fold. And the fundamental reason he was able to do this was because the people wanted change, and he recognised that and he represented an opportunity to realise it. Furthermore, the way he was welcomed shows the popularity of the desire for Italian unification - clearly, it was something that was widely sought after, if the people of Sicily were willing to forsake their king in favour of an invader for it.

Although Garibaldi had now set his eyes on Rome, Neapolitan resistance north of Naples had hampered his plans. Meanwhile, Cavour was wary of Garibaldi’s advance on Rome, as he was concerned that it may provoke a war with Napoleon of France since he considered himself the Pope’s guardian and protector. As a result, Victor Emmanuel led a Piedmontese army southwards to meet Garibaldi’s, defeating a Papal army on the way, as the central Italy from coast to coast belonged to the Papal States. Contrary to Cavour’s worries about Garibaldi, that he had ambitions to take the whole of Italy for himself, he acknowledged Victor Emmanuel as the “first king of Italy” and relinquished all his conquests and gains to him. Garibaldi refused to accept any titles or wealth offered to him for his efforts, instead opting to retire to Caprera with little more than a year’s supply of macaroni. This truly cemented his image as the people’s hero. Following plebiscites in Naples, Umbria and the Papal Marches, a verdict in favour of unification was returned and after 1860, the rest of the country adopted Piedmontese systems. The first Italian parliament was finally elected in 1861 and met in Turin, Piedmont. All that was left for the unification of Italy to be complete was the union of Rome and Venetia with the rest of the country. After 1861 and the retirement or death of popular, experienced leaders like Garibaldi and Cavour, a series of politicians struggled to preserve a united Italy. Despite the apparently strong prior desire for a united country, Italians did not become a united people overnight and local loyalties remained in most regions, with the prevailing sentiment in the south being one of confusion between unification and colonisation. Law and order began breaking down and 90,000 troops had to be deployed to the south in 1863, leading to significant loss of life. However, all was not lost for the unification movement and it still had some good fortune left. In 1866, Italy signed a secret treaty with Prussia, agreeing that if it went to war with Austria in the next two months, Italy would follow suit and receive Venetia in return. Although the war cost Italian lives, Prussia won the conflict, which meant that Venetia was ceded to the Kingdom of Italy. Then, come 1870, the Franco-Prussian War meant that French troops were withdrawn from Rome, leaving it open to Italian forces who promptly took advantage of the situation by occupying the city. On 20 September 1870, the Italian army’s Bersaglieri marched down Rome’s Via Pia, which was later renamed Via Venti Settembre, a name it bears to this day. A plebiscite on 2 October confirmed the annexation of Rome to the Kingdom of Italy, and thus the unification of Italy was finally complete.