Italian unification

Question 1

What were the separate Italian statelets collectively referred to as before Italian unification?

Answer 1

The cisalpine Kingdoms

Question 2

What pro-unification movement had been gaining momentum in the 30 years leading up to unification?

Answer 2

The risorgimento

Question 3

Which nation had fortresses in Lombardy?

Answer 3

Austria-Hungary

Question 4

Who protected the papal states?

Answer 4

Emperor Napoleon of France

Question 5

What was the name of the corrupt group of families that had political control in the South?

Answer 5

The Bourbons

Question 6

Describe Clark on Napoleon

Answer 6

• Napoleon III was the Emperor of France
• Had previously wanted to overthrow the separate Italian kingdoms and make his son the King of a new unified Italy
• He found the Sardinian kingdom to be a useful ally against Austria.
• He signed the plombiere agreement, which comitted France to helping rid Italy of Austrian infulence
• He promised to be an ally of ‘Italians’ if they left Rome alone

Question 7

Describe the Prussians at this time?

Answer 7

• In the 1860s, Prussia was rampaging through Europe, conquering and crushing kingdoms and beginning to form the empire we now call Germany
• ## Austria was scared of Prussia and their troops abandoned their Italian forts to fight Prussia in a short war

Question 8

Describe the Catholic Church at this time

Answer 8

• It was large and powerful
• It liked the special protected status it received from the French
• It worried that a new Italian state would hold power over it, so they actively spoke out against unification
• They distrusted new liberal ideas like democracy

Question 9

Describe Garibaldi

Answer 9

• Radical who distrusted diplomacy
• Believed Italy could only be united through revolutionary means, and that armed action was essential
• His history fighting bravely for piedmont meant he had a large and loyal army of redshirts willing to follow him into battle
• He knew that people in Sicily and the papal states wanted to overthrow their rulers

Question 10

Describe the Austrian reaction to Italian unification

Answer 10

• They showed little enthusiasm
• Reacted to Piedmontese expansion largely indifferently in a meeting with Prussia and Russia
• They saw it as a potential advantage if they could invade Lombardy while Piedmontese forces were engaged elsewhere, but this plan ultimately failed to materialise
• There was a small ammount of tension at the extent of Piedmontese expansion

Question 11

What was the British response to Italian unification?

Answer 11

• Major advocate of a unified Italyy
• Lord John Russel publicly announced his support as foreign secretary
• The British governemnt issues a warning that if any other major power should intervene to stop Italian unification, the British government would interven militarily to prevent such action.
• Support stemmed from the fact that astrong, unified Italy would create a balanced power dynamic in Europe and therefore keep france in check

Question 12

What was the Piedmontese response to Italian unification?

Answer 12

• Largely supportive as they became the figureheads for Italian unification
• Enjoyed major political ifluence within Italy
• Victor Emmanuel retained power as the sovereign body of state
• A constitution was adopted based on the Piedmontese ‘statuto’ of 1848
• Piedmontese taxes, weights, measures and the notion of free trade were imposed upon the newly unified Italy
• They would have resented the inclusion of the impoverished, uneducated masses in the south in the new Italy, as this was not part of Piedmont’s initial blueprint for an Italian Kingdom

Question 13

What was the response to Italian unification from the South?

Answer 13

• Initially strong supporters of a unified Italy
• Once it had actually materialised, unification had a negative impact on southerners’ lives
• New Piedmontese laws were imposed by people who had little knowledge of the South, leading to feelings oof ostracism and disharmony with the rest of the nation
• Cavour crushed anyone he saw as potential opposition in the south, this included peasants making simple demands for greater freedom and land
• Tax rises were imposed by a Piedmontese government looking to cover wartime debts
• The social and economic hardships led to a rise in brigandage, which made southern citizens feel increasingly unsafe at home

Question 14

How did Lombardy react to Italian unification?

Answer 14

• Seemed to be impacted more negatively than positively
• Had a central government ruling imposed upon it
• Saw its education system, legal system and system of local government swept away by Piedmontisation
• The fact that there was known widely known common language in the new Italy will have made places like this feel disconnected from the other parts of the nation

Question 15

Describe how Italy acquired Venice

Answer 15

• Was initially in Austrian hands following unification
• When at war with one another, both Prussia and austria promised the territory to King Napoleon in return for staying out of the war
• Napoleon would then hand venice over to Italy to help with the unification process
• Frustrated by how weak this made them look, Italy attempted to seize venice through force
• Italy entered the battle, vastly outnumbering Austria, with 40,000 men in ironclad battleships
• Despite the advantage, they were defeated by Austrai at the battle of Custozza and then again at the battle of Lissa in 1866
• Ausstria were defeated by Prussia in the war and Venice was handed over to Napoleon, who then, as promised, gave it to Italy to add to her Kingdom

Question 16

What happened to Garibaldi following unification?

Answer 16

• He was granted the rank of major general, the title of prince, a large pension and a castle. However, Garibaldi refused all of this because of the King’s poor treatment of his redshirts; refusing to inspect them or sign the proclomation of thanks to them
• Resented emmanuel and Cavour for trying to politically isolate him after everything he’d done. Painting him as an illiberal, authoritarian figure
• Garibaldi demanded to maintain control of the south for an extra year following unification. This was denied by the King
• He returnd to his island of Caprera
• Cavour and Emmanuel believed he had served his purpose and could only cause troubke if he remianed politically active
• He ominously promised to return to free Rome and Venicce, as they wee both still in foreign hands