Discussion Question Responses
 Question: Using the examples of France during the French Revolution and
Germany under Bismarck, what would be some challenges that newlyestablished nations/governments could possibly face during unification?
 Response #1: “A new nation/government could face challenges with other
countries because the opposing countries may attack the country, knowing
they are in their weakest moment, to gain more land. The people in the
country may not agree with the new government or even the unification
process, creating conflict inside the nation. A new nation will have to learn
the way of government and also create allies with other countries. Another
challenge would be the amount of time a country takes to acquire strength
and power to join the game of domination. Also, the country will need to
learn and grow in the economic field to flourish their empire. The military
will have to be created by those willing to fight for their nation because of
Nationalism. New nations are faced with many challenges.”
Discussion Question Responses
 Response #2: “It is likely that a new government would face opposition
from many groups and from other countries hoping to protect themselves
from the outlast of the instability. Another challenge would be to create a
stable economy to support the population and to allow the government to
function without debt. Lastly, the challenge of creating new diplomatic
relationships with the neighboring countries”
 Response #3: “A new and unified government could face many challenges.
When trying to unify nations, you will most likely have disagreements
about the laws and how the government should be run. Trying to find a
proper and qualified ruler or leader to take charge of the government
would also be a challenge because the ideal person would have to please
everyone, which is hard to do. Along with a new government will probably
come some problems. Not many constitutions that are written or leaders
that rule stay long or do everything right. It takes a few times to get it
perfect.”
10.3 Unifying Italy
Objectives:
1.
List the key obstacles to
Italian unity
2.
Describe the challenges
that faced the new nation
of Italy
Geography of Italy
Main Idea
 Although the people of the Italian peninsula spoke the same
language, they had not experienced political unity since Roman
times. By the early 1800s, Italian patriots- including Giuseppe
Mazzini, who would become a revolutionary in Italy- were
determined to build a new, united Italy. As in Germany, unification
was brought about by the efforts of a strong state, and furthered by
a ruthless politician- Count Camillo Cavour.
Obstacles to Italian Unity
 Frequent warfare and foreign rule had led Italian people to identify
with certain regions:
 Florence- Tuscans
 Venice- Venetians
 Naples- Neapolitans
 The Congress of Vienna ignored Italian Nationalists who had
hoped to achieve unity
 Austria took control of much of northern Italy
 Hapsburg monarchs ruled various Italian states
 French ruled in Naples and Sicily
Response to Obstacles
 Many nationalist revolts took place across the northern region
against the Austrians.
 In the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini founded Young Italy, which was a
secret society formed “to constitute Italy as a free, independent,
republican nation.”
 Another nationalist revolt took place in 1849 in France, but the
French forces stopped it.
 Nationalism was growing
The Struggle for Italy: Camillo Cavour
 Count Camillo Cavour is made prime minister of
Sardinia by King Victor Emanuel II
 Cavour led Sardinia into the Crimean War, on the
side of the French and British against Russia
 Winning the Crimean War gained the trust of
Napoleon, which led to a negotiated deal with
Napoleon to aid Sardinia in case it faced war with
Austria
 Sardinia provoked that war in 1859, defeating
Austria and annexing Lombardy.
 Other nationalist groups overthrew Austrianbacked rulers in northern states, which joined
Sardinia as well.
The Struggle for Italy: Giuseppe Garibaldi
 Like Mazzini, Garibaldi wanted to create an
Italian republic, but also accepted aid from
monarchist Cavour.
 Garibaldi, armed with weapons and ships
from Cavour, wins control of Sicily, and then
crosses to the mainland and takes control of
Naples as well.
 Cavour fears that Garibaldi will set up his
own republic in the South, urges Emmanuel
II to send troops
 Troops end up linking up with Garibaldi’s
troops, and in a patriotic move, Garibaldi
turned over Naples and Sicily to Emmanuel
 In 1861, Emmanuel II becomes king of Italy
Italy is Finally United
 In 1861, there were still two areas of Italy that
were still not unified: Rome and Venetia
 Italy formed an alliance with Prussia in the
Austro-Prussian War and won the province
of Venetia
 France was forced to withdraw its troops
from Rome in the Franco- Prussian War of
1870
 Italy finally became a unified country in
1870.
Challenges Facing the New Nation:
Divisions
 There was a divide between northern and southern Italy
 Cities in the north flourished as centers of business and culture
 Cities in the south were poor and rural. Despite a booming
population, most peasants could only barely get by off of exhausted
farmland
 Hostility between Italy and the Roman Catholic Church also divided
the nation
 Popes resented the seizure of Papal States and Rome, and urged followers
not to cooperate with new government
Challenges Facing the New Nation:
Turmoil
 Under Victor Emmanuel, Italy was a constitutional monarchy with
a two-house legislature
 In the late 1800s, unrest increased as radicals struggled against a
conservative government
 Socialists organized strikes and anarchists turned to sabotage and
violence
 Government slowly passes laws to allow more men to vote and to
improve social conditions
Economic Progress in Italy
 Despite the problems in Italy, it developed economically,
especially after 1900.
 Industrialization in the north brought with it urbanization,
as peasants flocked to cities to find jobs in factories
 Population explosion created tensions, but due to
emigration, many Italians left Italy for the United States,
Canada, and other Latin American nations.
 Italy was much better off in the early 1900s, on the eve of
WWI, than it was in 1861.