Chapter 23
Nationalism Triumphs in Europe
Section 3
Unifying Italy
Setting the Scene
At the Congress of Vienna, Italian nationalists
hoped to end centuries of foreign rule and
achieve unity. To Metternich, the idea of a unified
Italy was laughable. Italy, he was convinced, was
a mere "geographic expression/'
Although the people of the Italian peninsula
spoke the same language, they had not
experienced political unity since Roman times.
By the early 1800s, though, Italian patriots were
determined to build a new, united Italy. As in
Germany, unification was brought about by the
efforts of a strong state and a shrewd, ruthless
politician—Count Camillo Cavour.
I. Obstacles to Italian Unity
In Italy, people identified with local regions
rather than with the idea of an Italian nation
I. Obstacles to Italian Unity
Napoleon’s invasion sparked dreams of
national unity, but the Congress of Vienna
ignored the nationalists
I. Obstacles to Italian Unity
Between 1820 and 1848, nationalist revolts
exploded across the region but were crushed
by Austria
I. Obstacles to Italian Unity
In the 1830s, the nationalist leader Giuseppe
Mazzini founded Young Italy
I. Obstacles to Italian Unity
Nationalists like Mazzini felt a united Italy
made sense because of geography and a
common language and history
II. The Struggle for Italy
After 1848, leadership of the Risorgimento
passed to Victor Emmanuel II’s kingdom of
Sardinia
II. The Struggle for Italy
In 1852 Victor Emmanuel made Count Camillo
Cavour, a monarchist who believed in
Realpolitik, his prime minister
II. The Struggle for Italy
In 1859, Cavour provoked war with and
defeated Austria, and several other northern
Italian states joined with Sardinia
II. The Struggle for Italy
In southern Italy, Giuseppe Garibaldi recruited
a force of 1,000 "Red Shirts'' and won control
of Sicily and southern Italy
II. The Struggle for Italy
Sardinian troops overran the Papal States and
joined Garibaldi’s forces in Naples. In 1861,
Victor Emmanuel II was crowned king of Italy
III. Challenges Facing the New Nation
Italy had no tradition
of unity and few
Italians felt ties to the
new nation
III. Challenges Facing the New Nation
The greatest division was between the richer,
urban north and the poorer, rural south
Merano, Italy
III. Challenges Facing the New Nation
Hostility between Italy and the Roman
Catholic Church further divided the nation
III. Challenges Facing the New Nation
Italy was a constitutional monarchy with a twohouse legislature, but only a small number of
men could vote
III. Challenges Facing the New Nation
Radical socialists and anarchists forced the
government to extended suffrage and improve
social conditions
III. Challenges Facing the New Nation
Industrialization brought urbanization, and
reformers caused improvements in education
and working conditions
III. Challenges Facing the New Nation
A population explosion resulted in many
people emigrating for the United States,
Canada, and Latin American nations
Family waiting to land at Ellis Island