1
Could Italy unify herself without foreign aid? Explain your answer.
Italy unified herself in 1870. Before her unification, she was only a geographical expression. At
the Congress of Vienna (1814-15), the powers divided the Italian peninsula into eight states.
Among these states, the Italians only ruled Piedmont (also known as the Kingdom of Sardinia).
The other states were either under Austrian or French rule. In 1848, the Italians made the first
attempt at unity. It failed. The Italians tried again in 1859. It succeeded, and in 1870, Italy
became a unified state. The unification of Italy was brought about by many factors, which
include foreign aid, able leadership and favourable circumstances. To decide if the statement is
right, we have to examine the main obstacles facing unity and if Italy overcame them by herself
or by foreign aid. (128 words)
Italy faced two main obstacles to unity. The first main obstacle came from Austria. This is
because Austria ruled the two northern Italian states of Lombardy and Venetia. Three members of
its royal family, the Habsburgs, ruled the three central Italian states of Parma, Modena and
Tuscany. Austria was a strong European power. She was too strong for the Italians. Given the
military power of the Italians in Piedmont, there was little chance for Piedmont to defeat Austria
and drove it away from either the northern or the central part of Italy. Piedmont was no match for
Austria. In this way, Italy could not unify herself except with foreign aid. (117 words)
Italy faced another obstacle to unity --- France. Ferdinand I, a member of the French royal family
of the Bourbons, ruled the southern Italian Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Like Austria, France
was a strong power, too. There was no chance for Piedmont to defeat her and took Naples and
Sicily. To make matters worse, the newly elected French President named Louis Napoleon sent
an army to overthrow the Roman Republic set up by Mazzini and Garibaldi in 1849. Since then,
the French army had stayed in Rome to protect the Pope. This French garrison formed an
additional obstacle to Italy unity. In this respect, Italy needed foreign aid to expel the French in
order to achieve unity. (118 words)
In unifying herself, Italy had at least four able leaders. The King of Piedmont, Victor Emmanuel
II, appointed Cavour as his Prime Minister in 1852 and gave him the fullest support possible.
This aided Italian unity. Cavour provided the leadership without which Italy could never have
been unified. Mazzini promoted the nationalism among the Italians through his Young Italy
(1831) and Garibaldi took Sicily and Naples, and then handed them to Piedmont. Each one of
them played a role to help complete the unification of Italy. It seems that Italy could unify herself
without foreign aid. However, we should remember that however able they were, none of them
could overcome the two main obstacles facing Italy. (116 words)
2
According to the analysis given above, it is true that Italy could never unify herself by her efforts
alone. If Italy could not overcome the obstacles, then she needed foreign aid. With foreign aid,
Italy defeated Austria and took northern and central Italy. This is just the way the aid from
France, Britain and Prussia helped Italy expel the Austrians from the Italian peninsula. Italy also
needed the element of luck to complete unity. By it, we mean European favourable
circumstances. In 1870, Prussia went to war with France to complete German unity. When war
broke out, France recalled her troops from Rome. When the French left Rome, the Italians
occupied it. It was this favourable circumstances that helped Italy complete unity. This shows
clearly that Italy could unify herself either by foreign aid or the luck factor. (138 words)
(Total number of words: 618)