1861-70 Consolidating the Kingdom of Italy

Question 1

What were the 7 obstacles to Italian Unity after 1861?

Answer 1

1. The French and Austrians
2. Death of Cavour and Political Weakness
3. The Papacy
4. The Southern Question
5. Piedmontisation
6. The Brigands War (1861-65)
7. Economic and Social Backwardness

Question 2

Why was France an obstacle to Italian unity after 1861?

Answer 2

• French troops were still in Rome
• Napoleon would not withdraw these troops due to social imperialism (fighting abroad as a distraction to keep homeland problems at bay - wanted to be seen as a saviour of catholicism)
• at a convention in September 1864 Napoleon agreed to evacuate Rome if the Italian capital was switched from Turin to Florence
• when the Government (under Minghetti) agreed to this, there was a storm of protest - 23 died rioting in Turin, Minghetti was sacked

Question 3

When was the September Convention and what was the agreement?

Answer 3

1864

- French troops would leave Rome if the Italian capital was switched from Turin to Florence

Question 4

What happened in response to the September Convention?

Answer 4

There was a storm of protest, 23 died rioting in Turin, Minghetti was sacked by VEII

Question 5

Why was Austria an obstacle to Italian unity after 1861?

Answer 5

• remained in Venetia following their loss of Lombardy
• the Great Powers supported Austria’s position to maintain the balance of power in Europe
• Austria was weakened by the increased power of Prussia (who had made a free trade treaty with France in 1862 and excluded Austria)
• Militarily and diplomatically more powerful than the new Italian state

Question 6

When did Cavour die?

Answer 6

June 1861

Question 7

How was the death of Cavour and subsequent political weakness an obstacle to unity after 1861?

Answer 7

• the country had been formed hastily, imperfectly and against the will of many
• a succession of PMs followed Cavour - all of which were largely ignorant of Italian politics
• 1862 Garibaldi set up the Society for the Emancipation of Rome and attempted to seize Rome, in response Rattazzi was forced to send troops to stop him (to keep peace with French) - however this made Rattazzi appear as anti-nationalist and was soon sacked
• king did not support any of the ministers, Farini even tried to stab the king (causing his removal from office)
• all power in the hands of the king
• no republic (Mazzini had hoped for), no federation under the Pope (Gioberti had hoped for) - Mazzini described the new Italy as a “sham”
• Gov was undemocratic, majority was made up of Piedmontese nobility and educated middle class, with narrow electorate of 2%, unrepresentative of the masses (particularly the south)
• king kept title of “the second” rather than first of italy

Question 8

What did Garibaldi do in 1862?

Answer 8

set up the Society for the Emancipation of Rome and attempted to take the city - resulted in Rattazzi sending troops and appearing anti-nationalist, was soon removed from office

Question 9

Which PM tried to stab VEII?

Answer 9

Farini

Question 10

What was the electorate of the new kingdom of Italy?

Answer 10

2%

Question 11

What were the positive political changes in Italy after 1861?

Answer 11

• a single criminal legal code was adopted (except for Tuscany)
• civil law code in the whole of Italy from 1865
• unified army formed and modernised under Prussian guidance
• unified navy
• schools and universities under state control

Question 12

How much land did the Pope lose to the new kingdom of Italy?

Answer 12

2/3

Question 13

How was the papacy an obstacle to Italian unity after 1861?

Answer 13

• Pope land confiscated, nationalists wanted Rome as the capital, temporal power had been lost due to Risorgimento, spiritual power under threat by the scientific theory (e.g. Darwin’s Origins of Species, 1859)
• period of Fractious Cohabitation began (uneasy relationship between the state and church)
• Papacy’s response to new Italy was to create the Syllabus of Errors (1864) claiming church would retain control over education and all culture and science, reassert temporal power, attacked liberalism, nationalism, religious tolerance etc, would not accept progress and modern civilisation
• in response new Italy began to attack church, increased church taxation, began to confiscate property in 1866
• in 1870, the Dogma of Papal Infallibility was issued, claiming the Pope’s statements to be indisputable - marked the spiritual supremacy of the Pope
• Pope declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican following Rome annexation in 1870

Question 14

When was the Syllabus of Errors introduced and what did this do?

Answer 14

• 1864
• reactionary set of ideals, claiming church would have control over all education, all culture and science, rejected progress and modern civilisation, liberalism and nationalism

Question 15

When was the Dogma of Papal Infallibility issued and what did this do?

Answer 15

• 1870

- stated all Pope’s statements were indisputable

Question 16

How did the Southern Question act as an obstacle to Italian unity after 1861?

Answer 16

• during the plebiscites of 1860 people voted against the tyranny of the rulers and revolts of the peasants rather than unification
• voting systems were corrupt e.g. in Nice the “no” slips weren’t brought to the voting stations, “yes” voters didn’t know what they were voting for
• Piedmontese politicians knew little of the south
• south backwardness and poverty made it unsuitable for unification with Piedmont e.g. 1859 Casati Law made primary education compulsory but was never introduced to the south as the majority were illiterate
• Sicily and Naples had a long tradition of regional autonomy
• Cavour considered a “self government” for the south, but decided to crush any opposition (e.g. from Bourbon loyalists, Garibaldi’s army remnants, peasants demanding reform etc) following 1860 uprising by Bourbon agents

Question 17

What is an example of the south being unsuitable for unification with the north?

Answer 17

1859 Casati Law to make primary education compulsory was never introduced to the south as the majority were illiterate

Question 18

What does Cavour’s proposal of a “self government” in the south mean?

Answer 18

• self-governing system would oppose unity, shows Cavour/Piedmont was never interested in uniting the north and south, perhaps just Piedmontese expansion of the north

Question 19

How was Piedmontisation an obstacle to Italian unity after 1861?

Answer 19

• Piedmont’s systems were imposed over the whole peninsula
• south’s distinct features and deep-rooted problems made it unsuitable for this e.g. the legal system in Naples was changed by 53 decrees in 2 days in 1861
• new kingdom divided into 53 provinces each governed by a prefect
• all coinage, customs, measures were standardised
• Piedmontese constitution became the Italian constitution
• the process showed ignorance of regional affairs in Italy (north ignorance of conditions in the south) e.g. Cavour never travelled further south than Tuscany
• education payed for by attacking the Church, leading to the dissolution of 2382 monasteries, this deprived areas of charitable institutions which the state did not replace (detrimental to the south)
• jury system introduced to the south but was corrupted by the mafia
• Piedmont had neither the resources of manpower to administer the south well
• Lombardy was already developed within itself, had its own legal system, education system and local government that were swept aside for Piedmontisation

Question 20

How was Naples’ legal system changed by piedmontisation?

Answer 20

changed by 53 decrees in 2 days (1861)

Question 21

How many provinces was the new kingdom of Italy divided into?

Answer 21

53 provinces each governed by a prefect

Question 22

What shows politician ignorance of the south?

Answer 22

Cavour never travelled further south than Tuscany

Question 23

How many monasteries were shut during Piedmontisation and why?

Answer 23

2382 closed down as education had to be payed for by attacking the church

Question 24

Why was there an increase in Brigandage by 1861?

Answer 24

• Brigands were bandits who had lived in mountains and forests during the Napoleonic Wars, seen as protectors of the south
• new Italian government had increased taxes to pay for the 2.5 billion Lire debt from the unification war and Bourbon agents are angry
• conscription was also introduced (taking young men away from their farms) - in 1861, 25,000 took to the hills to avoid military service
• many in the West joined the mafia
• public opinion in the south firmly anti VEII
• many Bourbon soldiers had fled to the mountains after it was ordered they’d be shot if found with weapons

Question 25

How much was the debt from the second war of unification and what did this mean?

Answer 25

2.5 billion Lire, meant taxes increased resulting in increased Brigandage

Question 26

How many people took to the hills to avoid conscription in 1861?

Answer 26

25,000

Question 27

How was the Brigands’ War an obstacle to Italian unity after 1861?

Answer 27

• emergence of Brigandage led to a civil war that claimed more lives than all the wars of unification
• made up by the unemployed, disillusioned and 10,000 convicts - badly organised (murdered, robbed etc)
• Piedmont deployed 120,000 to deal with the threat
• by 1862, estimated 82,000 Brigands in the Neapolitan provinces
• by 1863 there were 90,000 troops involved in peace keeping (far more than used against Austria)
• group had mostly fled and disbanded by 1865, but there were still instances of uprisings following this e.g. 1866 week-long rebellion in Palermo resulting in the murder of government officials

Question 28

How many convicts were part of the brigands?

Answer 28

10,000

Question 29

How many troops did Piedmont deploy following the threat of brigands?
How many were fighting on the Brigands’ side by 1862?

Answer 29

120,000

82,000

Question 30

How many troops were engaged in peace keeping in 1863 following the Brigands problem?

Answer 30

90,000 troops

Question 31

When was the Brigands’ War?

Answer 31

1861-65

Question 32

How was economic and social backwardness an obstacle to Italian unity after 1861?

Answer 32

• Cavour’s policies of the 1850s left Italy with a 2,450 million lire deficit by 1861 - this doubled four years later after Piedmont took on smaller debts of the other states - this, coupled with Italy’s need to maintain a strong army resulted in unpopular taxes e.g. 1865 Flour Tax, and the reintroduction of the Grist Tax in 1868 (taxing the milling of corn) which led to 250 deaths and 1000 wounded in riots, as well as many having to move towns leading to reduced living standards
• state also raised tax through the church, beginning with an Act in 1867 which saw the selling of nine million acres in the next nine years - in the south peasants could not afford this land, and also found they had no capital to improve land and were forced to sell
• 30% of produce used for debt repayment, only 3 million employed in industry by 1861, of whom 80% were women and children
• Italy lacked resources to develop as it lacked coal
• Lombardy had canals and Milan was linked by roads to other European cities
• By unification there was only 2,773km of railway, with lines built within the separate states, Sicily and Sardinia had no railways at all - hindered industrial development e.g. olive oil industry in Apulia
• Mount Cenis Tunnel through the Alps in 1871 created a trade link with France but only in the north, causing a dual economy

Question 33

How much debt did Cavour’s 1850s policies cause the new kingdom of Italy by 1861?

Answer 33

2,450 million lire deficit

Question 34

Which unpopular taxes were introduced to repay state debts after 1861?

Answer 34

Flour tax 1865

Grist Tax 1868 (tax on the milling of corn) - resulted in 250 deaths and 1000 wounded in riots

Question 35

How much church land was sold following the Act in 1867?

Answer 35

9 million acres in 9 years

Question 36

How much produce was used for debt repayment after 1861?

Answer 36

30%

Question 37

How many were employed in industry by 1861?

Answer 37

3 million - 80% of which were women and children

Question 38

How much railway was there in Italy by unification?

Answer 38

2,773km with lines all within the separate states

Question 39

Which industry was hindered by the lack of railway in Sicily?

Answer 39

olive oil industry in Apulia

Question 40

Which tunnel was created in the Alps in 1871 and what did this do?

Answer 40

Mount Cenis Tunnel created a link with France but only in the north, creating a dual economy

Question 41

What is meant by “legal” and “real” italy?

Answer 41

“legal Italy” term used for those who were part of the state e.g. geographically and legally unified
“real italy” used for those who felt isolated and betrayed by Piedmontisation

Question 42

What was Piedmont’s problem with reclaiming Venetia?

Answer 42

• Venetia deemed by Ricasoli as “an integral part of our national soil”, nationalists saw Piedmont as the leader despite being united perhaps unwillingly, to take Venetia would be upsetting Great Powers when more than half of the Italian army was in the south fighting Brigands

Question 43

What did Garibaldi do to try and solve the Venetian Question 1861-66?

Answer 43

• Garibaldi and his “party of action” assumed his success in Naples would work in Venetia
• formed the Italian Freedom Association with Garibaldi as president at the end of 1861, toured lombardy to raise money for Venice
• in March 1862, group of Garibaldi supporters under Nullo were arrested on the Austrian border
• Garibaldi attempted to create uprisings in 1862 and 1864 hoping to start large scale uprisings in the Hapsburg Empire to withdraw Austrian troops from Italy but this was unsuccessful and the Italian gov had to intervene to stop him

Question 44

How did Italy begin a war with Austria to solve the Venetian Question in 1866?

Answer 44

• had to wait for foreign mood to be supportive
• Austria deemed to have violated joint sovereignty in 1866
• Prussia and Italy now saw Austria as a common enemy
• VEII wanted a war to distract from the situation with the south (social imperialism)
• La Mamora (PM) offered to purchase Venetia for 1000 million lire however this failed and gov was forced into negotiations with Prussia
• Napoleon promised neutrality in any war
• military agreement between Italy and Prussia, promising Venetia to Italy in return for war contribution
• Italy declared war on Austria in June 1866, 4 days after Prussia

Question 45

What happened in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866/third war of Italian Unification?

Answer 45

• 250,000 Italian troops against 130,000 Austrians
• 12 ironclad ships to Austria’s 7
• however Italian general staff were inexperienced and Admiral Persano only led his fleet due to corruption, presence of the monarch who assumed personal control
• organisation and decision making so bad that only 25% of the army ever reached the front
• Italian forces at Custoza disintegrated after panic and confused orders
• Persano’s fleet destroyed at Battle of Lissa - lost 3 ships including the “Red Italia” - claimed that 1,450 shells were fired without a single major hit
• Garibaldi’s volunteers saw victory at battle of Bezzecca, Prussians saw victory at Sadowa
• Prussia saw its own ends had been achieved and signed an armistice with Austria, deserting Italy
• Italy officially ended its involvement in the following few weeks, Garibaldi was called back and resigned with a brief telegram reading only “I obey”

Question 46

What was the legacy of the 1866 war?

Answer 46

• failure for Italy - no heroism achieved, damaged prestige of both the army and monarchy
• no Venetian uprising in support of Italy shows lack of nationalism
• Austria gave Venetia to France following the war (due to the secret treaty in which France promised to remain neutral in return for Venetia) - Napoleon gave Venetia to Italy (shows Austria didn’t want to be seen giving to an inferior nation)
• only 69 voted against annexation to italy during plebiscites
• great debt from war had to be paid for by nationalising church land in 1867 and introducing the Grist Tax in 1868

Question 47

Why was Rome important for unification?

Answer 47

• was the last piece, without it they were not geographically unified
• symbol of foreign interference in the country - wanted french out
• spiritual heartbeat of Italy
• need to reduce papal influence - his allocution, syllabus of errors and papal infallibility had damaged the new kingdom

Question 48

What was the problem concerning Rome in 1860?

Answer 48

• Piedmont defeating the papal forces in September 1860, and the 1864 Syllabus of Errors, made direct negotiations between the anticlerical gov and pope unlikely
• Napoleon’s failure to protect the pope in 1860 caused a Catholic backlash at home - they forced a vote in France 1861 agreeing to keep french troops in Rome - this resolve was strengthened following Garibaldi’s attempt to take Rome in 1862

Question 49

What was the September Convention?

Answer 49

• september convention of 1864 between VEII and Napoleon agreed that the pope could raise an army of 10,000 for protection and the french would leave in 2 years (it was expensive to keep his army there and Napoleon didn’t want to guard an oppressive regime), Italy promised not to attack Rome in response and to change the capital to Florence

Question 50

What was the aftermath of the September Convention?

Answer 50

• led to riots in which 23 died in Turin
• PM Minghetti was sacked but the capital moved to Florence in 1865
• Dec 1866 - the last french troops left (but returned in 1867 as Garibaldi tried to take Rome - this time garrisons stayed until 1870 and frosty relations between italy and france continued)

Question 51

What did Garibaldi do concerning Rome 1860-66?

Answer 51

• in 1862, gathered 4,000 men from his “party of action” and marched on Rome
• after initially ignoring this and hoping the french would withdraw, the Italian gov was forced to stop Garibaldi where he was shot in the foot and some troops were executed
• following the September Convention in 1864 which saw Italy proclaim Florence as the capital in 1865, Garibaldi attempted ‘to capture Rome and abolish the Pope’, however no uprisings started to aid him and France (with modern breech-loading rifles) easily defeated Garibaldi at Mentana in nov 1867 - returning to Rome just a few months after withdrawal
• failed to realise he would face French and Italian armies, and that Church’s economic/spiritual connections to the people would make uprisings unpopular

Question 52

What did the Franco-Prussian war mean for Italy?

Answer 52

• gave Italy a diplomatic opening: Napoleon sought an anti-Prussian alliance with Italy and Austria in May 1870 - Italy would only agree if it could have Rome, Catholic France wouldnt agree - but Austria didnt want to risk another war with Italy so couldnt join the alliance
• outbreak of war meant France withdrew the Roman garrison to fight Prussia - following French defeat, Italian PM Lanza gained formal agreement with Spain, Austria and Germany to send troops into Rome

Question 53

How was Rome finally unified following the Franco-Prussian war?

Answer 53

• VEII sent personal letter to Pius IX, offering a peaceful entry of the Italian army into Rome by offering the pope ‘protection’
• messenger San Martino received hostility from the pope who referred to royalty as a ‘set of vipers’, and left the next day
• the army, under Cadorna, crossed the papal frontier on 11 Sept 1870, advanced slowly in hope of peaceful negotiation, but placed city under siege on 19 sept
• Pope forced his troops to put up resistance: 49 Italian soldiers died, 19 Papal troops died - but failed
• Rome annexed after a plebiscite on 2 Oct that was 133,000-1,500 (however legitimacy of vote was suspect)
• May 1871: Law of Guarantees passed to appease the pope, recognising papal power and £129,000 per annum - however Pope declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican (with previous powers removed)
• July 1871: capital finally moved from Florence to Rome
• Papacy didnt recognise Kingdom of Italy until 1929

Question 54

What were the factors promoting national unity in 1871?

Answer 54

• monarchy (functioning constitutional monarchy under VEII, became the embodiment of the new state and symbol of stability, big part in unification process and risorgimento)
• army (regiments recruited from 2 regions, people never posted for over 4 years to ensure loyalty didnt divide, 15,000 officers in 1870, 2/3 Piedmontese, 2 million in reserve, enemies to unity could be defeated)
• civil service (in charge of economy, education, finances - all centralised under 30,000 bureaucrats, civil service jobs often given to veterans)
• local gov (country divided into 69 provinces each with a prefect to keep order and oversee local gov, 18,000 in local police)

Question 55

What were the factors dividing Italy after 1870?

Answer 55

• socioeconomic problems
• papal opposition
• political disunity and irredentism

Question 56

How were socioeconomic problems dividing Italy after 1870?

Answer 56

• economy in south hampered, agriculture was main industry with fruit/olives exports, cottage-industries e.g. silk production, lack of water meant power was problematic, unification removed tariffs that once protected southern industry - caused collapse of industries e.g. silk that couldnt compete with north, caused deindustrialisation
• unification brought higher tax, wars had to be paid for and poor were targeted e.g. through Grist Tax, new investments mainly in the north
• poverty led to high infant mortality: 50% died before 5th birthday in 1871 - many moved away: 120,000 emigrated, mostly to USA and South America

Question 57

How was papal opposition dividing Italy after 1870?

Answer 57

• May 1871: Law of Guarantees passed to appease the pope, recognising papal power and £129,000 per annum - however Pope declared himself a prisoner in the Vatican (with previous temporal powers removed)
• Papacy didnt recognise Kingdom of Italy until 1929
• catholic church had own social organisations, catholics refused to take part in political progress - meant no mass conservative party on the right in Italy

Question 58

How was political disunity and irredentism dividing Italy after 1870?

Answer 58

• parliament made from 2 chambers: chamber of deputies and senate
• deputies elected to represent constituencies but electorate only represented 500,000 people with only 60% of those eligible voting in 1871 - republicans and catholics boycotted on principle
• the ‘right’ was in north, the ‘left’ was middle class and south
• May 1870 Mazzinian, Barsanti led attack on army barracks shouting ‘long live Rome, long live the republic’ and was shot despite petition of 40,000 asking him to be pardoned
• irredentism was nationalist movement that promoted unification of geographic areas where indigenous Italians and italian-speaking people formed a majority
• irredentists often had republican views, those in north wanted to free Italians under Habsurg rule, others wanted to free Rome and imperial power, some wanted return of Nice and Savoy to Italy e.g. Crispi 1870