Piedmont - Risorgimento & KOI 1850-61 - b4

Question 1

Why was Piedmont chosen?
- Pol & Geo

Answer 1

• GEO: geographical position = remain independent & gradually acquire territory
• between Fr. & Aus. so could strike alliances
  POL:
• politically well established = efficient bureaucracy & army
• only state w/ an intact constitution

Question 2

Why was Piedmont chosen?
(Church)

Answer 2

• strong church influence = clearly able to gain more support as devout peasants remain loyal to church rather than monarchs or revolutionaries

Question 3

Why was Piedmont chosen?
(French Revolution)

Answer 3

Exposed to Fr. changes for longest period
- middle class benefitted from promotions in army & civil service based on education due to fr. reforms & profited from church land sales = sowed seeds for discontent under restored monarchs
- peasants hostile bc of conscription & taxes & end of monastic foundations

Question 4

Why was Piedmont chosen?
(CA leadership)

Answer 4

• severe repression i.e strong censorship led to liberals like Cavour being exiled = discontent
• Corn Law ‘34 liberalised trade
• increased army to 70,000
• 1st sign of pol. reform by following Pope Pius IX in freeing press

Question 5

Why was Piedmont chosen?
(statuto)

Answer 5

Only constitution to survive the revolutions which attracted many political activists making piedmont a centre of both liberal and nationalist thought.

Question 6

Why Mazzini was a significant figure in the build up to unification?

Answer 6

• converted/influenced many including Garibaldi through his book that articulated nationalistic ideas.
• organised propaganda campaign to influence Italians
• President of Rome in ‘49

Question 7

Mazzini less significant

Answer 7

• ideas too intellectual & radical - doesn’t appeal/gain support of majority
• absent from Italy for long periods of time - out of touch with the Italian situation
• lacked contact with & understanding of peasantry
• His book never reaches the masses bc maj of population (80%) were illiterate!!
• His actual attempts at revolution via Young Italy i.e. uprisings in Piedmont were unsuccessful

Question 8

CA significant in the build up to unification?

Answer 8

Whilst never motivated by nationalistic fervour, CA’s actions accelerated Italian unification in much more tangible ways than the likes of Mazzini.
- creation of statuto - tangible result of the 1848 revolutions
- introduced reforms i.e. the Corn Law ‘34 which made Piedmont the economic capital
- became more sig. due to VEII who kept Statuto

Question 9

CA less significant in the build up to unification?

Answer 9

Only became more significant as a result of VEII’s action of keeping the Statuto which gave Italians the opportunity for an active pol. life e.g free press & elected assembly
- noone subscribed to ‘Italia fara da se’ bc defeated twice by Austria at Custozza for example.

Question 10

Role of Cavour in developing Italian unification - economically

Answer 10

Developed the Piedmontese economy - allowed Piedmont to emerge as a strong state under which unification could occur:
- interest in rail led to creation of large transport network, Piedmont home to 1/2 of total rail in Italy by end of 1850s
- By the end of 1851 had signed trade treaties w/ Fr., BR . and Belg.
- 1850-59 trade imports and exports increased by 300%

HOWEVER:
- placed Italy/Piedmont in huge debt of up to 725 million lira
- Italy & Piedmont technically not independent bc sold off govt bonds to foreign countries to pay off debt

Question 11

Role of Cavour in dev. unification - diplomatically

Answer 11

• Through the Crimean war Piedmont now established as a player on world stage = improved nationalism bc piedmontese have pride in victory.
• Plombieres agreement 1858 = Able to secure support of Nap III against Austria in a future war, created the Kingdom of Upper Italy, Kingdom of Central Italy & Papacy, unifying some but not all Italian states in terms of physical borders.
• By end of the 1859 war , Piedmont does secure Lombardy

HOWEVER:
- Plombieres agreement = fact is that the states are still in divides kingdoms, no unilateral italian state/nation
- Fails to acquire Venetia through 1859 war.

Question 12

What was the Plombieres agreement & its impact?

Answer 12

agreement between Napoleon iii and Cavour that Fr. would join Piedmont in a war against Austria
- Led to the creation of new kingdoms e.g upper Italy & Central Italy

Question 13

The role of Nap. iii - helped unification

Answer 13

• Italy needed Fr. support to remove Austria!!! so his agreement to provide mil support at Plombieres in 1858 was KEY to IU.
• Took support of uprisings in Rome, enthusiasm and nationalism, grateful for piedmont for support in Crimea
• powerful figure who wanted unification, some were sceptical because he may just want France to become powerful.
• potentially his ownership/seizing of Nice led to unification bc it triggered Garibaldi’s later actions

Question 14

The role of Nap. iii - hindered unification

Answer 14

• His aims when helping Piedmont were not for unification but for the expansion of France & to use piedmont as a state to control rest of Italy.
• VillaFranca 1859= agrees to an armistice w/ Aus. w/out consulting Cavour & Piedmont, led to terms like the ceding of L-V to Aus. , restored monarchies in theory, Aus. remaining powerful influence in Italy

Question 15

The War of 1859 - how did it occur & what happened
(2nd war of independence)

Answer 15

• Cav. wrote anti austrian speech to increase nationalistic emotions.
• Cav. mobilised the Piedmontese army, no support from Napoleon.
• Apr 1859- Aus. sent a ultimatum to demobilise the piedmontese army which Cav refused. Aus. replied by declaring war on the 29th.

Question 16

Napoleons motives

Answer 16

• could not breach austrian defences esp. as forces diminished
• danger that prussia could attack france at his absence or could aid Aus. & Prusso - Aus. = invincible
• suspicious of cavours activities & growing criticism of Italy in Fr.

Question 17

The battles in the 1859 war: what happened? How many died at Solferino?

Answer 17

• slow to start, very unorganised on both sides
• poor org. meant N’s troops arrived before equipment & provisions
• Austria defeated twice by Fr.
• Solferino was incredibly bloody = 12000 Fr. dead!!!

Question 18

The Settlement of the 1859 War

Answer 18

• war only lasted 7 weeks - Niii truce w/ Aus.
• Armistice agreed at VillaFranca but no Cav. consultation
• Pied. recieve L-V, first ceded to Fr. then VE.
  Franco-Sardinian victory at the Armistice of Villafranca.
  Rulers of the Duchies restored.
• Aus. kept Venetia & remained powerful influence in Italy!!! - unsuccessful
• Cavour ultimately resigns as a result

Question 19

What was the Handshake of Teano?

Answer 19

A meeting between Garibaldi & VEII
Garibaldi formally hands over his conquests i.e. Sicily to VEII.

Question 20

Role of Garibaldi in Italian unification

Answer 20

• Garibaldi & the 1000 successfully invade Sicily & defeat 20,000 Neapolitan troops
• Very charismatic figure = becomes a figurehead for unification, garnering support.

Question 21

Role of Garibaldi in hindering Italian Unification

Answer 21

• Handshake of Teano 1860 = hands over Sicily & lands in South to VEII = many feel betrayed