Piedmont - Risorgimento & KOI 1850-61 - b4 Flashcards
- diplomacy of Cavour & relations w/ Nap III - Causes & results of 1859 war - Garibaldi & the Thousand & Sicilian expedition - role of VEII, Cavour & Piedmontisation - Constitution & nature of KOI
Why was Piedmont chosen?
- Pol & Geo
- geographical position = remain independent & gradually acquire territory
- between Fr. & Aus. so could strike alliances
- politically well established = efficient bureaucracy & army
Why was Piedmont chosen?
(Church)
- strong church influence = devout peasants remain loyal to church rather than monarchs or revolutionaries
Why was Piedmont chosen?
(French Revolution)
Exposed to Fr. changes for longest period
- mc 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
Why was Piedmont chosen?
(CA leadership)
- 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
Why was Piedmont chosen?
(statuto)
Only constitution to survive the revolutions which attracted many political activists making piedmont a centre of both liberal and nationalist thought.
Why Mazzini was a significant figure in the build up to unification?
- converted/influenced many including Garibaldi
- organised propaganda campaign to influence Italians
- President of Rome in ‘49
Mazzini less significant
- 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
CA significant in the build up to unification?
- 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
CA less significant in the build up to unification?
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.
Role of Cavour in developing Italian unification - economically
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
Role of Cavour in dev. unification - diplomatically
- 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.
What was the Plombieres agreement & its impact?
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
The role of Nap. iii - helped unification
- Italy needed Fr. support to remove Austria!!!
- 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
The role of Nap. iii - hindered unification
- 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 = 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
The War of 1859
(2nd war of independence)
- 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.
