Piedmont was in the best political and economic position to lead unification by 1861, how far do you agree??

Question 1

Piedmont factor 1- diplomatic developments/ National society

Answer 1

• Piedmont had made a number of free trade agreements with countries like France, GB and Belgium, which gained foreign interest
• their involvement in Crimea between 1854-56 suggests they had a great deal of European influence, as they were owed a favour by foreign powers and found a seat in the congress of Paris
• Pact of Plombieres with France showed the extent of this influence and foreign involvement
• it was Piedmont and its national society which organised and secured the plebiscites which led to the annexation of much of the Papal States, Emilia and the south to Piedmont in 1861, suggesting they were successful in encouraging legal unity up until 1861 and their kingdom was only growing

suggests they were in a strong bargaining position with foreign powers and were therefore more likely to be able to secure unification with their help

Question 2

Piedmont 2- politcal/ military dominance

Answer 2

• their statuto in the 1850s made them the most politically advanced state in Italy and were therefore more developed than other states
• this allowed them to role out a unified legal and judiciary system, as well as universal weights measures and currencies across Italy, which began to provide socio-economic unity across the north primarily
• this helped to accelerate the legal unification of the north, although wasn’t always good for other real divisions of italy
• their military was the biggest across italy and had 120,000 members during involvement in the Brigands war, suggesting they were the strongest state capable of opposing impediments like Austria who previously stood in the way of unity

Question 3

Disagree- Cavour/death

Answer 3

• Before his death, Cavour was not interested with the real unity of italy and was more concerned with the expansion of Piedmont and the reassurance of his own power among great European powers
• therefore he opposed Garibaldi’s southern expedition and gave him just two old paddle steamers and weapons with no ammo for his southern expedition; only being forced into action and aiding unity when Garibaldi threatened to upset the pope
• his death in 1861 to Malaria marked the end of the greatest statesmen that italy had seen and meant that those who followed would never be able to achieve the vast developments which he had managed
• his replacements never possessed the same level of knowledge or pragmatism which Cavour did, aiding a decline in Piedmonts ability to lead unification

Question 4

Disagree- failures of Piedmont/ fractious cohabitation

Answer 4

• the state and Pope entered a decade of fractious cohabitation as the Pope was unhappy with losing 2/3 of the Papal States and the fact that Garibaldi attempted to march on Rome to take it from him
• because the pope was so reactionary, it divided his followers as many wanted to support nationalism but also show their allegiance to the church; therefore Piedmont was not universally accepted as the leader of unification among followers of the church
• Piedmont also had a lack of regional consideration for the south as they were largely apathetic to their problems before Garibaldi forced them onto the north
• this was shown by Piedmontisation in the years after 1861 where 53 decrees were changed in 2 days in Naples and the mafia easily corrupted it
• it was also piedmonts mandatory conscription to the army which caused the social dividing civil war of the brigands war

suggests that just because they were the strongest, doesn’t mean they were the most successful and were actually a big source for disunity

Question 5

Criteria

Answer 5

In theory Piedmont were in the best place to lead unity due to their expansion and diplomatic developments, and yet in reality they proved to be a great source for disunity in italy throughout the 1860s