The Rise of Piedmont, 1849-56

Question 1

How representative was the parliament in Piedmont?

Answer 1

The upper chamber was appointed by the King

The lower chamber only represented 2.25% of the population who were literate.

Question 2

What happened with refugees as a result of the 1848-49 revolutions?

Answer 2

Piedmont attracted refugees from the rest of Italy during the 1850s, including the economist Ferrara and writer Massari

30,000 in Turin and Genoa by the 1850s

Question 3

Why might VEII’s heritage and family conflict with unification?

Answer 3

Trained to become an autocratic ruler from birth and both his mother and wife were members of the Austrian imperial family

Question 4

What did the Pope do in 1849 to all who opposed him?

Answer 4

Excommunicated all who tried to reduce the temporal power of the papacy and in 1850 he returned to Rome and denounced all of his earlier reforms.

He was now also supported by 20,000 French troops in Rome.

Question 5

How did Marx (yeah, THAT bozo) see the Roman Republic?

Answer 5

Saw the Roman Republic as a battle against “bourgeois order… and oppression” that failed

DESPITE the fact that the papal states opposed mercantile operations and industry. What a clown.

Question 6

What organisations did Mazzini found while in exile in London?

Answer 6

• Founded the National Italian Committee
• Also founded the “Society of the Friends of Italy” in 1851, which attracted widespread, radical support.

Question 7

Where did revolutions in the early 1850s fail?

Answer 7

Revolution in Sicily, 1851-2, failed to win support

Mazzinian failures in:
- Lunigiana, 1853
- Massa, 1853
- Palermo, 1856

Question 8

How did the 1853 uprising in Milan fail?

Answer 8

• Two years prior, Mazzinian organisations and members arrested
• Lack of support and poorly armed
• 50 revolutionaries shot by the Austrians

Question 9

How did Carlo Pisacane expedition to Sapri fail?

Answer 9

• Seized a small ship, the “Cagliari”, in May 1857
• Sailed for Sapri with supporters. Met by Neapolitan forces and hostile locals
• Pisacane was wounded, and proceeded to kill himself with his gun
• lmao

Question 10

Which non-Mazzinian organisations were set up in pursuit of Italian unity?

Answer 10

• Latin Committee in Paris, 1851, argued for a federal republic
• Military Committee in Genoa, 1852, set up by Giacomo Medici to devise a more appropriate military strategy

Question 11

How did some prominent Mazzinians begin to oppose Mazzini following the failures in 1848-9?

Answer 11

• Garibaldi distanced himself from Mazzini in 1854
• Daniele Manin announced his conditional support for Piedmont in 1855

Question 12

When was the “Age of Mazzini” at an end?

Answer 12

Many Mazzinians joined the “National Society” after 1857, which supported Piedmont.

Question 13

How might some of VEII’s actions be seen as illiberal?

Answer 13

• Retained the right to command the army and appoint and dismiss ministers at will
• One of his first actions as king was to shell Genoa where radicals were entrenched (maybe good?)
• His first administration included several of the 25 military men who were to hold ministerial roles during his reign

Question 14

How might some of VEII’s actions be seen as liberal?

Answer 14

• He allowed the Statuto to stand in Piedmont
• He controlled a moderate conservative administration
• He didn’t wish to see the Catholic Church holding influence in Piedmont

Question 15

How did contemporaries view VEII?

Answer 15

• Contemporaries saw his rule as ambiguous in his political views. The Austrians saw him as a cautious conservative, whereas the British saw him as a cautious liberal
• He was also seen as being courageous and of good sense, yet lazy and coarse
• Was happiest around soldiers or while hunting

Question 16

How was Massimo d’Azeglio weak in parliament?

Answer 16

His moderate conservative government only had a small parliamentary majority.

Question 17

Which bills did a member of government pass in March 1850, and what did they do?

Answer 17

Siccardi passed a series of bills which became known as the ‘Siccardi Laws’, combating church power. They:
- Abolished separate law courts for priests
- Abolished the right for criminals to seek sanctuary and protection in churches
- Restricted religious groups property rights
- Reduced the number of feast days where people couldn’t work

Question 18

What was the reaction to the Siccardi laws?

Answer 18

• Senior Piedmontese churchman, Archbishop Fransoni ignored these measures; he was imprisoned
• The more conservative right led by Balbo and Thaon de Revel voted against these laws, unappeased by Azeglio proposing some restrictions in press freedom
• Azeglio’s minister for Trade and Agriculture, Camillo Benso, the Count of Cavour, decided that the time was right to reorganise Piedmontese politics

Question 19

What did Cavour do with, and what was, the Connubio?

Answer 19

• At the turn of 1851-2, Cavour made an agreement with the leader of the centre-left, Urbano Rattazzi, creating a centre alliance known as the Connubio, strengthening parliament against the crown.
• Despite the King’s disapproval, Ratazzi was appointed President of the Chamber of Deputies

Question 20

How did Cavour finally capitalise on the Connubio and Azeglio’s failures?

Answer 20

• D’Azeglio’s ministry fell when he tried to move to the next stage of his anti-clerical measures and introduce civil marriage in 1852
• In November 1852, Cavour asked VEII to make him Prime Minister which was accepted. Cavour was to become one of the most influential figures in the history of 19th century Italy

Question 21

How did Cavour approach anti-clericalism?

Answer 21

• Dropped Azeglio’s plan for civil marriage due to pressure from the King
• In 1855, he decided to attack the wealth of the Church and their estates.
• The state gave the church 5 million Lire per year so he proposed the abolition of all monasteries not involved in education or charity

Question 22

What was the result of Cavour’s anti-clerical actions in 1855?

Answer 22

• In total, 152 monasteries and 1700 benefices (posts held by priests) were suppressed
• Added the equivalent of £145,640 to the state’s income
• In 1857, the Right, who had sympathy for the Church, increased their votes in the elections
• As to create more stability, Cavour sacked Ratazzi and ended the Connubio, siding with the right.

Question 23

How did Cavour deal with the February 1853 uprising in Milan?

Answer 23

Warned Austria of the Mazzini inspired insurrection in Austrian-controlled Milan, receiving thanks from Vienna

The Austrians seized the property of citizens of Lombardy who then fled to Piedmont

Question 24

How did Cavour react to the 1853 revolt in Genoa, led by Mazzini?

Answer 24

Cavour was furious and used the failures as proof of the unlikelihood of political change being influenced by Mazzini

Cavour went further by persecuting Mazzinian democrats, and suppressing the Mazzinian press

Question 25

When did Cavour override the Piedmontese parliament?

Answer 25

• In 1857 he found technicalities to reduce a right wing majority in parliament
• In January 1855 he appointed himself to the three main posts in the administration; Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and Finance Minister

Question 26

How did Cavour reform his government early on?

Answer 26

• A string of administrative reforms in the financial department in 1852, and the foreign office in 1853
• Used La Marmora (Minister of War) to reform the army, and remove conservative elements hostile to Cavour

Question 27

How was Austria being challenged in the German Confederation?

Answer 27

Austria was being challenged by Prussia

The North German states had formed an economic union called the Zollverein which gave them an advantage over Austria

Question 28

What improvements did Cavour make to the electric telegraph and canal system in Piedmont?

Answer 28

By 1853, the electric telegraph linked Austria to Paris

The building of canals began in 1857, with the construction of the ‘Cavour Canal’

Question 29

How did the textile industry thrive under in Piedmont in the 1840s?

Answer 29

In the 1840s the Piedmontese textile industry thrived due to a lack of coal in northern Italy for heavy industry, and both wool and silk were domestic industries

There were 60,000 silk workers and about 114,000 cotton workers in 1844 in Piedmont

Question 30

How much did the public debt in Piedmont increase by between 1847 and 1859?

Answer 30

The public debt of Piedmont rose from 120 million Lire in 1847 to 725 million Lire by 1859

Question 31

Which trade deals were forged by Cavour?

Answer 31

Cavour concluded a string of free trade treaties, including with Britain, France, and Belgium, forging international links and attracting into Piedmont the raw materials and machinery necessary for its development

As a result of this, trade increased in value by 300%

Question 32

What projects did Cavour have funded by foreign investors?

Answer 32

• In 1854, a line was built to link Milan, Turin, Genoa, and the French Border. Much of this line was funded by the French banker Rothschild
• A tunnel through Mount Cenis was being built from 1857, making a crossing though the Alps. This was funded by a number of Parisian based bankers including Rothschild and Laffitte (friends of Napoleon III)

Question 33

How did Piedmont improve the civilian naval sector?

Answer 33

• Piedmont built Italy’s first ship “The Sicilia” in Genoa in 1855. Italy’s first home built steam locomotives were built the same year
• The Port of Genoa was modernised in the same year

Question 34

How obsessive was Cavour over railways?

Answer 34

• Visited Britain in 1835 to observe the construction process of Stephenson
• In 1846, he wrote an article for a French magazine Revue Nouvelle, which attempted to persuade Charles Albert of their benefits, argued about the job creation and development of a national consciousness

Question 35

Just how much rail did Cavour have built?

Answer 35

• Piedmont had 819 km of railway by the end of the 1850s (the whole of Italy put together only had 1,798 km)
• Piedmont had 1/3 of the peninsula’s railway by the end of the 1850s
• The 13 km railway tunnel through Mount Cenis was being built from 1857

Question 36

Why did Cavour float large foreign loans?

Answer 36

To finance his industrial projects and pay off war indemnity to Austria

Question 37

What was Cavour’s answer to the Italian question?

Answer 37

It was only through Great Power agreement that any change could be allowed to occur.

Cavour was not an instinctive nationalist, however he disliked Austrian attitudes to Lombardy and felt that they provoked Italian nationalists into revolutionary behaviour.

Piedmont would need foreign help to oust Austria and this became a cornerstone of his foreign policy

Under article 3 of the Statuto, foreign policy remained the pejorative of the crown. Cavour therefore as PM had the power to promote Piedmont’s interests and undermine the Vienna settlement

Question 38

What was causing Austria’s relative decline?

Answer 38

Austria’s decline was based on economic challenges posed from Prussia and the growth of the Prussian dominated Zollverein, an economic free trade arrangement

Austria tried to establish a Southern confederation but most Southern states such as Silesia had already joined the Zollverein. Austria was slowly becoming isolated in the Germanic confederation.

Question 39

How did Piedmont engage in the Crimean War?

Answer 39

Cavour got involved with the Crimean War

By late 1854 Britain and France declared war on Russia, which dragged into 1855. As such, Britain and France asked Piedmont for reinforcements

Under pressure, the reluctant Cavour joined the war in January 1855. 18,000 Piedmontese troops were committed to war and subsequently, Piedmont was to be allowed to the peace treaty

Piedmonts contribution was limited. La Marmora’s troops fought well in the victory at Chernaya Rechka on 16th August, 1855, which lead to the fall of Sevastopol.

Question 40

Why was Piedmont not necessarily very deeply involved in the Crimean War?

Answer 40

Despite official claims, of the 2,000 deaths, only 30 died of wounds, the rest from Cholera. They had, however, won the the respect of the allies.

Question 41

What was Austria’s involvement in the Crimean War?

Answer 41

In 1854, Britain and France declared war on Russia with Austria neutral

By late 1854, Russia became angry with Austria who signed a Four Points Agreement with GB and France aimed at forcing Russia to the negotiating table. For Austria to have fallen out with Russia was to Piedmonts benefit.

Some see Piedmonts involvement in Crimea due to GB France being a sort of guarantee from the other powers that if Austria got involved in Crimea, Piedmont wouldn’t attack from the rear.

Despite never getting involved in the Crimean War, in December 1855 Austria threatened to enter the war on the side of the allies, and Russia immediately sued for peace.

Question 42

What occurred at the Peace Treaty in Paris as a result of the Crimean War?

Answer 42

February to April 1856 saw the Peace Treaty in Paris. Neither Britain nor France would upset Austria by discussing Piedmont’s desires in Norther Italy, but Cavour did achieve some things

His attendance showed Piedmont’s growing diplomatic status, and the Italian question was the main point of discussion on April 8th. The British and French were grateful to Piedmont and “owed them one”.

The war marked the end to the Treaty of Vienna, and was a watershed in Austrian power. Austria was now isolated diplomatically and lost an ally in Russia.

Neither Britain or France would be sympathetic to Austria in maintaining its control over Northern Europe in the medium term.