The Unification of Italy:

• Like Germany before Bismarck, “Italy” was divided into a number of independent states.

• France controlled the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

• Austria controlled northern Italy

(Lombardy and Venice)

• The Pope controlled the Papal States

• In the 1830s, Giuseppe Mazzini founded a secret society called Young Italy, and led the push for Italian Unification:

• Mazzini believed that a unified country with common ideals could best contribute to the well being of all its citizens.

• After 1848, the Italian Nationalist Movement, or Risorgimento, was led by the small kingdom of Sardinia.

• King Victor Emanuel II of Sardinia hoped to create a unified Italy.

• His Prime Minister was Count Camillo Cavour, the brains behind Italian Unification

Goal:

Expel Austria

Add Lombardy

And Venetia to

Sardinia

• In 1855, Cavour decided to have Sardinia join Britain and France in the Crimean War against Russia.

• Three years later, Cavour provoked a war with Austria and cashed in on France’s pledge of support after Sardinia’s assistance in the Crimean War.

Meanwhile, in Southern Italy, nationalist Giuseppe Garibaldi recruited a force of 1,000 Red Shirted Volunteers and took over the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

• His forces won control of Sicily, crossed the mainland, and marched triumphantly north to Naples.

• Garibaldi promptly turned over Naples and Sicily to Victor Emanuel, and he (Emanuel) was crowned King of Italy.