The Italian Unification , it occurred since since the disappearance of the Roman Empire at the end of the Ancient Age and the beginning of the Middle Ages, they had not managed to unify forming a single State, but they were fractioned integrating some kingdoms and other autonomous states. By the Vienna Treaty of 1815 , Italy was divided into seven independent States, despite all of them belonging to the same race, professing the same creed and having, equally, the same historical past. But it is, in the second half of the 19th century, that the nationalist and unification yearning that stirred Europe was also vigorous in Italy. It was in this way that the Italian States, after overcoming many difficulties and thanks to the heroic and self-sacrificing work of many of their patriots, managed to unify, thus forming a single nation, a single State. This was the Kingdom of Italy .
TheItalianstatesbeforeunification
The Italian states before unification were:
– The kingdom of Sardinia (Sardinia and Piedmont)
– The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
– The States of the Church
– The Lombardo-Venetian kingdom
– The Duchies of Parma, Modena and Tuscany.
Characteristics of Italian Unification
The Unification of Italy has the following characteristics:
– Crystallization of a nationalist longing deeply cherished by all the peoples of Italy.
– It was carried out freely, spontaneously and on the initiative and will of these peoples.
– The Italian Unit was made without injuring any foreign nation, and equally without using force or wars of aggression.
ForgersofItalianUnification
The King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel II, his minister, the patriot Camilo Cavour, and Giuseppe Garibaldi, courageous and selfless liberal patriot. Likewise, King Carlos Alberto of Sardinia, father of Victor Emmanuel II, as well as José Mazzini, a combative and noble liberal politician who worked with self-sacrifice and patriotism to achieve the Unification of Italy, played a very important role in the initial stage of this movement. /P>
Promotersoftheitalianunit
As the main promoters of the great event that was the Italian unity, we must consider the patriot and revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi, who knew how to lead the people to the fight and who worked tirelessly all his life to achieve this goal; Mazzini, a great propagandist and politician who kept the spirit of independence and faith in the destiny of Italy tense; to Victor Emmanuel of Savoy , King of Sardinia, whose policy was always aimed at achieving Italian unity and whose courage and decision were manifested on as many occasions as were conducive to these ends; and, above all, to the patriotic and political Count of Cavour, who put his great talent and ability at the service of this undertaking; and as contributing causes to the success of that movement can be mentioned, the duplicity of Napoleon III's policy, the effects that the French Revolution of 1848 caused in Italy, and the marked contrast between the liberal policy followed by the kings of Sardinia and the tyranny observed by the kings of the Two Sicilies.
StagesofItalianUnification
We distinguish the following stages in the Italian Unification:
War against Austria and incorporation of Lombardy
The King of Sardinia, Victor Emmanuel II, and his Prime Minister, Count Camilo de Cavour, were the ones who carried out the unification of Italy. They were convinced that in order to complete their great work it was imperatively necessary to confront Austria, the main enemy of such a union, and which had also annexed the states of Lombardy and Venice. To do this, they conceived the plan to request help from a great power. That was how they secretly agreed with Napoleon III, Emperor of France, who, in turn, also had his sights set on Soboya and Nice.
Once hostilities began, the military campaign, which was short-lived, gave victory to the Franco-Sardinians, as the Austrian armies were defeated in the battles of Magenta and Solferino in 1859. But then. Napoleon III signed separately. and unexpectedly and surprisingly, an armistice with Austria by which Lombardy passed into the power of Victor Emmanuel IL but remained under Austrian domination:Venice; Instead, France obtained Savoy and Nice.
Annexation of the States of Parma, Modena and Tuscany
The victory over Austria aroused nationalist sentiment among the Central Italian states. A plebiscite held in 1860 then determined the incorporation into the kingdom of Sardinia (base of the future Italy), of the states of Parma, Modena and Tuscany.
The revolution of the two Sicilies
Giuseppe Garibaldi, with the secret support of Cavour, landed in Sicily and took over the island, commanding a corps of a thousand volunteers wearing red shirts (the Thousand Red Shirts). Shortly afterwards he occupied the kingdom of Naples. The Sardinian army, under the command of Victor Emmanuel II himself, after conquering the States of the Church, except the city of Rome, joined Garibaldi in Naples. The two Sicilies declared their incorporation into the kingdom of Sardinia.
On March 13, 1861, the first national parliament meeting in Turin, proclaimed Victor Emmanuel II as King of Italy.
Veniceincorporation
To achieve the incorporation of Venice, Victor Emmanuel II entered into an alliance with Prussia, Austria's rival. Emerged the contest, the victory favored Prussia; nation that then forced Austria to return Venice to Italy.
Incorporationofrome,completionofItalianunification
With the annexation of Venice, the only thing missing was the incorporation of the States of the Church and, above all, of the city of Rome, to conclude with the total unification of Italy.
Victor Emmanuel II had promised Napoleon III to maintain the Pope's rule over the capital of the Catholic world. A first attempt by Garibaldi to seize Rome was repulsed by the Sardinian army (1862). A second was by the French garrison guarding Rome (1867). The situation changed completely three years later, when the Franco-Prussian War broke out, as Napoleon III had to withdraw the garrison that he maintained in Rome (1870).
Immediately, Victor Emmanuel II ordered his Italian troops to occupy Rome. This was done, despite the resistance of the papal garrison and the protests of the Supreme Pontiff (September 20, 1870).
Victor Manuel settled in the Quirinal Palace, and declared that Rome was the capital of the kingdom of Italy.
The Pope refused to accept the annexation of Rome by Victor Manuel, whose authority he ignored. As a protest he locked himself in the Vatican palace, considering himself a prisoner. This is how the so-called Roman Question was born. , which would last for almost sixty years (1870-1929).
The Lateran Treaty (1929), signed between the Italian Prime Minister, Benito Mussolini, and Pope Pius XI, the Roman Question was resolved. . By said Treaty the existence of the small State of the Vatican (State that remains within the city of Rome) was recognized and likewise, the Pope was recognized as its sovereign, with all the rights and all the prerogatives that correspond to sovereign and independent states. .