Italian Nationalism The 19th Century (1800s) rise of liberalism was accompanied by a dramatic increase in nationalism, especially in the divided Italian states. To nationalists, the bonds of common language, history, religion, culture, and territory were important. These feelings strengthened the Italian peoples’ desire to be united and to return to the greatness of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance.

Prior to Unity In the mid-1800s, Italy was divided into small kingdoms and independent states. Austria controlled much of Northern Italy. Foreign monarchs controlled Southern Italy. The Italian people became very frustrated living under foreign control. In other words, they were not happy that they were being ruled by non- Italians.

The Unification of Italy Italy was unified in two separate segments: northern unification and southern unification. They ended up meeting in the middle. In the 1850s, many saw the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia as a good possibility to lead and unify Italy because of their Prime Minister at the time: Count Camillo di Cavour.

Count Camillo di Cavour He was a very effective politician who strengthened Piedmont-Sardinia’s economy and army. He realized that in order to rid Northern Italy of Austrian control, he needed outside help. He received help from France and ridded Northern Italy of the Austrians. Many northern Italian states joined Piedmont-Sardinia after the Austrians left.

Giuseppe Garibaldi As a result of Cavour’s actions, Giuseppe Garibaldi raised an army of 100,000 volunteers, called the Red Shirts, and liberated much of Southern Italy from foreign kings. Garibaldi wanted to unify Italy under a Republic form of government.

Bringing the North and South Together Eventually, Cavour and Garibaldi joined forces to complete the unification process. Cavour convinced Garibaldi to unify all of Italy under King Victor Emmanuel II, King of Piedmont- Sardinia and first King of Italy. Italy sided with Prussia during the Austro-Prussian War and received Venetia, another Austrian controlled Italian state.

Bringing the North and South Together (cont’d) French controlled Rome was all that was left to be added to Italy to make it unified. As a result of Franco-Prussian War, France withdrew their troops from Rome to aid in the war against Prussia. The Italians were able to move in and take over, finally completing the unification process.