1. Italian Unification Part 2 Camillo Cavour and Realpolitik

2. Realpolitik  After the failure of the 1848 revolutions, many people realized that ideas alone were not enough to change the world.  Many powerful people across Europe realized that Nationalism and Liberalism were powerful forces that could not be fought forever.  Therefore, if you can’t beat them, join them. Use the ideas to help get what you want.  Realpolitik means politics by any means necessary. Get want you want and use any method to do it. War, Peace, Honesty, Dishonesty, Loyalty, Betrayal. Everything was fair game  The users of Realpolitik achieved lasting change because they used the ideas of Liberalism and Nationalism while at the same time being dishonest, underhanded and cunning

3. THE BRAINS OF ITALIAN UNIFICATION CAMILLO CAVOUR

4. Camillo Cavour  Camillo Benso, Conte di Cavour, was born in Turin, in Northern Italian State of Piedmont  His Father forced him to go to Military School  Although he was very intelligent, he did poorly in school  He was too head-strong and independent for military life and hated the conformity  He read the works of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill (Famous Liberalists)  He quit the Military out of boredom and traveled Europe  Upon return to his families land, he was able to impact his entire community with a series of economic and agricultural reforms

5. The move to politics  After 1848, Liberalism became more acceptable in Italy  At this point, Cavour decides to enter politics  During his impressive political career, he earned the reputation as being a “Moderate Liberal”  He eventually earned the position of Prime Minister  Cavour loved Piedmont, but he understood the power of Nationalism in Italy  Therefore, in order to save Piedmont... he must destroy it  He would seek to create Italy... Under the rule of the Royal House of Piedmont

6. How to you create a country? Obstacles 1. Austria – Controls much of Northern Italy 2. France – The Bourbon family controls most of Southern Italy 3. The Church – the Papal States split Italy in Half 4. Political Division – Italy has numerous small states - they have traditionally fought each against each other rather than work together You are Camillo Cavour... What would you do first?

7. Step 1: The Nucleus State  Cavour thought of the concept of the Nucleus State  Nationalist revolutions have traditionally failed because there is always the question of leadership  Cavour would build Sardinia- Piedmont into a powerful, wealthy and modern state  Therefore, people across Italy would recognize their leadership  He built new roads, railways, schools  He created jobs and encouraged new industry and investment  Under his leadership, Sardinia- Piedmont became the greatest of the small Italian States

8. Step 2: Make a Powerful Friend  Cavour knew that the first major obstacle was Austria  Austria was far too powerful to be dealt with by anyone other that a major power  Therefore he went looking for friends  To do this, he thrust his little kingdom into the largest war of the Century... The Crimean War

9. The Eastern Question and the Crimean War  The Ottoman Empire was once very powerful  However, in the 19 th the Ottomans did not Industrialize and became a poor and disorganized state  The Greeks and Serbians were able to successfully break free and Egyptians rose up against the ottomans and almost conquered the entire empire  The Ottoman Empire was called “The Sick Man of Europe” and was on the verger of breaking apart  The Question of who got to control all this territory is know in history as “THE EASTERN QUESTION”  The Crimean War is the Result of the Eastern Question  Russia, as part of the Quadruple Alliance (Congress of Vienna) helped many European countries avoid revolution... They felt earned them the right to be left alone to profit from the Ottoman demise  The rest of Europe didn’t see it that way  This was a massive and ugly conflict

10. Step 3: Convince your Friend to help you  During the Crimean War, Cavour was able to make several contacts with the French Government  He also gained several Audiences with Emperior Louis Napoleon  Cavour realized that the Emperors ambition to be as great as his Uncle could be used against him  Cavour convinced France to help him against Austria in Exchange for Nice (then part of Piedmont – now the French Riviera)  War broke out and the French and Piedmontese forces were able to dive the Austrians out of Lombardy – however, Louis grew tired of the war and pulled out  Venetia stayed in Austrian hands  But a great victory had been accomplished

11. Step 4: Talk others into Joining you  Cavour was ready for final step  He had an alliance with the French, he had defeated Austria and was in control of the dominant country in Italy  Promising protection against Austria and the benefits of his great economy, he managed to convince all of the small states of Northern Italy to join him  At the same time, Garibaldi was conquering southern Italy and poised to take over the Papal States  Cavour could not anger France, so he sent his army to stop Garibaldi – this led to the famous meeting on the bridge

13. What happened on the Bridge?  Garibaldi was faced with a choice  First, give up his conquest to Piedmont and unify most of italy  Or Second, keep going and try to unify all of Italy under democracy... His life long dream  He choose to surrender his forces and unify most of Italy under the leadership of Victor Emmanuel – who was really Cavour’s puppet!  The Nation of Italy is born!

14. Italy gets the rest!  Cavour dies shortly after he forms Italy  Doctors bleed him to help him recovery from illness  The bleeding causes a stroke and he dies  His last words are “ITALY IS MADE, ALL IS SAFE”  Italy gets Venetia a few years later while the Austrians are embarrassed in war with another European power  Italy gets the Papal States and Rome after that when France gets embarrassed in war with another European power  Italy as we now know it is formed in 1871.

15. Not a Happy Ending  The new Italy was culturally divided – the Industrial North and the Agricultural South – a problem Italy still has today  The greatest obstacle facing Italy was the Catholic Church  After losing control of the Papal States and Rome – the Pope had nothing left  The Catholic Church sabotaged the new Italian state by order all Catholics to resist the Italian government in any way possible  This caused most programs and reforms in Italy to fail and doomed Italy to poverty and backwardness  The Pope was only able to make peace with Italy in 1929 – with Mussolini  The Vatican was made into its own country in exchange for his support for Mussolini’s rule