Welcome to our essay sample on the role of Cavour in Italian unification! Here, you’ll find all the important aspects of the topic, including the pre-unification conditions and reasons behind Camillo di Cavour success.
Introduction
The Kingdom of Italy was formed in 1861 after the unification of the semi-autonomous states. The unification was possible after a series of events coupled with undying commitment from various people. However, Count Camillo di Cavour played the major role in the unification process. In 1855, Cavour, as the Prime Minister of Sardinia, held the notion that politics played a central role towards the achievement of self-interests of a nation because attaining such interests was possible with the proper systems in place (Coppa 43).
Cavour’s position and political strategies played a significant role towards the success of the unification process. The unification process involved several figures such as Giuseppe Garibaldi who gave the necessary support, but in the end, Cavour proved that he was the most influential figure.
Pre-unification conditions
In a bid to understand the contribution of Cavour in the course of the unification, it is important to examine the position of the Italian states before the start of the process. Prior to the unification process, the majority of the Italian regions were occupied and influenced by foreign authorities. For instance, Habsburg Austria dominated most northern states including Venetia and Lombardy (Coppa 31). The French controlled most parts of south Italy with Naples and Sicily under its authority.
During this time, Italy was experiencing exchange of power from foreign spheres, which denied the natives a defined culture that they would celebrate as one country. The Italian citizens lacked the opportunity to embrace national interests or even party affiliations due to the lack of national unifying party for the natives. Italians had very little to associate with, and even when Cavour presented the idea of unification, there was a lack of national attachment and motivation to support the process.
The second condition was the absence of homogeny. The north and the south of Italy had diverse beliefs, culture, and socio-economic organizations. This aspect was largely due to the historical influence by different foreign powers. Cavour established that the north and the south had nothing to connect them, thus harboring any efforts towards unification (Gilmour 65).
Role of Cavour in Italian Unification
Due to the impediments that were derailing the Italian unification like the lack of hegemony, a charismatic leader was needed to organize and coordinate the process. Being a member of the cabinet in1850 and later a Prime Minister, Cavour had the experience and political will to lead the process from the battlefront. King Victor Emmanuel I believed that Cavour had the capability and strategies to orchestrate the extensions of influence and conquer territories.
This aspect motivated Cavour who advocated policies that embraced hegemony, economic development through cooperation, as well as political liberation. In 1859, Cavour allied with Napoleon III of France in a bid to seek support in a bid to free the Lombardy and Venetia and further seek the unification of the Italian Peninsula (Schneid 121). After this informal pact between Cavour and Napoleon, Cavour declared war against Austria, which had occupied the northern states.
This war secured Lombardy, but Venetia remained under the authority of the foreign powers. This win was a step forward because acquiring the sovereignty of Lombardy motivated the rest of Italy as citizens realized that they could fight for independence through alternative means where diplomacy failed. Rebellions against foreign powers emerged and Garibaldi staged a popular revolution that took the south with the help of the military force.
After seeing the ongoing success, Cavour discovered that he had to orchestrate an annexation in a gradual way that would not appear outwardly as the Piedmont expansion. He was critical to ensure that he did not lose support of the people by perceiving the Piedmont expansion as a modification of another oppressive structure. In addition, Cavour feared that Garibaldi and Mazzini’s success would convince them to make up a republic in the South of Italy.
Cavour’s interest was to lead a movement geared towards achieving territorial unification. Cavour had a boost after he convinced the Piedmontese parliament to allow him to use his strategies to organize the unification of other states. This aspect depicted the magnitude of influence and trust that Cavour had acquired amongst the Italians. He avoided criticizing Garibaldi’s efforts in the south in a bid to keep intact his own support. The parliament was impressed due to his previous diplomatic ties with France and Britain.
This element persuaded the parliament to back Cavour in his endeavors (Schneid 87). In the quest to unify the rest of Italy, Cavour needed to apply all means possible whether arms or diplomacy. However, he was aware that the expectation of the public was an aspect that embraced nationalistic and revolutionary sediments.
Annexing the southern states
With the knowledge about the expectations of the public, Cavour advocated universal suffrage and even though he did not believe in this idea, he used it as means to his desired end. This move the model used in the south as a democratic advancement to create numerous opportunities. People were convinced that the annexation process was people oriented. Cavour designed a plebiscite to ensure that the unification process of the south was democratic and peaceful. His target was to annex Naples to Sardinia.
The wording was made deliberately to imply that the South was being invited to join the United Kingdom of Italy rather than an annexation agenda. The citizens’ approval fuelled Cavour’s desire to create a broad, unified, and conservative Italy. He was in a position to manipulate the foreign powers as well as the parliament for he had hidden factors to command influence. For instance, he had personal interests in joining the Crimean War of 1854.
He was aware that he needed allies in the future to help him in the annexation of the Italian states. As indicated earlier, he succeeded to annex the province of Lombardy with the help of the French leader, Napoleon III. In addition, his idea of acting as if he supported Garibaldi forged an impression that convinced Garibaldi to express publicly his backing of the plebiscite in Sicily. Southerners ended up voting in favor of the unification process because they believed that the two leaders advanced common goals and values (Zamagni 205).
The 1861
Cavour’s influence is well demonstrated in the way the unification progressed until the end. It took Cavour’s diplomatic competence to exploit opportunities that would favor the annexation. Government backing could not be achieved without an influential leader. The foreign powers could not surrender without military suppression.
Cavour stood out as the only leader who provided all these requirements. Eventually, with his commitment, the south and most parts of central Italy joined Sardinia. In 1861, the unification process ended just the way Cavour had designed it. The expansion of territories led to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 with Rome and Venetia being the only regions outside the annexation (Gilmour 110).
Reasons Behind Camillo di Cavour Success
Cavour understood and exercised relationship between national and diplomatic realms. He knew how to coordinate personal and national interests as well as international relations without creating conflicts. Cavour had unquestionable credibility of leading a monarch, which was boosted by the political atmosphere in Europe during the time. He was a realist who had a passion for real politics, and thus he was in a position to initiate diplomacy for personal interests.
Putting these aspects into practice, Cavour used international power in favor of his nationalistic objectives. Since the Italian states lacked hegemony, Cavour was relatively conservative when handling different cultures. As the Prime Minister, he reinforced the economy of Piedmont by advocating industrial growth, transport, and communication networks.
He knew that it required a well-built and stable Piedmont to unify Italian states. The ability to convince other leaders on what was best for Italy helped his pursuit for unification. For example, Cavour influenced Garibaldi to favor a constitutional monarchy coupled with publicizing support for the universal popular vote (Schneid 21).
Conclusion
At the end of the process, Cavour came out as one of the key determinants of the Italian unification. With the support of parliament, military, public, and some international allies, Cavour realized his goals. He did the main role of making Italy and created a platform to build Italians. The linguistic and cultural diversity was the only obstacle towards the achievement of the nation-state aspirations that Cavour was advocating during his time.
Works Cited
Coppa, Frank. The Origins of the Italian Wars of Independence, Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2014. Print.
Gilmour, David. The Pursuit of Italy: A History of a Land, Its Regions, and Their Peoples, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2011. Print.
Schneid, Frederick. The Second War of Italian Unification 1859-61, Botley, Oxford, 2012. Print.
Zamagni, Vera. “The Economic History of Italy 1860-1990.” American Historical Review 101.1 (1996): 205-206. Print.