March Unification of Italy

Realism

• Did not depict Church of royalty 
• Instead, realist paintings focussed on normal people going about their daily lives
• One of the things that made the paintings seem like real life was that people's faces were not always shown, as if the viewer was seeing them in real life. 

Unification of Italy

• Europe abolished romanticism and set to business creating alliances 

• Italy had long been the most convoluted place in Europe
• France developed into a nation, the Holy Roman Empire reorganized, Prussia was becoming an Empire, and Russia became the ultimate absolute monarchy, Italy was a conglomerate of small states that were mostly ruled by outside powers. 
• The Vatican is being ignored, but is very important to the unification of Italy
• The Pope wrote official documents against the political philosophy of liberalism 
• Mazzini tried to unify Italy, but failed in 1848
• Some of his followers were to carry on this effort
• In the 19th century, Italy was divided into a dozen areas, each one politically different from the others
• Italy was split between north and south
• The north was prosperous and industrialized
• The south was poor and agricultural
• There was only one independent Italian state- Piedmont Sardinia
• It was ruled by Emmanuel "Victor Emmanuel"
• He became king in 1848, after the failed northern revolutions
• He appointed Camillo de Cavour as prime minister  in 1852
• Cavour came from a liberal, aristocratic background
• Cavour put a plan into action:
• He saw that the Italian economy needed to change
• He tries to have the government and the banks supply more credit to investors
• He goes outside of Italy looking to attract investors into the Italian market
• He built railroads, which were the lifeline of the distribution of goods
• In order to unify Italy, he thought that he would have to do something about the Church's influence in politics
• He put taxes on the Church
• He put the Church under civil laws
• He did something with bishops
• The influence of Mazzini was also present
• The south agreed with Mazzini's message
• He wanted the right to have a job, to vote, and to have an honest day's work
• Mazzini had preached for democracy
• Mazzini appealed to the poor and working classes in southern Italy, the Slavs, and all of the downtrodden people struggling to make a living. 
• Mazzini's tried to incite the same feelings as the south had in Lombardy
• Cavour retaliated by appealing to Prussia, who crushed the rebellion
• Cavour negotiated trade agreements with Britain and France
• In exchange for the agreement with France, Piedmont fought within the alliance during the Crimean War
• Piedmont was afraid that Russia was going to invade. 
• They make an agreement with France to give them land from Italy as long as the French promise to keep the Russians out of Italy
• Cavour called out Austria and dared them to attack
• They do, and Piedmont and France fight against Austria
• The French and Piedmont forces defeat Austria, but Germany is still in the way
• Louis Napoleon is nervous that if he goes too far into a war with Austria, France will occupy Austria. 
• He does not want to bring Germany into the mix
• Louis Napoleon made his own peace treaties with the Austrians: The treaty of Villafranca 
• The Italians give Austria Lombardy
• Piedmont then gets Lombardy, but Austria keeps Venito 
• Garibaldi became the second coming of Mazzini
• Garibaldi had been exiled 
• Cavour brought Garibaldi back to Italy and financed his expeditions
• Garibaldi comes to southern Italy
• The people, especially the poor, support Garibaldi
• His following becomes known as the red shirts. He claims Sicily in the name of Victor Emmanuel. 
• Cavour does not want Garibaldi in the North, so he orders him to stay in the South and do his work there
• A plebiscite is made that states that Emmanuel is officially able to make a union of the North and the South- excluding Venice and the surrounding areas which were owned by Austria. Rome was also not included because of its association with the Pope
• The Pope excommunicated every union leader
• 1861- Emmanuel became the king of the United Italy 
• Garibaldi is happy with this and retires
• Cavour died
• Austria and Prussia go to war
• Italy sides with Prussia and Prussia wins
• For thanks, Prussia gives Italy the Venito
• This happened again in a different war, and for thanks again, Prussia kicked the French out of Rome. 
• Emmanuel's force invades Roma and makes it the capital of Italy
• When Emmanuel's forces go into Rome they do not tell everyone what to do
• They put decisions up to a vote: Do they want to become citizens of Italy or stay under the Pope?
• They go to Italy
• The outcomes of all of this
• Since Italy was new to nationhood, the democracy was limited and the authority still rested heavily upon the kingship
• There was great disparity between the north and the south of Italy