Did The Legacy Of The 1848 Revolutions Play a Major Role In The Eventual Unification Of Italy

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                Alex White

Did The Legacy Of The 1848 Revolutions Play a Major Role In The Eventual Unification Of Italy?

Yes the legacy did play a major role because it set the scene for unification to happen by leading to the development of piedmont and allowing Italians to learn the lessons of needing foreign support, but this was a long term cause and needed Cavour and Garibaldi to take advantage of the legacy for full unification to happen.

 In the post-revolutionary decade after 1848, little had visibly changed, and some historians consider the revolutions a failure, given the seeming lack of permanent structural changes.

On the other hand, both Germany and Italy achieved political unification over the next two decades, and there were a few immediate successes for some revolutionary movements. Austria and Prussia eliminated feudalism by 1850, improving the lot of the peasants. But in 1848, the revolutionaries were idealistic and divided by the multiplicity of aims for which they fought -- social, economic, liberal, and national. Middle-class revolutionaries feared the lower classes, demonstrating different ideas. As some reforms were enacted and the economy improved, some revolutionaries were stopped. Many peasants were satisfied by the reforms and lost interest in further revolt; revolutions elsewhere met similar resolutions. International support likewise waned.

In 1848, Charles Albert did not give in to liberal demands. He introduced the statuto, allowing people to vote for parliament. This meant that free thinkers who craved political freedom flocked to Piedmont. This allowed Piedmont to develop politically and to become the dominant state in Italy

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On March 22 Piedmont declared War on Austria. The Piedmontese army lead by Charles Albert in person, invaded Lombardy. Troops from all across Italy converged to join the Piedmontese army, to purge Italy of Austria once and for all. However, the French Army helped Austria to gain back Lombardy, the outlook for Charles albert was defeat. The lesson learned here was that you could not defeat Austria without foreign support. This led to Cavour striving to gain an ally. This encouraged him to join the Crimean War and eventually sign an alliance with France.

Unification could not have happened ...

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