Also, Mazzini has always longed for a full unification of Italy whereas Cavour initially only wanted a partial unification. Mazzini argues that true liberty would only be possible when Italy was as a single universality of citizens speaking the same tongue. He worked towards this through is society ‘Young Italy’. Cavour has criticised by A.J Taylor for putting himself first before Italy. This is seen through the Plombiers Act when Cavour wanted to promote the interest of Piedmont. In this act, he only wanted to unify the Northern states under piedmonts rule. He was also willing to surrender nice and savoy for this which was something Mazzini would not even contemplate on.
Next difference was through their methods. Cavour carried pragmatic reforms while Mazzini through Romanticism. Cavour brought about economic, industrial, military and political reforms. For example, he prepared Piedmont for war through the reorganisation of the army, increased the military resources and the building of railways. Mazzini contributed to the unification with a completely different method. He influenced people through his writing of poems and articles. The only limitation to this was that it only reached the middle and higher class who were literate.
Also, Cavour believed that external help was essential whereas Mazzini believed in that unification would be achieved through reforms and uprisings. After the failure of the 1848 revolutions, Cavour was convinced that Italy could not expel Austrian influences without foreign help. He used his skill in diplomacy and managed to seek aid from the French to prevent Austria from consolidating her power in Italy. Another example would be from the Crimean war. Here, the victory managed to extinguish the stigma of earlier defeats at the hands of Austria and Piedmont staked a claim to Italian leadership. Mazzini didn’t prefer diplomacy as much. He called for a unified Italy by the efforts of Italians. He formed the Young Italy. The short-lived “Roman Republic” episode and the Republic of St. Marks are examples of Mazzini’s use of revolutions.
However, although there were difference in their aims and methods, they do share similarities of aims and methods. Both did try to expel external influence, Cavour through diplomacy but Mazzini through revolutions. Also, the Plombieres pact could be deemed a disguise. After all, Cavour was supporting Garibaldi underground through the National Committee. This was also in spite of him stopping the formation of a republic, whereas he wanted a constitutional monarchy. Towards the end, Cavour decided to go forth with complete unification seeing Garibaldi’s achievements, akin to Mazzini’s intentions.
As a conclusion, although both had very different aims and methods, they finally had the same aim and that was to unify Italy.
by
suemay (student)
