Apart from that battle, France was also involved in other conflicts which contributed in joining the different states together. Napoleon demonstrated that he was prepared to accept unification when he enabled the Piedmonese army and Garibaldi’s troops to pass through Papal States, which resulted in Garibaldi handing over Sicily to Victor Emmanuel. This aided unification because Garibaldi’s conquests were handed over to the Piedmontese king and united with the other states. Had Napoleon III decided not to less the troops pass through Rome, Southern Italy would not have become part of the united Kingdom, as Garibaldi wouldn’t have been able to hand over his conquests. Therefore this shows that France was highly significant in helping unification to be established.
France’s strong impact on unification can also be seen in 1866 during another Battle with Austria. France accomplished a deal in the Austro-Prussian war in 1866, which resulted in Austria handing over Venetia to Napoleon who then gave it back to Italy. This demonstrates that Napoleon helped more Italian land to be regained and established more unity within the country. Napoleon helped to crush Italy’s main obstacle to unification- Austria. Once Austria’s occupation of Italy ended, the states could unify. Although this would not have been possible without Napoleon’s help, as Italy was too weak to face Austria on her own, Napoleon’s involvement in Italy had its own drawbacks in the unification.
Due to France’s participation and engagement in Italy, unification was sometimes procrastinated. In 1849 Napoleon was responsible for destroying the Roman Republic and restoring the Pope to rule Rome. Roman Republic was the foundation for a unified Italy, and because Napoleon dissolved it he prevented unification taking place earlier. Furthermore, he guaranteed protection to the Pope until 1870 by ordering the Neapolitan troops to remain in Rome, precluding it form joining the rest of the united Italy. At Plombiers the agreement between Cavour and Napoleon was to replace the Austrian supremacy with France. France was promised to be given Niece and Savoy which resulted in less states being unified. Napoleon was not dedicated to the agreement at Plombiers, which aimed to drive Austria out completely, and pulled out from the war with Austria in 1859 too early, which shows his contribution in unification was not dedicated as Italy was left to face Austria alone. Napoleon was not interested in helping Italy to unify, but expanding his personal influence in the country. However, he managed to help Italy in few very important occasions to fight Austria, which resulted in the unification. Nevertheless there were also other cases where he proved to be more of an obstacle to the unification, showing his clear self interest in expansion of French power. Consequently, although he did help the Italy to establish their independence from Austria, he caused the unification to delay for his own benefit.
Apart form Napoleon there were other factors which prevented Italy to unify. These included the social and economic differences in the country. Although Garibaldi handed over his conquests- Sicily and Naples, to Victor Emmanuel in 1860 this did not mean that the south was completely unified with Piedmont. There was a great difference between standards of living in the two parts of the country which made it hard for the new government to apply same laws all over the country. Piedmont tried to apply same tax laws in Sicily which resulted in an economic crisis and starvation from the farmers in the South. This shows how divided the two parts were and the complete lack of understanding of the government for the southern region of the country. Although the two regions were known as one kingdom from 1860 they spoke different languages and many people sill considered themselves to be “Piedmontese” or “Sicilian”. This demonstrates that social divisions were deep and it was not enough to superficially unite them under one king. Although these factors were a significant obstacle in the unification of Italy, France’s involvement hindered it more. The national social and economic problems emerged as a result of a forced government and started to be solved in the future; demonstrating it only prevented it initially. France’s involvement however, was continuous, since 1848 the French tried to evict Austria but at the same time keep Italy weak in order to ensure French dominance in Italy as well as Europe.
In conclusion, France helped to make Italy independent, and therefore aiding unification, by evicting Austria from the country, which wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. On the other hand, French involvement resulted in hindering the process of unification. French wanted to establish their own supremacy in the country, and although it appeared like they were interested in aiding the unification as they assisted Italy in few battles against Austria, the real cause was different. This is evident when France refused to remove her troops from Rome, central to Italian unification, until 1870 when France was threatened with a war with Prussia. France helped unification, but it was not intentional, and overall her actions resulted in delaying the process.
