To what extent was Cavour the "architect" of Italian Unification?

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To what extent was Cavour the “architect” of Italian Unification?

One of the turning points in the unification of Italy was the appointment of Count Camillo di Cavour for the prime minister of Piedmont in 1852. In the Italian Unification, Cavour, Mazzini, Garibaldi and King Emmanuel II played an important role. Cavour, a clever prime minister, was regarded as the ‘brain of modern Italy’. Mazzini, the pen of the Risorgimento, was the propagandist of the Italian unity. Garibaldi, the ‘sword’ of the Italian Unification, was a guerrilla leader who provided Italy with the necessary military force. King Victor Emmanuel II completed the unification of Italy. Each of them contributed greatly to the course of unification.

Cavour was known as a politician who favoured a liberal cause. He learnt from the failure of the 1848 revolutions. He realized that internal strength and external aid were necessary for the success of Italian unification. His policy was to modernize Piedmont to make her strong enough to lead the national movement against Austria. He also envisaged to ally with a powerful foreign power for expelling Austria domination. Subsequently, he became the prime minister in 1852. As prime minister, his plan of action created programs, which helped the Kingdom of Piedmont to become the leading Italian state. He introduced progressive internal reforms, reorganized the administration, the financial system, the legal system, industry and the army.

Cavour was a skilful diplomat too. Since Cavour had realized that Piedmont was too weak to fight alone, he tried to use every opportunity to gain foreign support. The chance came when the Crimean War broke out in 1885. He brought Piedmont into the war. During the war, Piedmont sided with Britain and France against Russia. Though this alliance, Cavour established friendly relations with the French emperor, Napoleon III. Finally, Russia was defeated and the war ended in 1856. As one of the victors, Piedmont was able to attend the Paris Peace Conference. He succeeded in gaining the sympathy of Britain and France in this war and the Conference.

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The help from France had been decided by a pact between Napoleon III and Cavour at Plombieres in 1858. Under the terms of the pact, France would ally itself with Italy if the Austrians attacked. In return, if plans were successful, Italy would consist of a federation of weak states, nominally under the presidency of the Pope. The strongest country would be that of Northern Italy which was to include Piedmont, Lombardy, Venice and the papal Adriatic dominions. There would be a Central Italian State with the Pope as leader and Rome as its capital. Naples and Sicily were to ...

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