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 be reformed but to remain under the power of the French. In return for the states of Lombardy and Venetia, Sardinia was to cede Savoy and Nice to France. At this stage, what Cavour wanted was to unite Italy under the leadership of Piedmont. From his internal and external policies, it can be seen that Cavour was capable and realistic politician. He was also a skilful diplomat who could make use of every opportunity to win foreign support. However, he did not live to see the completion of Italian unification. He died in 1861, ten years before the formation of a united Italy.
Cavour, it would seem, had brought about the prestige and power Italy needed in the form of a powerful Piedmont, therefore realizing the pre 1848 notion of unification via the leading state of Piedmont. However despite the effects of his political and diplomatic activities, his motives were far from nationalistic in the true sense of Italy. Cavour was concerned mainly with his ambitions for a dominant Piedmont in Northern Italy indifferent to the situation in the South hoping not to be hindered by its inherent social and economic inadequacies. The “Architect” only wanted to build half the creation. Therefore there must have been more than one “Architect” to complete the creation.
Mazzini was the man who put the Risorgimento in motion of Italian unity. He contributed greatly in promoting national feelings among Italian in 1831. He played an important role in propaganda. He built the ideas of nationalism to the Italians so that most of the Italian knew about the ideas of unify, and they wished to unite their own country. Mazzini believed that without people’s support, he would never success in unifying Italy. He set up the society of ‘Young Italy’ in 1831. Its chief aim was to unite Italy under a republic. But the failure of the 1820 and 1830 revolts was due to the misdirection of the revolutionary elements. So he suggested that to attain unity, both education and insurrection were equally important. He also urged his follower to co-operate the workers people and try to envisage a sense of unity among them. By 1833, membership of ‘young Italy’ had risen to 60000. In 1833, Mazzini attempted a rising in piedmont against King Charles Albert but it failed. Mazzini escaped to France. He had set up Roman Republic in 1848 with Garibaldi. Mazzini finally had the opportunity to participate actively in laying the foundations for what he hoped would be a new united republican Italy. But after a year, the Roman Republic was defeated and Rome was occupied by French troops. The failure of Roman Republic just ended the revolutionary phase of the Risorgimento but marked the beginning of a realignment of political forces in Italy, and elsewhere in Europe.
The Italian nationalists began to turn to the monarchical leadership offered by Cavour and his king Victor Emmanuel in Piedmont. So that we can see that Mazzini’s idea of unity was still remained in people’s mind. It seems that his role in awakening Italians’ patriotism was very important in the creation of Italian unification.
“A single Italy must be our first goal” the words of Garibaldi. Garibaldi was another important “Architect” of the Italian unification movement. He was a guerrilla leader (Thousand red shirt) who provided Italy with the necessary military force. He led the ‘Red Shirts’ to conquered Sicily in August and invaded Naples. Soon, they took the Southern Italy. In the situation, Italy was divided into Northern Italy and Southern Italy. So Cavour persuaded Victor Emmanuel II to send troops to stop Garibaldi from taking states. To avoid civil war, Garibaldi handed over his conquests in the Southern Italy to Victor Emmanuel II when the two met near the Volturno on October 26. Nevertheless, he continued to plot to capture the Papal States. In 1862 the Italian government, fearing international complications, had to intercept him at Aspromonte, where he was wounded in the heel. Because of his great contribution in the Italian Unification, he was regarded as the ‘sword’ of Italian unification since he unified southern Italy by military force. Maybe we can say without Garibaldi's support, the unification of Italy may not have taken place when it did. A gifted leader and man of the people, he knew far better than Cavour how to stir the masses, and he repeatedly hastened the pace of events.
Previously, monarchs had been reactionary and absolutist but Victor Emmanuel II actually wished to unite Italy. He retained the liberal constitution of 1848 and 1852. He was good at choosing people to help him. He had appointed Cavour as prime minister and gave him full support. His decision to appoint Cavour marked a turning point in the Italian unification movement because Cavour had helped him a lot in the unification, such as internal reforms and foreign aid etc. This showed that Victor Emmanuel II was good at personal matters. He secretly encouraged G. Garibaldi in the conquest of Sicily and Naples and led the invasion of the Papal States. It seems that King Victor Emmanuel was a skilful diplomat too. By 1860, most of Italy had come under his rule, and in 1861, he was proclaimed the king of Italy. In 1870, he made Rome his capital. The Italy Unification was completed. This showed that he was smart enough to quiet down the civil resisted power He was clever enough to unify a completed Italy.
In conclusion Cavour was a great “Architect”. However there were many “Architects” that also contributed to the unification of Italy. The sword, pen and the mind recreated a new Italy. They had turned Italy from ‘geographical expression’ to a unified country. They had all rewritten the history of Italy. Therefore the real question is to who was the most important and successful of the four main “architects”. Garibaldi would have to be considered the most important and successful exponent in the unification of Italy. His combination of political adeptness, charismatic leadership and military competence played a major role in first conquering and unifying the South then prompting the unification of Italy as a whole.