In 1852, the prime minister of Piedmont-Savoy, Camilo di Cavour, was willing to do whatever it takes to unify Italy under one nation since he was a firm believer of Realpolitik. Although he was anti-republic, he closely worked with two radical republicans, Mazzini and Garibaldi. Mazzini was a newspaper editor, poet, and revolutionary – and Garibaldi helped Mazzini. They were both anti-monarchial and anti-clerical.
Austria strongly opposes Italian unification, and Cavour identifies Austria as an obstacle. He enlists the French army under Napoleon III and they both sign a mutual protection pact. Then, Cavour tricks Austria into declaring war on Piedmont-Savoy. In 1859, the French attack and defeat the Austrians in two battles. Napoleon III ends the war, due to Prussian persuasion, by striking a separate deal with Austria. It was decided that Austria would cede Lombardy to Piedmont-Savoy and that the French get Savoy. Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Romania are granted universal manhood suffrage – so they overthrow their rulers and join Piedmont-Savoy through what is known as a Plebiscite.
Thus, we see the forming of a new Italy taking shape, all united under a new king, Victor Immanuel. But Piedmont-Savoy still did not get Venetia and Garibaldi gets impatient. He gets together his “Thousand Red Shirts” and they invade Sicily and Napoli. They take Naples, overthrow the Bourbon King, and March on Rome.
Although Italy became united as one country, many problems aroused that made the Nationalists, Revolutionaries, and the people unhappy. One reason was because there were still parts of Italy that was not Italian yet, known as Irrendenta. These unredeemed parts were Venetia, Rome, Dalmatian Coast, and South Tyrol. Moreover, the Italian Catholics did not support the government, which was anti-clerical. All this resulted in a very weak central government.
These issues, along with having poor industrial potential, conflicts between the North and South, and being colonially bereft all served to downplay the role and power of Italy in Europe. Italy became a unified country, but they found it difficult to be a powerful nation that had a lot of influence and authority in the continent.