The Importance of Cavour, Mazzini and Garibaldi to Italian Unification
Importance of Cavour, Mazzini and Garibaldi
to Italian Unification
In March 1861 Emmanuel II proclaimed the Italian nation with himself as king and Camillo Cavour as prime minister. Three of the key figures in the unification of Italy were Mazzini, Garibaldi and Cavour, who although all having different aims, ultimately contributed to the unification of Italy.
In 1815, after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo, the great powers of Europe; Russia, Prussia, Austria and Great Britain met in Vienna and regarded the changes that had been made to the Italian peninsula during French rule. They viewed the abolishment of the feudal taxes, the merging into less states, the new responsibility that the middle class had and the new feeling of Italian unity as dangerous. Therefore, so that dangerous ideas such as Liberalism and Nationalism didn’t spread and the Austrian multi-national empire was maintained the powers signed the Vienna settlement, removing French influence & constitutions and restoring the legitimate rulers. Many Italians were unhappy with this and called for a united Italy.
One Italian who’s idea it was to have a Liberal Italian republic was Giuseppe Mazzini. Although unsuccessful in his conspiracies, Mazzini succeeded in igniting a feeling of nationalism in the people of the Italian states. In Marseille 1831, Giuseppe Mazzini founded the “Young Italy” group. Through “Young Italy” and the thousands of articles, which Mazzini wrote, smuggled into Italy and published in young Italy's newspaper or elsewhere, Mazzini publicised his ideas of Liberalism and Nationalism. Mazzini fashioned the idea of a “free independent republican nation”. He reached the people and gave them a reason to revolt. In the 1820's people had very different aims, however Mazzini later managed to unite a majority of people under his aim. He is therefore seen as a key to Italian unification because as Denis Mack Smith says, Mazzini succeeded in “defining the goal and arousing enthusiasm among practiced soldiers and statesmen” who were important to his cause. Mazzini's contribution to unite Italy is not through revolts, which he also attempted such as in 1834 where he tried to invade Savoy from Switzerland; his contribution is that he fabricated the idea of a united Italy. Mazzini who, after 1830, was forced to live in exile became the ideological head of a nationalist movement. He also founded societies such as “Young Germany” or “Young Europe” through which his fame grew. As one of the supporters of the “Risorgimento” Mazzini saw his aim to be the creation of a liberal country. Therefore the poem by George Meredith quite rightly identifies Mazzini as the soul of the movement to unite Italy. He was the ideological leader and gave people a reason to fight for. Mazzini opposing constitutional monarchs was repaired to Milan in 1848 where he conducted the paper “L'Italia del Popolo“, where, when Charles Albert turned his back on the city, the inhabitants turned to Mazzini to become dictator. This shows that Mazzini’s contribution towards the unity of Italy was psychological, through his ideological ideas and the enthusiasm, which he ignited in the people. He managed to excite the people for a united liberal republic and gave them an aim. Mazzini was also important to the unification of Italy because he in a sense made Garibaldi, by Garibaldi joining “Young Italy” at the age of 15. Lastly Mazzini by founding “Young Italy” gave a stage to all those who wanted a unified Italy.
