Cavour’s main difficulty in the meeting is finding a plausible reason to start war with Austria. Napoleon did not make this easy for Cavour; Cavour suggested ways in which a war with Austria may be sought yet Napoleon is quick to dismiss these plans as “petty”. Napoleon’s fears of disapproval from the rest of Europe are clearly visible. If he were to attack Austria at the side of Piedmont without plausible reason Austria’s allies would be quick to intervene. (Russia and Prussia arming troops).
Cavour is unlikely to complete this task on his own therefore Napoleon has the upper hand as he can do nothing without the help of the French. Cavour being he prime minister of Piedmont is nothing in comparison to the role of Napoleon if not only down to geographical size.
“The emperor came to my aid” this is the first sign of truce and agreement between the two parties and from here on they are working as a team to defeat the Austrian grip over Italy!
The both sides know the importance of French intervention yet this war needed justification. It not only needed justification from the rest of Europe but it needed the blessing and support of the French people.
It was decided that the war must be provoked by Austria therefore the French could intervene on he Piedmont’s behalf with the excuse that the Piedmont would not be able to defend herself. The problem they now faced was ensuring that Russia or Prussia did not come to the aid of Austria.
Cavour’s fear of Napoleon is well documented in this letter to Victor Emanuel. Being the lesser power in the meeting puts a lot of pressure on him to get his point across without provoking Napoleon. Cavour’s disheartening when Napoleon knocks back his plans to begin a war is an obvious sign of his weakness, Napoleons strength shows when he “comes to Cavour’s aid” and begins discussion of a different route to begin war.
The main difficulty surrounding this discussion is that Cavour is not sure what Napoleon wants therefore he has to play by ear making him the weaker party from the beginning!
How useful is the source to an understanding of Cavour’s role in he process by which Italy was unified?
The source is taken from a letter written to Victor Emanuel the ruler of the piedmont from Cavour, prime minister. It was written in regards to Cavour and Napoleon’s (Emperor of France) meeting at Plombieres. The meeting was set – up following the congress of Paris after the Crimean war. The meeting was to discuss expansion of Piedmont into the Northern Kingdom. An agreement was reached and a treaty signed, France pledging allegiance to Piedmont in the war against Austria.
The role of Cavour in the Italian unification is a great one. Even though he died before the completion he played by far the greatest role in the process. The meeting between Napoleon III and himself at Plombieres is only the end to a massive campaign to align the Piedmont with the rest of Europe.
Cavour being not even the sole ruler of Piedmont has, until now, not been able to exercise his plan to “kick” Austria out of Italy. This only being due to the fact that he has not commanded a large enough force to conquer his Austrian “captors”.
Cavour has been the “backbone” of the Piedmont since he secured a higher loan than the government. This forced them to give him a place in office as head of finances. This is only a stepping-stone for what was to follow. Cavour managed to upgrade transport i.e. railroads and roads, to a European standard making Piedmont the focal point of the peninsula as transport to and from was less treacherous than to any other state. The industrial revolution meant that industrial process’ were brought up to standard with other countries increasing Piedmont’s GDP by 3 times. Cavour’s economic policy meant that free – trade was allowed and freedom of speech i.e. the press was granted. All of these developments attracted people to the Piedmont giving it a more cosmopolitan feel!
Cavour needed all this new revenue to support the Crimean war yet even though he more than doubled the countries output he was still unable to balance the budget and the country’s national debt increased.
Both the electoral system and Cavour’s policy of CANNUBIO (by which he encouraged union between the right and left wing) meant that no opposing parties were there to compete. Although his main aim was to drive Austrian influence out of Italy, Cavour was an opportunist. In the early years of his government he did not believe unification was practical or possible. Cavour wanted a cautious approach compared to Mazzini who wanted a revolution to throw the Austrians out. Cavour wanted to separate “the Italian question” between social revolution and a democracy.
In 1856,m Cavour brought the Piedmont into the Crimean war. This was just a method of preventing Piedmont from becoming isolated; the most important thing Cavour gained from this meeting was a seat at the congress of Paris (the peace treaty related to the Crimean war). This is where he won Napoleon III support and they arranged to meet at Plombieres. The source is a letter from Cavour to Victor Emanuel detailing the meeting at Plombieres.
The meeting at Plombieres meant that Cavour now had support for his long-winded campaign to throw the Austrians out. This meeting was the sole effort of Cavour (on Italian side) therefore it holds him responsible for what was to follow…
The war with Austria began and was ended shortly after it started due to Napoleon’s fear of foreign intervention. He signed a treaty with the king of Austria (not to Cavour’s knowledge), by which the war ended. This angered Cavour as he had brought the country so far. Italian states refused o accept it and revolutions began. Cavour was reinstated shortly after and encouraged states to demand plebiscites. Thus Parma, Modena, and Bologna all declared union with the Piedmont, this was commonly known as the northern kingdom. Cavour had successfully united Italy, not fully but he had completed the expansion of the Piedmont. Shortly after this he died 6th June 1861.
Cavour was by far the most influential force in the Unification of Italy only helped by his allies to the extent and limits that Cavour could not reach alone.
The source is a primary source as it was written at the time, it is highly likely to be accurate except for parts of the meeting Cavour did not wish for Victor Emanuel to know about. A more useful document would be a letter from the French side of the agreement or the treaty itself. Other than that the source is quite a reliable source of information, as Cavour has no need to lie to Victor Emanuel, as all he has is good news!
