How Far was the Failure of the 1848-9 Italian Revolutions Due to the Intervention of Foreign Powers?
How Far was the Failure of the 1848-9 Revolutions Due to the Intervention of Foreign Powers?
The revolutions of 1848-9 failed because the foreign powers were too powerful and were easily able to overpower them to stop the revolutions.
In 1848, there was an uprising in Palermo, Sicily. This is because King Ferdinand refused to set up a provisional government. This spurred on uprisings in Naples by the secret societies, which forced King Ferdinand to make concessions. This lead to King Ferdinand introducing a parliament but its power was very limited.
In Lombardy, Austrian rulers refused to give in to and grant a reform. The Milanese stopped smoking in protest, this affected Austria as they collected the revenue from the cigarettes that were sold. This lead to demonstrations taking place in Venice demanding the release of Manin. Once Manin was released he declared a Venetian republic in Venice. As a result, Grand Duke Leopald granted a conservative constitution in Tuscany. Metternich resigned over the demonstrations for reform in Vienna, and in the same month, King Ferdinand was announced to be no longer then king after the Sicilian elections. After the battle in Milan, where Radetzky withdrew his troops, there was a political vacuum. A provisional government was formed, and they asked for Charles Albert for protection. In the same month, Charles Albert introduced the Statuto in Piedmont, which lead to a constitutional monarchy. Charles Albert saw that Lombardy was available for annexation, so he declares war on Austria and invades Lombardy, where by troops from all over Italy join him. The Pope grants a limited constitution, which lets all Italian Catholics know that he is ok with them helping Charles Albert invade Lombardy.
