To what extent was the war of 1859 the turning point to Italian unification?

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To what extent was the war of 1859 the turning point to Italian unification?

In 1852, when Cavour became Prime Minister of Piedmont, no one expected  that within ten years Italian unification would be achieved. Partly because of  the failures of the 1848-49 revolutions. The peninsula was still divided into ten separate states and  expelling Austria’s domination over Italy was Cavour’s main focus, he only ever expressed at the beginning,  a vague wish that Italy achieve total unity.

The war of 1859  can indeed be considered the turning point to Italian unification, the revolts that began in Sicily in 1848  instilled important lessons in Cavour. Primarily the fact that if Italy was ever going to gain independence, they needed to oust Austria. Austria held the key to any possibility of Italian unity and there was no indication that they would surrender their control. Austria were better equipped and their army were vastly superior in numbers, Piedmont did not possess the military muscle to expel Austria. For It had been proved in the past to rebel forces that the Italian’s needed foreign intervention to counter-balance Austrian military power. It was Austria’s victory  during Charles Albert’s reign that resulted in the signing of the armistice to which Austria received  Lombardy and Venetia .

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Cavour’s  contempt for the Mazzinians  persisted, as they continued to believe that the Italian people could still try to liberate themselves in the same way that had been attempted in the past and failed miserably. An example of this is in 1849 when the Roman Republic headed by Mazzini fell to the soldiers of the French Republic.

Cavour’s decision to involve Piedmont  in the Crimean War in order to gain recognition among the powers of Europe, together with the knowledge that Napoleon III had interest  in Italian nationalism persuaded him to secure Napoleon as an ally. Subsequently, ...

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