Risorgimento

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Risorgimento [Ital.,=resurgence], in 19th-century Italian history, period of cultural nationalism and of political activism, leading to unification of Italy.

Roots of the Risorgimento

The Risorgimento's roots lie in 18th-century Italian culture in the works of such people as Ludovico Antonio Muratori , Vittorio Alfieri , and Antonio Genovesi . Italy had not been a single political unit since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th cent., and from the 16th through the 18th cent. foreign domination or influence was virtually complete. During the French Revolutionary Wars and the period dominated by Napoleon I , the temporary expulsion of Austrian and other repressive regimes and the formation of new states in Italy (see Cisalpine Republic ) encouraged hopes for unification.

Early Years and Factions

Secret societies such as the Carbonari appeared and carried on revolutionary activity after the restoration of the old order by the Congress of Vienna (1814–15). The Carbonari engineered uprisings in the Two Sicilies (1820) and in the kingdom of Sardinia (1821). Despite severe reprisals inspired by the Holy Alliance , new uprisings occurred in 1831 in the Papal States, Modena, and Parma. Italian literature of this period, especially the novels of Alessandro Manzoni and the marchese d' Azeglio and the poetry of Ugo Foscolo and Giacomo Leopardi , did much to stimulate Italian nationalism.

The Risorgimento was primarily a movement of the middle class and the nobility; since economic issues were virtually ignored, the peasantry remained indifferent to its ideals. Political activity was carried on by three groups. Giuseppe Mazzini led the radical faction through his secret society Giovine Italia [young Italy], founded in 1831. Its program was republican and anticlerical; it vaguely alluded to social and economic reforms. The conservative and clerical elements among the nationalists generally advocated a federation of Italian states under the presidency of the pope. The moderates—the propertied bourgeoisie and the north Italian promoters of industry—favored unification of Italy under a king of the house of Savoy. This monarch, as it later turned out, was Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia.

The Fight for Unification

Sardinia assumed the leadership of the Risorgimento in 1848 when the Lombardo-Venetian kingdom rose against Austrian rule and King Charles Albert intervened in favor of the rebels. After initial victories Charles Albert was defeated by the Austrians at Custoza and was forced to sign an armistice and withdraw his forces. Renewing his attack in 1849, he was again defeated by the Austrians at Novara and abdicated in favor of his son, Victor Emmanuel II, who made peace. Meanwhile, revolutions were suppressed in Venice (under Daniele Manin ), Parma, Modena, Tuscany, the Two Sicilies, and the Papal States, where a short-lived Roman Republic was proclaimed under the leadership of Mazzini.

The liberal movement gradually coalesced around Victor Emmanuel II and the policies of his minister Camillo Benso di Cavour . Cavour realized that Sardinia could not defeat Austria without foreign aid. He set out to win French support and British sympathy by introducing sweeping social reforms within Sardinia, by inaugurating a free-trade policy, and by joining (1855) the allies in the Crimean War. Emperor Napoleon III met Cavour at Plombières (1858) and promised military aid against Austria.

War broke out in 1859. The French and Sardinians defeated the Austrians at Magenta and caused them to retreat at Solferino. These victories were so costly, however, that Napoleon signed a separate armistice at Villafranca di Verona (ratified by the Treaty of Zürich). Austria retained Venetia, and Sardinia gained only Lombardy. It was also stipulated that Tuscany, Modena, Parma, Bologna, and the Romagna, where revolutionists had organized provisional governments, were to return to their former rulers. This provision was not fulfilled; plebiscites were held (Mar., 1860) in these states, which voted for union with Sardinia. In return for recognizing these plebiscites, Napoleon received Savoy and Nice. The spectacular conquest of the Two Sicilies (1860) by Giuseppe Garibaldi was followed by Sardinia's annexation of Umbria and the Marches. After the Two Sicilies had voted for union with Sardinia, the kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in Mar., 1861.

The remaining territorial objectives of the Risorgimento were Venetia, still in Austria's possession, and Rome and Latium, which the pope was able to retain because of French protection. Through its alliance with Prussia in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Italy obtained Venetia. Italy seized the remainder of the papal possessions in 1870 when France withdrew its troops during the Franco-Prussian War. Italian unification was then complete, but unsatisfied nationalism continued to exist in the form of irredentism .

Bibliography

See D. M. Smith, Victor Emanuel, Cavour, and the Risorgimento (1971); C. M. Lovett, Carlo Cattaneo and the Politics of the Risorgimento (1972), and the several works on the subject by G. M. Trevelyan.

Risorgimento (Italian, ‘resurrection’ or ‘rebirth’) (c.1831–61) A period of political unrest in ITALY, during which the united kingdom of Italy emerged. Much of Italy had experienced liberal reforms and an end to feudal and ecclesiastical privilege during the NAPOLEONIC WARS. The restoration of repressive regimes led to uprisings in Naples and Piedmont (1821), and in Bologna (1831), then part of the Papal States. Following the French JULY REVOLUTION in 1830, Italian nationalists began to support MAZZINI and the YOUNG ITALY movement. In this they were encouraged by the liberal Charles Albert, who succeeded to the throne of Sardinia, and became ruler of Piedmont in 1831. In 1847 Count CAVOUR started a newspaper, Il Risorgimento; this had a considerable influence on Charles Albert, who in 1848 tried to drive the Austrians out of Lombardy and Venetia. He was defeated at Custozza (1848) and Novara (1849) and abdicated. He was succeeded by his son VICTOR EMANUEL II. During the REVOLUTIONS OF 1848 republicans held power briefly in Rome, Florence, Turin, and Venice and hoped to create a republic of Italy, but were also defeated. Under the guidance of Cavour, Prime Minister of Piedmont from 1852, the French emperor NAPOLEON III was encouraged to ally with Piedmont, in return for promises of Nice and a part of the Alpine region of Savoy, and Austria was defeated in the battles of MAGENTA and SOLFERINO in 1859. Austria evacuated Lombardy and much of central Italy. GARIBALDI liberated Sicily, marched north and almost reached Rome. Plebiscites were held and resulted in a vote to accept Victor Emanuel II as first King of Italy (1861).

Risorgimento (It. ‘Resurgence’) Nationalist movement (1859–70) resulting in the unification of Italy. With the restoration of Austrian and Bourbon rule in 1815, revolutionary groups formed, notably the Young Italy movement of Mazzini, whose aim was a single, democratic republic. Mazzini's influence was at its peak in the Revolutions of 1848. In Sardinia-Piedmont (the only independent Italian state), the aim of the chief minister, Conti di Cavour, was a parliamentary monarchy under the royal House of Savoy. Securing the support of France under Napoleon III in a war against Austria, Cavour acquired much of Austrian-dominated n Italy in 1859. In 1860, Garibaldi conquered Sicily and Naples. Although Garibaldi belonged to the republican tradition of Mazzini, he cooperated with Cavour, and the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861, under Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy. Other regions were acquired later. Rome, the future capital, was seized when the French garrison withdrew in 1870.

Risorgimento a movement for the unification and independence of Italy, which was achieved in 1870. With French aid, the Austrians were driven out of northern Italy by 1859, and the south was won over by Garibaldi. Voting resulted in the acceptance of Victor Emmanuel II as the first king of a united Italy in 1861. The name is Italian, and means literally, ‘resurrection’.

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