Italian Unification

Assess the effect of foreign influences on Italian unification. 1) Introduction : a) One of the most important lessons learned from the 1848 revolutions was that Austria could not be ejected from Italy without the help of foreign allies b) Influence-pressure or persuasion to sway things in a certain way. c) Throughout the course of the Italian unification movement, few foreign nations exercised influence: Sardinia, France, Austria, and possibly Prussia and the German states. d) When analyzing foreign influence on unification, split into two parts:- process/events and result. e) Foreign nations had a great impact on the process. f) Sardinia had only major lasting effect on result.

2) Sardinia : a) Sardinia had a great interest in the unification of Italy. * Many Sardinians were ethnically Italian. * Count Camillo Benso di Cavour wished to free Italy of foreign domination and bring about political transformation on the peninsula (nationalist). b) Cavour. * Became PM in 1852. * One of his goals was to strengthen Sicily. * Publicized Italian problem at Paris peace conference for Crimean War. c) Sardinia was the only nation to gain a diplomatic advantage from the Crimean war-European nations supported Sardinia against Austria.

3) France : a) Four years after the Crimean War, Sardinia succeeded in forming an alliance with Louis Napoleon of France. b) France had interest in central Italian states. c) Plombières Alliance - July 20,1858. * Secret agreement between Cavour and Louis Napoleon at a spa. * Napoleon promised to join war to drive Austria out of Italy, as long as it could be justified in the eyes of diplomacy. * Reorganized as confederation of four states :- Upper, central, Papal, Two Sicilies. * Nice and Savoy were given to France. * Sardinia needed only provoke a war with Austria.