Italian nationalism and the unification of Italy
much more comfortable speaking and writing in French than in Italian. Furthermore, the fact was that he disliked revolutionary republicanism more than he loved national unity, 131 which made the possibility of a Piedmontese army ‘liberating’ the rest of Italy very unlikely. This demonstrates how he would always put Piedmontese interests before that of the radical idea of Italian unity. His motives can be clearly demonstrated by looking at the outcomes of the Plombieres meeting. The original discussion was about how to provoke Austria into war so that Italy could then by free from their influence, and although this shows that Cavour had some desire for Italy to be run by Italians, the rest of the meeting clearly demonstrates that Cavour clearly only thought about Piedmontese interests. The discussion with Napoleon on how an Austria-free Italy would look led to Cavour agreeing to divide Italy into four States; which shows that he was much more interested in Piedmontese expansion than Italian unification, as their power would grow considerably and Italian nationalists would probably have considered it a step backwards for Unification. Furthermore, in many ways this did not lesser foreign influence in Northern Italy, as Austrian domination in Lombardy had just been replaced by French influence in the enlarged state of Piedmont. Therefore, it is clear that Piedmontese expansionism influenced Cavour’s decision making more than Italian nationalism; however, we cannot ignore the role that he played in the Unification of Italy. First of all, through the agreement with the French, he was able to gain control of Lombardy, at the cost of Savoy and Nice. While few disputed that the almost entirely French- speaking Savoy was a fair compromise, the French annexation of Nice was a completely different matter. Not only was it a city whose inhabitants were mostly, if not all Italian speakers, but also it was the birthplace of Garibaldi, who was the most famous of Italians at the time. This can therefore be considered a loss of Italian territory. On the other hand, Cavour’s work before his resignation lead to the setup of pro-Piedmontese governments in Parma, Modena, Tuscany and Romagna, which
all voted to become part of the Kingdom of Piedmont in mid-March 1860. As a result, Cavour was responsible for the expansion of Piedmont up until this point; however he did not continue to expand further as he knew that any more territorial gains would have had to involve armed expeditions. With this in mind, it is certainly arguable that without the actions of Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy would not have been unified by 1861. Garibaldi was a charismatic leader of men who used his vast experience of warfare to achieve victory in the war of Unification. He inspired many Italians to believe in the message of the Risorgimento , recruiting many to his Garibaldini . Therefore, as he is an Italian nationalist, his role shows that Italian nationalism certainly played a vital part in the Unification of Italy. While he was not able to save the Roman republic, the defence of Rome captured the imagination of many contemporaries and increased many Italians’ desire for Unity. He was also highly influential during the war with Austria in 1859, where he and his men played an important part in the fighting; so much so that he was awarded the Gold medal for valour, the highest military decoration in Piedmont. However, his most important contribution was through his expedition to Sicily with ‘the Thousand’. Throughout the expedition, his courage inspired complete devotion from his men, who loved him and believed him invincible. 132 Moreover the Sicilians rallied to join him as well, so much so that the Garibaldini numbered over 10,000 after the capture of Palermo. 133 His charisma and skill in battle were therefore a reason for the success of the expedition, however, it cannot be ignored that in many ways he did get lucky. First of all, it was fortunate that the British detachment of ships wrongly thought that Garibaldi was under British protection and refrained from attacking. This move was so surprising that some suggested that the British were actually secretly helping Garibaldi. The expedition ‘was wrapped in British banknotes’ it wasclaimed. 134 Furthermore, the earlier revolt 132 Mack Smith, p. 15 133 Donn Byrne Garibaldi: The Man and the Myth (Modern English Publications Ltd; Hong Kong, 1988), p. 79 134 Donn Byrne, p77
131 Dennis Mack Smith Modern Italy: A Political History (Yale University Press; New Haven and London, 2003), p. 23
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