The Sardinians were eager to evict Australians from their land. Despite the defeat they suffered during the First World War, they did not lose hope. Instead, they were determined to see that their country was liberated from the grip of Australians (Avery). They were under the leadership of King Vittorio Emanuele when they realized that it was tough to fight the Mighty Australian Empire. The King and Cavour decided to find assistance from the other European States. Initially, Cavour had entered into a secret alliance with the Piedmont- Sardinia Kingdom during the War of Crimea. He was on the side of Great Britain and France (Avery). The action made Napoleon III happy and he decided to help the Sardinians. Austria was believed to be the traditional enemy of France and Napoleon was eager to fight them to make a positive impression on the other states (Avery).
The combined effort of French forces and the Sardinian forces managed to win the series of wars against the Austrians (Pearl 140). Before expelling all the Austrians out of Italy, Napoleon decided to start a conflict over the large number of casualties in that war. Napoleon feared that Prussia would come to the aid of the Austrians, and many of his troops would then be killed in the war (Pearl 140). That made him go against the treaty that he had signed with the Sardinians. Cavour and Napoleon had the idea of uniting the northern part of Italy. The greatest fear for Napoleon was to see the Italian Peninsula unified as he saw it as the threat to France (Pearl 140).
The Italian Peninsula was a conglomeration of states, which were invaded by the French after the revolution war with the Austrians (Pearl 140). Under Napoleon’s rule, the peninsula was divided into three parts. It was during the war against the Austrians that more rebellious movements were inspired in the Peninsula. Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was one member of the Mazzini's Young Italy movement, emerged (Pearl 140). He was determined to fight France with the claim that they had occupied the territories of Italy. He was encouraged by Cavour to invade the kingdom in the south by the name Sicilies. To Cavour, this was a suicide mission but to everyone’s surprise, Garibaldi was able to conquer it. After conquering the southern kingdom, he found it fit to invade Rome and make it the capital city of the unified Italy (Pearl 140).
The revolution against the Austrians induced a lot of ideas in the minds of Italians (History.state.gov). It made them realize the state of the government and the society in which they used to operate. They saw the need to overthrow the old system because they understood the importance of a new political system (History.state.gov). The idea of equality and freedom came to everyone’s mind, and the concept of nationalism was also induced. Vittorio and Cavour were still determined to not to lose their central target of unifying Italy. It was in 1814 after the downfall of Napoleon that there was redistribution of territories by the Congress of Vienna. The majority of the states in Italy were reconstituted, and reforms were initiated to change the conservative regimes. The aim was to change the old social order of the State (History.state.gov).
It was observed that in the eighteenth century, the Italian Peninsula remained fragmented, but the idea of a united Italy had taken roots. Some secret societies were founded for the sole purpose of fighting conservative regimes as well as for promoting Italian nationalism (History.state.gov). All this resulted in a Unified Italian political state. In conclusion, the elections that were held in 1859 and 1860 marked an important step towards unification of the country. Indeed, the Franco-Austrian War assisted in unifying Italy.
Works Cited
Avery, Robert. "The Franco-Austrian War Or Second War Of Italian Unification (1859)".
Victorianweb.org. N.p., 2004. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
History.state.gov. "Unification Of Italian States - Issues - Countries - Office Of The Historian".
History.state.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Apr. 2016.
Pearl, Kenneth. Cracking the Ap European History Exam. New York, N.Y: Random House,
2004. Print.
