Italian Unification, or the Risorgimento ("resurgence"), refers to the series of wars, diplomatic maneuvers, and popular movements that transformed the patchwork of pre-1815 Italian states — including the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Papal States, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and Austrian-held Lombardy-Venetia — into the unified Kingdom of Italy proclaimed in 1861.
The process is typically dated from the Congress of Vienna (1815), which restored conservative dynasties and Austrian dominance over much of the peninsula, through the failed liberal revolutions of 1820–21, 1831, and 1848–49. The latter wave saw short-lived republics in Rome and Venice and the first war of independence waged by Piedmont-Sardinia against Austria, ending in Piedmontese defeat at Custoza and Novara.
Unification was achieved primarily under the leadership of three figures often paired with King Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy:
- Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, Piedmontese prime minister, who secured a French alliance with Napoleon III at Plombières (1858) and won Lombardy after the Second War of Italian Independence (1859).
- Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose Spedizione dei Mille (Expedition of the Thousand) in 1860 toppled Bourbon rule in Sicily and Naples, which were then transferred to Victor Emmanuel.
- Giuseppe Mazzini, the republican ideologue whose movement Giovine Italia shaped nationalist thought, though his republican vision lost out to the Savoyard monarchy.
The Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed on 17 March 1861. Venetia was annexed in 1866 following the Austro-Prussian War, and Rome was captured on 20 September 1870 after French troops withdrew during the Franco-Prussian War, ending the temporal power of the papacy and prompting the so-called Roman Question. Italian-speaking territories still under Austria — Italia irredenta such as Trento and Trieste — were largely acquired only after World War I under the Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919).
Unification is a foundational case study in nationalism, state-building, and great-power diplomacy.
Example
In 1860, Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand landed at Marsala in Sicily, overthrew Bourbon rule in southern Italy, and handed the conquered territories to Victor Emmanuel II, paving the way for the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy in March 1861.
Frequently asked questions
On 17 March 1861, with Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy as its first king, though Venetia and Rome were not yet included.
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