creation of the kingdom of italy

when was the national society founded

1857

what was the purpose of the national society

promote the cause of italian national unity, encourage nationalists across peninsula to accept Piedmontese leadership

what methods of persuasion did the national society use

Il Piccolo Corriere D’Italia (newspaper)

posters + flyers

pamphlets (published in batches of up to 3000)

meetings

cavour’s support of the national society

its approach was conservative and pragmatic which suited cavour’s aims

support limited to the concept of a northern italian state

appealed to the more educated middle classes due to its association with political stability

how many copies of Il Piccollo Corriere had circulated by the late 1850s

4000

why was the national society more secretive in parts of italy

foreign rule (particularly in lombardy)

what were napoleons dynastic interests

marry his nephew Prince Jerome to Princess Clothide (daughter of VE) in order to secure close ties with italy

what were napoleons plans for expansion

nice and savoy

why was the topic of nice so sensitive

birthplace of garibaldi, seen as very italian

what did napoleon envision for italy

a federation with the pope at its head instead of a centralised italian state

what role did catgolic’s play in napoleons decision making

had to ensure the support of the french catholics which meant keeping the stability of the papal states

why is the crimean war so important for the french piedmont relationship

napoleon gratitude for piedmont support, close relationship with cavour, dialogue continued between prince jerome and constantino niagra

why was napoleons participation in the 1831 rome uprising significant

gave him enthusiasm for italian liberty and nationalism

when did orsini attempt to assassinate napoleon and his wife

14 jan 1858

Orsinis background

-orsini was a young italian revolutionary who was a member of young italy

-imprisoned in 1844, then later released by pope pius IX

-elected to roman constitute assembly during roman republic, then later began completing secret missions for mazzini

-arrested in hungary in 1854 but later escaped

key events in the orsini affair

-end of 1857 he went to britain and had three large bombs made

-travelled to paris by train with two other conspirators but the police were expecting them to arrive by road in northern france

-jan 14 1858 napoleon and his wife attended the theatre in paris

-orsini threw three bombs at their carriage, killing 8 and injuring 142

-neither napoleon or his wife were injured and police found orsini the next day

-11 feb 1858 orsini wrote a letter to napoleon which was read at his trial and asked napoleon to help italy gain independence and therefore gain the blessing of 25 mil italians

-orsini was executed on 13 march 1858

significance of the orsini affair

ensured that europe could see napoleon had been invited into italy rather than looking to make territorial gains

what was agreed at plombieres

-kingdom of upper italy (ruled by house of savoy) would be created to include Piedmont, lombardy, venetia, parma, modena and the papal legations

-kingdom of central italy would be controlled by Tuscany and would include umbria and the papal marches

-rome + surrounding areas would be controlled by the papacy and the pope would lead an italian confederation there

-kingdom of naples would remain as it was (had ties to russia and napoleon didn’t want to upset the tsar)

-nice and savoy would be given to france in exchange for 20,000 french troops

-clothide would marry prince jerome

how did piedmont provoke war with russia

12 dec 1859 napoleon gave a provocative speech at parliaments opening including ‘we are not insensitive to the cries of grief which have reached us from so many parts of italy’

march 1859 the piedmontese army mobilised

23 april austria demanded piedmont demobilise within three days

when piedmont refused austria declared war on 29 april and invaded piedmont

what impact did the war have on the grand duchies

-april 1859 demonstration against duke leopold which resulted in his flight and a provisional gov led by Ricasoli

-may 1859 the national society engineered peaceful revolutions in parma modena and tuscany which led to provisional gov in all three

-june 1859 insurrections took place in papal legations

when was magenta

4 june 1859

when was solferino

24 june 1859