Italian Unification (758-762)

So in class, we've talked a lot about nationalism- both bottom-up and top-down. I've mentioned in a previous blog post, that to be truly successful- a ruler needs to use a little of both strategies. In Italy we have a prime example of two contrasting leaders (Mazzini, whose ideas are taken up by Garibaldi, and Cavour) using two contrasting approaches. Garibaldi was focused on achieving national unification through a popular movement started by the people. Therefore Garibaldi stood for unification from below, whereas in the kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, "Victor Emmanuel II brought a man into his government who would embody the conservative vision of nationhood: the shrewd Sardinian nobleman Count Camillo Benso di Cavour" (758). Cavour worked from the top down, which meant he tried to promote economic expansion, construction of modern transportation infrastructure, improve international relations, and he based his plan of unification on diplomacy (meaning he strove to create strong alliances). This attempt to create strong alliances is clearly shown in the Crimean War when Piedmont-Sardinia joins the fight with Britain, France, and the Ottomans to fight against the Russians because Piedmont-Sardinia wants to solidify those alliances. Cavour worked on consolidating the northern and central states, and he even worked on the southern states where a peasant revolt was spreading. This peasant revolt obviously fueled Garibaldi and his volunteer fights called "The Thousand" (762). Garibaldi appears to be seen as almost a hero among the people since he appeared to want what was best for them- and took the approach of 'let's do this ourselves and not wait for the government to unify us!' 

Since Garibaldi was so popular, he was put on a "collision course with Cavour" (762). Cavour ended up forcing Garibaldi to give up his military power by dispatching Victor Emmanuel and his army to Rome. After that, most of Italy was united under one single power, showing that top-down nationalism worked in this situation. Of course, even though Italy was a state, "nation building was hardly over" due to the "regional differences and social tensions" (762). 

A good quote from the book is "we have made Italy; now we must make Italians" (762). Too true, too true...