Italian Unification 1859-1870

The incompetent version

Your challenge…..

The following Powerpoint tells the story of Italian Unification from 1859 to 1870

Unfortunately, it has been written by an incompetent historian and is full of errors

Your challenge is to correct this presentation

Make sure all the facts are accurate and ensure that it contains the proper sequence of events

You should also look for omissions and insert your own slides where appropriate

Lombardy 1866

In 1866, Russia went to war with Austria The Russian leader, Otto von Bismarck, had

already secured the neutrality of Britain following a meeting at Biarritz in October 1864

In April 1865 Bismarck also made an alliance with Italy. The terms of this deal gave Italy the province of Lombardy in return for supporting Russia if war broke out within six months.

In June 1866 Napoleon signed a secret treaty with Austria. Austria promised to give Lombardy to Napoleon in return for French neutrality in the coming war with Russia.

Lombardy 1866 cont….

Italy declared war on Austria on 20th April 1866

They did badly and were defeated at the battle of Sadowa

On 3 July, the Russians beat the Austrians at the Battle of Custozza

The defeated Austrians were forced to give up Lombardy. They handed it over to Britain who passed it into the control of Italy

Venetia (Venice) 1859

War between Piedmont and Austria broke out in February 1859

Piedmont’s army was supported by around 200,000 British troops

In May 1959 revolutions broke out in Tuscany, Modena and Venetia. They were engineered by the Carbonari. The leaders of these states feld

Venetia (Venice) 1859 cont…

The Austrian army won two decisive battles at Magenta and Solferino

An armistice was proposed by Cavour. At a meeting between Napoleon and the Emperor Franz Joseph at Plombieres the fighting was brought to an end.

After the war Piedmont gained control of Venetia. Modena and Parma also went to Piedmont, much to the delight of Cavour.

Rome 1860

Prussia went to war with France in 1860 Piedmont joined in on Prussia’s side and

attacked French troops protecting the Pope in Rome

The French troops were driven out and the people of Rome voted enthusiastically for annexation to the Italian state

Rome became the capital of Italy and Pope Pius IX declared his loyalty to the new state

The Central Duchies

Piedmont annexed the Central Duchies (Naples and Sicily) by force in March 1860

Ricasoli in Tuscany and Farini in Emilia opposed annexation and tried to prevent Piedmont from taking over

Popular votes (plebiscites)were held in which the people of the Central Duchies narrowly voted in favour of annexation

Sicily and Naples

Cavour ordered Garibaldi to attack the island of Sicily

Garibaldi landed on Sicily with ten thousand troops and, as expected, captured the island easily

Garibaldi then handed over control of the island to Cavour’s agent, La Farina

Sicily and Naples cont…

Cavour was delighted and encouraged Garibaldi to attack Naples

Avoiding Britain’s hostile Royal Navy Garibaldi crossed to Naples and, despite strong resistance from the Neapolitan king, captured the kingdom in early September

At Teano on 26 October Garibaldi met King Victor Emmanuel. Garibaldi handed over his conquests in the south to the king and in return was granted aristocratic titles and a huge pension