The Unification of Italy, 1815–59

The Congress of Vienna and Italian States

Following the defeat of Napoleonic France in 1815, the Congress of Vienna was held to reorganise Europe and establish a balance of power.
Italian states were reallocated among various European powers, further fragmenting the Italian peninsula.
The Austrian Empire was given control of Lombardy and Venetia in northern Italy, solidifying their influence in the region.

The post-Napoleonic era saw the rise of Italian nationalism, centered around the desire to liberate Italy from foreign control and form a united Italian state.
Giuseppe Mazzini, an Italian patriot, established the revolutionary group called Young Italy in 1831, promoting the cause of Italian unification.
The uprisings stimulated by Mazzini’s movement were suppressed, but they significantly contributed to the growing sentiment of nationalism.

The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, ruled by the House of Savoy, became the driving force of the unification movement under the guidance of prime minister Camillo di Cavour.
Cavour sought diplomatic and military means to achieve unification, including forming alliances with foreign powers against the Austrian Empire.

The Second Italian War of Independence took place in 1859, initiated by Piedmont-Sardinia and its ally France against Austrian control.
The peace treaty of this war led to the acquisition of Lombardy by Piedmont-Sardinia, marking a significant step towards unification.

In 1860, revolutionary general Giuseppe Garibaldi and his volunteer force, known as the “Red Shirts”, embarked on a military campaign called the Expedition of the Thousand.
They successfully conquered Sicily and Naples, further expanding the territories under Italian control.

By 1861, with much of the peninsula under their control, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed with King Victor Emmanuel II of Piedmont-Sardinia as ruler.
The process of unification, however, was not fully completed until 1870 when the Papal States were annexed.
The unification of Italy was a complex process involving warfare, diplomacy, and the rise of nationalism, culminating in the emergence of a unified Italian state in the heart of Europe.