Leadership

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Giuseppe Garibaldi

Position: general in Piedmont army Garibaldi was originally from France, and as a boy he grew up with his father on the ship he was captain of. As a young man he followed this father and sailed the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. He joined the Sardinia-Piedmont navy in the 1830s as well as Young Italy (founded by Giuseppe Mazzini). After being part of a failed uprising he fled to his home country and then went to South America. In South America he was a soldier and a pirate for Rio Grande who was trying to secede from Brazil, not unlike Italy's. Later he was in charge of Uruguayan's navy in their war against Argentina, and after that he commanded a large military force of Italian volunteers. He became known as the hero dressed in a long red shirt. More of his later military endeavors included trying to help the Italian province Milan remove Austrian control (they lost), fighting for the newly created Roman Republic which the French tried to stop, and went to Peru after a short time in America to serve in the military there. All of this past experience with leading and fighting must have helped Garibaldi for the fights that were to come in Italy. What Garibaldi did in Italy had a great impact on the unification. Camillo Benso di Cavour and Victor Emmanuel wanted Garibaldi by their side while they had to fight to unite Italy. They made him a general in the Piedmontese army and he helped to drive Austria from northern Italy. This allowed Sardinia-Piedmont to get another province, Lombardy, as part of their slowly growing country. In the 1860s Garibaldi marched into Sicily with 1,000 "Red-Shirted" volunteers. They defeated Sicily and took over Naples. Even though he was technically the ruler Garibaldi turned over the Kingdom of the 2 Sicilys to Emmanuel, wanting to unite Italy. His participation in another war against Austria which led to the capture of Venice, another Italian province. He went out to get the Papal States and Rome, making a completely united Italy, but was defeated by France. All of Garibaldi's conquests helped to create the united Italy. Almost all of his actions resulted in Italy gaining another province or driving out Austria, so his role in Italy's unification was very significant.

Giuseppe Mazzini 

Position: a civil activist for Italian unification Giuseppe Mazzini was at university when the people of Italy started to rebel, but were easily crushed by Austria who held foreign rule of most the states. During this time Mazzini joined in the nationalist’s effort by joining a group called Carbonari. Carbonari was a secret society that was devoted to unifying Italy. When the authorities discovered his involvement the arrested him for 6 months and then he was exiled to France. While in jail he decided he didn't like the rules that governed Carbonari and decided to make his own organization, Young Italy. He built he group around the idea that he was trying to free the Italian provinces and create a free, independent republic. Young Italy gained 60,000 members through Mazzini's used of propaganda and publications in newspapers. Mazzini hoped for help from the Sardinia-Piedmont government, but when the Sardinian’s learned of his idea to gain control of their army they retaliated by torturing Young Italy members. This, surprisingly, made more people join Young Italy. Mazzini tried to raise rebellions all across Italy, but only met defeat as Austria crushed the uprisings. A controversy that arose in 1844, involving the British revealing the identities of Young Italy members in Naples to the leaders there, allowed more people to be aware of him and his ideas. Mazzini didn't get much help from the Italian middle class, who feared that Mazzini's revolts would disrupt their business. Mazzini was put in the shadows as Sardinia-Piedmont went to war with Austria and more military offenses took place that seemed more reliable than Mazzini's small revolts. Mazzini had a small victory in the Papal States where he was able to succeed in a rebellion and set up the Roman Republic, which he led. Unfortunately it was a short lived victory because France took over the Papal States a few months later. Italy eventual became united, but Mazzini took a back seat to other leaders became more prominent. Mazzini's role in Italian unification basically involved spreading the idea of Italian unification and getting more people aware. Even though he wasn't really involved in any major military moves he had an important role.

Cammilo Benso di Cavour 

Position: Prime Minister of Sardinia-Piedmont As a young boy Cavour enrolled in a Military Academy where he was exposed to liberal and nationalists ideals. He became an engineer for Piedmont and Savoy. His military experience and teaching most likely helped him in the years during the long fight for unity. Cavour didn't want to achieve unification by sudden bursts of violence like most rebels, but through politics. Cavour developed the newspaper ll Risorgimento to influence people to and even persuaded the king of Sardinia-Piedmont at the time to adopt a liberal constitution. Cavour suggested to the king that they should declare war on Austria and be free of them, but the war against Austria failed. After the war Victor Emanuel II came to power, and Cavour was his prime minister. This allowed Cavour to have some of the power to make the changes he wanted to make politically. Cavour planned to use Sardinia-Piedmont as the head for Italian Unification and unite all of Italy under them. He made a plan to go to war with Austria with the French, but Napoleon backed out of the fight. Even with this disadvantage they gained territory from Austria as well as territories from an agreement with France. Cavour then made a smart military move by sending an army to the Papal States, and didn't Garibaldi to march to Rome. This move helped to unify Italy and allowed to two men to cooperate.

Victor Emmanuel

Position: first king of a united Italy Victor Emmanuel II was born the son of a prince in Sardinia-Piedmont. Most likely much of his training as prince helped him through the unification of Italy. In 1848 Emmanuel was in charge of a division of they army when they went to war with Austria and was overpowered by the Austrian army. When Sardinia-Piedmont was facing peace terms with Austria, Emmanuel’s father stepped down from the throne, making him king. The peace terms set by Austria were that Emmanuel could either pick to make his kingdom larger and completely forget the constitution or keeping the constitution. Emmanuel decided to keep the constitution. This decision along with his decision to pardon the occupants of Lombardy made him a hero not only in Sardinia-Piedmont, but into provinces outside his own borders. Emmanuel's decision to bring Camillo Benso di Cavour into his cabinet and later making him Prime Minister proved to be very beneficial. With Cavour's help Emmanuel secured Napoleon's lll help the war against Austria, and when the war started out it seemed to swing in favor of Emmanuel. Napoleon signed a secret treaty with Austria and this cause Emmanuel to lose the war. The treaty with the Austrians after this war allowed Emmanuel to gain Lombardy, but had to recognize Austria's rule in Venetia. Emmanuel secretly gave help to Giuseppe Garibaldi. Emmanuel openly joined the fight after Garibaldi set out for the Papal States and when Garibaldi gained Sicily and Naples he turned them over to Emmanuel. In 1861 Italy was made into its own kingdom, with Victor Emmanuel ll as king. Emmanuel decided to ally himself with Prussia, which allowed him to add Venetia to his kingdom. After the French left Rome Emmanuel took it without too much difficulty, unifying Italy. Rome became Italy's capital and Victor Emmanuel ll was the king of all of Italy. Emmanuel's decisions helped to unify Italy greatly. He helped the correct people allowing him to gain provinces in response of that help. He was able to pull all the provinces together and create a country.