In 1850 Italian unification seemed as far away as ever. Austria & her army were still present in the north. There was a French garrison protecting the Pope in Rome. The old rulers were back in control. Many of the leading figures had fled the scene: Garibaldi flew to North Africa, then to USA before finding a job as a sea captain in South America. Mazzini emitted between Britain and Switzerland. Daniel Manin scraped a living in Paris as an Italian teacher despite it being safe for him to return to Italy. In 1961 a miracle happened - a united state of Italy came into being & by 1870 its boundaries were more or less those of modern Italy. How this miracle came about can be understood by studying the contributions made by Cavour towards a united Italy. Cavour was Prime Minister of Piedmont by October 1852 and he wanted to expand the influence of Piedmont by removing the Austrians from Italy.
The Italian States in 1859 before the unification:...
English: Map of unification of Italy, 1815-70
A political map of Italy in early 1796, before the...To do this he had to industrialise Piedmont &he also signed treaties with Britain and France. Cavour's main aim was to unite the north of Italy and with Piedmont being the strongest would dominate the South as well. However Cavour was not the only reason for the development of united Italy as there was also the help of Napoleon III who after being attacked by Felice Orsini felt that he should help Italy become unified. Also Napoleon knew that if he managed to successfully defeat the Austrians his army would be known as one of the strongest forces at that time. Another factor was Garibaldi who in rage that his hometown, Nice, had been handed over to the French took his redshirts and took over Sicily and Naples. There was also Bismarck who was the Prussian Chancellor offered...