Italian Unification:

Chronology

 

 

 

1850

 

April 9. In Piedmont, minster Siccardi introduces a law which substantially restricts the powers of the Catholic Church, abolishes the ecclesiastical tribunals and the right of asylum.

 

April 12 Pope Pius IX make his return to Rome under the protection of French troops. The constitution of 1848 is revoked and, inspired by Cardinal Antonelli, the Vatican begins a policy of reaction.

 

1851

During the year, the Piedmontese government, influenced by Count Camillo Benso di Cavour , leader of the moderate right, who has become minister of finance, changes its economic policies. Cavour, a committed English-style liberal, believes in free markets and negotiates trade treaties with England and France. He reduces tariffs for many products and eliminates them completely on cotton, wool and fertilizers.

 

1852

 

February 2, Cavour forms a new parliamentary majority in the Kingdom of Piedmont composed of an alliance of the center-right and center-left which soon gets the nickname of the "connubio"(‘marriage’ or deal’). That begins a phase in Italian politics of improbable and unstable alliances.

 

November 4) The cabinet of Massimo D'Azeglio resigns over a battle with the King about a draft law to introduce civil marriage. The King asks Count Cavour to form a government.

 

1853

 

In Piedmont Urbano Rattazzi, leader of the center-left, joins Cavour’s government as Minister of Justice. Cavour introduces a sweeping program of economic modernization and railroad building.

 

1854

 

March 26, the Duke of Parma, Charles III Ferdinand of Bourbon-Parma is assassinated. He is succeed by his younger brother Robert whose mother, Maria Luisa, becomes regent.

 

 

1855

 

January 26, Piedmont-Sardinia signs an alliance with France and Britain which commits Piedmont to send troops to fight Russia in the Crimean War. Cavour wants to use the alliance against Austria which has stayed neutral.

 

In Piedmont, Rattazzi introduces legislation to eliminate all religious orders (monks and nuns) which perform no socially useful functions. The conflict between the government on the one side and the King and Bishops on the other forces Cavour to resign but the King gives in, Cavour is re-instated and the law adopted.

 

 

1856

A revolt breaks out in Sicily which is brutally repressed by the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies. Britain and France break off diplomatic relations with Naples.

 

February 21, the Piedmontese government sends a memorandum to Napoleon III in which it proposes to raise "the Italian question" in the Paris Peace Conference which is about to assemble.

 

February 25, the Congress of Paris opens, attended by the Powers which participated in the Crimean War but includes Prussia. Piedmont, represented by Cavour, protests the presence of foreign troops (Austrian) in the Papal States. The western powers show sympathy for the Piedmontese position.

 

1857

A group of Italian patriots, which includes several prominent Mazzinian republicans, forms a society to induce Piedmont to become patron of the cause of Italian unity. The new National Society is lead by Daniele Manin, Giuseppe la Farina e Giorgio Guido Pallavicino Trivulzio.

June: another Mazzinian insurrection – this time in Genoa – fails. Several radical Republicans, including Giuseppe Garibaldi, become more sympathetic to the National Society, because its policy looks more realistically designed to achieve Italian unity..

 

1858

January 14, an Italian republican, Felice Orsini, attempts to assassinate Emperor Napoleon III. Cavour uses the occasion to warn the Emperor of the dangers of a revolutionary movement in Italy and to induce him to speed up the implementation of the Franco-Piedmontese military alliance.

 

July 20, Napoleon III and Cavour meet at Plombières; the Emperor agrees to join Piedmont in a future war against Austria, provided that Austria is the aggressor

 

December 10, France and Piedmont conclude a formal treaty of alliance.

 

1859

April 23 Austria send an ultimatum to Piedmont demanding it to disarm within three days. This is the occasion patiently expected by Cavour to provoke the second war of independence (1848 was the first). Six days later the Austrians under the command of General Gyulai begin the invasion of Piedmont. Their slow advance allows the French to deploy reinforcements for the Piedmontese army.

 

May 30 The French and Piedmontese defeat the Austrians at Palestro. French troops cross the Ticino river and enter Lombardy.

 

June 4 Austrians defeated at Magenta. Napoleon III and Victor Emanuel enter Milan.

 

June 8 Napoleon III, worried by the mounting costs of war and the growing unpopularity of the war in France, concludes an armistice with Austria without consulting Piedmont.

 

June 11, Napoleon III and Emperor Franz Joseph sign a peace which forces Austria to cede Lombardy (except Mantua) to France which in turn consigns it to Piedmont. Austria retains the Veneto and the princes of Tuscany, Parma, Modena, Massa-Carrara etc, protected by Austria, are to be restored to their thrones. Cavour, feeling betrayed, resigns as Prime Minister of Piedmont.

 

August and September. Constitutional assemblies in Parma, Modena and Tuscany and the small duchies in the Romagna meet, depose the princes and proclaim their annexion to Piedmont. Victor Emanuel II hesitates, afraid of provoking a French reaction.

 

1860

 

April 4 In Palermo an insurrection against the Bourbons is suppressed, but the rising continues in the countryside and small towns.

 

May 5, Garibaldi sets sail from Quarto near Genoa with 1000 volunteers, wearing red shirts, to assist the revolutionaries in Sicily. They land at Marsala to enthusiastic demonstrations

 

June 6, Garibaldi defeats the Bourbon forces at Calatifimi, occupies Palermo and installs a provisional government directed by Francesco Crispi.

 

July 20, Bourbon troops are defeated at Milazzo and are forced to abandon Sicily.

 

September 7, Garibaldi enters Naples and is received with huge enthusiasm as a national hero.

 

September 18, The Piedmontese armies, commanded by general Fanti e Cialdini, rout the pontifical troops at Castelfidardo.

 

October 26, Garibaldi andVictor Emanuel II meet at Teano and agree an accord about a peaceful transfer of power.

 

1861

 

February 18, the new Italian Parliament meets at Turin and ratifies the unification of the country.