-
Nationalist forces in Italy rebelled against their foreign rulers.
This happened in Parma and Modena in 1831 also were the uprisings were crushed and once again the uprising happened in 1848 with no change in the results of the first time -
In 1852, Count Camillo di Cavour become prime minister of Sardinia
In 1852, Count Camillo di Cavour become prime minister of Sardinia, a kingdom that included both the island of Sardinia and the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Like almost all successful ministers in European history, Cavour was crafty, clever, and entirely practical in his outlook. He used national alliances to achieve his goal of uniting the rest of Italy to Sardinia. -
The Ottoman Empire Weakens
The ruling Turks of the Ottoman Empire controlled
Greeks, Slavs, Arabs, Bulgarians, and Armenians. In 1856, under pressure from the
British and French, the Ottomans granted equal citizenship to all the people under
their rule. That measure angered conservative Turks, who wanted no change in the situation,
and caused tensions in the empire. -
Lombardy and Sardinia unites
At Cavour’s urging, Sardinia fought on the side of the British and French in the Crimean War. Having thus formed a friendship with France, Cavour joined Napoleon III in an attack on Austria. As a result, Lombardy and Sardinia were united in 1859. -
In 1866, Prussia defeated Austria in the Austro-Prussian War.
With its victory,
Prussia gained control of the newly organized North German Confederation, a
union of Prussia and 21 smaller German political units. Then, pressured by the
Hungarians, Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria split his empire in half, declaring
Austria and Hungary independent states, with himself as ruler of both. The empire
was now called Austria-Hungary or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nationalist disputes
continued to weaken the empire for more than 40 years. Finally, after World
War -
When France declared war on Prussia in 1870
French troops abandoned Rome. This left the pope undefended, and the Italian army immediately marched in to complete the unification process. Rome, once the center and apex of Classical civilization, had enormous symbolic importance to the Italians, and it was immediately named the new Italian capital city.
