Obstacles to Union.
The chief obstacles to a union of the various states of Italy afford a proper introduction to the story. The most important of these was undoubtedly the presence of the foreigner. Italy had long been “a geographical expression,” controlled in the interest of an extra-Italian power. Dismemberment was its normal condition. A series of maps might be prepared to illustrate this fact, using a vivid color to indicate the territory controlled, first by Spain, then by Austria, then by France, and again by Austria, according to the arrangements made at Vienna. The following subjects are suggested:
(1) The Spanish Hegemony; (2) Beginning of Austria’s power in Italy (1715); (3) Restoration of Spain’s power in Italy, including the Austrian possessions in the peninsula (1735); (4) Italy in the time of Napoleon (1810); and (5) Power of Austria in Italy after the Congress of Vienna, showing the Sardinian territories (1815). These maps will serve the purpose best if not over three colors are used in their construction. The atlases of Dow and Putzger, and such text-books as Robinson and West will supply the necessary details. The constant reappearance on each of these maps of a black band stretching across the peninsula will serve to emphasize the importance of another hindrance to Italian unity, namely, the temporal power of the papacy.
Italy After the Revolution of 1848.
The discussion of Italian politics from 1815 to 1840 will be determined in part by the plan which the teacher has adopted for the treatment of this period in its general European aspect. Whatever line of treatment has been pursued, 1840 marks the real point of departure for presenting the facts connected with the formation of the kingdom of Italy. This date affords an opportunity for summing up the condition of the peninsula and for pointing out some of the lessons taught by the February Revolution. The next ten years constitute “the period of preparation.” Ten more were consumed before the hopes of the advocates of unity had been fully realized—if indeed they can be said to have been altogether realized. One of the first problems confronting the makers of modern Italy was the welding together of the widely scattered territories, occupied by diversified elements and possessing but few interests in common, which were known as the kingdom of Sardinia. (Read Seignobos, p. 346.) If Sardinia was to lead in the movement for unity and independence she must be thoroughly organized and prepared to assume the financial and military burdens involved. Not the least of her problems was that of “convincing all Italian Liberals that she could be trusted;” that she was their Heaven-sent leader. The task was all the more difficult because of the humiliation she had so recently undergone at the hands of Austria. Piedmont, however, had “failed heroically,” and, in spite of Novara, still remained “the center of nationalist hopes.” Two things were patent to the keen student of affairs, first, that Sardinia alone could not drive out the foreigner, and second, that any attempt at union must not be imperiled in the future by differences of opinion as to the nature thereof.
The Great Personalities.
Four great personalities fill the period from 1840 to 1860—“each was complementary in his life work to the other”—Mazzini, Cavour, Garibaldi, and behind them all, displaying rare wisdom and common sense at every crisis, the warrior king, Victor Emmanuel II. Mazzini has been called the Prophet of Italian unity; Cavour, its Statesman; and Garibaldi, its Knight-Errant. Of these three, Mazzini is most difficult to understand. The secondary student will find it next to impossible to enter into the far-reaching, although somewhat Utopian, schemes of this great Italian publicist. It is enough perhaps to point out how, by organizing Young Italy, he created the necessary enthusiasm among his countrymen to make possible the work of Cavour and Garibaldi.
Neither is Cavour’s public career devoid of difficulties. The attention of the class should be confined here to his efforts to place Sardinia on a sound economic basis, and at the same time secure for her the support and friendship of the great powers of Europe. The ambitions of Napoleon III, who dominated European politics prior to 1870, were utilized by the great state-maker in the furtherance of these plans. (See also Cesaresco, Cavour, Preface, for an outline of the policy of Cavour.)
The Attainment of Unity.
When the “epoch of realization” (1859-1870) has been reached, several plans are open to the instructor for presenting the various steps in the process of state-making. Beginning with the Crimean War, it is possible to associate the various acquisitions of territory with the wars which fill the period, namely, the Austro-Sardinian War, the Six Weeks’ War and the Franco-Prussian struggle; or to deal with the successive additions of territory as such, emphasizing the date and circumstances attending each. (See Seignobos, p. 351.) In the first case, emphasis is placed on the means employed; in the second, on the end attained. In either case reference should be made to the eagerness of the people to join with Sardinia, as shown in the plebiscites. If the second plan be followed, it will be easier to introduce Garibaldi. The episode of the Thousand offers material for an interesting report. In this connection mention might be made of a recent work by G. M. Trevelyan, Garibaldi and the Thousand.