Italy did not exist as one country for most of history. It was a patchwork of separate kingdoms and states for centuries.
A mix of diplomacy, war, and popular uprisings finally unified it in the 1800s.
🏛️ Must Know
A Divided Peninsula and the Risorgimento
- A Divided PeninsulaBefore unification, Italy was divided into separate kingdoms and states, with Austria directly controlling large parts of the north.
- Seven StatesBy the mid-nineteenth century, Italy was split into seven states. Only Sardinia-Piedmont was ruled by an Italian princely house.
- The RisorgimentoThe movement to unite Italy into one nation is known as the Risorgimento, meaning “resurgence.”
- Cavour’s PiedmontThe Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, under Prime Minister Count Cavour, became the leading force behind unification through diplomacy rather than revolt alone.
Garibaldi’s Redshirts and the Kingdom Proclaimed
- Garibaldi’s RedshirtsGiuseppe Garibaldi led a volunteer army called the “Redshirts” to conquer southern Italy and Sicily in 1860.
- A Growing ForceGaribaldi’s volunteers began as regular troops but swelled to about 30,000 fresh recruits as the campaign advanced.
- Handing It OverGaribaldi handed his conquests over to Cavour’s kingdom, rather than ruling southern Italy himself.
- The Kingdom ProclaimedThe Kingdom of Italy was formally proclaimed in 1861, with Victor Emmanuel II as its first king.
- Turin First, Then FlorenceTurin served as the kingdom’s first capital, moving to Florence in 1865 before finally settling in Rome after 1870.
📘 Good to Know
Cavour’s Diplomacy: Mazzini, France and Venetia
- Mazzini’s Ideas FirstGiuseppe Mazzini was an earlier nationalist thinker whose writings inspired the movement, though he wanted a democratic republic, not a monarchy.
- Cavour’s War, 1859Cavour used a war alliance with France to weaken Austrian control over northern Italy, trading away Nice and Savoy for French help.
- Venetia Joins, 1866Venetia was added to the kingdom in 1866, after a war between Prussia and Austria in which Italy sided with Prussia.
Rome’s Holdout and the Pope’s Response
- Rome’s HoldoutRome was not part of the kingdom at first. It remained under Papal control, guarded by stationed French troops.
- Rome Joins, 1870Rome finally joined Italy in 1870, once French troops withdrew to fight Prussia at home during the Franco-Prussian War.
- The Pope’s ResponsePope Pius IX refused to recognise the loss of Rome, declaring himself a “prisoner in the Vatican” until the 1929 Lateran Treaty.
Cavour’s French Tongue and “La Talia”
- More French Than ItalianCavour, like many of Italy’s wealthy elite, spoke French much better than he spoke Italian.
- A Telling AnecdoteIlliteracy was very high among the peasants who fought for Garibaldi. Many had never heard of “Italia” as an idea at all.
- “La Talia”Some southern peasants who supported Garibaldi believed “La Talia” was actually the name of Victor Emmanuel’s wife.
🌟 Great to Know
One Kingdom, Two Italies
- A North-South DivideDeep regional differences between the wealthier north and poorer south persisted long after formal unification.
- “We Have Made Italy”The phrase “we have made Italy; now we must make Italians” reflects how weak national identity remained after 1861.
- A Late, Weaker StartItaly’s late unification, compared to older nations like Britain and France, shaped its weaker position in early twentieth-century politics.
A Parallel With Germany, and Mass Emigration
- A Parallel With GermanyItaly’s unification roughly paralleled Germany’s, both completed within a few years and both driven by a single dominant state.
- Emigration as a SymptomMass emigration from Italy, especially from the poorer south, surged right after unification, with millions leaving for the Americas.
✅ Test Yourself
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Exam Point of View
Exam Point of View
- UPSC CSP 2018Lala Lajpat Rai wrote biographies of Mazzini and Garibaldi, alongside Shivaji and Shri Krishna — a genuinely testable cross-link between Italian unification figures and Indian nationalist history.
- Cavour vs GaribaldiCavour worked through diplomacy and alliances from the north; Garibaldi conquered the south by force with volunteers. Don’t credit either man with the other’s method.
- Which Territory, Which YearRemember the order: the kingdom formed in 1861, Venetia joined in 1866, and Rome joined last, in 1870.
🌍 Current Affairs
165th Anniversary, March 2026
- 17 March 2026Italy marked the 165th anniversary of the Kingdom of Italy’s proclamation, the same event this article’s “Kingdom Proclaimed” card describes. President Sergio Mattarella laid a wreath at Rome’s Altar of the Fatherland.
- How it was markedThree artillery shots fired from Rome’s Janiculum Hill, releasing a trail of green, white, and red smoke. Overhead, the Italian Air Force’s Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team flew past.
- Why it fits hereThe date now celebrates unification, the constitution, the national anthem, and the tricolour flag together, all outcomes of the same 1861 proclamation this article covers.
- LinkSource: Italian Ministry of Defence, 165th Anniversary of the Unification of Italy.
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