French Revolution and Napoleonic Era
- Napoleon Bonaparte launched a series of conflicts toward the end of the French Revolution, altering the political climate of Europe for years to come.
- In the Battle of Austerlitz, Napoleon Bonaparte overcame the last emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
- After capturing Italy, Napoleon united the city-states into a unified political entity.
- Napoleon’s collapse split the city-states in 1815, and the Austrian empire started to assemble power.
The qualities of the French Revolution were transferred to the Italian Peninsula.
- Napoleon placed foreign rulers on thrones in Italy, which the Italians have always opposed.
- The French revolution introduced modern ideas into Italy and destroyed the old structures of feudalism.
- The empire established by Napoleon had served as fuel for revolutionary ideas, as he even encouraged nationalism.
- The Italian intellectuals’ fuelled by nationalism by the revolution, began to raise their voices again foreign involvement in Italy, and a series of insurrections started to drive out foreign rule.
Congress of Vienna
After the fall of the Napoleonic empire in 1815, Italy became divided again, being partitioned among other European powers, with the Empire of Austria holding the most sway.
An international diplomatic endeavor to rebuild Europe after Napoleon’s downfall was the Congress of Vienna. They brought back the multiple separate governments of pre-Napoleonic times, and the Austrians and Habsburgs once more rose to dominance. But by this point, the Italian people had grown weary of foreign occupation and would launch several uprisings to force the foreigners out and unify their nation.
Unification of Italy
The unification of Italy refers to the political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of several small states in the Italian Peninsula into a single, united kingdom of Italy in 1861. This process was driven by a combination of factors, including economic and cultural factors, as well as a desire for national unity and independence from foreign rule. For over 700 years, beginning in the third century BCE, Italy was united together under the rule of the Roman Empire. The Byzantine Empire’s invasion finally shattered the unity, and other city-states emerged. At the beginning of the eighth century, the Holy Roman Empire (a German-speaking Empire) ruled the northern half of Italy. In contrast, the middle and southern halves of the country were alternatively ruled by the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sicily, and the Papal States.
The Milanese and Venetian city-states rose to prominence in the 15th and 16th centuries, changing the balance of power after the Renaissance. The Peace of Westphalia formally ended the control of the Holy Roman Emperor over Italy in 1648.
Italy was split up into numerous minor principalities, and this division persisted until the French Revolution began in 1789.
The unification of Italy was finally achieved in 1861 when the Kingdom of Italy was established, and Victor Emmanuel II was proclaimed its first king. The new kingdom faced many challenges, including social and economic difficulties, as well as opposition from the Papacy and other powers, but it eventually became a stable and prosperous state and a significant player on the international stage.