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One of the two leaders of the Redshirts who was a spirit of romanticism. He is deemed one of the most influential in the makings of modern Italy.

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A figure in Italy who designed the constitutional structure to unify Italy then served as the first prime minister. He was bookish and widely moderate for his accomplishments.

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A man who may have represented France yet had created a significant impact on the unification of Italy. Neapolitan supported Victor Emanual II and the king of Piedmont-Sardinia to defeat the Austrians and Solferino for land necessary for Italy to unify.

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The first attempt to unify Italy failed due to a lack of government power, military control, and other countries controlling their land.

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Ideals showing Italian politics an interest in individual states forming bigger views of unification.

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This established a political order that lasted until 1859-1870 to help unify Italy. It was also the resurgence of nationalism that fueled two republic advocates.

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A volunteer group of men willing to fight alongside Garibaldi in Southern Italy wearing Red shirts to gain their name.

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Representation: This represents the people who were willing to volunteer to fight for a unified Italy.

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Italian nationalists in the period were pushing for a preferred united republic. This would result in Italy requiring the takeover of the Papal States to unify.

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Representation: This is an amazing overall article about the unification of Italy. It gives a short brief and knowledgeable overview of the topic.

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Note: This article was released prior to the 2015-2016 revision to the AP® European History exam. In order to see what is still in the Course and Exam Description, explore the course framework here.
This AP® European History crash course on the Italian Unification will be a good asset for you on the new AP® Euro exam.

The AP® European History course and exam are undergoing a redesign for the 2015-2016 school year. This new version of the course involves breadth of the knowledge you as students must possess on test day. Your AP® European History review can benefit greatly from an understanding of the Italian Unification. Coming in the wake of a revolution, this democratic unified all of the states on the Italian Peninsula.

Continue reading for an overview of the Italian Unification.

The Italian Unification-What is it?

The Italian Unification refers to the events that took place between 1848 and 1870 on the Italian Peninsula.

The unification, known as the Risorgimento (Resurgence), began in 1848 with an attempt by Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi to unite Italy under Democracy in the wake of the 1848 revolutions. However, it was a politician, Camillo di Cavour, who finally prevailed in unifying the individual states of Italy.

Cavour subscribed to the idea known as Realpolitik. Realpolitik is the reason that politics must be realistic and show interest of individual states, which informed his actions throughout the unification. This concept will be discussed in a later section and Cavour's actions will be examined utilizing realpolitik.

The Sequence of Events

In 1855, Cavour successfully gave credence to the cause of the Italian Unification by joining in on the Crimean War on the side of the British and French.

In 1858, Cavour allied with France against the Austrians, positioning Italy favorably against what was probably the country's greatest enemy to unification.

In 1859, Cavour provoked the Austrians at Vienna in order to incite a war that would be won for the Italians by the French. This resulted in getting the Italians closer to unification by joining Lombardy and Sardinia.

In 1861, Italy was united under the Sardinian king Victor Immanuel II.

In 1870, when France was defeated by Prussia, French troops left Rome, leaving the entire Italian Peninsula under the rule of King Victor Immanuel II.

Cavour's Realpolitik in the Unification of Italy

Dictionary.com defines realpolitik as "a system of politics or principles based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations." However, as with most key terms on the AP® European History exam reviews, the dictionary definition doesn't cut it. Probably the most important part of our definition of realpolitik is that the goal of politics is to get these things that are best for the citizens of your country accomplished by whatever means necessary, whether violent, ruthless, or benign.

Cavour's application of realpolitik was not only violent due to involvement in wars, it was ruthless in that Cavour was not afraid to make a deal, to give something up for the greater good of the Italian people. Cavour's realpolitik, is the real reason that the Italian Unification happened. After all, Garibaldi's democratic revolution did fail.

Let's discuss Cavour's actions throughout the unification through the lens of realpolitik.

First, in 1855, he chose to join a war, to sacrifice Italian lives in order to gain the favor of the French and English.

In 1858, he did the same thing once more, but to start a long-standing alliance between the French and Italians against the Austrians who stood in the way of Italian Unification.

In 1859, he cashed in on the strategic allegiance that the French owed to the Italians by provoking the Austrians. This resulted in defeating them with the help of the French, giving up a small amount of land to France, and unifying a large portion of the Italian Peninsula.

All in all, you could be well-served on test day by understanding the importance of realpolitik in the Italian Unification.

The Italian Unification on the AP® European History Exam

As I mentioned above, the AP® European History exam has been redesigned for the 2015-2016 school year. The scope of necessary knowledge that you're expected to possess is limited in this upcoming school year. That being said, understanding the Italian Unification is important because, as an event in history, it is a good example of the AP® European History exam's list of -isms, namely, nationalism.

Consider the following prompt from the 2010 AP® European History Exam document-based question:
"Analyze the debates over Italian national identity and unification in the period circa 1830-1870."
If you can apply your understanding of nationalism to this period of time in Italian history, you can also then make the connection between realpolitik. This connection would be a logical, straightforward type of political system, and nationalism.

Cavour's political actions throughout the Italian Unification were motivated by his belief in realpolitik, practical politics. Realpolitik is inherently related to nationalism because it assumes that there is a nation that is dear to its people and that needs protecting and advocacy at whatever cost. Understanding the interplay between nationalism and realpolitik on just a base level can help you develop a stance in your analysis of the debates, or points of view on the Italian national identity during the Italian Unification.

The point of this general kind of plan on how you can respond to this prompt is this: a general understanding of most of the interplay between ideals like nationalism and historical periods such as and facts regarding occurrences like the Italian Unification will help you on the test.

The Italian Unification-The bottom line

The bottom line for your AP® European History review, when it comes to the Italian Unification, is that the entire endeavor was an exercise in realpolitik. This time period from 1848 to 1870 represents the moment when Italy became whole because of politicians utilizing a national pride, perhaps nationalism, to convince the people that Italy must do whatever it takes to gain its unification.

Of course, a more in-depth discussion of the Italian Unification would be necessary to really understand it through and through. For the purposes of this AP® European History crash course on the Italian Unification, you should focus on making the connections and analyzing the politics of the time.

Now that you've explored the unification of Italy in this kind of survey style, supplement your understanding of the unification by studying the factors that contributed to its success.
By the way, you should check out Albert.io for your AP® European History review. We have hundreds of AP® Euro practice questions written just for you!

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Italian Unification: AP® European History Crash Course

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Understanding the Italian Unification is incredibly important in order to score a 5 on AP® European History. Review this crash course is a must!

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In a war, Italy joined because Austria held Venetia and other small territories that were needed in the unification of Italy.

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The last and final part in unifying Italy was the capture of Rome. This marked a defeat in the Palpal states under Pope Pius IX and marked a unified kingdom of a constitutional government.