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Austria controlled a lot of power in the northeast of the Italian states. In the northwest, the Kingdom of Sardinia was the only genuinely independent state from Austria. In 1848 revolutions across Europe spread to the Italian states and many were led by Giuseppe Mazzini who founded the Young Italians. This was considered the first war of Italian Independence but it failed. Victor Emmanuel ll of Sardinia allied with Cavour and sent troops to fight Russia alongside France and England. Eventually, Napoleon lll of France allied with the two and attacked Austria in the successful second war of Italian Independence. Giuseppe Garibaldi conquered the southern Italian states and gave them to Victor Emmanuel ll. The kingdom of Italy was proclaimed in 1861 without the cities of Venice and Rome, which were added later. Even though Italy was unified, there were still divides in economics, language, and culture.

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The semi-unified German states formed the German Confederation during the Napoleonic wars to end Prussia and Austria's rivalry, but it failed. As revolutions spread through Europe in 1848, liberals met in Frankfurt to push the unification of the German states. They decided to be a lesser Germany under Prussia and offered the Prussian king the crown but he declined. In 1861, King Wilhelm l became the new king of Prussia and made Otto von Bismarck his chancellor. He attacked Austria which forced the German states to choose a side. Prussia wins and unites the northern states into the Northern German Confederation. France then declared war on Prussia which caused the other German states to side with Prussia and they won. In 1871, the German empire was proclaimed and Wilgelm l became emperor.

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Victor Emmanuel ll governed Piedment with a democratic parliament which contrasted with the policies of the other Italian states. Camillo Benso di Cavour was made the head of Piedmont's cabinet and improved the economy, signed treaties, and reduced their debt. In the Crimean War, he allied with France and England, allowing him to challenge Austrian dominance in Italy. Cavour's agreement with Napoleon lll of France led to a battle in 1859 against Austria. Giuseppe Garibaldi's Expedition of the Thousand allowed southern Italy to join Piedmont. In 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was officially established with Victor Emmanuel ll as its king.

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The role of Piedmont

In Piedmont Victor Emmanuel II governed with a parliament whose democratic majority refused to ratify the peace treaty with Austria. This was an exception to the general course of reaction. The skillfully worded Proclamation of Moncalieri (November 20, 1849) favourably contrasted Victor Emmanuel's policies with those of other Italian rulers and permitted elections. The victorious Liberals installed a new cabinet under Massimo d'Azeglio, a moderate trusted by the king. D'Azeglio introduced the Siccardi law, which curtailed the power of ecclesiastical courts. In October 1850 another prominent moderate, Camillo Benso di Cavour, entered the cabinet and directed a laissez-faire economic policy. He formulated international commercial treaties and drew on foreign capital to reduce the public debt, stimulate economic growth, and develop a railroad system. Cavour's dynamism alarmed conservatives and even d'Azeglio. In 1852, through an alliance with centre-left deputies that became known as the connubio ("marriage"), Cavour displaced d'Azeglio as head of the cabinet. Despite disagreements with the king (who favoured the clerical party and occasionally displayed absolutist tendencies), Cavour introduced various ecclesiastical, judicial, and fiscal reforms.

A number of events promoted Piedmont's prestige in Italy and abroad. In March 1854 France and England intervened in support of the Ottoman Empire against Russia in the Crimean War. To obtain Austrian support, they were prepared to guarantee the status quo in Italy. Only Piedmont was in a position to disrupt it at that time, and Cavour negotiated an alliance with the Western powers. In May he sent to Crimea an army that performed brilliantly. As a result, Piedmont was able to assume a place among the victors at the Congress of Paris (February 1856). From this platform Cavour, achieving a diplomatic coup for Piedmont and Italy, declared that the only threat to peace in Italy, and the root cause of subversive plots, was the burdensome Austrian overlordship. Cavour's pronouncements at the congress increased the standing of Piedmont among nationalists.

Meanwhile, Mazzini's democratic and republican movement was crumbling. In February 1853 an insurrection against the Austrians failed in Milan. The discovery and execution at Belfiore (1852-53) of the leaders of a conspiracy in Mantua, as well as abortive insurrections in Cadore and Lunigiana, discredited the democratic movement and discouraged its most dedicated adherents. Mazzini faced complete isolation for his support of an expedition to the southern mainland to incite insurrection, known as the Sapri expedition (June-July 1857), in which the Neapolitan republican and socialist Carlo Pisacane and some 300 companions lost their lives. The democrats were divided and unable to carry on the revolutionary struggle; nothing was to be expected from the restored governments. In Lombardy-Venetia, Austria carried out stern repressive measures. Pius IX, now under the influence of the reactionary Giacomo Cardinal Antonelli, refused to grant any reforms in Rome. Liberal Catholicism could not remain viable without reforms in the Papal States. In Naples and the duchies, reaction became pervasive, although the grand duke of Tuscany sought to make his subjects forget that he owed his throne to Austrian military intervention. Only in Piedmont was there any hope left for the reformers.

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Italy - Unification, Risorgimento, Nation-State

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Italy - Unification, Risorgimento, Nation-State: In Piedmont Victor Emmanuel II governed with a parliament whose democratic majority refused to ratify the peace treaty with Austria. This was an exception to the general course of reaction. The skillfully worded Proclamation of Moncalieri (November 20, 1849) favourably contrasted Victor Emmanuel's policies with those of other Italian rulers and permitted elections.

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In 1862, Otto von Bismarck became the new Minister President of Prussia by King William l. Prussia winning the Austro-Prussian war allowed Bismarck to create the North German Confederation. This abolished the previous German Confederation and left Austria out of the federation's affairs. After Prussia defeated France in the Franco-Prussian War, the German Empire was founded in 1871. This united all of the scattered German states except for Austria.

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During the Napoleonic wars, the king of Portugal, King John lll, escaped to Brazil and stayed there after the wars ended. In 1820, the Portuguese rebelled and set up the Cortes, an assembly of the nobility and important people in Portugal. Two years later, John lll returned to Portugal and left his son Pedro to rule Brazil in his place. He found out that the Cortes wanted to remove his remaining powers and abolish all reforms his government made in Brazil, so he declared independence from Portugal. Pedro took the title of emperor but ruled with the constitution. Many Portuguese troops were still in Brazilian port cities so they blockaded them and they eventually surrendered. In 1824 a civil war started in Portugal and they surrendered to, and made peace with, Brazil.

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Brazilian Independence | 3 Minute History

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In 1807, the king of Portugal fled to Brazil to escape from Napoleon's invasions. He decided to stay in Brazil and rule there after the French forces were defeated in Europe. But in 1820 he returned to Portugal and left his son and heir, Prince Dom Pedro behind to rule Brazil. Various Brazilian leaders convinced him to declare Brazil's independence from Portugal and found the Empire of Brazil. This led to a two-year-long war of independence, ending with a treaty signed by the two countries in 1825.

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The Portuguese "discovery" of Brazil was preceded by a series of treaties between the kings of Portugal and Castile, following Portuguese sailings down the coast of Africa to India and the voyages to the Caribbean of the Genoese mariner sailing for Castile, Christopher Columbus.