Risorgimento

Risorgimento, meaning resurgence or revival, was a 19th‑century political and social movement that culminated in the consolidation of many separate states on the Italian peninsula into a single nation, the Kingdom of Italy. Spanning roughly from the aftermath of the Napoleonic era (around 1815) to the final unification in the early 1870s, it brought together liberal, nationalist, and sometimes republican currents, and it was shaped by cultural renewal as well as political and military action.

The movement emerged from dissatisfaction with foreign domination and the desire for national unity. It drew on Romanticism, liberal constitutionalism, and republican ideals, and fostered networks of reformers, intellectuals, and volunteers. Important figures included Giuseppe Mazzini, who advocated a unified Italian republic; Camillo Benso, Count di Cavour, whose diplomacy and modernization of Piedmont-Sardinia aimed at strategic unification; and Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose campaigns expanded Italian territory. The Papacy and conservative forces initially resisted unification, while Austria controlled large northern and central parts of the peninsula.

Key milestones include the 1848 revolts and the wars of independence, especially the 1859–60 confrontation with Austria, which led to the annexation of Lombardy and the incorporation of northern Italian duchies into a united Piedmontese state; Garibaldi’s Expedition of the Thousand in 1860, which brought the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies into the fold; the 1866 war with Austria and the acquisition of Venetia; and the capture of Rome in 1870, with Rome becoming the capital in 1871. The Risorgimento produced a unified Italian state and reshaped European balance of power, laying foundations for modern Italy and influencing nationalist movements elsewhere.