Italian Unification Dbq Analysis

During the 19th century beginning in the year 1848, Italy began the process of unification led by Camillo di Cavour. However, it didn’t come easy. Before unifying, the Italian states had to overcome struggles such as foreign domination, ethnic differences, and Pope/local authority.
Foreign domination and certain countries obstructed Italian unification because the foreign monarchs saw it as a threat to their country’s power. In document 2, Cavour wrote an article that described how the Congress of Vienna was a bad deal on Italy’s end because it increased foreign rule, and it expressed his thoughts about how the monarch should be the one with absolute power. This basically says that because of the Congress of Vienna, foreign powers had power over Italy, and thus obstructed unification because it took away power from the monarch. In document 5, Marquis Massimo d’Azeglio stated that regardless of the differing opinions about how unification should be reached, all Italians can agree that foreign influence should be abolished in Italy. The main goal for Italy was …show more content…
Specifically, foreign domination obstructed Italian unification because it took away power from the monarch, ethnic differences obstructed unification because it was recognized that the people of Italy had very different opinions about how Italian unification should be reached, and the Popes and local princes showed their opposition to Italian unification because they believed it undermined their power. After Italy was unified, it had the capacity to build its armies to protect its sovereignty, and developed its ability to trade and build relations with other nations. The unification that Italy underwent can be compared with the age of revolutions that began in 1789, both being elements of nationalism that ultimately failed multiple times before reaching its