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Unlock This CourseBy August 1849 every revolution had been beaten. On the surface, Italy looked just as it had before 1848: divided, and controlled by Austria. But the revolutions left a legacy. Four things had changed, and each one shaped the next twenty years.
Key terms:
Victor Emmanuel II became King of Piedmont on the evening of the defeat at Novara. The next day, 24 March 1849, he met Marshal Radetzky at Vignale to agree an armistice. Peace was signed at Milan in August 1849. Piedmont had to pay Austria a large sum of money, but it lost no land.
Most importantly, the new king kept the Statuto. Every other Italian ruler who had granted a constitution in 1848 went back to ruling without one. From 1849 Piedmont was the only constitutional monarchy in Italy.
A parliament with an elected lower house, equality before the law and a freer press. It was limited. The king still chose the ministers and commanded the army, and only about 2 per cent of the people could vote. Piedmont also kept the green, white and red tricolour flag it had adopted in 1848.
Piedmont became the one place in Italy where liberals and nationalists could speak, write and take part in politics. Thousands of exiles from Lombardy, Venetia, Naples and the Papal States moved there. Nationalists who had lost faith in a Pope or in Mazzini's risings began to look to Piedmont and its king to lead Italy.
A popular story said that Victor Emmanuel bravely refused Radetzky's demand to scrap the Statuto, and he became known as 'the honest king'. Historians doubt the story. What is certain is that the Statuto survived.
Austria came out of 1848-49 stronger in Italy than ever. This was the age of reaction.
This dominance had two effects that pulled in opposite directions. In the short term it made change impossible: no Italian state could defy Austria. In the long term it made Austria more hated, and it taught nationalists a hard lesson. Charles Albert's slogan had been proved wrong. Piedmont had been beaten twice, so Austria could only be driven out with the army of a foreign great power. It also damaged Mazzini's methods. When his followers tried another rising in Milan in February 1853, it was crushed within hours.
Pius IX came back to Rome in April 1850 a changed man. The reforming Pope of 1846 now saw liberalism and nationalism as enemies of the Church. He scrapped the constitution he had granted in 1848 and brought back the old government by priests. Gioberti's idea of an Italy led by the Pope was dead. From now on the papacy was an obstacle to unification, and Italian Catholics were torn between their faith and their nation.
The French army that crushed the Roman Republic did not go home. A French garrison stayed to protect the Pope. Louis Napoleon, who became Emperor Napoleon III in 1852, could not withdraw it without angering French Catholics. So Rome could not join a united Italy without a clash with France. But France now had a foothold in Italy, as a rival to Austria.
Notice that the Pope now ruled only because foreign soldiers protected him: the French in Rome and the Austrians further north. You will see how this problem was finally settled in the lesson 'The Roman Question and the Taking of Rome'.
'The main effect of the 1848 Revolutions in the Italian states was the strengthening of Austrian control over Italy.'
How far do you agree? Explain your answer.
You may use the following in your answer:
You must also use information of your own. [16 marks]
I partly agree. Stronger Austrian control was the most obvious effect of the revolutions at the time, but the effect that mattered most for Italy's future was the survival of the Statuto in Piedmont.
There is a strong case for the statement. After the victories at Custoza and Novara, Austria dominated Italy more than before 1848. Lombardy and Venetia were placed under military rule with Radetzky as governor, and plotters were hanged at Belfiore in 1852-53. Austrian troops stayed in Tuscany until 1855 and in Bologna until 1859, and the dukes of Modena and Parma depended on Austrian support. This meant that no Italian state could defy Austria, so reform stopped almost everywhere.
However, the Statuto was a more important effect in the long term. Victor Emmanuel II kept it when every other ruler abandoned the constitutions of 1848. Although only about 2 per cent of people could vote, Piedmont had a parliament and a freer press. As a result, thousands of exiles from other states moved there, and nationalists began to see Piedmont and its king as the leaders of Italy. Austrian control could hold Italy down, but it could not stop this change.
A third effect was on Rome. Pius IX returned in 1850 as an enemy of liberalism and nationalism, which ended hopes of an Italy led by the Pope. He was protected by a French garrison that Napoleon III could not remove without angering French Catholics. This made the Pope an obstacle to unity and gave France, as well as Austria, a hold on Italy. It was a serious effect, but it concerned only one part of Italy.
Overall, I agree only to some extent. If we judge by the situation in 1849-50, Austrian control was the main effect, because it was felt in almost every state. If we judge by how long the effect lasted and how far it shaped the future, the Statuto mattered more. Austrian dominance also worked against itself, because it increased hatred of Austria and proved that Italians would need foreign help to remove it. So the main effect of 1848 was to leave Piedmont as the one state able to lead Italy.
What lifts it to the top level: it covers three effects (both bullets plus Rome from own knowledge), argues both sides with exact facts, and reaches a judgement using clear tests: how widely and how long each effect was felt.
The two bullets are only a start. An answer that uses nothing but the bullets cannot reach the top level, so always add a third effect of your own, as this answer does with the Pope and the French in Rome. For more help, see the Exam Skills lesson 'Paper 1 Question (c): The 16-Mark How Far Do You Agree Essay'.