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Unlock This CourseBy the late 1850s Piedmont was the centre of Italian nationalism. It had a parliament, a free press and thousands of exiles from the rest of Italy, and many nationalists had lost faith in Mazzini's failed risings. They began to look to Piedmont's king and army to drive Austria out.
In 1857 this hope was given an organisation, the National Society. It was founded by Daniele Manin, who had led Venice in 1848-49, Giorgio Pallavicino from Lombardy and Giuseppe La Farina from Sicily. Garibaldi joined it too. Many of its members had once been republicans, but they now accepted a king if that was the price of a free Italy. Their slogan was 'Italy and Victor Emmanuel'.
The National Society mattered because it spread support for Piedmont across northern and central Italy. Cavour could not openly back a society that wanted to overthrow other rulers, so he met La Farina in secret. Nationalism gave Piedmont the will to fight Austria. It could not give Piedmont the strength. For that, Cavour needed France.
Key terms:
Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, was the one ruler with both the army and the wish to help Piedmont. His motives were mixed.
As a young man he had joined a revolt in the Papal States in 1831, and he liked to say he wanted to 'do something for Italy'. He also wanted glory for France. Driving Austria out of northern Italy would replace Austrian influence with French influence and win France new land.
French Catholics expected him to protect the Pope, and French soldiers still guarded Rome. He did not want a strong, fully united Italy on France's border. He also feared that a war in Italy could bring other great powers in against him.
So after the Congress of Paris, Napoleon III was friendly but did nothing. It took a shock to make him act.
On the evening of 14 January 1858, Napoleon III and the Empress Eugénie were driving to the opera in Paris. Three bombs were thrown at their carriage. Eight people were killed and about 150 were injured, but the Emperor and Empress were almost unhurt. The leader of the plot was Felice Orsini, an Italian nationalist who had served the Roman Republic in 1849. He believed that killing Napoleon III would lead to revolution in France and then in Italy.
At first the affair looked like a disaster for Cavour. Napoleon III angrily demanded that Piedmont control its revolutionaries and its newspapers. Then the mood changed. From prison, Orsini wrote to the Emperor, begging him to free Italy. Napoleon III allowed the letter to be published in France, and Cavour printed it in Piedmont's official newspaper. Orsini was guillotined on 13 March 1858, but many now saw him as a brave man who died for his country.
It did not give Napoleon III the idea of helping Italy. He had that already. Its significance is that it made him act. It showed him that while Italy stayed unfree, plots against him would go on. A few months later he secretly invited Cavour to meet him.
On 21 July 1858 Cavour, travelling in secret, met Napoleon III at Plombières, a small spa town in eastern France. They talked for hours, alone. Nothing was signed, but they agreed a plan.
France would send about 200,000 men to fight beside 100,000 from Piedmont. There was one condition: Austria must look like the aggressor, so that the other great powers stayed out. The two men searched the map for an excuse for war.
Piedmont would gain Lombardy, Venetia, Parma, Modena and part of the Papal States, making a Kingdom of Upper Italy. Tuscany would lead a new central kingdom. The Pope would keep Rome and be president of an Italian confederation. Naples would stay as it was.
France would receive Savoy, and Napoleon III also asked for Nice. Victor Emmanuel's daughter, Princess Clotilde, aged 15, would marry the Emperor's cousin, Prince Napoleon, who was more than twice her age.
Notice what the pact was not. It was not a plan for a united Italy. Italy would be four states, with France as its protector. In January 1859 the deal became a secret treaty, promising France both Savoy and Nice, and Clotilde's wedding took place in Turin that same month.
Cavour now had to make Austria start the war. On 10 January 1859 Victor Emmanuel II told parliament that he was not deaf to the 'cry of pain' that reached him from so many parts of Italy. Nationalists were thrilled, and Austria was alarmed.
This was exactly what Cavour needed. He rejected the ultimatum on 26 April, and on 29 April Austrian troops crossed the River Ticino into Piedmont. Austria was the aggressor, so Napoleon III kept his promise and France joined the war. You will see what happened next in the lesson 'The War of 1859: Magenta, Solferino and Villafranca'.
Extract A (a practice extract written for this lesson, in the style of a modern history book)
From a modern history textbook.
At Plombières in July 1858 two men quietly carved up Italy as if it were a private estate. No parliament was told and no Italian people were asked. Lombardy and Venetia were promised to one king, Savoy was bargained away to an emperor, and a fifteen-year-old princess was thrown into the deal as the bride of a man more than twice her age. The two schemers then set about manufacturing a war, coolly searching the map for an excuse to make Austria look guilty.
What impression does the author give about the Pact of Plombières? You must use Extract A to explain your answer. [6 marks]
The author gives the impression that the Pact of Plombières was a selfish and dishonest deal. The language makes it sound like a private bargain, not an act of freedom: Italy was 'carved up' like 'a private estate', Savoy was 'bargained away' and a princess was 'thrown into the deal', as if lands and people were goods to be traded. Calling Cavour and Napoleon III 'schemers' who were 'manufacturing a war' suggests they were underhand and cold. The author also chooses to stress the secrecy, saying 'no parliament was told' and no Italians 'were asked', and the youth of the princess. Nothing is said about the aim of driving Austria out of Italy or about support from Italian nationalists, which would have made the pact look better.
What lifts it to the top level: it names one clear impression, proves it with short quotations and explains what the words suggest, then shows what the author chose to stress and to leave out.
Do not use this question to show what you know about Plombières. The marks are for spotting how the author creates the impression. Look for loaded words such as 'schemers' and 'manufacturing', then ask what the author has left out. For more help, see the Exam Skills lesson 'Paper 1 Question (a): What Impression Does the Author Give?'.