Italy unified under the leadership of several men: Giuseppe Mazzini, Camillo di Cavour, Giuseppe Garibaldi and Victor Emmanuel. The forty year process ended in 1870.
Mazzini began the process in 1832 with the founding of Young Italy, an organization with Italian Unification as its goal. While Mazzini provided the nationalistic spirit of unification, Cavour provided allies and an economic base.
Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia in northwestern Italy, Cavour modernized the army of Sardinia. He also fueled the area's economy by improving roads, transportation and building industries. In 1855, he allied Sardinia with Britain and France in the Crimean conflict resulting in British and French support for Italian unification.
Garibaldi worked for unification in Southern Italy. A charismatic leader, Garibaldi was a magnificent general called "The Red Man."
In 1860, his army of "Red Shirts" invaded the French-held Kingdom of Two Sicilies. In less than eight weeks, Garibaldi's Red Shirts, aided by local partisans, liberated the Kingdom. In that same year, Parma, Modena, Tuscany and Romagna united with Sardinia. Naples and Sicily joined Sardinia as did Umbria and Marches.
Victor Emmanuel became King of Italy in 1861, but the Papal States and Rome remained out of his control. However, in 1870, as the Franco-Prussian War was taking place, French troops protecting the Pope left the city of Rome. Italian troops entered Rome and the citizens of Rome voted to become part of a unified Italy.
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