The process of Italian unification cannot be understood without an understanding of the remarkable career and personality of the man who was perhaps its chief protagonist, Count Camillo di Cavour.
Born in Turin in 1810, Cavour abandoned an early military career because of his uncomfortable liberal opinions, to concentrate initially on restoring his family estates. After travels in France and England, he was drawn increasingly into the politics of his native Piedmont - then a backward and insignificant state, still reeling from comprehensive military defeat by Austria, the major occupying power of northern Italy. In 1852 he became its prime minister.
Under Cavour's astute direction, Piedmont began to play an active role in European power politics, rapidly building up alliances and obligations, particularly with France and Britain, which were to stand her in vital stead when the struggle with Austria erupted again in 1859. The defeat of Austria (with French arms) and the acquiescence of the European Great Powers allowed the longstanding dream of a pan-Italian state to become a reality. In the year of his death (1861), less than a decade after he became prime minister in Turin, Cavour had become the first prime minister of the newly-united Kingdom of Italy, with Piedmont as its nucleus.
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From the Back Cover:
Born in Turin in 1810, Cavour abandoned an early military career because of his uncomfortable liberal opinions, to concentrate initially on restoring his family estates. After travels in France and England, he was drawn increasingly into the politics of his native Piedmont-then a backward and insignificant state, still reeling from comprehensive military defeat by Austria, the major occupying power of northern Italy. In 1852 he became its prime minister.
About the Author:
Harry Hearder is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wales. He was Lecturer and Senior Lecturer successively in the Department of International History at the London School of Economics, and he was Professor of Modern History at University College, Cardiff.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
- PublisherPearson
- Publication date1995
- ISBN 10 0582018994
- ISBN 13 9780582018990
- BindingHardcover
- Edition number1
- Number of pages224
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