Revolutions of 1848 and Italian Unification

Why did the revolutions of 1848 fail? 

• The downfall of the three revolutions of 1848 was the division between revolutionaries. Revolutionaries came from varying social groups and each had his own interests at heart. When it came down to it, people were unwilling to put the needs of others before their own and they were unwilling to compromise. The initial successes of the revolutions were cancelled out by the infighting which meant that there were no legislative successes resulting from any of the revolutions. 

Why did the French revolution of 1830 fail?

Charles X was a pear #confirmed

• The middle class were able to bring down the government of Charles X and cause him to abdicate his throne. However, in the long run, this revolution accomplished nothing. The French people called for reforms but they were unsuccessful in their attempts because for the most part, France had been perfectly fine before Charles X, and Louis Philippe returned France to this state. He did not make any improvements upon what Louis XVIII had done, but he did abandon all elements of Charles X's rule.

Italian Unification

• There were three prominent ideas for unification: 
• Mazzini called for a centralized democracy with universal male suffrage
• He was radical and way ahead of his time
• Gioberti was a Catholic who favored a federation of states which would be ruled by the pope
• The church actually made unification much more difficult than it needed to be because it controlled the Papal States, a sovereign nation in the middle of Italy
• Victor Emmanuel II was a king who was well-liked by many Italians. They wanted him to rule a federation of states. 



Giuseppe Garibaldi, who worked with Cavour, led the "Red Shirts" in an invasion of Sicily

• In the end, this wound up being the best method. Victor Emmanuel II worked with Cavour to unite Italy (Cavour did the fighting/uniting, Victor Emmanuel II did the ruling)
• The Italian revolution was a revolution from above
• It was primarily led by Cavour, Garibaldi, and Victor Emmanuel II, three very powerful men. This revolution came from the government, and while ordinary people were involved in it, they were the soldiers who did the bidding of Cavour, Garibaldi, and Victor Emmanuel II. There were no mass peasant uprisings, and unlike in the French Revolution, an entire socio-economic class did not take over the government. Many older governments were consolidated into one new government which was ruled by the same people who always ruled it, and these were the people who did the revolting.