• There were many revolts in Italy against the existing conditions and thousands of persons were sent to prisons or in exile.
  • They stimulated the deep and wide movement of thought and feeling which became so important in Italian history that they were given the title of Risorgimento, the revival or resurrection.
  • The Risorgimento movement was at bottom a moral one. It was based on the ideal of a free and united Italy. It got strength from the Romantic Movement.
  • It reminded the Italians of their greatness in the past. Politically, the revival was patriotic and national.
  • It was a protest against Austrian domination and a demand for unity.
  • It was liberal and democratic and they demanded for a parliamentary form of government, freedom of press, reduction of powers of the church, and the establishment of a republic.
  • It represented the aspirations of the middle classes of Italy to develop themselves economically and they were also linked up with the growth of knowledge and science.
  • A key figure in this movement was Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), who began as a member of a secret revolutionary society, the Carbonari.
  • He encouraged national revolutions among other groups, such as the Irish and the Poles, and was a leader in the short-lived Roman Republic of 1849.
  • Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) was a disciple of Mazzini and a very able military leader.
  • The most successful leader of the Risorgimento movement was Camillo di Cavour (1810-1861).
  • In 1847, Cavour founded a liberal newspaper, Il Risorgimento.
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