Today’s podcast is the final one in our series about Italian unification. As we saw in the last podcast the first 10 years of a united Italy after 1860 saw the new state go through severe birth pains. In the … Continue reading →

Italy (and for that matter many Italians) went through a difficult time in the 10 years after the unification of North and South in 1860. Over the next two podcasts we’ll look at those difficulties in 6 different categories: Continuing … Continue reading →

As we heard last time, when the Kingdom of northern Italy was formally announced in January 1860, Cavour had largely fulfilled his ambitions for the expansion of Piedmont by creating a Kingdom of Italy which included Parma, Modena, Tuscay, Lombardy … Continue reading →

As we heard in the last podcast, on the 11th of August 1859 Emperor Napoleon III of France met with Emperor Francis Joseph I of Austria in the Swiss town of Villafranca to agree a peace deal, which would end … Continue reading →

In the last podcast we covered the reasons for, and the build up to the war of 1859, sometimes called the ‘Second War of Independence’. In today’s podcast we’ll look at the course of that war, and discuss what it … Continue reading →

At the end of the podcast we learned that in 1856 Cavour had become a little over-excited and put forward a plan for war with Austria which the British Foreign Secretary had described as not ‘practical’ and ‘absurd’. However, within … Continue reading →

In the last podcast (quite a long time ago) we learned about Cavour’s part in the political, economic and industrial development of Piedmont in the 1850s’. In this second podcast about the development of Piedmont we’re going to cover diplomatic … Continue reading →

In this episode we consider the ways that Piedmont developed after the setbacks of the 1848 and 1849 revolutions.  We’ll find out about the political, economic and industrial development of Piedmont, and in the next episode we’ll follow up with … Continue reading →

Why did the revolutions of 1848-9 fail to make any immediate impact on the situation in Italy? This podcast explores the immediate and long term impact of the revolutions of 1848-9. Podcast Transcript

In 1848 the moderates, Charles Albert and Cassati the Podesta of Milan had been at the head of the attempt to liberate Italy from Austrian rule. As their attempts failed more radical revolutionaries made the attempt. Podcast Transcript