Talking History: The Italian Unification

By Benjamin & Adam Ashwell

What's Talking History: The Italian Unification about?

Two brothers telling the story of the Italian Unification, 1790-1870. Our story will start with a quick recap of Italian history from Roman times to 1790, then we'll slow down and examine the complex social, political, and economic themes as we cover the events of the Italian Unification.

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Talking History: The Italian Unification episodes:

06.23.2019
51 - The End
We've come to the end of the series - this will be the last episode of our story. I'd like to spend this episode addressing some of the big questions that the series raised: First, was unification inevitable? Second, was...
12.18.2017
50 - Rome or Death
In this penultimate episode we'll cover the period from 1861 to 1871 and reach the end of our story. Italy started as a collection of small states, many of them ancient, and now the entire peninsula, minus a few outlying...
06.12.2017
49 - The Harsh Light of Day
We're closing in on the end of the story of the Italian unification. Through both force of arms and cunning, Piedmont has conquered almost all of Italy - from the perspective of grand, heroic history, we've already passed the climax...
03.19.2017
Podcast Delay Update
A brief update on the podcast delays.
10.22.2016
48 - A Kingdom is Born
1860 was a bad year to be a cartographer - or maybe a good year, depending on how you look at it. In 1859 there had been seven states in Italy: the Kingdom of Piedmont, the Austrian-controlled Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia,...
07.20.2016
47 - David and Goliath
Ever since the fall of the Roman Republic to the French army in 1849, we've focused pretty exclusively on events in Northern Italy, because that was there the action was. That is going to change. Distracted by the annexation of...
04.09.2016
46 - A Vote for Italy
In the space of a single year, Italy will change forever, emerging from the Second War of Italian Unification with an entirely new political landscape.
01.24.2016
45 - The Die is Cast
It's the beginning of 1859, and we're at a pivotal point in the story. While it would be an exaggeration to say that the entire Italian Unification hinges on the events of this episode, the timing of events here will...
11.25.2015
44 - A Recipe for War
A new election in Piedmont will threaten to unseat Cavour, who will only survive through cunning, ruthlessness, and good old fashioned cheating. An assassination attempt on French Emperor Napoleon III will either warm the cockles of his heart or fan...
09.07.2015
43 - The Wounded Heart of Italy
In this episode we're going to catch back up with both of our revolutionary friends Mazzini and Garibaldi. We'll start with Mazzini and the internal politics of the revolutionary movement post-1848, and then we'll get into a renewed round of...
08.02.2015
Podcast Update
Release schedule update.
06.26.2015
42 - The Eagle and the Bee
The title of this episode, "The Eagle and the Bee", is a reference to the symbols of the House of Habsburg, the ruling house of Austria, and the House of Bonaparte, now the ruling house of France. The symbol of...
05.28.2015
41 - The Right Name
Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power is one of the events that puts the 1790 in our "1790 to 1870" tagline. For almost 20 years Napoleon was deeply involved in Italian affairs both big and small, and no history of the...
04.27.2015
40 - War and Peace
In this episode we'll continue the story of Piedmont's involvement in the Crimean war, and Cavour's role in the peace talks that followed. After that, we'll move on to the long awaited listener Q&A.;
04.08.2015
39 - The World Stage
In this episode we're going to tell the first half of the story of Piedmont's involvement in the Crimean War, and Cavour's growing dominance of the Piedmontese political scene. We'll begin with a little housekeeping in Piedmont - some politics...
03.10.2015
38 - The Marriage
We'll open this episode with a discussion of why Piedmont had no competition - what had happened to the rest of Italy that Piedmont, backwards, isolated Piedmont, was now their last, best hope for unification? Then we’ll return to Piedmont,...
02.04.2015
37 - Piedmont Seizes the Initiative
In this episode we'll meet Piedmont's new king, and see Piedmont try to regain its footing as it deals with its first constitutional crisis, triggered by its peace treaty with Austria. Against the backdrop of these events, Cavour, the late-bloomer...
01.12.2015
36 - With a Whimper
We left off with Garibaldi leading his men out of the doomed city to continue the fight elsewhere. In this episode we'll follow our intrepid guerrilla leader's fight to the bitter end, and see the fall of the Republic of...
12.21.2014
35 - As Fire Drives Out Fire
Adam is back with the final stages of the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe.
12.08.2014
34 - A Devil and a Panther
The poetic, heroic, and tragic defense was burned indelibly into the memory and imagination of Italian patriots, for whom the city of Rome would now forever be inextricably linked to the very idea of Italian nationalism. The story of the...
11.17.2014
33 - Mazzini at the Helm
This episode will focus on two different areas. First, we're going to jump back to Piedmont. Frightened by the success of the republicans in Rome, and humiliated by their defeat by the Austrians in July of 1848, the Piedmontese made...
10.29.2014
32 - Roads to Rome
The creation and heroic defense of a new Roman Republic is one of the defining episodes in the story of the Italian unification. It's an epic story, a blockbuster, and Garibaldi and Mazzini are the two main characters. We're not...
10.06.2014
31 - One Brief Shining Moment
Revolutions break out in Italy in earnest when Milan rises up against Austria. The Piedmontese declare war on Austria, ostensibly in a war of national liberation, but in reality because they want to annex northern Italy. The pope severs his ties with the moderate...
09.22.2014
30 - The Lonely Right
In this episode we're going to cover the first three months of 1848 in Italy. Sicily will kick off the year with a revolution, followed by a smaller one on the mainland. Then, like a chain of dominoes, almost all...
08.31.2014
Interview - Italian Urban Development with Doug Cantelmo
An interview with Doug Cantelmo, Professor of Urban Development at St. John's University about urban development in late 19th century Italy.
08.18.2014
29 - White Smoke
Clearly, the 1840's were a troubled time in Italy. The decade had begun with increased demands from the business minded classes for economic liberalization. Books advancing Italian nationalism had become stunningly successful, helping to turn popular opinion against the Austrians....
08.04.2014
Minisode 2 - Listener Questions
Benjamin and Adam take a break from the story to answer questions sent in by listeners.
07.22.2014
28 - The Deluge
In the last episode we saw Europe undergo an economic crisis in the 1840's, as harvests failed, trade slumped, and urban unemployment exploded. The ingredients are all there for disaster, but up to this point, we haven't seen them all...
07.07.2014
27 - Cracks in the Ice
Our story is now rapidly approaching an incredibly important series of events: the Revolutions of 1848. In a single year, a series of revolutions swept across Europe, occurring in France, Prussia, Austria, Italy, the German states, and others. While timing...
06.16.2014
26 - Fly, Thought, on Wings of Gold
Gearing up for the revolutions of 1848, we lay the groundwork by talking about liberalism, money, books, and opera in 19th century Italy. This unusually long episode has an intermission halfway through.
05.27.2014
25 - The Story Thus Far
For this episode we're going to do something different. This episode is going to be divided into two parts. In the first half I am going to give a lighting fast recap of the story thus far. Then I’m going...
05.12.2014
24 - The Liberal Conservative
The final character we have to introduce is Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, usually just called Cavour. He was the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Piedmont Sardinia from 1852 to 1861, when he became the first Prime Minister of...
04.28.2014
23 - The Hero of Two Worlds
Giuseppe Garibaldi is, by a huge margin, the most famous person in the story of the Italian Unification. But, his fame goes beyond that. In many ways, he was the most famous person of the entire 19th century - he was the...
04.15.2014
22 - You, Happy Austria, Marry
As we've seen while moving through our story, Austria in the 18th and 19th centuries was heavily involved in Italian affairs, exerting strong control over the northern half of the peninsula and supporting the old order whenever possible. We're starting...
03.31.2014
21 - Thought and Action
Mazzini organized many revolutions in Italy, but because of his public notoriety was blamed for all of them, even those he had actively opposed. The revolutions all failed - partly due to poor planning, but also partly due to bad...
03.29.2014
News Flash - Venetian Secession
In mid-March, 2014, Venetians overwhelmingly voted for secession from Italy in an unofficial, online referendum. Learn more about why this happened and what it means for Italy's future.
03.24.2014
20 - The Beating Heart of Italy
The stars of the show are about to come on stage. There are three of them, Giuseppe Mazzini, Giuseppe Garibaldi, and Count Cavour. They are larger than life in many ways. These three men were critical in defining what it...
03.10.2014
19 - The Changing of the Guard
In the early 1820's most of Italy was still ruled by the same men who had squared off against Napoleon - Grand Duke Ferdinand in Tuscany, King Ferdinand in Naples, and Pope Pius VII in the Papal States. King Victor...
02.24.2014
18 - Ozymandias in Italy
Where classicism had emphasized a cosmopolitan, international perspective, romanticism inspired nationalism and a search for identity. In Italy, though, this was a more complicated task than you might think. The peninsula had been fragmented for over a thousand, people spoke...
02.10.2014
17 - Plots, Plans, and Revolutions
We cover the revolutions against the Kingdom of Piedmont and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1820-1821).
01.27.2014
16 - The Restoration
Episode 16 - The Restoration, is out! In this episode we're going to see what came after Napoleon, and how the victorious British, Prussians, Austrians, and Russians tried to undo the damage that had been done to the Old Order....
01.20.2014
Minisode 1 - What About Sicily?
Sardinia and Sicily were never conquered by Napoleon, and so came out of the Napoleonic Wars with a distinctly different attitude from the rest of Italy.
01.06.2014
15 - Who Mourns for Napoleon?
We're going to look at Napoleon's legacy in three broad steps. First, what were Napoleon's reforms, economic, political, and social, and what did they accomplish. Second, who benefitted from his rule? Who was going to miss him when he was...
12.23.2013
14 - Ere I Saw Elba
For the last time in a while, we're going to be leaving Italy behind for this episode and focusing on events elsewhere in Europe. Specifically, we're going to cover, in broad strokes, the Napoleonic Wars and the end of Napoleon's...
12.11.2013
13 - An Army of Their Own
We're going to be looking at the Italian army under Napoleon in this episode. The Italian army took part in numerous conflicts, including Napoleon's famous (and failed) invasion of Russia in 1812, and established a strong military tradition were previously...
11.25.2013
12 - Napoleon's Mistress
Napoleon had used Italy's disunity to his advantage, allowing him to control most of Italy, either directly or indirectly, for a comparatively small cost in men and resources. However, Napoleon was about to double down on his rise to power,...
11.21.2013
Special Announcements - Collage and Interview
Tw quick announcements: 1) Check out the new series I'm hosting, History Podcasters: Collage, where your favorite podcasters give their takes on interesting topics. 2) I was interviewed in the podcast Audio Lounge how Adam and I go about researching...
11.11.2013
11 - Divide and Rule
It's 1799, and Italy is fractured, politically, socially, and economically. This isn't new - it’s been fractured for over a thousand years at this point. This made it easy for Napoleon to invade in the first place, and now he...
10.28.2013
10 - The War of the 2nd Coalition
Adam's back with the War of the 2nd Coalition. The war in Europe spreads as Napoleon invades Egypt. Russia enters the war against France and helps invade Italy. Meanwhile politics back in France are getting increasingly heated as various factions vie...
10.21.2013
Venice 3 - The Road to Hell
In Venice Bonus Episode 2 we explained how the 4th Crusade started. Now we follow it to its tragic conclusion, with the sack of Constantinople by French and Venetian crusaders.

What's Talking History: The Italian Unification about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Talking History: The Italian Unification episodes:

51 - The End

50 - Rome or Death

49 - The Harsh Light of Day

Podcast Delay Update

48 - A Kingdom is Born

47 - David and Goliath

46 - A Vote for Italy

45 - The Die is Cast

44 - A Recipe for War

43 - The Wounded Heart of Italy

Podcast Update

42 - The Eagle and the Bee

41 - The Right Name

40 - War and Peace

39 - The World Stage

38 - The Marriage

37 - Piedmont Seizes the Initiative

36 - With a Whimper

35 - As Fire Drives Out Fire

34 - A Devil and a Panther

33 - Mazzini at the Helm

32 - Roads to Rome

31 - One Brief Shining Moment

30 - The Lonely Right

Interview - Italian Urban Development with Doug Cantelmo

29 - White Smoke

Minisode 2 - Listener Questions

28 - The Deluge

27 - Cracks in the Ice

26 - Fly, Thought, on Wings of Gold

25 - The Story Thus Far

24 - The Liberal Conservative

23 - The Hero of Two Worlds

22 - You, Happy Austria, Marry

21 - Thought and Action

News Flash - Venetian Secession

20 - The Beating Heart of Italy

19 - The Changing of the Guard

18 - Ozymandias in Italy

17 - Plots, Plans, and Revolutions

16 - The Restoration

Minisode 1 - What About Sicily?

15 - Who Mourns for Napoleon?

14 - Ere I Saw Elba

13 - An Army of Their Own

12 - Napoleon's Mistress

Special Announcements - Collage and Interview

11 - Divide and Rule

10 - The War of the 2nd Coalition

Venice 3 - The Road to Hell