Talking History: The Italian Unification

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.

51 - The End 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 the incorporation of Southern Italy into the new Italian state a result of conquest or unification? And third, what was the legacy of the three men we focused on: Cavour, Garibaldi, and Mazzini? Then I'll wrap up with a few closing remarks and say goodbye. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/10257335

50 - Rome or Death 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 areas that Italy would gain after WWI, has been unified under a single government based in the ancient city of Rome. This was an amazing, almost unbelievable achievement. The Kingdom of Italy had weathered the death of its leading statesman only a few months after its formation, had survived a brutal civil war in the south, uprisings and revolts, had suffered disastrous war with Austria, and now had ended the thousand-year-old temporal power of the popes. But it had come at a price paid in money, tears, and blood. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/6055660

49 - The Harsh Light of Day 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 and we’re just tying up loose ends. But that’s not how I feel about it - because we're about to leave the heady days of high hopes and dreams for the future into the murky realm of mistakes, and of what might have been. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/5438504

Podcast Delay Update 03/19/2017

Podcast Delay Update A brief update on the podcast delays. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/5183333

48 - A Kingdom is Born 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, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchy of Parma, the Duchy of Modena, the Papal States, and the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. But, after the Second War of Italian Independence, which pitted France and Piedmont against Austria, we saw that number shrink to four, as Tuscany, Modena, and Parma all disappeared into the Kingdom of Piedmont, which also absorbed the Lombardy half of Lombardy-Venetia, and the northeastern parts of the Papal States, called the Legations. Just as the ink was drying on the revised maps, Garibaldi set sail to Sicily with just over 1,000 men in an event that has moved into the realm of mythology in Italian history - akin perhaps to Washington’s Crossing of the Delaware in American history. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/4766071

47 - David and Goliath 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 most of northern Italy, Piedmont will temporarily lose the initiative, which will pass into the hands of the republicans and revolutionaries, and in particular, to Garibaldi. Today we begin the famous story of The Thousand, or in Italian, Il Mille. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/4528147

46 - A Vote for Italy 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. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/4283825

45 - The Die is Cast 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 play a role in everything to come. The plan was for Cavour to stir up trouble in the duchy of Modena, which would lead to an escalating series of diplomatic incidents that would start a war between Piedmont and Austria, while making Austria look like the aggressor. France would then come to Piedmont's aid and crush the Austrians. We'll see Cavour's plan begin to crumble as the rest of Europe attempts to intervene to stop the war before it starts. In desperation, the lifelong gambler will double down on his plan. In the end, it will be Austria's foolishness rather than his cleverness that makes the difference, and he will win despite himself. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/4099231

44 - A Recipe for War 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 the flames of his ambition. Either way, Napoleon III will get serious about supporting Piedmont in a war against Austria. Cavour and Napoleon will meet and hash out the future of Italy in a single afternoon, including a pretext for war. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3975156

43 - The Wounded Heart of Italy 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 revolutions. We'll then see Garibaldi wander the face of the globe searching for some peace and happiness. Then, toward the middle of the 1850's, Cavour will begin to infiltrate the revolutionary movement, laying plots and plans of his own, securing his reputation as a devious, manipulative political genius. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3784884

Podcast Update 08/02/2015

Podcast Update Release schedule update. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3710974

42 - The Eagle and the Bee 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 the House of Habsburg was a two-headed eagle, as it had been for centuries. The Bonapartes, having only recently risen to prominence, had adopted the industrious honey bee, as a complement to the traditional French eagle. And the conflict between these two, the eagle and the bee, is what this episode is leading into. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3639994

41 - The Right Name 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 Unification would be complete without a detailed discussion of his influence. It will be another Bonaparte who helps puts the 1870 in our tagline: his nephew Louis-Napoleon. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3580545

40 - War and Peace 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. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3518343

39 - The World Stage 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 and then elections. Then we'll move on to the bigger story of how the Crimean war got started, and why Piedmont, a thousand miles away, somehow got involved. We'll close with a new round in the continuing battle between the Catholic church and the increasingly secular Piedmontese government. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3480564

38 - The Marriage 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, where the first of several showdowns with the Catholic Church is brewing, and where Cavour is using maneuvering to displace Massimo D'Azeglio as Prime Minister. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3417171

37 - Piedmont Seizes the Initiative 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 of our Big Three, will rapidly become the dominant figure in Piedmontese politics. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3342029

36 - With a Whimper 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 Venice, the last holdout against Austria. Then we'll discuss the revolutions of 1848 and try to make some sense of them - why did they happen, why did they fail, and what did they mean? Then we'll set the stage for the 1850's, often called the 'Decade of Preparation', in which Piedmont would become ascendant. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3292468

35 - As Fire Drives Out Fire 12/21/2014

35 - As Fire Drives Out Fire Adam is back with the final stages of the Revolutions of 1848 in Europe. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3254311

34 - A Devil and a Panther 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 Roman Republic ensured that no future Italian state could long endure without the city of Rome as its capital. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3228336

33 - Mazzini at the Helm 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 a desperate stab to get back in the limelight by renewing their war with Austria. Second, we're going to cover Mazzini's role as the leader of the Roman Republic. Handed nearly supreme power in the republic, this revolutionary with no political experience will wield that power wisely and with moderation, earning the respect of some of his harshest critics. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3184953

32 - Roads to Rome 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 quite there yet - in this episode we're going to set the stage for what will be the showdown between the Italian republicans and the European forces of conservatism. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3148733

31 - One Brief Shining Moment 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 cause. When the dust settles the moderates are in retreat, and the radicals are left in power. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3104474

30 - The Lonely Right 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 of the rulers in Italy will be forced by public pressure to grant constitutions. This first phase of the revolutions of 1848 in Italy will be remarkably peaceful, with one major exception. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3077868

Interview - Italian Urban Development with Doug Cantelmo 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. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3040622

29 - White Smoke 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. Pope Pius had added fuel to the fire by starting his pontificate with a series of sweeping reforms, realizing too late what he had set in motion. People all over Italy began demanding reforms and constitutions. For the moment the rulers were able to placate their subjects with modest reforms, as they were unwilling to issue constitutions. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/3017370

Minisode 2 - Listener Questions 08/04/2014

Minisode 2 - Listener Questions Benjamin and Adam take a break from the story to answer questions sent in by listeners. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/2992746

28 - The Deluge 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 mix together, and revolution is still not inevitable. In this episode, we're going to see the Revolutions of 1848 kick off in France, quite by accident, and spread eastwards into Germany and the Austrian Empire. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/2959244

27 - Cracks in the Ice 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 like that might make it seem as though the revolutions were a carefully laid plan by a European-wide conspiracy, they were mostly spontaneous uprisings. They fed off each other’s energy and momentum, definitely, but there was no force behind the scenes coordinating things. What is perhaps even more remarkable, however, is that two years later, most of Europe would look largely the same as it had before the revolutions, at least superficially. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/2930653

26 - Fly, Thought, on Wings of Gold 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. /episode/index/show/talkinghistorypodcast/id/2893335

Talking History: The Italian Unification

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