Timeline | Before 1800 to After 1930 | ITALY | POLITICAL CONTEXT
CloseDate
Country | Theme | Description
1815
Ratification document of the Congress of Vienna (29 September 1814 – 9 June 1815)
See Database EntryItaly | Political Context
The Congress of Vienna decides the restoration of pre-Napoleonic monarchies: Kingdom of Sardinia (Piedmont, Genoa, Sardinia); Kingdom of Two Sicilies (Southern Italy and Sicily), the Papal States (part of Central Italy), Grand Duchy of Tuscany and other smaller states. Much of northern Italy (Milan, Venice, Trieste etc.) is under the Austrian empire.
1815 - 1860
During the pro-unification insurrection known as the Five Days of Milan, the people of Milan chase away Austrian troops, by throwing tiles and other objects at them
See Database EntryItaly | Political Context
Italian “Risorgimento” (movement for national unification).
1820 - 1831
The hanging of liberal patriot Ciro Menotti (26 May 1831), who had organised an uprising for national unification in Modena
See Database EntryItaly | Political Context
In 1820–21 and 1830–31, uprisings in different parts of Italy in favour of national unification and constitutional rule. They meet harsh repression.
Italy | Political Context
Giuseppe Mazzini founds the republican movement for national unification, Giovine Italia (Young Italy).
Italy | Political Context
Uprisings in different parts of Italy demand constitutional rule and national unification. In Rome and Venice, short-lived republics are proclaimed. King Carlo Alberto (Kingdom of Sardinia) grants a constitution and wages war against the Austrian Empire, but he is defeated.
Italy | Political Context
Cavour (Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, 1810–61), the architect of the diplomatic strategies that allowed Italian unification, becomes prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia (he will remain prime minister until his death).
1855
Comic Map of Seat of War with Entirely New Features (London: Rock Brothers and Payne, 1854)
See Database EntryItaly | Political Context
The Kingdom of Sardinia participates in the Crimean war as part of the Anglo-French alliance against Russia.
1859 - 1861
The meeting between General Giuseppe Garibaldi and King Victor Emanuel II in Teano (28 October 1860)
See Database EntryItaly | Political Context
The Kingdom of Sardinia, backed by France, wages war against the Austrian Empire and annexes Milan. Pro-unification insurrections in central Italy; Garibaldi leads an expedition of 1,000 volunteers in Southern Italy. Italy is unified under King Victor Emanuel II (formerly King of Sardinia) as a constitutional monarchy.
1860
A petition to collect signatures in support of an appeal to the Italian parliament to grant women the right to vote, drawn up by Anna Maria Mozzoni
See Database EntryItaly | Political Context
The right to vote is reserved for a small elite of men who have certain levels of income and education: only 2.2% of the Italians can vote.
Italy | Political Context
Italy participates in the Austro-Prussian War on the side of Prussia and annexes Venice.