Garibaldi and Bismarck: Architects of National Unification
Garibaldi and the Italian Unification
Giuseppe Garibaldi was actively involved in the complicated military and political struggles of the 19th century. In 1859, he led a victorious expedition against Austrian forces in the Alps. Taking advantage of Sicilian discontent with the Bourbon dynasty, he launched the ‘Expedition of the Thousand’ (also known as the ‘Red Shirts’) from Genoa. Garibaldi conquered Sicily between May and August 1860, establishing a provisional government. He then moved to the Italian peninsula, taking Naples after defeating the Bourbon forces at the Battle of Volturno on October 26, 1860. The fortress of Gaeta fell in February 1861.
The Kingdom of Italy was founded a few months later, with Victor Emmanuel proclaimed king. However, Rome (held by the Pope and garrisoned by French troops) and territories in the north (held by Austria) remained outside the new state. Garibaldi, declining honors and positions, returned to his residence on the island of Caprera. He later organized the Society for the Emancipation of Italy and recruited volunteers to conquer Rome. This led to a clash with Victor Emmanuel’s forces at the Battle of Aspromonte on August 29, 1862, where Garibaldi was wounded and captured, though he was soon pardoned and released.
In 1866, Garibaldi again formed a volunteer regiment to annex the Papal States, despite government opposition. After initial victories, he was defeated by combined Papal and French forces at the Battle of Mentana on November 3, 1867, and briefly imprisoned. He retired to Caprera in 1869. In 1870, he offered his services to the French government, and his two sons fought in the Franco-Prussian War. Italy annexed Rome in October 1870, and Garibaldi was elected to the Italian Parliament in 1874. In his final years, he sympathized with the growing socialist movement. He died on Caprera on June 2, 1882. His autobiography was published in 1887.
Bismarck and the German Unification
In 1861, the Prussian Parliament granted the government additional funds for military reforms, but in 1862, they refused further funding unless compulsory military service was reduced from three years to two. King William I refused, fearing recruits would not be sufficiently imbued with conservative values. The Liberal-majority Parliament insisted on the concession.
To break the deadlock, Otto von Bismarck was appointed prime minister. He raised taxes under the 1861 budget, arguing that the Constitution provided no mechanism for a budget impasse, thus necessitating the use of the previous year’s budget. Justifying the Army expansion with the goal of German unification, he famously declared that “the great questions of the moment will not be solved by speeches and majority decisions, but by blood and iron.”
Public opinion shifted in his favor in 1864 when Bismarck, using the reorganized Prussian army in alliance with Austria, seized the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. Two years later, a dispute over these territories led to the Austro-Prussian War (also known as the Seven Weeks’ War) against Austria and other German states. After a swift campaign, Bismarck annexed Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, and other territories to Prussia. He also united the northern and central German states into the North German Confederation, under Prussian control. The Prussian Parliament, recognizing his success, retroactively sanctioned his financial actions of the previous four years.
In 1870, Bismarck maneuvered France into a war against the German states (the Franco-Prussian War). He correctly anticipated that national enthusiasm would draw the undecided southern German states into a unified Germany. His plan succeeded: in 1871, the German Empire (known to historians as the Second Reich), including the southern states, replaced the North German Confederation, and the King of Prussia became Emperor of Germany.