The Normal Times

how the meatball gets made, a timeline of 1815 to 1871

• 1815

  The land that would become Italy consists of:

  • Kingdom of Sardinia (Savoy, Piedmont, Genoa, Sardinia)
  • Duchies of Modena, Lucca, and Parma
  • Grand-duchy of Tuscany
  • The Papal States
  • The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies (1816; formed by the merging of the Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples)
  • Republic of San Marino
  • Lombardy and Venetia, given to Austria.
• 1820

  Waves of temporarily successful uprisings and coups in Naples, Turin, Modena, Parma, and Papal States; all suppressed with Austrian aid.

• 1831

  Popular Unification activist Mazzini fails to bring about insurrections in Piedmont and Savoy.

• 1846

  Election of Pius IX, believed to be a “liberal” pope.

• 1847

  Founding of the newspaper Il Risorgimento at Turin by Cavour; Austrian occupation of Ferrara (Papal States).

• 1848

  • January to March: Constitutional and patriotic (anti-Austrian) uprisings in Sicily, Naples, Tuscany, Piedmont, Romagna, Milan, and Venice; Sardinian declaration of war on Austria.
  • April: Pius IX pronounces against war with Austria as a Catholic power.
  • August: Sardinia forced to armistice by defeat.
  • November: Uprising in Rome and the pope flees the city.
• 1849

  • February: Proclamation of a Roman Republic.
  • July: French expedition suppresses Roman Republic and restores Pius IX.
  • August: Sardinia resumes war with Austria and is defeated, forced to pay indemnity, and the king abdicates; Venice surrenders to the Austrians.
• 1850

  Cavour enters the Sardinian government (prime minister by 1852) and promotes anti-clerical legislation.

• 1855

  Sardinia joins the Crimean War against Russia, and Cavour uses the peace congress to publicize Italy’s plight.

• 1856

  National Society created to work for Italian unity under Sardinian monarchy.

• 1858

  Secret agreement of Cavour and Napoleon III for a new war with Austria.

• 1859

  Austria provokes war with Sardinia; Revolutions in Tuscany, Modena, Parma, and Papal States; Defeat of Austrians by France in Lombardy; Peace of Villafranca between France and Austria.

• 1860

  • Napoleon III agrees to Sardinian annexation of Parma, Modena, Tuscany, and Romagna; in return for cession to France of Nice and Savoy.
  • With covert support from Cavour, Garibaldi invades Sicily with the “Thousand”, crosses to Italy, and overthrows the Naples monarchy.
  • Uprising in Papal States provides an excuse for Sardinian invasion which then blocks Garibaldi’s advances on Rome.
  • Naples, Sicily, Umbria, and Papal Marches vote for annexation to Sardinia.
• 1861

  Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy under Vittorio Emmanuele II.

• 1862

  Italian forces halt an expedition by Garibaldi; who is wounded and captured by them at Aspromonte.

• 1866

  Italo-Prussian alliance and transfer of Venetia to Italy after Austrian defeat in Seven Weeks’ War with Prussia.

• 1867

  Garibaldi’s invasion of Papal States halted by Papal and French forces at Mentana.

• 1870

  Withdrawal of French garrison from Rome during Franco-Prussian War; Italian forces enter the city after bombardment and assault; After plebiscite, Rome is annexed and become the capital of Italy.

• 1871

  Law of Guarantees defines Italo-Papal relations, assuring income and independence of the pope, and extra-territoriality of the Vatican State.