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Robert Culpepper HST-425 Sec-02 The Question of Count Cavour: Expansionist or Nationalist January 18, 1996 |
The man who would
bear the name and title Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, and would be
remembered by history to be one of the major architects of Italian
unification, was born on August 10, 1810. Cavour was born in the city of
Turin in Piedmont, which was then under the rule of the kingdom of Piedmont.
His family had ties to both France, through his godparents, and Sweden,
through his mother (Hearder, 1). Both families were quite wealthy, and thus
Cavour grew up quite self confident, if not arrogant. Cavour was to have a
rather complex life to say the least. Because his brother, who was four
years his senior, was not considered to be in well health Cavour was chosen
to be the son to go into the military (Hearder, 4). Military service and
Cavour were not meant to get along too well. The strict discipline and
rules had the affect of turning the spirited Cavour into a rebel who was
often disciplined for rule violations and possessing forbidden literature
(Hearder, 4).
During his time at
the Royal Military Academy, Cavour was chosen to be a page to Prince Carlo
Alberto. Cavour took the post to please his father, but soon left because
he publicly stated his dislike for the page’s outfit (Hearder, 7). After he
graduated from the military academy, Cavour became a second lieutenant in
the Royal Engineers, which he did not dislike greatly (Hearder, 7). It was
at this time that Cavour began to fall in with what was considered at the
time a revolutionary crowd. Cavour’s assignment in Genoa was to be the
beginning of the end of his military career, as it was here he circulated
among the more revolutionary personalities of the day. When Cavour himself
showed sympathy for the revolutionaries in Paris, he was quickly transferred
to a garrison in mountains where he soon resigned his commission (Hearder,
10).
After he left the
military, Cavour toured London and France and gained an appreciation for the
parliament style of government. Upon his return to Turin, Cavour managed
his father’s estates in Leri (Hearder, 23). Later, Cavour and a friend,
Ceasare Balbo, started a journal dedicated to the Italian question which was
called Il Risorgimento (Hearder, 44). Cavour had entered the political
arena.
Cavour’s most
lasting contribution to his country-to-be was in the political arena. After,
now king, Carlo Alberto granted Piedmont a constitution, Cavour ran for and
won a seat in the new parliament. He soon distinguished himself as head of
several ministries and began to work toward making his dream of being prime
minister of Italy a reality (Hearder, 59).
Through precise
political maneuvering, Cavour became prime minister of Sardinia-Piedmont in
1852 and served in that capacity until 1859. During that time, Cavour weaved
an altogether uncertain path that lead to the eventual unification of Italy
as a politically unified state, which Cavour served as Prime Minister from
1860 until his death in June of 1861. When Cavour died at the age of 51,
Italy still had a way to go to be unified, but Cavour had contributed to a
feat that many had considered impossible just years earlier. The political
unification of a once foreign dominated geographic area had created a
country that could truly be called Italy.
Cavour’s role in the
process of Italian unification is not an easy role to assess, although
history credit’s him with the country’s political unification. Even though
Mazzini and Gerabaldi had rather important roles in the unification, the
credit must go to Cavour because his efforts did lead to the consummating
act of unification.
Many have argued that
Cavour’s only intention was to expand the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont,
while others have argued he was a pure nationalist with the aims of creating
a country called Italy (Hearder, vii). Cavour though seems more complex a
man than either explanation gives him credit, and the question does arise if
even Cavour himself knew what he was all the time.
The way Cavour
appears to me is that at times he was a nationalist, intent on creating a
united Italy, and at times he was content to expand the territory of
Sardinia-Piedmont. Depending on the political climate and the possibility
of success, Cavour could be either expansionist or nationalist. At his
heart though, Cavour was probably more nationalist than expansionist.
There is a lot of
information to suggest that Cavour had strong feelings for his home of
Sardinia-Piedmont. Cavour, while head of the navy ministry, tried to
expand and modernize the existing ships and naval structure to make
Sardinia-Piedmont more powerful(Hearder, 61). Cavour also tried to make
Sardinia economically more powerful. He succeeded in this through several
trade pacts that increased Sardinia’s export industry and made it the most
prosperous state in geographic Italy (Hearder, 112).
There is still more
evidence to suggest that Cavour’s aim was to expand Piedmont. In a letter
to Napoleon II, when plotting war with Austria, Cavour refereed to the
Piedmont rather than Italian cause (Hearder, 142). Also, in letters to
friends, he spoke of Piedmont dominating any future Italy, which definitely
suggests an aim at expansion rather than nation-building (Hearder, 136).
But still, all this evidence isn’t enough to say that Cavour was an outright
expansionist.
The evidence that
Cavour held in his heart of desire to unite Italy, and was indeed a
nationalist, is more compelling than the argument he was an expansionist.
Cavour’s early journal, 'The Resurrection', was almost by it’s title a
nationalist journal, not to mention that it many times called for Italian
unity (Hearder, 33). There is also the matter that no matter how large
Piedmont became, Cavour could not tolerate an Austrian presence in ‘Italy’.
Even though Sardinia was free of Austrian influence, Cavour set about
several ways to get the Austrians out of Italy such as his question to the
legitimacy to have an army in the Papal States during the conference
following the Crimean War. Further evidence supports the fact that Cavour
had nationalist ties. Many times in letters to friends, he mentioned his
country as 'Italy', and in a speech to Parliament, he declared that Rome
would have to be the capital of a unified Italy (Hearder, 173).
Additionally, in one speech Cavour said that Italians could govern
themselves, with no reference to Piedmont, which definitely suggests he had
aspirations of Italy being a political unit (Hearder, 120). A last point
would be that even people of the time noticed that Cavour was not content to
be prime minister of Piedmont. A bigger Piedmont was better, but Italy was
the prize Cavour wanted to capture (Hearder, 110).
So, where does all
of these facts leave us? There is evidence to support that he was an
expansionist. There is also evidence to support that he was a nationalist.
The answer is he was probably both. Cavour, throughout his life, wavered
back in forth, using both words ‘Italy’ and ‘Piedmont’ to mean the same
thing at different times. When it was politically doable, Cavour strove for
a united Italy, but when that goal was out of site a larger Piedmont was
acceptable to him. However, it seems wholly unlikely that Cavour would
work so hard to expand the territory and power of a kingdom, who’s king he
did not particularly like or get along with. Perhaps Cavour had a totally
different plan afterall?