It was obvious Garibaldi would succeed at whatever he chose to do. He was born in Nice in July 1807. He had a love for the sea and instead of joining the church he joined the

merchant army. By chance he met the republican Mazzini who greatly influenced Garibaldi’s direction in life and gave him a new aim. Mazzini influenced Garibaldi to join ‘Young Italy' which was a movement to unite Italy as a Republic. Mazzini was the main motivation that inspired Garibaldi as a revolutionary with nationalistic and patriotic enthusiasm. Garibaldi quickly became a part of ‘Young Italy’, and was prepared to do anything for the success of the unification of Italy. In 1833 Garibaldi was involved in a revolt at Piedmont organized by Mazzini as part of the ‘Young Italy’ movement. It failed and Garibaldi fled to South America in fear of his life. Garibaldi learned important lessons in this failed attempt that ultimately helped him succeed in the future with the unifying process.

Whilst in North America Garibaldi bought most of the islands of Caprera off the south coast of Sardinia with money he inherited from his brother. On these islands he could keep up to date with the progress of the unification of Italy through the National Society who were now working to fulfill this dream. Victor Emmanuel was now on the throne after succeeding his father Charles Albert. Cavour was now in charge of bringing about the unification of Italy but went about it very differently to Garibaldi. Nevertheless, Victor Emmanuel and Cavour met with Garibaldi at Turin to discuss their plan of a war against Austria in 1859. Garibaldi saw this as a big step forward in the unification and offered his services enthusiastically to Victor Emmanuel to train volunteers. Garibaldi had now temporarily abandoned the ardent republican views of Mazzini and was devoted to his monarch Victor Emmanuel. France helped Italy in their fight against Austria but in return Cavour had agreed to give France Nice and Savoy. As Nice was Garibaldi’s birthplace he was unhappy about this agreement and from then on there was a tension between Garibaldi and Cavour. This tension made Garibaldi more determined to bring about the unification of Italy as quickly as possible.

Cavour and Victor Emmanuel were concerned about the cavalier approach of Garibaldi and sent the Piedmontese army down through the Papal States to meet him. Victor Emmanuel led the Piedmontese army and as the two met in what could have been a fierce battle instead it was quite the opposite. They shook hands and Garibaldi handed over Sicily and Naples to Victor Emmanuel. Garibaldi retired to Caprera and refused the praise offered by Victor Emmanuel as the king refused to also praise the Red Shirts (Garibaldi’s followers). Cavour and Victor Emmanuel believed that Garibaldi’s political life was over now that all of Italy besides Rome and Venetia were united.

Garibaldi continued in the fight for a united country and in 1859 with the assistance of France, Italy conquered Lombardy and the Northern Italian Kingdom w

Some topics in this essay:
Italy Italy, South America, Victor Emmanuel, Charles Albert, Roman Republic, , Italy Garibaldi’s, Argentinean Garibaldi, Victor Emmanuel’, Republic Mazzini, unification italy, victor emmanuel, south america, unite italy, charles albert, aim life, europe 19th century, ‘young italy’, military leader, military leadership, 19th century, cavour victor emmanuel, main aim life, success unification italy, italy throughout europe,