Civilization Week 21 Italian and German Unification

What were the key steps in the process of Italian unification?

Count Camillo di Cavour became the prime minister of Piedmont in 1852. To gain the favor of France he stepped in to contribute troops towards the anti-Russia faction of the Crimean War. Because of this goodwill between the Italians and the French when Austria stepped in and attempted to claim Piedmont France leant a hand and helped drive the Austrians away. Piedmont gained Lombardy, and started building plebiscites throughout northern Italy in an attempt to persuade the public about the positives of Italian unification. A retired general named Giuseppe Garibaldi captured some sections of south Italy then gifted them to Piedmont. Afterwards Piedmont claimed the Papal states and Venetia, and (besides the Vatican) they had all they needed to put the final details on a unified Italy.

What were the key steps in the process of German unification?

The very ambitious prime minister of Prussia, Otto Von Bismark, first teamed up with Austria to ravage and overtake two territories in Denmark. Each country took a territory, and it seemed to be a happy compromise for everyone except Denmark. But then Prussia turned around and stabbed its former ally in the back, attacking Austria and stealing away the Danish territory it had taken. This was Prussia’s way of displaying dominance over Austria, forcing them to stay out of German affairs from then on. Prussia went on to attack and steal a territory from France, which along with the previous victory impressed the southern German states. They liked Prussia’s moxie, agreed with the ambition and determination of Bismarck, and readily unified.