Week 17
In 1848, all of Europe suffered through a series of revolutions that overthrew many governments. The one that was untouched was the constitutional monarchy of Great Britain. In France, a republican revolution overthrew the monarchy of Louis Phillippe, called the "Bourgeois King" for his common touch, and put in his place a newly elected President of the Second French Republic Louis Napoleon Bonaparte–Napoleon's nephew. The new president of France had strong attachments to Italy including a period as a revolutionary soldier there in 1831-32 when he and his brother were fighting with the Italians who we're trying to liberate their nation from the oppressive rule of Austria. The decade 1848-1858 was going to witness one of the most amazing international alliances between the new president of France and the Italian leader Cavour who was leading the Italian unification movement –the Risorgimento – from his position as Prime Minister in Torino. The biggest secret in European affairs in the 1850s was that the President of France and the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Savoy-Piedmont Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour were colluding to push Austria out of Italy. It would take a number of dramatic events to bring this about: the election of Louis in France, the Crimean War, the Orsini assassination attempt, the secret meeting of Louis and Cavour at Plombières-les-Bains, and finally the Battle of Solferino. But there is no doubt that it was the crucial alliance between Paris and Torino that moved Italy toward unification by the year 1859.
REQUIRED BOOKS FOR WINTER QUARTER
Make sure you are buying this edition since it has been updated in 2007.
