Hi! Since Art wanted to read something about the Italian Unification, here it comes. As the other parts, it will be extended when I have time. Please comment and feel free to add to this TL (as long as you don´t insult like a certain other person), it is meant as a collaborative effort!
From Ian Kershaw´s “The Unification of Great Powers – History altered forever”
In parts 1-3 we followed the Unifications of Germany in 1851-53 and the widespread influence on the world stage the Second Empire had since then. In parts 4 and 5 we compare the Unifications of Germany with that of Italy 1852-58, another important nation, often called the Sibling Unifications, since both were started by the same event, the Revolution of 1848 and the becoming of Germany and Italy influenced the other process.
When in 1848 the demonstrations and Uprisings began, there were several attempts to unify Italy, the most important by the two key factions in the struggle for a united Italy, the state of Sardinia-Piemont under House Savoy and Giuseppe Mazzini´s “Giovine Italia” (Young Italy) movement.
Both had very different approaches: Mazzini´s group was for democracy and a revolution of the people, Piemont wanted more power for herself and a monarchy. At first, both failed. Mazzini´s coup in Austrian Milan was crushed by the Austrian Army and Piemont´s military advance was blunted by Austria too. For roughly 4 years “Resorgimento” was stopped. Sardinia-Pirmont was swept fully into the revolutionary uprisings popping up all over Europe and Mazzini fled to Rome.
Then in 1852, Piemont had a new plan. The revolution inside was stopped, where in other nations the struggles still went on. House Savoy, with the help of the brilliant Camillo Cavour had gotten the backing of France. The French were naturally not happy that Germany had united, but had too many problems to intervene. So Paris searched for allies. Sardinia-Piemont was willing to give part of her holdings like e.g. Nizza to France for help in her quest to unite Italy. It was a no-brainer for Napoleon III.. Helping House Savoy would give France new territory, giving problems to Austria, who held a sizeable part of northern Italy and if Piemont was successful, it would become a friendly ally against the “Fridolins outré-Rhine”.
And it would be revenge against Mazzini´s group too. After fleeing to Rome, he led an uprising against the Pope´s government and erected a Roman Republic. France, protector of the papal state, normally would have stamped out this upstart Republic, but like all other very or halfway important states of Europe, “La Grande Nation” had enough on their plate due to the revolutionary spirit blasting over the Continent.
Now in 1852, France saw the light at the end of the tunnel, with order mostly restored Paris could think again about foreign policy which went beyond colonial affairs. After a bit over 3 years, it was high time to end the Roman Republic once and for all. The alliance with Piemont would bring the whole Italian peninsular onto France´s side, once House Savoy conquered it.
More counterweight against the Germans.
The first phase went like France and Piemont hoped. Unlike at the beginning of the revolutions four years earlier, the Austrian army was splintered all across the multi-ethnic Empire to keep or restore order. Austria was deeply in trouble; internal strife between the various nationalities, revolutions and counter-revolutions had sapped much of Austria´s considerable strength.
The army units in Italy held Piemont´s forces back for the moment, but it was only a matter of time until a total collapse would come, since the few available reserves were far away in other parts of the Danube Monarchy and the attackers advanced nearly unopposed in the non-austrian parts of northern and middle Italy. A part of Piemont´s forces would be soon in the position to cut off the Austrian forces in the Lombardy and then the first “domino” would fall.
The Italians wanted Unification and even if more than one Italian state did not like Sardinia-Piemont, getting rid of the foreign overlords was worth it. House Savoy was pleased. Her forces advancing into Tuscany, had taken parts of the Austrian holdings and putting enormous pressure on the last Austrian units.
The news from the Italian peninsular hit Vienna like a bomb. The situation could become a true political catastrophe; if a breakdown happened there. As much as the young Emperor Franz Josef (Francis Joseph) despised it, he had to talk with the Prussian upstarts, who cheated, as far as he was concerned, Austria out of her deserved chance to unify Germany. But the only way to get enough forces to stabilise the Italian front was to talk to Germany.
The Emperor was shocked during the first round of talks in Salzburg. The German Chancellor Bismarck was willing to help Austria, but to a price. Accepting would be the end of all Austrian dreams to take the leader role in a whatever-form Germany; not accepting would be risking all. Austria could rise to the challenge, yes, but in the tense situation would it be fast enough to stop the worst?
Bismarck was willing to negotiate further and had an idea how to win time: Giuseppe Mazzini. He was not a friend of Piemont and had openly rejected House Savoy´s selling off Italian soil to the French for help. His Roman Republic would be a prime target of the Sardinia-Piemont forces. Both sides wanted Unification, but under which circumstances was another thing. Back in 48, Mazzini had teeth-grindingly supported Sardinia-Piemont, since his group lacked punch, but now in 1852 he had a state modelled mostly on his ideals. So Mazzini would not cave in without a fight. Still, it was doubtful if the roman forces could win against the French backed North Italians.
Envoys were sent to Rome. Germany and Austria would help the Republic against Sardinia-Piemont, if Consul Mazzini was willing to give Austria (and in one or two cases Germany too) certain concessions. Austria would also be prepared to give some of her territory to Rome and negotiate about other parts of her Italian lands.
Mazzini did not like the Austrians and it was clear to him, that the Habsburg wanted to use him to stop the loss of all her Italian possessions, but on the other hand he did not want the power-hungry autocratic Savoy´s to dismantle the democratic Roman Republic he and his followers erected Without the French helping Turin, Rome could hold it´s own, but since French help was the case, Rome only had a chance with outside help too.
Like Berlin and Vienna had hoped, Consul Mazzini took the chance to bring his vision of Italy to all parts of the peninsular. The Italian Civil War had begun.
Fuelled by the more or less clandestine supplies from France and Austria/Germany (after 5.2.1853 just Germany) the war went from late summer 1852 until spring 1857. One of the few truly noteworthy battles was the S-P victory at the first battle of Bergamo, because this bloodbath led to the founding of the Red Cross.
Other important battles were fought at Genua, Florence, Riva, Rimini, two at Modena and Milan, altogether 3 at Bergamo and the deciding battles at Tusculum near Rome, Salurn in South Tyrol and Trient (Trento).
By 1857, both sides were war weary and Tusculum and South Tyrol/Trentino showed that a negotiated peace was needed. The victory for Piemont at Tusculum made it possible for them to lay siege to Rome, but on the other hand the bulk of their forces were wiped out by roman troops near Trient and german units after the S-P troops were lured by the Romans into German-majority territory. For the northern roman army group the way to Turino was now wide open, after the two battles Piemont had nothing in North Italy anymore which could stop the Romans. So despite their capital besieged, the Romans were in the better position, since they could send an army south to relieve Rome and send another group to Piemont. While Turino was frantically calling in the last reserves from Sardinia, in the hope to stop the larger roman forces marching west, Paris and Berlin made both sides the offer to mediate to stop further bloodshed. Germany had tried more than once to bring an end to the war, since even after Austria became part of the Empire, Germany had only few aims in Italy at all, but only after France had turned her attention to other vistas, talks could begin.
In the end several compromises were reached:
-France got 2/3 of the territory Piemont promised them
-Germany ceded all former Austrian territories in Italy, except lands with either German majority or minority, which meant in addition to german-majority South Tyrol, Germany kept the Trentino and parts of northern Venetia and Friaul. As a gift, Berlin gave Rome a small land corridor and the city of Trieste from Küstenland.
-Italy united under the leadership of Rome, but as a gesture to S-P and her allies, Italy would get a monarch from the House Savoy with limited powers.