When Piedmont-Sardinia unified Italy, the House of Savoy forced the laws of the former Kingdom down the throat of each and every region of the peninsula under their rule. This policy was the cause of some serious problems that plagued Italy during the first years of its existence as an unitary state, especially in the ex-Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, that got even poorer than it already was. Could Italy have been unified as a federation or confederation of states, each retaining its own customs and laws, and how well would this alternate Italy do in comparison to ours?