Unification of Italy
creation of the politically and administratively integrated nation of Italy (1815–1871)
The unification of Italy (Italian: Unità d'Italia [uniˈta ddiˈtaːlja]), also known as the Risorgimento (Italian: [risordʒiˈmento]; lit. 'Resurgence'), was the 19th century political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the annexation of various states of the Italian Peninsula and its outlying isles to the Kingdom of Sardinia, resulting in the creation of the Kingdom of Italy. Inspired by the rebellions in the 1820s and 1830s against the outcome of the Congress of Vienna, the unification process was precipitated by the Revolutions of 1848, and reached completion in 1871 with the official designation of Rome as capital of Italy, following the capture of Rome in 1870.
Individuals who played a major part in the struggle for unification and liberation from foreign domination included King Victor Emmanuel II; politician, economist and statesman Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour; general Giuseppe Garibaldi; and journalist and politician Giuseppe Mazzini. Borrowing from the old Latin title Pater Patriae of the Roman emperors, the Italians gave to King Victor Emmanuel II the epithet of Father of the Fatherland (Italian: Padre della Patria). Even after 1871, many ethnic Italian speakers, most notably those living in Trentino and Venezia Giulia, remained outside of the borders of the Kingdom of Italy, planting the seeds of Italian irredentism. The annexation of Trento and Trieste in 1918, at the end of World War I, is often considered the culmination of the Italian unification movement.
Italy celebrates the anniversary of the unification on 17 March (the date of proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy). Some of the states that had been envisaged as part of the unification process (terre irredente) did not join the Kingdom until after Italy defeated Austria-Hungary in World War I, culminating in the Treaty of Rapallo in 1920. Some historians see the Risorgimento as continuing to that time, which is the view presented at the Central Museum of the Risorgimento at Altare della Patria in Rome.
Background
From ancient times to early modern era
Italy was unified by the Roman Republic in the latter part of the third century BCE. For 700 years, it was a de facto territorial extension of the capital of the Roman Republic and Empire, and for a long time experienced a privileged status but was not converted into a province.
The public source identifies “Unification of Italy” as creation of the politically and administratively integrated nation of Italy (1815–1871). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Unification, Italy and creation.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q51122. The Library of Congress control number is sh85068960. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1861, 1848, 1871 and 1870.
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This entry incorporates text from “Unification of Italy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.