Hello everybody and welcome to LearnAmo! Today we're going to put aside grammar to deal with history, that was one of my favorite subjects when I was in school! Ok, let's see, would you believe me if I told you that Italy is a very young country that has been existence for fewer than 200 years? Ok, but let's not exaggerate, that's not what I meant! Actually, I meant that, since the fall of the Roman Empire happened in 476 A.D., the Italian peninsula was always fragmented and divided under foreign domination. (Odd as it may seem) In fact, I'm going to show you the map of the Italian peninsula in 1815. Can you believe it? That's how it looked like! Therefore, in this video, we're going to outline the stages, and we're also going to see the protagonists, that led to the birth of the new United Italy, as we know it! I'm very excited, so let's get it started! [opening] As already mentioned, Italy, before the unification , was divided into a series of micro realities. Around the 1815, among the most relevant political-administrative units of the peninsula, we can mention: 1) Il Regno Lombardo-Veneto (Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom), submitted to Hapsburg Austria 2) Il Regno di Sardegna (Kingdom of Sardinia), ruled by king Vittorio Emanuele I, along with Piedmont Lo Stato della Chiesa (State of the Church), ruled by the Pope 4) Il Regno delle Due Sicilie (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies), ruled by the Bourbon dynasty And then we have: Ducato di Modena (Duchy of Modena) Granducato di Toscana (Grand Duchy of Tuscany) Ducato di Lucca (Duchy of Lucca) And a few other small realities that, no offense, we preferred not to mention. But, during the 19th century, a group of patriots, namely some young men (who weren't that young however) who were also some charming rascals, felt the need to unite the whole peninsula to create a single nation! [They're such good guys!] So, they helped that historic period known as RISORGIMENTO (Resurgence) to start. [Yes, you got it right: we Italians were already so progressive that not only we wanted to achieve national unity but we also renamed, with a super-cool name, the entire historical period n which we achieved it! RISORGIMENTO... wow! It kind reminds the phoenix, how wonderful! But let's back to our lesson.] Among those patriots we have to mention, of course, the great Giuseppe Mazzini, founder of the organization "Giovine Italia" , that, in short, was a political association which aimed to turn Italy into a unitary democratic republic, according to the principles of freedom, independence and unity, of course. [Congratulations Mazzini, such noble intentions!] [Rise!] Those patriotic rascals also decided to hang out together (because, you know, Unity is strength), in secret societies because they were afraid of being arrested and imprisoned, thus, in that period, many of those kind of societies were created and they were scattered both in the regions ruled by the Austrian Empire and in the regions ruled by the Bourbon dynasty. Those societies, that couldn't be based only on words, started taking action and in a short time they organized the first uprisings. Among these societies, one of the most active and famous is definitely the "Carboneria", of which the members took the name of "Carbonari". But do you think Unification and Independence were cheap things? Of course not! Italy conquered them only after not one, not two, but after three Wars of Independence against the foreign occupants. The first War of Independence broke out in 1848, in particular, when after various anti-Hapsburg uprisings that occurred in the most important cities of Lombard-Venetian regions, Padova, Milan, Venice, Charles-Albert of Savoy took the lead of an alliance of Italian States and... Boom, declared war on Austria, with the purpose of conquering the Lombardo-Venetian Kingdom. [Fratelli d'Italia l'Italia s'è desta Dell'elmo di Scipio S'è cinta la testa The Italian National anthem, better known as "Inno di mameli", from its author's name Goffredo Mameli, is the current official anthem of Italy. It was composed in 1847, and quickly became famous during the Wars of Independence] Charles Albert who was initially victorious, thought he was a Targaryen, but then he was defeated! [That's embarrassing, dude!] Therefore he was forced to give his kingdom to his son, Vittorio Emanuele II. Meanwhile, in 1852 Camillo Benso Count of Cavour, no less, became the prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia. And what did he do? Of course, he started planning new and innovative strategies in order to unite the peninsula. Yes, he had that one-track mind too. But it wouldn't be that easy! [Vittorio! Vittorio! What's wrong Benso? Tell me! What Benso?! You know I want to be called Camillo! I'm sorry, I keep forgetting!] Never mind, I told you that those soldiers we have at our backs won't be enough to take back what's ours, we need some help!] In fact, Cavour quickly quickly came to the view that without the support of, an European power (someone with some guts, to be clear) they would never be able to defeat the Hapsburgs. So, through a series of diplomatic maneuvers, he managed to to gain the support of France, ruled by Napoleon III who maybe wasn't the great Napoleon Bonaparte , but he was stil someone who mattered. [We're going to take back what's ours together] In 1859, the Second War of Independence broke out. This time the Kingdom of Sardinia, with the support of France, managed to free Lombardy and it didn't end there, because that event caused the annexation by the Kingdom of Sardinia of Tuscany, Parma, Modena and the part of Romagna ruled by the Pontifical State. On top of that, the following year, in 1860, another famous and fundamental event for the Unification of Italy occurred, the so-called "Spedizione dei Mille" (Expedition of the Thousand) Let's make some order here: It all begins with Giuseppe Garibaldi who wasn't just some guy, but an Italian general, patriot and commander who became famous both in Europe and South America, for his actions which made him known as the "Eroe dei Due Mondi" (Hero of the Two Worlds) [Out of my way!] In short, Giuseppe Garibaldi with a thousand men at his back, leftf from Quarto, near Geova, and landed in Marsala, in Sicily! [Ao', this boat is too small for us all! - I know, but we're in a recession! This war sucks! We don't even have a roper budget! Let's just hope they didn't close the ports!] Starting from Sicily, fighting against the Bourbon army, the thousands conquered the entire island and they started to back up North, victory after victory, to Naples. [Vittò, what are going to do? Hurry up! It's been three days I've been waiting for you! Come on, we have to take the selfie of the victory, it's going to be viral, so I'll even gain some followers, from Asia to North America, because over there nobody knows my name! You're right Giusé! But I'm having some troubles with the Swiss guards. But, don't worry, see you in Teano in a couple of days!] Within the same weeks, king Vittorio Emanuele II, moved his army in order to conquer the Marche region and the Umbria region, two regions that were ruled by the Pontifical State and, avoiding the lazio region, he reached the Campania region, where, on October 26 1860, he met Giuseppe Garibaldi,, in Teano, near Caserta, thus reuniting the peninsula. [We did a good job! In all modesty, they call me "l'Eroe dei Due Mondi" (the Hero of Two Worlds)! But, now hurry up and make your declaration, I'd like to have a drink in Naples, on the seafront! #instaape #friends #smile #wedidit #italiaunita (uniteditaly) #finalmente (finally) I, Vittorio Emanuele II of the Savoy dynasty, declare today, March 17 1861, the birth of the Reign of Italy with Turin as its capital!] Italy was officially born! How exciting! Ehi, wait a second! Before we continue with History, of which there are a few things to to add, I wanted to remind you that if you like my t-shirt, you can buy it form our e-shop LearnAmo Collection. Worldwide shipping guaranteed, so don't worry. You can find the link in the description. [Yes, I bought it too, it's so cool!] However, Italy was not yet fully united and freed. In fact, the Veneto region and the lazio region were still under foreign domination. Only with the Third War of Independence, in 1866, Vittorio Emanuele managed to free the Veneto and four years later, in 1870, his sharpshooters arrived in Rome. There, since nobody could put Vittorio's sharpshooters on a corner, the they broke through the Walls (the famous Breach of Porta Pia), they entered the city and put an end to the power of the Pope. The latter was granted on the Pontifical Palace , the Vatican Palace and indemnity in money. In 1871, Rome became the capital of the Reign of Italy. [The Empire has been rebuilt! I'm the new Caesar! Vittò, are you feeling bad? Come on, let's have pizza with a spritz!] Well, now that you know the history of the unification of Italy, why don't you brush up a little geography? I made an amazing video devoted to Italian regions: it's very interesting so I strongly suggest you to watch it! As always you can find the link up here in the card or down below in the description. In addition, on our website www.learnamo.com, you can find all our Italian vide-lessons complete with grammar exercises and there's really everything: [We finally did it! Our plan for taking total control is in motion! Yes! Now we just have to unite Europe and then the rest of the world! All of them will fall under order! We'll conquer the world by making the masses believe they'll be freed! Ahahaha Ahahahaha Who are you? - You haven't dealt with me yet! Vittorio! No! This world is mine! Mine! MINE!