Italian Peninsula 1840 Map

In the early 19th century, as a nation, Italy did not exist, instead the peninsula was comprised of a series of kingdoms, republics, and duchies, as well as the unique theocracy of the Papal States. This status quo of small nations changed when a coalition of Italian nationalists and monarchists of the House of Savoy sought to unify Italy through the political Risorgimento movement. While the Italian nationalists and monarchists had the same goal of a unified Italy, many within the nationalist movement such as the prominent revolutionary Giuseppe Mazzini sought to forge the nation as a unitary republic rather than under the crown of Savoy.
However, Victor Emmanuel II’s ambition Dominated and Italy Unified as a constitutional monarchy, obtaining the status of “Great Power,” and setting itself up to become an empire in the coming century.