At Plombieres in July 1858, Cavour secured an alliance against Austria with
- A.Napoleon III of France
- B.Wilhelm I of Prussia
- C.Queen Victoria of Britain
- D.Tsar Alexander II of Russia
Correct answer
Explanation
The correct answer is A, Napoleon III of France. Cavour judged that Sardinia-Piedmont could not defeat Austria alone, and at Plombieres in July 1858 he reached a secret understanding with Napoleon III for French military help in a war against Austria. The war of 1859 followed and Lombardy was won, but France was paid in territory: Nice and Savoy were ceded to her. Option B is wrong because Wilhelm I of Prussia was busy with German affairs and became German Emperor only in 1871. Option C is wrong because Britain followed a policy of staying out of continental commitments and gave no such guarantee. Option D is wrong because Russia, weakened by the Crimean War, took no part in the Italian question at this stage.
Read the full article: Unification of Italy and Germany: Nationalism in Europe
Practice Questions
View allThe secret society Young Italy was founded in 1831 by
- A.Count Camillo di Cavour
- B.Giuseppe Garibaldi
- C.Giuseppe Mazzini
- D.Victor Emmanuel II
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Mazzini, a member of the Carbonari who had been sent into exile, founded Young Italy at Marseilles in 1831 and a wider society, Young Europe, at Berne in 1834.
Read the full explanation →The German Empire was proclaimed on 18 January 1871 at
- A.The Hall of Mirrors, Versailles
- B.The Church of St Paul, Frankfurt
- C.The Reichstag, Berlin
- D.The Hofburg Palace, Vienna
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As the Franco-Prussian War ended, the German princes assembled in the Hall of Mirrors of the French royal palace at Versailles and proclaimed Wilhelm I of Prussia as German Emperor on 18 January 1871.
Read the full explanation →The Zollverein, formed in 1834, was
- A.A military alliance of the German states against France
- B.A customs union that abolished tariff barriers between German states
- C.The parliament of the German Confederation
- D.A treaty between Prussia and Austria on Schleswig
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The Zollverein was formed in 1834 under Prussian leadership. It removed the internal customs duties that had made trade between the German states slow and costly and reduced the number of currencies in circulation, so a single economic space existed long before a single political one.
Read the full explanation →Who among the following led the Expedition of the Thousand and conquered Sicily and Naples in 1860?
- A.Giuseppe Mazzini
- B.Count Cavour
- C.Giuseppe Garibaldi
- D.Napoleon III
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In May 1860 Garibaldi sailed from Genoa with roughly a thousand volunteers, known from their uniform as the Red Shirts, landed in Sicily and then crossed to the mainland and took Naples from the Bourbon rulers of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
Read the full explanation →The Battle of Sadowa, also called Koniggratz, in 1866 was fought between
- A.Prussia and Denmark
- B.Prussia and Austria
- C.Prussia and France
- D.Sardinia-Piedmont and Austria
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The Austro-Prussian War of 1866, often called the Seven Weeks War, was decided at Sadowa, also known as Koniggratz, where the Prussian army defeated Austria.
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