Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour | |
 |
|
|
|
|
| In office March 23 – June 6, 1861 |
|
| Preceded by | n/a |
|---|---|
| Succeeded by | Bettino Ricasoli |
|
|
|
| Born | August 10, 1810 Turin |
| Died | June 6, 1861 Turin |
| Political party | Liberal-Conservative (Historical Right) |
- For the aircraft carrier, see Italian aircraft carrier Cavour.
Camillo Benso, conte di Cavour (or Camillo di Cavour; August 10, 1810 – June 6, 1861) was an Italian statesman and a leading figure in the movement toward Italian unification. He became the first Prime Minister of the new Kingdom of Italy.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
Cavour was born in Turin during Napoleonic rule, into a family that had gained a fair amount of land during the French occupation. Cavour was sent to the Turin Military Academy when ten years old. Cavour frequently ran afoul of the authorities in the academy,as he was too headstrong to deal with the rigid military discipline. Case in point, he was once forced to go three days without any more food than bread and water because he'd been caught with books that the academy had banned. He was found to be apt at mathematical disciplines, and was therefore enlisted in the Engineer Corps in the Piedmontese-Sardinian army in 1827. While in the army, he studied the English language as well as the works of Jeremy Bentham and Benjamin Constant, developing liberal tendencies which made him suspect to police forces at the time. He resigned his commission in the army in November 1831, both because of boredom with military life and because of his dislike of the new ruler of Piedmont, Charles Albert.
Camillo Benso di Cavour then spent his time in Switzerland, along with his Protestant relatives in Geneva. He became so enamoured with Calvinist teachings that for a short while he converted from a form of unorthodox Catholicism, only to go back later. A Reformed pastor, Alexandre Vinet, impressed upon Cavour the need for the separation of church and state, a doctrine Cavour followed for the remainder of his life. He then traveled to Paris where he was impressed by parliamentary debates, especially those of Francois Guizot and Adolphe Thiers, confirming his devotion to a political career. Afterwards, he left for London, where he was much more disappointed by their politics, though continuing to tour the country, heading to Oxford, Liverpool, Birmingham, Chester, Nottingham, and Manchester. A quicker tour through the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland (German part and Lake of Geneva) eventually landed him back in Turin.
Between 1838 and 1842 Camillo di Cavour began several initiatives in attempts to solve economic problems in his area. Firstly he experimented with different agricultural techniques on his estate, such as the use of sugar beet, and was one of the first Italian landowners to use chemical fertilizers (Beales 2002:108). He also founded the Piedmontese Agricultural Society. Camillo was a heavy supporter of transportation by steam engine, sponsoring the building of many railroads and canals. In his spare time, he again travelled extensively, mostly in France and the UK.
[edit] Political career
Camillo Benso di Cavour truly began to reintegrate himself into Piedmontese society in 1847, when he became a political journalist with his newspaper Il Risorgimento in Turin. The new "liberal" pope, Pius IX, spawned a new movement of Italian liberalism, allowing Cavour to enter the political arena, no longer in fear of the police. He then gave a speech in front of many journalists in favor of a constitution for Piedmont, which was eventually granted. Cavour, unlike several other political thinkers, was not at first offered a position in the new Chamber of Deputies, as he was still a somewhat suspicious character to many
Cavour began to dream of a united Italy, free of foreign control, and was therefore in favor of the war to come with Austria as news of the uprising in Milan came to Turin. This war was unsuccessful for the Piedmontese, mainly due to their inexperience in war. Cavour, however, was finally brought in to the Chamber of Deputies, sitting on the right as a conservative. He gained a reputation as a non-revolutionary progressive, though he had trouble publicly speaking as he tended to speak French privately but preferred to attempt speaking in Italian in Parliament. Cavour then lost the next election, while the Piedmontese army was destroyed at the Battle of Novara, leading Charles Albert to abdicate, leaving his son, Victor Emmanuel II in charge.
Camillo Benso di Cavour was then brought back into Parliament by the voters, where he was much more successful. His knowledge of European markets and modern economy earned him the position as Minister of Marine, Commerce, and Agriculture in 1850. Cavour soon came to dominate the cabinet and united the Right Center and the Left Center in the chamber to show dominance there as well. In 1851, Cavour gained a Cabinet promotion to Minister of Finance by working against his colleague from inside the Cabinet in a somewhat disreputable takeover, though it was to Piedmont's advantage through his many economic reforms. This allowed Cavour to begin his vast railway expansion program, giving Piedmont 800 kilometres of track by the year 1860, one third of the railways in Italy at the time.
These moves eventually earned him the title of Prime Minister of Piedmont on 4 November 1852. Cavour was theoretically the perfect man for the eventual job of Prime Minister of an Italian monarchy, being generally liberal and believing in free trade, public right of opinion, and secular rule, but still an enemy of the republicans and revolutionaries inside Piedmont, balancing their needs skillfully. Cavour is criticised for a number of controversial methods he used while prime minister, including excessive use of emergency powers, employing friends, bribing newspapers while suppressing others, and rigging elections, though these things were fairly common for the time. Still, Cavour's career as prime minister can be considered one of the most successful of all time, given that when he took up the post, Piedmont had just suffered a horrible loss to Austria, and when Cavour died, Victor Emmanuel II ruled a state five times as large, now ranking among Europe's great powers.
In early 1854, the Crimean War broke out between the UK and France on one side and Russia on the other. The allied powers of Britain and France asked Piedmont to enter the war partially in order to allow Austria to enter, which they would not do unless they were certain Piedmontese troops were not available to fight in Italy. Cavour agreed as soon as his colleagues' support would allow, and entered the war on France and Britain's side on January 10, 1855, too late to truly distinguish themselves militarily, yet the entry turned out to be a useful political move for Piedmont's future. Their 18,000 man contingent did manage to earn Piedmont a position at the Peace Congress in Paris where Cavour was able to make some small complaints about the condition of non-Piedmont sections of Italy.
Creating Italy was no easy task, but ruling it proved a worse strain on the Prime Minister. In 1860, at the peak of his career, months of long days coupled with isomnia and constant worry took their toll on Cavour. He fell ill, presumably of malaria, and to make matters worse, insisted upon being bled. His regular doctor would have refused, but he was not available, so Cavour was bled several times until it was nearly impossible to draw any blood from him. He died at the age of fifty.
See also: History of Italy as a monarchy and in the World Wars
[edit] Legacy
- The new Marina Militare aircraft carrier Cavour is named in his honor. This unit was preceded by the famous battleship Conte di Cavour, which fought both in World War I and World War II.
- Many Italian cities have important streets or squares named for him, e.g. Trieste, Rome and Naples.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: |
[edit] References
- Beales, Derek & Eugenio Biagini. The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy. Second Edition. London: Longman, 2002. ISBN 0582369584
| Preceded by: none |
Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1861 |
Succeeded by: Bettino Ricasoli |
| Prime Ministers of Italy March 23 – June 12, 1861 |
| Prime ministers of Italy | ||
| Kingdom of Italy | Cavour · Ricasoli · Rattazzi · Farini · Minghetti · La Marmora · Ricasoli · Rattazzi · Menabrea · Lanza · Minghetti · Depretis · Cairoli · Depretis · Cairoli · Depretis · Crispi · Starrabba · Giolitti · Crispi · Starrabba · Pelloux · Saracco · Zanardelli · Giolitti · Tittoni · Fortis · Sonnino · Giolitti · Sonnino · Luzzatti · Giolitti · Salandra · Boselli · Orlando · Nitti · Giolitti · Bonomi · Facta · Mussolini · Badoglio · Bonomi · Parri · De Gasperi |
 |
| Italian Republic | De Gasperi · Pella · Fanfani · Scelba · Segni · Zoli · Fanfani · Segni · Tambroni · Fanfani · Leone · Moro · Leone · Rumor · Colombo · Andreotti · Rumor · Moro · Andreotti · Cossiga · Forlani · Spadolini · Fanfani · Craxi · Fanfani · Goria · De Mita · Andreotti · Amato · Ciampi · Berlusconi · Dini · Prodi · D'Alema · Amato · Berlusconi · Prodi |
 |
