How settled were Italian nationalists on Victor Emmanuel as king of a united Italy prior to reunification?

by Quidagismedici
  • Were there alternatives being widely discussed?
  • Was he the obvious choice simply because of Sardinia-Piedmont's power relative to the other states & its anti-Austrian foreign policy, or was there more to it than that?
  • How involved was he & was his government in encouraging the nationalists to view him that way?
  • What did the monarchs of the other states think of all this?
kieslowskifan

Your second bullet point pretty much sum up why the nationalists, many of whom were committed republicans, opted for Victor-Emmanuel. Many were profoundly ambivalent towards the monarchy, Francesco Crispi would often admit he accepted the monarchy only because there were no other viable alternatives for a united Italy. Mazzini also felt that unification was worth the price of compromising republican ideals. The closest Victor Emmanuel came to direct involvement was in January 1860 when he proposed an alliance with Garibaldi against Austria, much to Cavour's chagrin. The latter put an end to this independent adventure by maneuvering a series of cabinet resignations. From then on Cavour deserves more credit than Victor Emmanuel for maneuvering Piedmont into the position of "least-worst" alternative for unification. Cavour proceeded to undermine the feeble democratic institutions the republican nationalists hoped would displace the monarchy.

sources

Beales, Derek Edward Dawson. The Risorgimento and the Unification of Italy. London: Allen and Unwin, 1971.

Mack Smith, Denis. Cavour. New York: Knopf, 1985.

Mack Smith, Denis. Mazzini. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.