How not to Start a new Country: George Washington vs Cavour of Italy

History has produced leaders whose early decisions helped define the fate of their nations—for better or worse. In the case of modern Italy, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour, leader of the Kingdom of Sardegna-Piemonte, (Italy before unification) made a deeply consequential decision in 1858 that remains one of the most controversial acts of Italian unification. In a secret agreement with Napoleon III of France, Cavour agreed to cede the city of Nice and the surrounding county of Savoy to France in exchange for French military support against Austrian forces in northern Italy. For a newly forming nation, the surrender of culturally and historically significant territory was not a minor concession; it set a precedent with consequences that would echo in perpetuity far beyond the immediate military objective.  

In 1850 French forces intervened in Rome at the request of Pope Pius IX against Italian patriots from the Papal States, who sought Italian unity. 30,000 French troops landed in Italy and attacked Rome, inflicting heavy damage, and killed more than 2,000 Romans. They defeated a much smaller rebel force led by General Giuseppe Garibaldi in a struggle that resembled David against Goliath. Yet Pope Pius IX did not reward France with territory from the Papal States nor payment. France acted largely out of religious and political loyalty to the papacy, while Cavour surrendered Nice for military assistance. This contrast raises a central question: when founding a nation, should leaders sacrifice national territory for short-term strategic gain?

The new leaders of united Italy were deeply jealous and wary of Giuseppe Garibaldi, the charismatic and enormously popular revolutionary General of two continents, Europe and South America who was widely regarded as one of the finest military commanders of his time. Garibaldi was born in Nizza—known today as Nice—and belonged to La Giovane Italia, the movement founded by Giuseppe Mazzini around 1830 to unite the Italian states. For Garibaldi and many Italian nationalists, Nice was not merely a border city; it was tied to the ideals and identity of the Risorgimento. Cavour’s decision to surrender Nice to France therefore carried a personal and political sting. In my view, Cavour’s hostility toward Garibaldi may have influenced the decision to give away Garibaldi’s home city, and Italy ultimately paid the price for that shortsighted and disastrous bargain. 

Garibaldi, upon hearing of the treachery, did what he could to reverse it, but to no avail.  

Why do I believe France would have helped Italy against Austria even without receiving Nice? France had strong strategic reasons to weaken Austrian power and expand its own influence on the Italian peninsula. Austria was France’s principal rival in northern Italy, and a successful Italian campaign against Austrian control would have advanced French interests as well as Italian ones. In other words, French support was not simply a favor to Cavour; it was also a way for Napoleon III to increase France’s prestige and political leverage in Europe.  This was the second time Italians gave away valuable Italian territory to the French.  In 1769 the island of Corsica, at the time ruled by Genoa, was sold to the French; the same year that Napoleon Bonaparte was born.  Another territorial blunder with eternal ramifications.  So, as of today, the score is France 2, Italy 0.  

The transfer of Nice to France can be argued by some that it was a good idea at the time; not me.  It was done mainly by one man, Cavour, and without the vote of Sardegna-Piemonte, although the transfer was approved by the Treaty of Turin in 1858.  The Kingdom of Sardegna-Piemonte citizens had no vote. Citzens of Nice did vote overwhelmingly to join France, but then, they were discarded by Cavour as expendable.  I see it as a betrayal of Italian citizens to have done it.  I see no conditions in which it could be a good idea to voluntarily cede valuable land to your neighbor.  It looks to me that Cavour may have been a French mole. The current Italian state, to my knowledge has never condemned Cavour, as a matter of fact it named an aircraft carrier after him that is in current service.  At the same period there was another aircraft carrier named Giuseppe Garibaldi.  I think that General Garibaldi would be insulted to be in the same company as Cavour.  He hated him.   I stand with Garibaldi, the true and ultimate Italian patriot.  

George Washington, by contrast, made decisions that strengthened the foundations of his new country. He led an inexperienced and poorly supplied army against Great Britain, then the world’s most powerful military force, and prevailed through perseverance, judgment, and example. More importantly, after victory he helped establish principles that have endured for generations: constitutional government, civilian leadership, and the peaceful transfer of power. He could have remained in office for life, or even allowed himself to be made king, but he refused both paths. Washington put country above personal ambition. Cavour, in surrendering Nice to France, did the opposite: he diminished the nation he was helping to create.

For more information on the French attack of Rome in 1850 and the rebellion against Pope Pius IX for the liberation of the Papal States see the fine book "The Pope who would be King" by David I. Kertzer, 2018, Random House.

For a very engaging story of the struggle for Rome in 1850 and General Giuseppe Garibaldi's courageous defense of Rome and his escape after defeat see the fine book "The Hero's Way" by Tim Parks, 2021, W. W. Norton & Company.  Garibaldi brought 1,000 volunteers from South America to fight for Italian unification.  These men did not receive the recognition they deserved.  One of these men was a black son of an Uruguayan slave named Andrea Aguyar, a right hand man of Garibaldi; he was killed on the last day of the battle.  No monument for him.

Mindless Land Transfers in History - Italian Edition

 Jealousy is one of the most corrosive acts of the human heart; it can have destructive personal affects and sometimes national affects.  Throughout history there have been many border and land changes.  Some have been just plain bizarre.  In 1860 the Italians, eager to unify the Papal States and their numerous city states, which had warred with each other for centuries decided to surrender the Province of Savoy and the city of  Nizza (Nice) to France in return for support of their unification.  The area of Nice was in the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia at the time.  Italian unification was led by Giuseppe Garibaldi and his long time adversary, Camillo Benso, Count of Cavour.  Click here to see a short summary of the history of Nice.  One of the main reasons that the Italians decided to cede Nice to the French, was Cavour's jealousy of Garibaldi, the hero of Italian unification, and a native of Nice.  The Italians also wanted  French help  in holding back any challenge from the Austrians.  

Garibaldi had spent most of his life fighting wars of freedom and unification in South America, specifically Brazil and Uruguay.  His most famous battle, however,  was in Rome in 1849, where he was defeated by a large, 30,000 strong, French Army who had come to help Pope Pius IX retain the Papal States, against his people's will.  The Pope was the absolute ruler and dictator of the Papal States.  Garibaldi had a small band of seasoned fighters that he brought from Uruguay and a rag tag army of Roman volunteers.  The French army had all the heavy weapons; Garibaldi had none.  Garibaldi's men fought a brave, ferocious, battle but it was a lost cause. Their fate could be compared to the famous Greek Last Stand of the 300 at Thermopylae in 480BC. The French bombed Rome with impunity and killed over 2,000 Romans in the process.   Despite the pleas of the French not to punish the rebels, Pius IX executed many people who had fought with Garibaldi, or supported the rebel cause.  There were no trials or verification of what they were accused of; many were publicly  executed in such places as Piazza del Popolo in Rome.  The French Army remained in Rome to help the pope rule until 1870 when they had to return to France to fight the German invasion of France in what became known as the Franco-Prussian war of 1870; a war France lost. The French Army posted signs all over Rome stating that anyone caught with a weapon would be summarily executed.

Garibaldi was the best military commander of his day.  He was enormously  charismatic and popular wherever he went.  After the end of the war in Uruguay, over 1,000 of his fighters followed him to Rome to help the people establish a free Italian state.   they all willingly gave their lives for Garibaldi.  One of those 1,000 was a brilliant black former Uruguayan slave and  warrior, known as Andrea il Moro, Andrea Aguyar.  This fierce fighter brought with him a tactic not known in Europe, the ability to lasso enemy cavalry, pull them off their horse and eliminate them.  Aguyar was killed on the last day of the battle for Rome; his last words were “Long live the Republics of America and Rome!” Aguyar, was one of the best soldiers of his day.  Garibaldi had appointed him as his aid-de-camp and his right hand man.  Among the truly remarkable warriors of all time, Aguyar is certainly one. Click here for a short story about Aguyar. Garibaldi got an equestrian statue in Janiculum Hill in Rome, but not Aguyar; a shame.  

One of the best biography of Garibaldi is a 1974 book by Jasper Ridley called "Garibaldi."  For a fine history of Garibaldi's 1849 Battle of Rome, see a very fine book by Tim Parks called "The Hero's Way," published in 2021 by W.W. Norton & Company.  This book brilliantly details the battle for Rome and the legendary retreat that followed.

To this day, we have regions in many countries who want to separate and become independent, such as Catalonia and the Basque Country in Spain.  The Italian city-states are another example from past history.  This experiment in local independence has been a complete failure throughout history, yet many still desire it.  

A second bizarre land transfer, again, involves France and Italy with the transfer of Corsica to France in 1769.  Corsica had been a part of the City state of Genoa. The Genoese sold the island to France two years earlier. Again, France got the better part of it. 

At the end of World War II, Italy, again, was forced to cede territory in the north eastern border with Slovenia and Croatia; the area known as Istria.  Italians living in this are were forced to abandon their property and vacate the land.  One such famous person who was one of the evacuees was the auto race driver, Mario Andretti.  Click here for a YouTube video documentary by Mario about how his family was forced to abandon their home in 1948.  The Italian government never paid these people for the lost property.  A very fine book, in Italian, called "Il Lungo Esodo" (2005) by Raoul Pupo, details the painful, and tragic events of this terrible exodus.  This territory was then given to the communist dictator and tyrant, Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia.  The Yugoslavs murdered many Italians in this area during this period.  This, without doubt, was the most disgraceful surrender of national territory.  Men have fought and died for far less than this.  This will live in infamy in Italian history. Viva Garibaldi.