Write a note on:

(a) Giuseppe Mazzini

(b) Count Camillo de Cavour

(c) The Greek war of independence

(d) Frankfurt parliament

(e) The role of women in nationalist struggles

(a) Giuseppe Mazzini — Giuseppe Mazzini, born in Genoa in 1807, emerged as a key figure in the Italian revolutionary movement. He became a member of the secret society of the Carbonari. As a young man of 24, he was sent into exile in 1831 for attempting a revolution in Liguria. He subsequently founded two more underground societies, first, Young Italy in Marseilles, and then, Young Europe in Berne. Mazzini believed that God had intended nations to be the natural units of mankind. He advocated that Italian liberty lay in unification, creating a singular republic within a larger alliance of nations. His relentless opposition to monarchy and his vision of democratic republics frightened the conservatives. Metternich described him as 'the most dangerous enemy of our social order'. He died on March, 10, 1872.

(b) Count Camillo de Cavour — Count Camillo de Cavour, born on August 10, 1810, was a prominent statesman and leading figure in the Italian unification movement. He was well versed in French and this helped him to form a tactful diplomatic alliance with France. This alliance played an important role in Sardinia-Piedmont defeating the Austrian forces in 1859. Count Camillo de Cavour became the chief minister. He introduced several economic reforms in his native place in Piedmont and Risorgimento was the political newspaper started by him. In 1860, after Giuseppe Garibaldi's successful Expedition of the Thousand, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies joined the unified Kingdom of Italy. Cavour skillfully managed this annexation, balancing nationalist aspirations with European power dynamics. He died on June 6, 1861.

(c) The Greek war of independence — Greece had been part of the Ottoman Empire since the fifteenth century. The growth of revolutionary nationalism in Europe sparked off a struggle for independence amongst the Greeks which began in 1821. Nationalists in Greece got support from other Greeks living in exile and also from many West Europeans who had sympathies for ancient Greek culture. Poets and artists lauded Greece as the cradle of European civilisation and mobilised public opinion to support its struggle against a Muslim empire. Finally, the Treaty of Constantinople of 1832 recognised Greece as an independent nation.

(d) Frankfurt parliament — In the German regions a large number of political associations whose members were middle-class professionals, businessmen and prosperous artisans came together in the city of Frankfurt and decided to vote for an all-German National Assembly. On 18 May 1848, 831 elected representatives marched in a festive procession to take their places in the Frankfurt parliament convened in the Church of St Paul. They drafted a constitution for a German nation to be headed by a monarchy subject to a parliament. However, this parliament failed as Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, rejected it and joined other monarchs to oppose the elected assembly.

(e) The role of women in nationalist struggles — Women played very significant roles in nationalist struggles all over the world. A large numbers of women had participated in the liberal movement actively over the years. Women had formed their own political associations, founded newspapers and taken part in political meetings and demonstrations. Despite this they were denied suffrage rights during the election of the Assembly. In the Frankfurt parliament, women were admitted only as observers to stand in the visitors' gallery.